Murray Waas & Mark Kleiman: More bad news for Bush, Rove ...

[understandinglife]

... and all their WHIGer, neoconster buddies (and propagandists like Novak and Miller).

Justice Department officials made the crucial decision in late 2003 to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame in large part because investigators had begun to specifically question the veracity of accounts provided to them by White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to senior law enforcement officials.

Several of the federal investigators were also deeply concerned that then attorney general John Ashcroft was personally briefed regarding the details of at least one FBI interview with Rove, despite Ashcroft's own longstanding personal and political ties to Rove, the Voice has also learned. The same sources said Ashcroft was also told that investigators firmly believed that Rove had withheld important information from them during that FBI interview.

<clip>

Also of concern to investigators when they sought Ashcroft's recusal, according to law enforcement sources, was that a number among Ashcroft's inner circle had partisan backgrounds that included working closely with Rove. Foremost among them was David Isrealite, who served as Ashcroft’s deputy chief of staff. Another, Barbara Comstock, who was the Justice Department's director of public affairs during much of Ashcroft's tenure, had previously worked for the Republican National Committee, where she was in charge of the party's "opposition research" operations.

<clip>

The combination of Ashcroft's close relationship with Rove, the omission of critical information from the FBI by Rove during his initial interview with agents, that Ashcroft had been briefed about that interview in particular, and the-then recent appointment of Comey, all allowed for a forceful case being made by career Justice Department employees be made that the attorney general should step aside and a special prosecutor be named.

<clip>

The new disclosures as to why Ashcroft recused himself from the Plame case and why a special prosecutor was named are important for a number of reasons:

<clip>

From What Now, Karl?: Rove and Ashcroft face new allegations in the Valerie Plame affair

by Murray Waas

August 13, 2005

Much more detail at the link:

http://villagevoice.com/generic/show_print.php?id=66861&page=waasweb1&issue=0533&printcde=MzM3MjE5OTU2Mw==&refpage=L25ld3MvaW5kZXgucGhwP2lzc3VlPTA1MzMmcGFnZT13YWFzd2ViMSZpZD02Njg2MQ==

And, for those concerned about Comey's replacement -- the one's who are truly justified in being concerned are Bush and the gang:

On his way out the door, Deputy Attorney General James Comey, who chose junkyard dog Patrick Fitzgerald to run the Plame scandal investigation, has chosen senior junkyard dog David Margolis to supervise Fitzgerald once Comey leaves.

This is truly bad news -- for the bad guys.

Margolis made his prosecutorial bones doing organized crime cases, eventually rising to Chief of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, from which position he supervised the seventeen Organized Crime Strike Forces which more or less won the war on the Mafia. (That's when I got to know him.) Margolis has a stratospheric IQ, has been known to wear Willie Nelson t-shirts to work, is used to long investigations using somewhat edgy investigative techniques, and can't be intimidated by anybody.

<clip>

From Career prosecutor to supervise Plame probe

by Mark Kleiman

August 14, 2003

More at the link:

http://www.markarkleiman.com/archives/valerie_plame_/2005/08/career_prosecutor_to_supervise_plame_probe.php#more

Ms Sheehan is not the only bad news for Bush and his fellow traitors and war criminals, it seems.


Peace.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Let's hope so

These arrogant fucks in the * administration are due their come uppence.

[madeline_con]

2. Info much appreciated....

Dang, it's hard to keep up with BUSHCRIME, INC.

Later :hi:

[understandinglife]

3. Joe in DC, Americablog, offers comment on the Murray Waas report:

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/08/roves-truthfulness-doubted-early-on-by.html


Peace.

[Imagevision]

61. All we need is Sibel Edmunds to testify, she holds the key

which is why the Bush cartel gagged her.

[hiley]

63. my favorite read of the day!

"Rove is such an arrogant bastard. He plays word games and semantics with political people and the press all the time. That doesn't work with the FBI. Actually, the FBI prosecutes people who lie to them."

snip--

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/08/roves-truthfulness-doubted-early-on-by.html

[bonito]

4. The silver lining

Growing up I used to look for it when things got bad and always found it, but had forgot about it altogether lately. thanks for the post, I will remember from now on. Peace

[peace frog]

14. Ditto...

I was reluctant to allow myself to feel even mildly hopeful that there could be real justice served in the Plame case. Now it seems there might indeed be reason for hope. Halleleujah!

[Champion Jack]

5. thanks for this

[democrat in Tallahassee]

6. hope they don't get on any planes, small or large.

these fuckers play hardball, ask Paul Wellstone's family (or what is left of it.)

[democrat in Tallahassee]

7. must be why Ashcroft's pancreas blew. couldn't take all the bile.

We need to check the dates on his illness.

[Elidor]

8. A curious bit

"On the following day, July 12, an administration official— apparently not Rove or Libby—told Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus that Wilson was sent to Niger on the recommendation of his wife, who worked at the CIA."

I believe, from looking at the scorecard, that the person in question would be Steven J. Hadley, our current National Security Advisor.

If this case can be brought to trial, there may not be a single tree left standing in the Bush forest.

[understandinglife]

10. I agree with your assessment. Hadley is a "target"; a big one.

I also think every member of the WHIG and Bolton are in for hard time.

As an aside, one can't but think of James Carville .... lonely nights ahead .... sorta sad ...

Peace.

[Elidor]

24. I had forgotten about him and her.

She bailed at roughly the same time as Ashcroft and Fleischer. I think that several people saw the writing on the wall when the FBI came calling.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Very good

That'll be nice to finally have some justice. Thank you God! I hope so!

[leesa]

44. When you lie down with dogs...

I have no doubt she's a criminal. I'm sure she knew all about it.

[hiley]

64. Thought of Carville being

lonely makes me feel justice coming..

[understandinglife]

9. Relevant Murray Waas article from July 19, 2005 -- "An Unlikely Story"

An Unlikely Story: Karl Rove's alibi would be easier to believe if he hadn't hidden it from FBI investigators in 2003.

By Murray Waas

July 19, 2005

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not disclose that he had ever discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper during Rove’s first interview with the FBI, according to legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The omission by Rove created doubt for federal investigators, almost from the inception of their criminal probe into who leaked Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, as to whether Rove was withholding crucial information from them, and perhaps even misleading or lying to them, the sources said.

Also leading to the early skepticism of Rove's accounts was the claim that although he first heard that Plame worked for the CIA from a journalist, he said could not recall the name of the journalist. Later, the sources said, Rove wavered even further, saying he was not sure at all where he first heard the information.

<clip>

More at the link:

http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=10016

Peace.

[Disturbed]

11. The danger is that the Prosecutor may run out of time..

to issue indictments for the GJ to decide upon. If Sen. Pat Roberts gets his way to have a Senate investigation about this the whitewash will take over. Sen Robertson needs to be investigated about his involvment in aiding the "fixing" of bogus Intell regarding Iraq WMDs. This Senator may need to be charged with crimes, as well.

[understandinglife]

16. Actually, this is less of a concern than many understand. For starters, ..

.... Mr Fitzgerald does not issue the indictments. The Grand Jury does. And, the "Plame" Grand Jury is not controlled by Senator Roberts, President Bush, Alberto Gonzales, ..... .

I've posted several details on these issues here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4319705

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4319705#4321335

Peace.

[FreedomAngel82]

32. I think so as well

Why else is he protesting so much about it? I think there is something very fishy about it. I haven't even heard other republican senators talk about this at all except for him. All the others seem to have faith in Fitzgerald and all that.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Need one say more?

[Rebellious Republican]

13. Regarding David Margolis, curious past........

I posted this on another thread...

“Since (Bush-appointee Richard) Armitage is currently the Under Secretary of State, he is in charge of the Foreign Narcotics Control Office of the State Department, which is supposed to control cocaine and heroin…. The famous quote by Kerry Committee senior panel member Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii (D-Hawaii) should be noted. When Armitage was put under oath, he kept calling him (Armitage) "Mr. Cocaine" instead of "Mr. Secretary…."

“Armitage was also a member of the restricted access group known as RAG-1 (Restricted Access Group One) along with Elliott Abrams, Clair George, Attorney General Ed Meese,David Margolis, Chief of Domestic Criminal Operations of the Department of Justice, and Mark Richards, Chief of the International Criminal Division of the Department of Justice… The purpose of RAG-1 was first to develop and then to coordinate the CIA’s policy of trafficking in narcotics on a large-scale basis, in order to produce ongoing covert revenue streams pursuant to the aid and sustenance of illegal operations of state.

“Richard Armitage coordinated CIA heroin trafficking principally out of Cambodia and Laos, and he was a close confederate of General Huang Soong, the CIA’s principal (narcotics) trafficker in Cambodia…. (Note: Bush certainly knew about Armitage’s sordid history when he appointed him. In fact, Bush may have done so to further his own, personally frustrated reach within the black budget community, which has excluded presidents from its prized technology secrets)
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/106834.shtml

The Public Integrity Section's real purpose is to act as a unit within a much larger political liability control mechanism within the Department of Justice. The Public Integrity Section also acts to coordinate the management and suppression of information and the management of political liability with other federal agencies.

Lee Radek has been Chief of the Public Integrity Section for a very long time. He has acted with his confederates within the DoJ, namely Dave Margolis , then Chief of the Domestic Criminal Section and Mark Richards, then Chief of the International Criminal Section of the DoJ. These three men, operating under the auspices of Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, essentially managed the Iran-Contra Cover-up for the Department of Justice.

I have talked with Dave Margolis several times. The only thing he ever did was threaten me. He would say to me that if I revealed anything to congressional committees, or if I leaked any thing out into the press, that I would be subject to all sorts of unpleasant things. Everything was "national security" with these guys.
http://denverpost.ezboard.com/fdenverpostnewsfrm8.showMessage?topicID=103.topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4350317&mesg_id=4351358

[understandinglife]

18. That is indeed a curious post from Al Martin & Steve Webb on the ...

Denver Post blog.

I am not that familiar with their work. The title of the article is "From Cradle to Cabal: The Secret Life of Gale Norton" -- interesting reading. Perhaps you would want to correspond with Mark Kleiman and ask for his insights, as he's known Margolis for quite some time.

The link in your post was broken, so I'm reposting it here:

http://denverpost.ezboard.com/fdenverpostnewsfrm8.showMessage?topicID=103.topic

Thank you very much for the information.


Peace.

[Rebellious Republican]

23. Thanks for fixing the Link, I figured it out after time ran out! N/T

:toast:

[flyarm]

25. omg...........no wonder

clinton is sitting in kennybunkport..they all shit in the same pot!
i read this article and i now feel sick!

[FreedomAngel82]

40. Could be the answer

It is quite strange isn't it? I also have Kay Griggs' interview and seen it (not all of it yet though) and she thinks that Lewinsky was a plant by the rightwingers. Has anybody ever done any research on her and her past? I wouldn't be surprised if the same people brought you Paula Jones brought Monica Lewinsky in. Maybe they put him through all that nonsense as blackmail or something? I really don't know.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

50. I've always thought Lewinsky was a rightwing plant. They wanted....

...Clinton to resign to speed up their plans to seize control of the country. Gore was next in line for impeachment, which would have left the Democrats with marginal candidates running for President in 2000.

Clinton refused to resign, and Gore was a much stronger candidate than the GOP wanted to have to run against. So, they simply perpetrated election fraud and seized control of the contry in December 2000.

[FreedomAngel82]

39. What an amazing read

I think I get now why Jeb Bush resides in Florida and became Governor. Probably to hide all the family secrets with Miami and such. And also I noticed Neil Bush was named. Remember that Neil had a contract to be head of security at the WTC in NYC. His contract was conveniently up on the day 9/11. Interesting, no? It's always the same people. I'm simply amazed.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. It's always the same people isn't it?

[hiley]

65. "Mr. Cocaine" instead of "Mr. Secretary

fascinating.

[peacetalksforall]

15. Does anyone who has the best timeline? Does anyone know when

Theodore Olson resigned as Solicitor General and exactlly when Mary Matalin and Karen Hughes resigned the first times?

Will Ashcroft sing?

[flyarm]

26. no ashcroft won't sing...

he has too many birds hidden in his own closet and he is a coward!

[FreedomAngel82]

41. Only way Ashcroft will sing

is if someone else sings and is threatned and they want to get him. I've always had this feeling if one of them sings the whole house of cards will fall down. These people all work with the same people all the time. It always goes back to the same person: Poppy Bush. This is who I think is really running the show. Cheney probably takes orders from him.

[Jim Sagle]

17. If Murray Waas writes it, you can take it to the bank.

This guy is the ANTI-Tom Flocco.

[KoKo]

19. Why did Comey pick NOW to go work as Special Counsel to Lockheed-

Martin? Why couldn't he have waited until Fitzgerald reported in October. The Lockheed-Martin Defence Contractor job is worrisome. Was he asked to leave, told to leave or wanted to get out figuring Fitz had the goods and it was time for him to get out of the way?

So many questions.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

51. Comey knows the score and is getting out while there's still time....

...to avoid being lumped in with the NeoCon ship-of-state which is taking on more water with each passing day.

[Independent_Liberal]

20. Excellent!

Thanks for posting this UL!

[Burried News]

21. Two tidbits from the Village Voice Link

"Federal investigators were also skeptical of claims by Rove that he had only first learned of Plame's employment with the CIA from a journalist, even though he also claimed he could not specifically recall the name of the journalist."

The dog ate my homework - but I don't know which dog?


"On July 8, Novak and Rove first spoke about Plame, according to numerous press accounts. That very same day, as the American Prospect recently disclosed, Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller also discussed Plame."

The very same day - what a coinkydink - how do you spell c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y

PS Looks like Ashcroft got out of dodge just befor he was going to have to lie under oath to save Rove's ass.

[OrwellwasRight]

22. Mark Kleiman is my former boss and former professor.

He's great. I regularly quote some of his ideas (especially to economists eho think economics is infallible).

He even encouraged me to start blogging when I couldn't get the MSM to publish my op-eds.

I'm glad to see his blog get some play here on the DU.

Thanks for the post. :thumbsup:

[Donailin]

33. where's your blog, . ? we'll "DU" it

if it hasn't been DU'ed already and no one sent me the memo!

[OrwellwasRight]

35. Thanks, Donailin!! That would be fantastic!!

The site is the Political Asylum: http://www.cruzbustamante.com/

I post as PoliticalJunkette.

The site has not been DU'ed yet, but my partners would LOVE it and be eternally grateful if I could increase our traffic! :loveya: :bounce: :loveya: :bounce:

Please visit and let me know what you think.

[understandinglife]

46. Thank you for joining this discussion, "OrwellwasRight"!

As you can see from post # 45, I have emailed Mark Kleiman asking for his perspective on the role, if any, of Mr Margolis in Iran-Contra "cover-up" activities.

I do hope he can help clarify that issue.

I'll definitely be checking your blog, regularly.


Peace.

[OrwellwasRight]

52. You're Welcome! And I saw Mark's response at #47.

I am always impressed by the ease with which he tears apart the writings of others: no false respect and no beating around the bush, just his honest intellectual assessment of when an argument is not up to snuff.

I'm glad he's on the web, and I'm glad you've shared him with DU. :)

For an interesting and sometimes infuriating counterpoint to Kleiman's worldview, visit this site operated by a colleague and friend of Kleiman's, Eugene Volokh:

http://volokh.com/

On edit: F'ing typos! Someday I will slow down enough to properly proofread my posts.

[KoKo]

54. Thanks for the info on him. I was sort of suspicious of his blog not

knowing if he was a reliable source or not. There's so much unreliable
information and spin out there it's hard to know these days.

[OrwellwasRight]

56. He's definitely a maverick

and probably holds a lot of opinions that would not jive with a "typical DUer" (assuming there is such a thing).

However, he is uber-smart, has a creative take on the issues, doesn't back down, and definitely has a lot of connections.

Here's a bio/cv:

http://www.spa.ucla.edu/faculty/kleiman/kleimancv11-01.htm

[FreedomAngel82]

27. Thank you for this!

It truly is hope! Thank you! I'm so happy about all this. In some ways I'm glad Bush stole this election because we can have justice!

[lovuian]

28. I'm beginning to think the FBI & CIA & the Military are getting on

the same page and Bush and his buddies are in real trouble!!!

[goforit]

38. Nothing like saving the world.

[FreedomAngel82]

42. It does seem that way

I think it has been going on since the beginning of Bush's first term when we started hearing about Iraq and all that. Also remember after the election back in December Bush purged the CIA. Anybody who wasn't a "yes" person was fired. I'm sure this greatly upset them and then the outing of Mrs. Wilson didn't help either. You can tell they are really pissed off at Bush and the gang. As other's have noted it's so weird to be siding with the CIA. But if I had to go with the CIA or a mad-man I'd rather go with the CIA. At least I know there are some good people there and they're not insane.

[flyarm]

29. thank you UL as always..you are dynamite!! but ...

David Margolis still worries me some ..i have been looking him up and have found a bit on his connections to iran contra cover-ups...that has me a bit worried!

fly

[Jackpine Radical]

37. I wanna know about that too. Rebellious Republican

came up with some damn' disturbing reading on Margolis.

[understandinglife]

Some perspective ...

I have no basis for evaluating Al Martin and Steve Webb's claims (see comment # 18). I found Joe in DC's comments about Mark Kleiman of interest regarding Margolis -- follow the link in comment # 3. Also, see the comments about Mark Kleiman in # 22.

We'll see.

But, remember, the Grand Jury is independent of Fitzgerald and Margolis and, from what Cooper stated (I realize his credibility coefficient is quite low) it would indicate that the Grand Jury is being rigorous and questioning independent of what Fitzgerald was asking him. It is the Grand Jury that indicts, as we all know.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

45. Here's my email to Mark Kleiman:

Good evening Mark,

I referenced your post in the following thread at DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4351278&mesg_id=4351278

One respondent cited the following article:

"From Cradle to Cabal: The Secret Life of Gale Norton" by Al Martin & Steve Webb

In that article, they link Margolis to a role in the putative cover-up by the Department of Justice of Iran-Contra. Here is the link:

http://denverpost.ezboard.com/fdenverpostnewsfrm8.showMessage?topicID=103.topic

Here's but one quote from the article:

"Radek, Margolis and Richards were the three top control guys in the Department of Justice. They were nominally under George W. Terwilliger. Margolis had the function of liaising with the CIA pursuant to the Iran-Contra Cover-up. His contact in the CIA was then CLO (Congressional Liaison Officer) Thomas Rinehart. This position actually involves much power. This person at the CIA is the officer who ultimately clears all the requests for documents the congressional investigating committees make to the CIA. The CLO will often manage a pan-agency cover-up and will often be the CIA's chief guy in liaising with all the other federal agencies, in this case, the Iran-Contra Cover-up."

I know we all would be grateful and interested in your perspective on this matter.

You will also find at comment # 22 in the DU thread that "OrwellwasRight" has posted that he konws you and clearly respects your ideas.

So, if you can help us gain a better understanding of Mr Margolis role in the Iran-Contra criminal fiasco, we would appreciate it.

Peace,

If I receive a response and permission to post it, you can be certain I will.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

47. Mark Kleiman responds --

The article by Martin and Webb is so self-obsessed, so thick with assertion and so thin on sourcing, and so careless (it gives Mark Richard an "s" on the end of his name, and assigns to him and to David Margolis job titles that do not exist and never existed) as to make it worthless as evidence. I've known Richard and Margolis for a quarter of a century, and anyone who has known them for a day would laugh uncontrollably at the notion that they would conspire to cover up drug dealing.

I've often wondered whether Karl Rove has a factory someplace that manufactures fake conspiracy theories to help cover up the real conspiracies we can see on the public record. If he did it would produce documents like Martin and Webb's.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Mark

So, if someone can find hard evidence that Margolis is an Iran-Contra cover-up artist, relying on sources other than those whom work for Rove and the neoconsters, then perhaps it's best to not spread the rumor.


Peace.

[NewJeffCT]

53. thanks for the work

It's a lot more comforting knowing that. I'm still paranoid about the investigation getting its legs cut out from under it... but, it's nice that one possible way isn't there.

[flyarm]

59. thank the lord!!

THANKS UL.//hopefully this will put the crap to bed...

and hopefully kleiman is right!

fly

[Donailin]

31. Oh. Saaaaweeeeeet!

I like it. Junkyard dog and senior junkyard dog. Yeah mon. I'm smilin!

[wli]

36. eh? Margolis is Mr. Iran-Contra coverup...

The probability of their walking goes up exponentially with every passing day.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

48. Read post #47.

[leesa]

43. Why would Comey bite the hand that's going to feed him. He's going to work

for Lockheed Martin. Why would he do anything to upset the Bush apple cart? Bush wars = maximum profit for the military industrial complex.
I hope Margolis is a junkyard dog, but I wouldn't trust ANYONE willing to be a lawyer for Lockheed Martin.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

49. Why does it matter what Comey does or doesn't do at this point?

[KoKo]

55. It matters in that there are those of us who want to know his

motivations. Is he honest. Does he care what these Bush thugs have done to this country. Taking a job as "General Counsel" for Lockheed-Martin means he "defends them" against lawsuits. It also means that he tries to keep them "OUT" of lawsuits.

But, knowing whether Fitz is going to come up with something or not has alot to do with who supervised him when Asscroft had to recuse himself. Given what we've been through who can be trusted is worth knowing. Finding out is what's hard.

[leftchick]

57. I hope Mr. Margolis doesn't use small aircraft....

The stakes have risen monumentally for these criminals. And we all know what they are capable of and have gotten away with in the past.

:scared:

[flyarm]

58. REMEMBER...

its the grand jury that writes the indictments...this grand jury according to times journalist( ?) were asking questions independant of the special prosecutor< vigorously > according to cooper..

[understandinglife]

60. Correct, fly. Here is a reference for those not familiar with the ...

...exchange that Cooper describes that he had with the "Plame" Grand Jury and some perspective on "runaway grand juries":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4319705#4321335


Peace.

[Generator]

62. Here's the info I wanted!!!

THANKS.