Good news... Good Dem strategy - Calling for 'damage assessment' (Plame)

[salin]

The balance between pushing the Plame Story... then letting the Press run... then as the press slows down pushing it again (this time to get at the significance of the leaks)... which will fuel the media/press coverage again... has been an effective way to manage/deal with the story. I think I read somewhere that 8 of 10 people thought the leak story was potentially serious. I still do not think that most of the public has really processed just WHAT was compromised - on the basic fairness issue folks are responding (wasn't good/fair to out the woman and ruin her chance to make a living, and possible safety... morphed into wasn't good/fair to risk the livelihoods and lives of other agents associate with her). But the fact that she - and the networks blown - were about gathering intel on WMDs. That this little "leak" may have compromised our ability to thwart WMDs from falling into terrorist hands (one of the major reasons we were given for going to war with Iraq). But those charges seem so OUT there - that folks tune out and hear "pure politics" (as the bushco is trying to spin).

So push an investigation... based on national security... a 'damage assessment'. Leave unspoken the question why the whitehouse, the NSA, and the CIA didn't do this back in July.

SO here we go - let us wish them success.

Democrats seek assessment of damage caused by outing of US intelligence agent

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Leading Democrats sent a letter to the US agency tasked with safeguarding America's intelligence capability, seeking an immediate assessment of the damage caused by the outing of a CIA (news - web sites) agent's identity.

Top Democrats in the US Senate, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, asked the National Counterintelligence Executive headed by Michelle Van Cleave to undertake an immediate review of whether US intelligence has been compromised by the leak.

"The exposure of one of America's undercover intelligence officers by an official of the US government constitutes the most egregious form of betrayal," read the letter by Daschle, and fellow Senate Democrats Carl Levin, Joseph Biden, and John Rockefeller.



more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031015/pl_afp/us_cia_iraq_politics&cid=1521&ncid=1480

[blm]

1. See? The Dems are working through the PROPER channels,

not the political ones. Once it is defined as political acts, the GOP wins because THEY CONTROL most of the media.

[salin]

3. But it is a very hard balancing act

Recent report (can't remember the topic) where a reporter said that they 'couldn't cover' some political issue or not (even though s/he claimed to be sympathetic), until the politicians in DC made an issue of it.

However, without media coverage it appears that pushing some items is framed (by the right and echoed by the media) as the dems simply being political.


With this story there is the opportunity to go back and forth. The media picked up (then ignored -as did congress) the story. Action by the CIA (filing request for investigation with the DOJ) pushed it back into the media.... Flurry of stories.

Then Sen Schumer (and others - but I think he led the charge) pushed for 'an investigation' on the leak.

Then THAT became a media story and fueled another flourish of stories.

Media coverage is dying down - witness a thread right now on GD - asking if the whole leakgate thing has disappeared. So calling for an investigation... into DAMAGE ASSESSMENT (the BIGGER issue of the event) - could (and should) fuel another round of media attention.

Hard to get it going in such a cycle and do it effectively - but it looks good right now.

[RainDog]

8. Read David Corn's article in L.A. Weekly

It's on Buzzflash. Corn talks about going on to Fox and the repuke guy just spinning, spinning, spinning.

it doesn't seem to matter what the dems do because the repukes are going to try to spin it as partisan politics.

So what we need is for a dem to go onto a show with a repuke and when the repuke starts about partisan politics, the dem needs to read this person the riot act about double standards and hypocrisy and list all the ways in which repukes and their operatives, like Novak, have tried to lie about Plame and about the seriousness of the issue.

then they can say...

"She was an operative involved in the hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

Sure, Bush lied about the threat of these weapons in Iraq. Just like he lied about so many other things, including the uranium issue which led Wilson to go to Niger. Unlike Bush, she was actually involved in real work to find and contain these weapons.

Have all of you republicans grown so accustomed to lying that you cannot recognize a real threat when you see one?"

At least that's what I'd like to hear.

[salin]

17. GREAT LINE!

Raindog: Have all of you republicans grown so accustomed to lying that you cannot recognize a real threat when you see one?"

:thumbsup:

[w4rma]

2. Wilson … said … would be a violation … by the officials, not the columnist

CIA seeks probe of White House

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the White House broke federal laws by revealing the identity of one of its undercover employees in retaliation against the woman’s husband, a former ambassador who publicly criticized President Bush’s since-discredited claim that Iraq had sought weapons-grade uranium from Africa, NBC News has learned.
…
http://www.msnbc.com/news/937524.asp?0cv=CB10
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=135657

Leak of Agent's Name Causes Exposure of CIA Front Firm

The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

The company's identity, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, became public because it appeared in Federal Election Commission records on a form filled out in 1999 by Valerie Plame, the case officer at the center of the controversy, when she contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign.

After the name of the company was broadcast yesterday, administration officials confirmed that it was a CIA front. They said the obscure and possibly defunct firm was listed as Plame's employer on her W-2 tax forms in 1999 when she was working undercover for the CIA. Plame's name was first published July 14 in a newspaper column by Robert D. Novak that quoted two senior administration officials. They were critical of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, for his handling of a CIA mission that undercut President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought uranium from the African nation of Niger for possible use in developing nuclear weapons.

The Justice Department began a formal criminal investigation of the leak Sept. 26.

The inadvertent disclosure of the name of a business affiliated with the CIA underscores the potential damage to the agency and its operatives caused by the leak of Plame's identity. Intelligence officials have said that once Plame's job as an undercover operative was revealed, other agency secrets could be unraveled and her sources might be compromised or endangered.

A former diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said yesterday that every foreign intelligence service would run Plame's name through its databases within hours of its publication to determine if she had visited their country and to reconstruct her activities.

"That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat said.
…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40012-2003Oct3.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=147987

Rice 'Knew Nothing' About CIA Agent Leak

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday she knew "nothing of any" White House effort to leak the identity of an undercover CIA officer in July, a charge now under review at the Justice Department.

On the "Fox News Sunday" program, the top aide to President Bush said, "This has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that is the appropriate place for it."

Rice said the White House would cooperate should the Justice Department, headed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, decide to proceed with a criminal investigation of the matter, which centers on the alleged public disclosure of the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in 2002 to investigate a report that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger, but returned to say it was highly doubtful.
…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030928/ts_nm/iraq_intelligence_probe_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=136932

A White House smear

Did senior Bush officials blow the cover of a US intelligence officer working covertly in a field of vital importance to national security—and break the law—in order to strike at a Bush administration critic and intimidate others?

It sure looks that way, if conservative journalist Bob Novak can be trusted.
…
The sources for Novak’s assertion about Wilson’s wife appear to be “two senior administration officials.” If so, a pair of top Bush officials told a reporter the name of a CIA operative who apparently has worked under what’s known as “nonofficial cover” and who has had the dicey and difficult mission of tracking parties trying to buy or sell weapons of mass destruction or WMD material. If Wilson’s wife is such a person—and the CIA is unlikely to have many employees like her—her career has been destroyed by the Bush administration. (Assuming she did not tell friends and family about her real job, these Bush officials have also damaged her personal life.) Without acknowledging whether she is a deep-cover CIA employee, Wilson says, “Naming her this way would have compromised every operation, every relationship, every network with which she had been associated in her entire career. This is the stuff of Kim Philby and Aldrich Ames.” If she is not a CIA employee and Novak is reporting accurately, then the White House has wrongly branded a woman known to friends as an energy analyst for a private firm as a CIA officer. That would not likely do her much good.

This is not only a possible breach of national security; it is a potential violation of law. Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, it is a crime for anyone who has access to classified information to disclose intentionally information identifying a covert agent. The punishment for such an offense is a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to ten years in prison. Journalists are protected from prosecution, unless they engage in a “pattern of activities” to name agents in order to impair US intelligence activities. So Novak need not worry.

Novak tells me that he was indeed tipped off by government officials about Wilson’s wife and had no reluctance about naming her. “I figured if they gave it to me,” he says. “They’d give it to others....I’m a reporter. Somebody gives me information and it’s accurate. I generally use it.” And Wilson says Novak told him that his sources were administration officials.
…
http://thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=823
http://www.arbiteronline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/07/23/3f1f5fa79c206
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=18072&mesg_id=18072&page=
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=5913&mesg_id=5913&page=

…
Novak, in an interview, said his sources had come to him with the information. “I didn't dig it out, it was given to me,” he said. “They thought it was significant, they gave me the name and I used it.”

Wilson and others said such a disclosure would be a violation of the law by the officials, not the columnist.

Novak reported that his “two senior administration officials” told him that it was Plame who suggested sending her husband, Wilson, to Niger.
…
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia0722,0,2346857.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=2326&mesg_id=2326&page=

A War on Wilson?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,465270,00.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=18113&mesg_id=18113&page=

White House striking back?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/942095.asp?0cv=CA01

Schumer Urges FBI Probe Into Iraq Leaks
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030724/ap_on_go_ot/schumer_agent_1

Probes Expected in ID of CIA Officer
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia233384176jul23,0,5461415.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

The Bush Administration Adopts a Worse-than-Nixonian Tactic: The Deadly Serious Crime Of Naming CIA Operatives by John W. Dean
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030815.html

[salin]

5. Great compilation of the stories and links.

am bookmarking for future reference. I do hope you will keep adding to this list. :thumbsup:

[proud patriot]

4. Rate the article please

B-)

[Atman]

6. So who is going to file this report?

Is Van Cleave a republican Bush appointee? Forgive my ignorance, I honestly don't know. If he is, the dems can expect a hunky dory report that says everything is okay, no security was compromised. Bet the farm on it. This is the Bush admin we're talking about.

If he is a dem, he will be smeared and "outed" for something. Anything. He will be discredited and his report will be deemed political.

Sorry. Life under the Bushista regime. We're still playing nicey-nicey liberals. They are playing for keeps. Literally.

[salin]

9. Miss the point.... it is a media game

callling loudly for this investigation - and have the focus on Damage Assessment - rekindles the media flurry of stories - but this time with more attention on what was compromised.

The media will push the story further.

Then, as media coverage drops, time for some Dems on the Hill to push even further ... and stoke the media coverage.

Done correctly it is an interative process that gets more and more information out there to the public. In the end the only thing that can stop the crazy bushco - will be the public. And while the odds are stacked against this - the fat lady has far from sung.

[calimary]

15. To nudge Congress, call their TOLL FREE SWITCHBOARD NUMBER!

It's 1 (800) 839 - 5276.

You can call there and be transfered to anybody's office in the House and/or the Senate. DO IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!!! WE NEED TO HELP KEEP THIS POT STIRRED!!! It's not yet ready to stir itself!!!

[sattahipdeep]

7. Bush said

"There's a sense that people in America
aren't getting the truth," Bush said.

The afternoon session was delayed while
the commission met privately about its
continuing quest for government documents.

"We're having a problem we didn't anticipate," Kean said.
http://www.9-11commission.gov

"There's a sense that people in America
aren't getting the truth," Bush said.

9/11 Widows Speak Kristen Breitweiser
Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, whose husband Ronald was
killed at the World Trade Center, said an aggressive commission
would have issued subpoenas by now. "I don't understand why this
commission is being run in such a polite fashion," she said.

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/911widows.html

"There's a sense that people in America
aren't getting the truth," Bush said.

Right now we've got Paul Bremer heading up Iraq.
Not one media outlet has reported WHO the guy is.
He is (was) the head of Marsh Crisis Consulting which
is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan.
The President of the real estate division was Craig Stapleton
who is now the Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
Craig Stapleton is the husband of Dorothy, George Bush's cousin.
http://www.the-catbird-seat.net/MarshBirds.htm

From 1989 to 2000, he was Managing Director of
Kissinger Associates, a strategic consulting firm
headed by former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0212/S00018.htm

[RainDog]

10. Whoa. interesting.

and what does Marsh Crisis Consulting do?

you know, Bush is also doing this crony crap in election fundraising too.

he gives the richest one percent a HUGE tax cut and they give him HUGE kickbacks in the form of campaign contributions.

I say let those assholes pay the 87 billion in reconstruction costs in Iraq. It would only be fair since their guy screwed this whole thing up in the first place.

Before one more penny is spent on Iraq, the Bush administration should resign because of their TOTAL FAILURE. Rummy, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Bush, Feith, Libby, Rice, Powell, they all need to go. they all lied this country into a war, a quagmire, and a bottomless pit of taxpayer dollars to let them loot the place?

They can go intercourse themselves.

[Atman]

11. Find the Byrd Transcript from today

Senator and Patriot, Robert Byrd, sponsored an amendment to the $87 bil spending package, calling for more oversight of Bremmer and CPA.

It seems -- did you know this? -- the Bush signed an order granting Bremmer all the powers of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of government.

Did you get that?

I'll do what Byrd did...repeat it in amazement..."Bush signed an order granting Bremmer all the powers of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of government."

Can you say "constitution" Mr. Bush?

In fact, Byrd mentioned how Bremmer had ignored repeated requests to come before the Congress -- constitutionally obliged to oversee the war spending of the President -- offering only an "I'm too busy" as his excuse. He has been granted, via Bush's order, a literal and figurative blank check to do whatever the hell he sees fit in Iraq, and Congress can't do a darn thing about it...unless they demand answers from Bush, which the republicans simply cannot be expected to do.

What the bloody eff is going on here? Did you see this compelling, tear-inducing speech on the local news tonight? Don't you think the pResident of the United States circumventing the constitution and granting EXECUTIVE and JUDICIAL powers to a family friend warrants some news coverage?

When do we march on the media outlets? We cannot hold the Executive Branch accountable if we don't first hold their mouthpieces accountable!

[RainDog]

12. Holy Shit, Byrdman!

I suppose Bush is whacking off in the oval office at the thought he could also enjoy such unlimited power if only we didn't have that damn constitution and those pesky democrats.

This is incredible.

And, yes, it is equally incredible that this is not a screaming streaming headline, an entire week of Larry King, an O'Reilly who's looking out for you daily rant.

I definitely have to contact my congressional and house reps about this one, esp. since the repukes want our 87 billion for Bush's family friend (can you say Ken Lay, anybody?)

I didn't think it could get any more outrageous, but everyday there's some new and more outrageous event.

I was thinking, today, that I think it's about time to march on Congress because the repukes are acting like a one-party system and I'm fed up with it. They're dangerous to our democracy, as much as Bush is.

I don't mean all Republicans, but I do mean Tom DeLay and Saxby Chambliss and that whole gang of thugs. Did you see that Dems were not ALLOWED to have a plane to fly over to inspect Iraq??? Only repukes were allowed to tour Iraq, apparently??

what the fuck was that???? excuse me, Chris Dodd can't be trusted to view the situation in Iraq?

I'm telling you, they will push it to the point of a constitutional crisis. It should have occurred at the time of the 2000 election.

And when they go down, payback is gonna be sweet. Because they will go down.

[Oilwellian]

13. March on Congress?

Well c'mon and join fellow DU'ers on October 25th in DC. :D

In regard to Salin's post, you can bet the Dem Senators already know there's some damning information that will show a serious compromise of our national security. I don't think they'd call for a damage assessment if nothing was there.

Also, there appears to be two fronts of attack at work now. If you saw 60 Minutes II tonight, they're now exposing the lies this administration told to gain support for the war. The outing of Plame is directly tied to the lies they told and I see the two scandals slowly but surely becoming intertwined.

[RainDog]

19. actually...

I want to go to DC. And I have transport available. but the group I would go with will stay over and I don't know where to stay, and I'd be going all by myself, and I'm a wimpy female in real life, and Salin is gonna be elsewhere, or I'd bug her (in fact, I already tried... :)

So I don't know what to do, exactly. I'd have no transportation of my own once I got there, I wouldn't know where to stay, wouldn't know how to get into contact with other people, and, like I said, I'm a wimpy female in real life (but I can also curse like a sailor in real life, too, but it sounds different because I have a southern accent, or so I'm told by people not from the south.)

Do you know how someone like me could make the trip? I'm totally unfamiliar with DC.

[G_j]

14. and we say,

***Send a message through moveon.org
"Attorney General Ashcroft must appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the White House's role in revealing an undercover CIA agent's identity. This act was a breach of national security and a felony and should be investigated by an independent party."
http://www.moveon.org/intimigate/?id=1744-3117687-olckdclqsk8mQupjEhr5pQ
---------------------------
***Don't Let Bush And Ashcroft
Off the Hook
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!
Thousands continue to sign the petition demanding the appointment of an independent investigator to look into the illegal leaking by Bush Administration officials of a CIA agent's identity, apparently intended to intimidate the agent's husband.
Sign the petition
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/
--------------------
***Send an E-mail to Congress demanding an independent investigation:
http://capwiz.com/voice4change/issues/alert/?alertid=3595131&type=ML
--------------------
***If you want Congress to demand a special prosecutor on the Bush Administration's illegal leaks to the news media just click here:
http://action.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=10073&ms=leak2
--------------------
***Demand an Independent Investigation into the Illegal White House Leak
Do you trust John Ashcroft's Justice Department to conduct a thorough and independent investigation of the Bush White House? Sign our petition below calling for a special counsel and we'll deliver your comments to President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft, and members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
http://www.democrats.org/justice/index.html?s=demnews
--------------
And from the DNC,

Take Action: Call for an Independent Investigation Into the White House Leak

The White House still has yet to force the persons who endangered national security by leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent to come forward.

President Bush could demand answers from his staff. But he continues to plead ignorance, and says he has "no idea" whether we'll ever find out who's guilty. Bush insists it's up to the Ashcroft Justice Department to investigate, even though his spokesman has already cleared Karl Rove and other top operatives of the crime.

We don't trust John Ashcroft to investigate President Bush -- Ashcroft owes his job to Bush and Karl Rove. It's time for Congress to express its support for an independent investigation by a special counsel.

Act Now: Call and Email Members of Congress

[G_j]

16. Conyers Letter To Rove

He really said what needed to be said. (Thank you John)
--
Conyers Calls For Rove's Resignation

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/100803A.shtml

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative John Conyers, Jr., the Ranking Member, on the House Judiciary Committee sent the following letter to Senior White House Advisor, Karl Rove, asking for his resignation:

    Tuesday 07 October 2003

    Dear Mr. Rove:

    I write to ask you to resign from the White House staff. Recent press reports have indicated that, while you may or may not have been the source of the Robert Novak column which revealed the status and name of a covert operative, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, you were involved in a subsequent effort to push this classified information to other reporters and give it even wider currency. This itself may be a federal crime, but regardless of that fact, your actions are morally indefensible. In my view, it is shameful and unethical that an Administration that promised to govern with "honor and integrity" and "change the tone" in Washington has now engaged in an orchestrated campaign to smear and intimidate truth-telling critics, placing them in possible physical harm and impairing the efforts and operations of the CIA.

    Recent reports indicate that you told the journalist, Chris Matthews, and perhaps others, that Mr. Wilson's wife and her undercover status were "fair game." Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, Oct. 13, 2003. Since these initial allegations have arisen, neither the White House nor your office have denied your involvement in furthering the leak.

Repeated press inquiries into this matter have been rebuffed with technical jargon and narrow legalisms, instead of broader ethical issues. Indeed, in the same article it appears a White House source acknowledged that you contacted Matthews and other journalists, indicating that "it was reasonable to discuss who sent Wilson to Niger."

    It should be noted that these actions may well have violated 18 U.S.C. ¤ 793, which prohibits the willful or grossly negligent distribution of national defense information that could possibly be used against the United States. The law states that even if you lawfully knew of Mr. Wilson's wife's status, you were obliged to come forward and report the press leak to the proper authorities - not inflame the situation by encouraging further dissemination. 18 U.S.C. ¤ 793(f). Larger than whether any one statute can be read to find criminal responsibility is the issue of whether officials of your stature will be allowed to use their influence to intimidate whistle-blowers.

    Over three decades ago, our nation was scarred by an Administration that would stop at nothing to smear and intimidate its critics. I do not believe the Nation will countenance a repeat of such activities. For your role in this campaign, I would ask that you resign immediately.

    Sincerely,
    John Conyers, Jr.
    Ranking Minority Member
   

cc: The Honorable F. James
Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman
    Committee on the Judiciary

[goforit]

18. Arrest first and ask questions later.

They just don't know who they are dealing with!!

[Booberdawg]

20. Drip, drip, drip

I agree - this is the way to get the attention of the majority, is by letting it unfold a little at a time and allowing the public to soak it in in pieces. I never doubted we would see more about this, and I think there is a long time to go before we will see it all unfold.