The Leak Story Is All But Dead

[Stevendsmith]

C'mon, you know it is.

What, this thing is going to surge back to the forefront?

I'll believe that when I see it, and I ain't holding my breath.

I'm so fucking disgusted.

[htuttle]

1. Do you think the CIA gives up so easily?

I don't.

[Minstrel Boy]

19. You're right. This isn't being driven by

the media or the Dems; it's the CI-frickin'-A. It doesn't need to make a headline-a-day in order to keep the White House discomforted.

[mlawson]

28. They are more dangerous when they are quiet. n/t

[TacticalPeek]

34. Silence is the worst torture for the perps.

News gives you something to do, reactive energy.

Quiet leaves the adrenaline decomposing in your body. Very scary.

[rocktivity]

53. And do you think the CIA hasn't got a backup plan?

I'm sure they have more than plenty of other things on the Bush Regime that Tenet and "company" can "leak out." It might just be in the Georgie's best interests to get Traitorgate settled!


rocknation

[phillybri]

2. The Dems have completely dropped the ball....

I can't tell you how much that pisses me off...

[jenk]

3. we didn't drop the ball, the RECALL happened

.

[stevedeshazer]

22. Curious response

How does the recall continue to prevent Democrats from pressing this issue?

[diplomats]

31. Because the media chose to push everything else aside

and cover Arnold 24/7. BTW, at the end of last week, Tom Daschle and several other Dem senators did release a letter calling for an independent counsel because of conflicts of interest between the WH and DOJ, etc. But I'll bet it got very little media attention.

[stevedeshazer]

40. Fair enough

And you can bet that if I didn't catch the Dem senators' letter, it didn't get media attention. I'll look for a link.

[diplomats]

44. I don't have one at my fingertips

but you can search DU because there was at least one thread on it.

[imhotep]

4. what scandal is next

for Democrats to let Bush off the hook?

[Homer12]

5. There's been nothing new in the case to report

other than GW stalling.

[Stevendsmith]

14. Where is the sense of urgency?

The siamese twins are more important than a traitor roaming the White House.

[stevedeshazer]

23. It's called "stonewalling" n/t

[Spazito]

6. This is far from dead...

it is the drip, drip, drip strategy. You let a little bit more out when there is no faux story to take away from it's import. I have every confidence that the Washington Post will be writing more on this, much more.

[diplomats]

10. Dana Priest pretty much promised that

in her Web chat last week.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

32. BINGO!!!!! My fellow DUers must understand that the CIA...

ha been underminded and their abilities to do their job has been diminished! The CIA is not going to let this story drop!!!!!

[oasis]

43. That's right, we're not done with "traitorgate". Treason will come back to

bite Chimpy in the ass.

[Bozita]

7. It was THE headline in today's Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/leak13_20031013.htm

[Rose Siding]

45. The WaPo did a big spread just yesterday!

There were several new details and it looks like steam is only gathering.

[jmowreader]

49. I really, really wish that paper would get a new URL

freep.com; does that sound fishy to you?

[Bozita]

62. That's why I keyed in "Detroit Free Press"

www.freep.com sounds very fishy.

[SoCalDem]

63. THEY had the nme first.. they should make jimrob stop using it

:evilgrin:

[KoKo]

8. It's not dead. It's just digesting.

:-)

[Don_G]

9. Not Yet

The investigation just started, there's been nothing to report yet and the California Recall has overshadowed most of the political news so far.

I don't think Dimbo can possibly stop it nor influence the result without getting the Intellegence Agencies---civilian and military---thouroughly PO'd.

If they "just" do their duty, it puts his ass at risk, dosen't it?

[Classical_Liberal]

11. It was pushed of the agenda by the moronic recall

We have to push it back onto the agenda. Be sure to send it around the media when you here anything break on the story.

[maggrwaggr]

12. write your congresspeople NOW

If you have time to be reading this you have time to write them.

I wrote all of mine over the weekend. Demand an independent counsel. Demand a full investigation outside of Ashcroft.

The fact that White House lawyers were allowed to screen all the info going to the Justice Department is proof enough that whoever's conducting the investigation isn't doing it properly.

Go get 'em! Right here:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

[Cocoa]

15. yes, exactly

and don't forget to include your republican reps, we'll need some of their votes to do this, and with enough pressure it could be difficult for the republicans to keep covering up for Bush.

[Stevendsmith]

16. Yes, thanks

I hope everyone takes your advice.

[bpilgrim]

13. in a neo-CONs dreams

peace

[Stevendsmith]

17. I Want Nothing More Than to Be Wrong

But I'm just a little jaded these days.

[Hamlette]

18. The civil suit will not die and with it, the Bush presidency is in trouble

I've heard Wilson is going to file a civil suit. If that is true, Bush is dead. Even if Ashcroft whitewashes this (can't find anything) Wilson gets to take everyone's deposition. Including Bush's. And Cheney's.

What fun! Bush is going to be talking about this leak for years to come. And so will the press.

[Speck Tater]

20. The leak story is not dead until the CIA says it's dead, n/t

[Caution]

21. Umm did you see the cover of Time Magazine recently?

Read the article inside too...this one is NOT going away. The CIA won't let it. Organizationally they need this to be addressed.

[htuttle]

33. This is a life or death issue for the CIA

If the White House is able to blow the covers of NOCs with impunity, not only will the CIA find it very, very difficult to recruit new US operatives, but also recruit agents in foreign countries, and be trusted with sensitive information by the intelligence services of other friendly countries.

Put simply, if this issue is not addressed satisfactorily, the CIA might as well get out of the secret agent business.

[Nay]

24. Worry not.

It's just incubating a while. CIA is good at biding its time and doing things at the exact right moment.

[Karenina]

25. DJ, please cue up an oldie-moldie

from the Rolling Stones...

T-I-I-I-IME is on my side, YES IT IS...

[cmd]

26. Patience

It's not dead. It takes time. I lived thought Watergate, I know.

[JackSwift]

27. Leakgate has legs,

but it's taking the week off for vacation. The Bush Administration has made enemies all around the world (who's to say Bush isn't an internationalist!) who are going to payback starting the second half of August 2004, and not before. Only a trickle of payback in the meantime.

Former natural allies of Bush will be joining in. The French will do a core-dump of all things anti-Bush. They are far right-wing, and have been made a regular scapegoat. Same with the Russians. These were natural allies of Bush. Same with the Teamsters.

The British are horribly pissed, but can't do anything as long as The Poodle is still PM. He has tied his own personal fate to Bush's success (but not vice versa).

So in addition to the French and Russian (and German) spy services leaking like crazy next summer, we will also have the CIA trying to do Bush in.

To top that off, we have 3 million less employed Americans who can damn well figure out that there is something unholy about a 4 year recession.

[jumptheshadow]

36. What an interesting post

I have been wondering if the leaders of other countries who think that Bush is a dangerous, out-of-control ass will do anything to make his bid for reelection more difficult. It's not comforting thinking about other countries trying to influence our internal politics, but in this case, I think it's not overstating the case to say that the future of our globe is at stake.

[TacticalPeek]

41. Bushco should have been more careful

when marketing the benefits of 'regime change'.

[Booberdawg]

56. Why do you say payback will start August 2004?

Just curious what the significance of August 2004 is besides pre-election.

[mlawson]

29. Watergate was the same way.

It would heat up, then cool down, disappear, and then all of a sudden, IT'S BAAAAAAAAACK!

[JackSwift]

30. Part of the Watergate

constant resurrection, I am convinced, was that Nixon had made lots of enemies within his political circle who would keep the story alive. I'm still excited to know that I may live long enough to learn the identity of Deep Throat, and that it may be someone really unexpected.

[Stephanie]

35. The WH has been reviewing the requested documents for one week

They have one more week to try to think of good reasons why they should suppress certain documents. Then they have to turn everything over. THAT's when the story will hit the headlines again - next week.

[diplomats]

39. Good point

And if Bush tries to evoke executive privilege that will open a can of worms.

[diplomats]

37. It was not a coincidence nothing new came out

last week. Those who have the goods on the WH knew better than to compete with the recall.

[snippy]

52. Very good point.

[Brian Sweat]

38. The story is NOT dead. It is simply laying low.

In a couple of months, it will reappear in a new and more damaging form. When it shows up again, it will be amid detailed reports of how national security was compromised and how the lives of operatives and assets have been endangered. If the people responible for the leak are not exposed during that news cycle, it will go into hybernation again. Then a few months later, we will learn that someone has died because the leak exposed them as a source. If that doesn't do the trick. We will learn how the CIA was tracking some terrorists that were trying to get some plutonium, but after the leak all of their sources dried up.

The story wasn't dead six months ago when Wilson said that Niger report was false. It wasn't dead three months ago when Wilson first told of his wife being outed and it is not dead now.

[Beetwasher]

42. I'm HAPPY There Were No Developments Lately

The last thing we needed was important new info coming out during the recall fiasco. It convinces me even more that there's a driving, coordinated force in action. Timing is everything with this story. More bombshells are coming, but they will be delivered when the time is right. There are pros handling this. Buschco. won't know what it is or which direction it's coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if the powers that be who are gunning for Bushco. are gauging the situation waiting for the WH and Justice to make the next move, analyzing that and then BAM!! There's so much dirt on these scum the next salvo could come from anywhere. But one thing is for sure IMO; they pissed off some heavies who are gunning for them. We're watching the clash of the titans here people. I don't know who's gonna win, if anyone, but it's gonna be ugly...

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Padraig18]

48. Freeper! n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

47. Watergate kept dying too.

"Aw, shit," I would say. Nothing's gonna come of this. Crafty Richard & Co. are gonna skate."

When it comes to having another shoe to drop at carefully timed intervals, the CIA is a millipede in jackboots.

[Philosophy]

50. This will go the way of the Cheney Energy Task Force

The * administration will just refuse to release some piece of damning evidence, citing "executive priviledge", or "national security", or somesuch, and then the Justice Department will stop asking questions, and then the whole mess will be quietly swept under the rug.

[judgegina]

51. I know how you feel.

The sensible side of me says that this isn't going away, but the cynical side of me sees it disappearing.

[Lorien]

54. Write your local paper

tell them you want answers! Tell your reps the same! Grumbling amongst ourselves never amounts to squat.

[onebigbadwulf]

55. TOUGH CALL

On one hand, Bush Sr has enough connections to keep the CIA away from Jr if he hijacked a plane himself and flew it into congress.

On the other hand, Jr LEAKED some mad shiznit, and there's one thing we know about the CIA is that you DON'T MESS.


So which hand outweighs the other? I have a sickening suspicion that this story is over and it makes me want to vomit. Asscroft will look around and say "Nope, nothing here!".

[Stephanie]

57. Keep reading the Wash Post - big article this Sunday

And Josh Marshall will not let up on this story. Try as they might this story will never go away.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13696-2003Oct11.html

Probe Focuses on Month Before Leak to Reporters
FBI Agents Tracing Linkage of Envoy to CIA Operative
By Walter Pincus and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 12, 2003; Page A01


FBI agents investigating the disclosure of a CIA officer's identity have begun by examining events in the month before the leak, when the CIA, the White House and Vice President Cheney's office first were asked about former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger, according to sources familiar with the probe.

The name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a clandestine case officer, was revealed in a July 14 column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two unidentified senior administration officials.

In their interviews, FBI agents are asking questions about events going back to at least early June, the sources said. That indicates investigators are examining not just who passed the information to Novak and other reporters but also how Plame's name may have first become linked with Wilson and his mission, who did it and how the information made its way around the government.

<snip>

That same week, two top White House officials disclosed Plame's identity to least six Washington journalists, an administration official told The Post for an article published Sept. 28. The source elaborated on the conversations last week, saying that officials brought up Plame as part of their broader case against Wilson.

"It was unsolicited," the source said. "They were pushing back. They used everything they had."



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2003_10_12.html#002073

<re: the Washington Post story above> The point here is clear. The reporters --- one would assume Mike Allen, since he has a byline on both pieces --- went back to the source with all the new information we know now. And the source stuck to his story on every key point. Note too that we’re back to “top White House officials.”

Another key point to notice in this piece is the way the authors start turning some of the spotlight on the press itself. They don’t do so in an adversarial manner. But they’ve gotten at least one reporter to discuss off the record that they’d been told about Plame’s relationship with Wilson by White House officials before Novak's column appeared.

Again, the key passage …

On July 12, two days before Novak's column, a Post reporter was told by an administration official that the White House had not paid attention to the former ambassador's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger because it was set up as a boondoggle by his wife, an analyst with the agency working on weapons of mass destruction. Plame's name was never mentioned and the purpose of the disclosure did not appear to be to generate an article, but rather to undermine Wilson's report.

This last point sums up another of the key themes of the piece. The White House was at war with Joe Wilson. And they were using everything in their arsenal to take him down. The authors of the piece seem to have spoken to “administration sources” who told them that the motive for naming Plame wasn’t retaliation but an effort to destroy Wilson’s credibility and thus get reporters to ignore him. That theory of the crime, shall we say, seems to conflict with the account of the administration official who told the Post on he September 28th that the calls were “meant purely and simply for revenge.”

[lanlady]

58. I don't believe the CIA sent over that letter to the FBI--

--only to be stonewalled. If the CIA lets the matter recede, they're fools.

[Redneck Socialist]

59. Does any one else find it curious...

...that so many DU'rs suddenly have so much faith in the CIA? Is this what we are reduced to? Hoping that the C I fucking A brings down bushie? C'mon, please. I hope I am wrong but "traitorgate" is going nowhere. At best a couple of low level flunkies lose their jobs well before the election. If this is our best hope at bringing down bush we are doomed.

[Raenelle]

60. It's only taking a nap. This is a marathon . . .

Any new discovery, any new pice of information, will bring the story back, then it will retreat into the background again until the next piece. I was around for Watergate. These investigations don't stop just because they are not being screamed from the headlines every day. Patience. Somebody fucked up big time here, and the CIA will not let it go.

[leetrisck]

61. We must not let it die - Treason

Always use the word over and over. The Wilson's and their children have been placed in jeopardy. What will those children's lives be like. Will they have very long lives because of this? "Slimy Shrub" and his admin are guilty of treason. "Slimy" deserted before in a time of war and he got away with it - he must not get away with this.

[E Pluribus Unum]

64. I never thought that it would be a big story.

It was reported that a leak on average occurs once a week and
this has been going on for years.

[Cocoa]

65. but not at the White House

just like with Clinton, people get blow jobs all the time, it was just a big deal because the President got one.

And this leak happens to be a real federal offense, not just a cable news federal offense.