Proof: So Fleischer Had a State Dept Work-up on Wilson?

[writes2000]

EDIT: I misread the piece below. Originally I thought it said there were two different Wilson work-up memos. What is actually says is that there are two different STORIES about the memo.

Here is my original post unedited.

Daily Kos has an intriguing piece up...

"Bloomberg has a version of the State Department memo story that differs from all the others on virtually every significant detail, except for the fact that it, too, places the memo aboard Air Force One -- but this time in the possession of Ari Fleischer, not Colin Powell.

On the flight to Africa, Fleischer was seen perusing the State Department memo on Wilson and his wife, according to a former administration official who was also on the trip."

www.dailykos.com

Wow, this gets even deeper. How do those versions differ? And who ordered the second version? And how does Fitzgerald have BOTH?

[Kikosexy2]

1. Ooooh...

the intrigue continues...so who's head will be on the chopping block?
Rove? Fleischer? Scottie? Novak? Libby? Cheney? The Bush twins--just for shits & giggles..Judy, Judy, Judy?

[writes2000]

3. Kos says Powell Must Be The One Quoted Here.

It references a former administration official who was on the trip.

Who else fits this description?

[maddezmom]

5. if Tenent and Powell are leaking....I'd say someone is going down

[Kikosexy2]

23. If Powell...

had any decency and dignity...he would come forward everything especially after he was pretty much booted out of the administration. Just wishful thinking...

[maddezmom]

24. I think he's being framed...The White House rec'd copy before Powell

Later that day, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage called Carl W. Ford Jr., the assistant secretary for intelligence and research, at home and asked him to send a copy of the June 10 memo to Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to a former State Department official interviewed by the New York Times.

Since Powell was preparing to leave with Bush on a trip to Africa, Ford sent the memo to the White House for delivery to Powell, the former official told the Times.

The next day, when Bush left for Africa, Powell was carrying the memo containing the information about Plame’s work for the CIA and other details about the yellowcake dispute, the Washington Post reported.

A day later, on July 8, 2003, right-wing columnist Robert Novak told Rove that he (Novak) had heard that Plame had sent Wilson on the mission to Niger, according to a lawyer who has spoken to several news organizations. The lawyer said Rove responded, “I heard that, too.”

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/071805.html

[maddezmom]

2. here's the link to the Bloomberg

The memo, prepared by the State Department on July 7, 2003, informed top administration officials that the wife of ex- diplomat and Bush critic Joseph Wilson was a CIA agent. Seven days later, Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was publicly identified as a CIA operative by syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

On the same day the memo was prepared, White House phone logs show Novak placed a call to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, according to lawyers familiar with the case and a witness who has testified before the grand jury. Those people say it isn't clear whether Fleischer returned the call, and Fleischer has refused to comment.

The Novak call may loom large in the investigation because Fleischer was among a group of administration officials who left Washington later that day on a presidential trip to Africa. On the flight to Africa, Fleischer was seen perusing the State Department memo on Wilson and his wife, according to a former administration official who was also on the trip.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aagJweX0XNCQ

[maddezmom]

13. The July 7 memo was largely a reproduction of the June 12th memo

Fleischer, who saw the July 7 memo, wasn't part of Bush's inner circle during his tenure as press secretary, while Rove was at the heart of it. Fleischer has already announced that he was leaving his post, and the Africa trip was one of his last White House duties.

The July 7 memo was largely a reproduction of an earlier State Department report prepared around June 12. Another key question that Fitzgerald is interested in, according to the grand jury witness and the lawyers familiar with the case, is whether Rove or Libby learned of this earlier report and, if so, shared its content with reporters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aagJweX0XNCQ

[maddezmom]

18. actually there are 2 Wilson memos and Condi's had a Top Secret Breifing

[wiggs]

4. Another forged memo????

So who is this going to be pinned on?

Can the dems get out in front of this one so it doesn't look like dems planted fake documents? Or will GOP be able to control information and media to create enough confusion and doubt to make the whole issue unclear?

If true, this could either be huge....or...it could be the latest successful effort to keep the public in the dark.

[Rebellious Republican]

8. I think you are on to something wiggs! N/T

[writes2000]

11. Hold up, no forgery. Made a mistake. Please re-read the Bloomberg piece.

It does not say there is a forged memo. Just that there are two stories floating around.

I apologize.

[kevsand]

6. I don't see where this either indicates or implies

a second memo. Rather, it would appear that both Rove and Fleischer got copies of the same memo. But yes, I have to wonder if Powell had a hand in leaking this story.

[writes2000]

7. You are correct. Big mistake on my part. I'll edit.

I read it three times saying that the MEMO differed.

The correct reading is that the STORY of the memo differed.

Thanks for the correction.

[maddezmom]

12. no I think you're right,...

Powell had his memo (prepared by State for Marc Grossman)and Condi got a briefing book labeled "Top Secret" prepared by her NSC staff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Meanwhile, in transatlantic secure phone calls, the message machinery focused on a crucial topic: who should carry the freight on the following Sunday's talk shows? The message: protect Cheney by explaining that he had had nothing to do with sending Wilson to Niger, and dismiss the yellowcake issue. Powell was ruled out. He wasn't a team player, as he had proved by his dismissive comments about the "sixteen words." Donald Rumsfeld was pressed into duty, as was Condi Rice, the ultimate good soldier. She was on the Africa trip with the president, though, and wouldn't be getting back until Saturday night. To allow her to prepare on the long flight home to D.C., White House officials assembled a briefing book, which they faxed to the Bush entourage in Africa. The book was primarily prepared by her National Security Council staff. It contained classified information—perhaps including all or part of the memo from State. The entire binder was labeled TOP SECRET.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8600327/site/newsweek/page/3/

[writes2000]

16. Perhaps. But I did misread the original Bloomberg piece.

[maddezmom]

17. yeah, but I'm glad you did

cuz it made me re-read the bloomberg piece. :hi:

[writes2000]

19. I should just come ask you for the whole picture.

You always seem to have all of the pertinent info right at your fingertips.

[converted_democrat]

15. Can you imagine if Powell or Tenet have said something??????

What if this is something "big?" I know I'm dreaming, but wouldn't it be great? To finally have something that will stick?

[writes2000]

20. I'm praying that one of them spoke up.

[maddezmom]

9. more about Ari Fleischer and Dan Bartlett...and secret papers

~snip~

How do you publicly counter a guy like that? As "senior adviser," Rove would be involved in finding out. Technically, Rove was in charge of politics, not "communications." But, as he saw it, the two were one and the same—and he used his heavyweight status to push the message machine run by his Texas protegé and friend, Dan Bartlett. Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was sent out to trash the Wilson op-ed. "Zero, nada, nothing new here," he said. Then, on a long Bush trip to Africa, Fleischer and Bartlett prompted clusters of reporters to look into the bureaucratic origins of the Wilson trip. How did the spin doctors know to cast that lure? One possible explanation: some aides may have read the State Department intel memo, which Powell had brought with him aboard Air Force One.

Meanwhile, in transatlantic secure phone calls, the message machinery focused on a crucial topic: who should carry the freight on the following Sunday's talk shows? The message: protect Cheney by explaining that he had had nothing to do with sending Wilson to Niger, and dismiss the yellowcake issue. Powell was ruled out. He wasn't a team player, as he had proved by his dismissive comments about the "sixteen words." Donald Rumsfeld was pressed into duty, as was Condi Rice, the ultimate good soldier. She was on the Africa trip with the president, though, and wouldn't be getting back until Saturday night. To allow her to prepare on the long flight home to D.C., White House officials assembled a briefing book, which they faxed to the Bush entourage in Africa. The book was primarily prepared by her National Security Council staff. It contained classified information—perhaps including all or part of the memo from State. The entire binder was labeled TOP SECRET.

more:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8600327/site/newsweek/page/3/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Condi also had classified info on that flight........not just Powell.

[DistressedAmerican]

10. Quite Possible He Had A Copy From Colin. Not Either Or...

[wallwriter]

14. If anything, this is setting up Powell.

He's the one who commented off the record that the testimony he gave before the UN was a bunch of bullshit. He was always the person in favor of diplomacy, and he was the dissenting voice in the rush to war, except when he was basically forced to be the spokesman for it.

It's very easy to imagine that among Rove, Cheney, Libby and the other slimebags involved in this, that in the extra 11 hours Gonzalez got them to falsify and destroy documents, they arranged it so that a memo from Colin Powell turned into the smoking gun.

If it points to Powell, it's because he's been framed.

[dalaigh lllama]

21. Does anyone else find it suspicious

that there's suddenly fingers pointing at Powell and/or Fleischer, neither of whom are no longer part of the "team," and therefore, perhaps, expendable?

[newswolf56]

22. Very suspicious. But what sets ALL my red warning lights flashing...

is the sudden possibility that Bush and henchmen will try to pin this on Powell as a way of satisfying the southern racists. Or perhaps try to pin it on Rice as a way of satisfying both the racists and the Christofascist sexists. Then the Bush Cabal can craft an unspoken message of "see, we tried equality, but...", thereby re-solidifying the appeal of the GOP to even the most rabid reactionaries: an especially important ploy now that Bush is losing support across the board. Given these dire possibilities, I think we have to consider it is at least possible the entire affair is being deliberately, maliciously manipulated -- not just by the administration but by the media oligarchy as well -- in some way intended to backfire and inflict maximum discredit on the administration's critics.

[maddezmom]

25. agree,...WH had the memo before Powell...did someone take a peek?

Later that day, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage called Carl W. Ford Jr., the assistant secretary for intelligence and research, at home and asked him to send a copy of the June 10 memo to Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to a former State Department official interviewed by the New York Times.

Since Powell was preparing to leave with Bush on a trip to Africa, Ford sent the memo to the White House for delivery to Powell, the former official told the Times.

The next day, when Bush left for Africa, Powell was carrying the memo containing the information about Plame’s work for the CIA and other details about the yellowcake dispute, the Washington Post reported.

A day later, on July 8, 2003, right-wing columnist Robert Novak told Rove that he (Novak) had heard that Plame had sent Wilson on the mission to Niger, according to a lawyer who has spoken to several news organizations. The lawyer said Rove responded, “I heard that, too.”

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/071805.html