Jason Leopold: "Bush Administration is Focus of Leak Inquiry"

[marmar]

from truthout:


"Bush Administration Is Focus of Leak Inquiry"
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Monday 29 January 2007

On the evening of September 27, 2003, Ari Fleischer logged onto a computer and read a story published on the Washington Post's web site - a story that would be printed above the fold on the front page of the paper the next morning.

"Bush Administration Is Focus of Leak Inquiry," the headline read. "CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media."

The story, reported by the Washington Post's Mike Allen and Dana Priest, said that "two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife" and that as a result the Justice Department was launching an informal inquiry to find out who leaked the name of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to syndicated columnist Robert Novak two months earlier.

Fleischer cringed when he read the news. Worse, the story said that whoever was responsible for the leak might have violated an obscure 1982 federal law that carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and tens of thousand of dollars in fines "for unauthorized disclosure by government employees with access to classified information." (The law actually states that officials who "knowingly" disclose information about an undercover agent could be prosecuted under this statute. The Washington Post incorrectly characterized the law.)

By the time he finished reading the story, Fleischer's heart "went into his throat."

The next morning, according to Peter Zeidenberg, an assistant US attorney working with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on the CIA leak case, Fleischer immediately contacted his lawyer.

Zeidenberg disclosed Fleischer's nervous reaction to the Post story at the end of the third day of testimony in the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, who is accused of lying about when and how he learned Valerie Plame Wilson was employed by the CIA and whether he disclosed the information to journalists. The jury, which will decide Libby's fate, was dismissed while Zeidenberg discussed Fleischer with US District Court Judge Reggie Walton and Libby's defense team.

Motive Behind the Leak?

Two months before the Washington Post story was published, a critic of the Iraq war and the White House's foreign policies wrote an op-ed article in the New York Times accusing the administration of "twisting" intelligence to win support for the war. Wilson also disclosed that one of the main points of President Bush's State of the Union address in January of that year, that Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger to use in building an atomic bomb - which paved the way toward war - was bogus. Wilson wrote that he had personally traveled to Niger to check out the claims and had reported back to the CIA that it was baseless. .....(more)

The complete article is at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012907J.shtml

[blm]

1. DC media knew this in 2003 when it happened - so did some Dem insiders

like Carville and Mandy Grunwald of the Clinton team.

Nice that they chose to protect the WH during an entire campaign season, eh?

[liberalnurse]

4. My take on this is .....

There is a process of validation before the truth can be credible. Yes, many "knew" what was going on but they didn't have documented evidence to support the issue/leak/claim. That's why it took the Wilson's to make the first complaint since he/she were victims. Then the legal testimony etc.....

The media personalities also needed to wait for the valid facts.....they were very limited in their scope of discussion due to the event was only hearsay then...as Cheney and Company all denied any involvement on Prime Time Live...behaving like "they" were being attacked by the media. Then, we had no real facts.....Today, it's a new book!

[blm]

10. Some of the reporters HAD the facts because they were the ones told the leak.

Carville and Grunwald certainly knew, too.

And the way DC media gossip spreads, within a few days most of DC presscorps knew.

Look how the Clintons trashed the WH story spread and DC media reported it as if it happened completely disregarding the lack of evidence and putting their faith that report was accurate.

Their due diligence in this matter is beyond belief and sounds like pure CYA. Waiting a year and a half to tell the truth? That's what Russert and Cooper did.

[liberalnurse]

11. Your example of how

the media salivated with the Clinton blue dress issue does show that they indeed selectively pick their subjects. I sense they, the journalist and reporters, are terrified of the *bush/cheney mafia because the corporate media/right wing CEO's would fire them on the spot and blackball them from any other employment under the veil of loyalty to the administration.

[blm]

13. They also knew that BushInc forced real reporters out of their jobs or fell silent

because they had mysterious accidents and suicides.

[liberalnurse]

16. My heart just skipped a beat.....

I know this is true which is ......:scared:

[Me.]

2. K & R

Interesting

[Tin Man]

3. Well, at least Leopold isn't writing about another Rove indictment

Although he kinda crafted a case for "plausible deniability" when he fabricated the whole "sealed indictment" story, so I guess there's no longer any need for Leopold to redefine the duration of "24 hours" for his readers.

[5X]

5. This shows bad editorial judgement to put Leopold on this story, IMHO. n/t

[grytpype]

6. Very bad judgment.

I won't even read the article.

[Tin Man]

7. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.........eh.... won't get fooled again!

I still LMAO whenever I think of DimSon completely flubbing that well-known aphorism...

Anyway, that pretty well encapsulates my sentiments regarding Leopold.

[liberalnurse]

12. Let it go..............

Move on and get serious.

[peacetalksforall]

8. Do you critics of Truthout understand that you are in a boat by

yourselves because if there are others like myself, there are a bunch of us who 'don't get' the entire Leopold problem. I've never really understood it because I wasn't in on it in the beginning and when I tried a little to figure out what it the problem was - it didn't seem worth the time investment. It also didn't seem that important in that I always reserve total trust in everything and anything I read on the internet.

I'll be glad when this dies and fades away. In the meantime, go at it. Because I still don't get it. And I still don't have time. I look forward to the day when a thread doesn't bust up because it once again goes off on a path of hitting on Truthout.

[Peace Patriot]

9. Thank you, Higher Class! Ignore the diversionists. It has the smell of a

personal vendetta. There is nothing to it, from what I can see, and I have followed it. Leopold made a mistake (he trusted sources, last year, that said Rove was about to be indicted, within 24 hours). He hasn't apologized or withdrawn it, but sticks by his sources, still believes they were telling him the truth. Knowing his writing, and that of Truthout--and also being very familiar with this case--I give him the benefit of the doubt. I think it's very likely that Rove was threatened with indictment, but that he made a deal. I also think it likely that the sources got it partially right, but weren't privy to the deal part, and that Leopold's only mistake was stating it too definitively. A mistake, nothing more. Not a lie. Not a reason for a big fuss. Not a reason to dis him every time his name comes up. In fact, it was useful information in following the trial (that something was going on with Rove). It's just ridiculous, how these people go on about it.. And if you don't know the Truthout.org web site, do visit it, because it is one of the best.

[Me.]

17. I Too Think A Deal Was Made At The Last Minute

I am reminded of the 250-350 emails that KKK helped FitzG. locate. Also the fact that he is not on the prosecution witness list is interesting.

[Barrett808]

19. But let's not forget the unfortunate incident with the Gen. White "memo" and Enron

Iirc, Jason had some 'splainin' to do.

[Zynx]

14. The problem is Leopold was seriously unprofessional in an urge to have the scoop

Unprofessional journalists tend not to get second chances, nor should they. Journalistic norms are very important.

Leopold either can't pick his sources, can't think about what they say, or was actually lying because claims about legal processes are either true or false.

[Zynx]

15. Delete, Dupe

[rodeodance]

18. k