thoughts on CIA vs. WH

[gWbush is Mabus]

just thinking...

Presumably, Tenet knows that a crime has taken place or else he would not file charges and ask for investigation.
Being Director of the CIA, he probably already knows who the leakers are.
Two senior WH administrators know, six journalists also know, Bush probably knows, and probably several Congresspeople are learning about it now.

What I am getting at is it is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Most likely, the trail leads to Cheney or Rove.

If they are named, they will be outed.
If the Bush admin tries to cover it up, there are many people who will know about it.
If Bush tries to pin it on a fall guy, there are also many people who will be aware that it is a lie.
If they do any of the above, they could easily get caught if someone decides to leak the truth.

They also must deal with the ethical issues of NOT appointing a special investigator given blantant multiple conflicts of interest.

The only out I can think of is that the Justice Dept. finds no hard evidence linking it to any one person (and evidence has already been destroyed) so they just leave the case as unresolved.

Only time will tell of course...

[asjr]

1. WH/CIA

What gripes me is that everyone in the WH and probably the CIA knows who it is. Why can't they just name the person, kick them out, prosecute them and let us get on with whatever we can scrounge out of this. The administration will not change. We could save a lot of taxpayer money "investigating" this mess. And as far as a special prosecutor goes, it is John Asscroft who will be the one to name one. We could end up with another Kenneth Starr and God knows we don't want that. Cover up, cover up, the name of this WH.

[BurtWorm]

13. Furthermore, I'll bet a lot of members of the WH press corps

are being filled in about it. This is an elite secret.

[Fovea]

2. If they don't have Rove and Cheney

They have no need for Bush. No wonder Bush was so wigged out at the U.N.
They are probably drugging him so they can have him declared unfit for office.

Cheney won't even run for re-election. They won't make the Ford mistake again.

I say the future is bright for DeLay, and maybe McCain.

[Wetzelbill]

8. Please no! Not Delay ::shudder::

[trof]

3. read this

http://www.msnbc.com/news/974912.asp?0na=x22046R6

[gWbush is Mabus]

5. i read that

i bet $100 Fineman is one of the 6 journalists who know.

[trof]

12. oh ho

That hadn't dawned on me.
It would explain a lot.
I hope his article gets wider publicity.

[Patriot_Spear]

4. The last president to cross the CIA was Nixon.

'nuff said.

[Bucky]

7. sweet

You made my day, Spear

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Actually, and unfortunately, there may have been one before that...

...JFK. There are just too may links to the CIA for them to have not been involved in some capacity.

[Wetzelbill]

6. The moment I read the WH was looking over phone logs

I just pictured these words in my head. DELETE....DELETE ......SHRED.....SHRED.

These clowns are big on the fall guy scenario. Look for them to try to nail somebody like Stephen Hadley who they already tried to nail before and is expendable. Big problem is that their word is worth shit so nobody believes these guys whenever they open their mouths. Not unless you're a naive shmuck anyway. Nobody I know believed any of the "16 words" patsies. Somebody will attempt to "take one for the team", but I say right here that it isn't going to work. Unfortunately, Bush and Co. have no shame so they will probably ignore their guilt until the bitter end. If there is a bitter end, seems to me that these guys write the rules and rig the game enough so that even when they are screwed nobody really has to answer for it.

[gWbush is Mabus]

9. THE BEST CASE SCENARIO

some journalist leaks the 2 names to another journalist.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. Give it 30-60 days, and wait for the next CIA bombshell...

...if they've gone this far, they've got a lot more ammo where the Palme story comes from.

[gWbush is Mabus]

14. Tenet is DEFINITELY OUT

sooner or later. I bet they are FUMING at him for putting them in this precarious position.

i bet the administration has been using the last 2 months to try and pin it on him.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. I don't think they want to risk messing with Tenet anytime....

...in the forseeable future. Too many envelopes without return addresses may end up on peoples' desks that will continue the damaging leaks.

Besides, the CIA would not have gone public if they didn't believe they have a 95% chance of pulling down the Bushies. There are quite a few CIA assets the work undercover in other areas of the government, the military, and the media. In addition to that, there is a growing faction with each of those areas that has decided the Bushies need to go.

[ThomWV]

15. Something Else

What occurs to me is that Tenet came forth at all. I've got it in my head that he, who I had figgured for a turncoat after his falling on the sword over the 16 words, was acting mighty out of character in biting the hand of his new master. But then I thought maybe he has held Bush in distain all along and figures that now is close enough to the election that he can speak up and withstand whats comes his way.

Anyway I found his bringing the matter to the public suprising.

[gWbush is Mabus]

18. i thought that too (ie. turncoat)

he gave them the chance to out him.

then he said, you f*&k with me, i f*&k with you.

[skip fox]

16. We're overlooking the obvious!

Who would Novak have called to discover why the administration sent a Clinton appointee (his stated purpose) to do an investigation for the Vice President!!!! (Remember how Wilson was identified the week following his op-ed in the _Times_? He had been on at the behest of Vice President Cheney.)

So who the hell would Novak have called? Duh. (Answer: Scooter Libby, Cheney's Chief-of-Staff.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=456644

[gWbush is Mabus]

17. overlooking what

1st post, i said it probably leads to cheney

edit: I meant Cheney or any of his aides

[skip fox]

19. Not that many have not pointed in his direction, but the logic.

That's what was under our noses, the "trail" you mentioned:

1. Wilson was said to have been on mission at behest of VP.

2. Novak wants to know why a Clinton appointee was sent on such a mission by this administration.

Who the else would he call but Scooter or someone directly under Scooter, and Scooter was ready for him.

They talked about Wilson's editorial, why the State-of-the-Union Speech referred to Nigerian yellow-cake uranium and why Powell didn't mention it at the UN, and how Cheney had never heard of Wilson. Then Scooter explains, telling Novak that Cheney, the previous summer, had asked the CIA to look into the reports of uranium sales to Iraq from Niger and that it was the CIA who had sent Wilson. Then Scooter lets it drop, "Well, did you know Wilson's wife works at the Bureau? Let's see . . . yeah, right Valerie Plame. Word is that she was the one who had him sent to Niger." Novak's ears perk up (all he hears is "nepotism," missing the real insinuation: that Wilson put his wife up to having him sent because he had an anti-War agenda or because he was anti-administration and wanted to put the breaks on the rising crescendo of war rhetoric that fall). Novak checks spelling ("P-L-A-M-E"), thanks Scooter, hangs up. Checks second source, etc.

It's important to realize the purpose was to discredit Wilson as a maverick-with-an-agenda, getting his wife to send him on a mission the results of which would undercut Bush's bellicose rhetoric or make Bush pull back from his decision to invade Iraq.

Given the circumstance of the following summer (2003) when everyone was questioning the existence of WMD and then to have a key item in the President's State of the Union Speech undercut in a NY Times editorial-length letter, Scooter's plant was artful and effective, despite Novak's dull-witted interpretation (nepotism). I was clever without crushing anyone (Libby is more circumspect and pragmatic than Rove). The purpose was not primarily to inflict revenge upon Wilson, nor was it necessarily a warning to others who might take similar public stands, but to undercut an opponent who had momentarily risen in their midst. Bloodlessly, swiftly.


Coda: Wistful Thinking

I'm guessing Scooter Libby is spending the day with lawyers and staff, figuring out how to minimize legal and politial damage. Tomorrow he'll resign.

[Qutzupalotl]

21. I think you nailed it.

See transcript:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=457096