Likely that Cooper and Miller's (chief) sources were not the same?

[skip fox]

especially since Cooper's specifically released him.

Before you boil over (since it seems at least slightly less likely to paint Rove into a corner), consider this.

Six reporters were contacted. Including Novak, Cooper, & Miller, that's three more. At least a few say there were at least two sources. At least five calls.

Wouldn't it be likely for someone out to discredit Wilson to get a number of different people to call, each their own contact(s), who will then flood others of the group for conformation(s)?

Who would have done that . . . but the man who was the President's Chief Political Analyst and advisor and who has been well known to engage in precisely such tactics? Karl Rove. He may have only contacted one or two himself, but orchestrated the entire phonebank in order to make Wilson's motives suspect. (And where have I ever heard of this going-for-the-throat method so much before as in the last six years?)

So . . . we may have several in the pot (Cheney, Libby, W., Rove) AND Rove as the chief conspirator!!!!

[snowbear]

1. I got that impression too skip fox..

Listening to the media heads discuss this, it sure sounds like Cooper's source is not the same person Miller is protecting..

Hopefully the truth will come out in the end.. At least there's a determined Judge assigned to the case. :shrug:

[Love Bug]

2. Well, you have to wonder

Why would Rove let one off the hook and not the other? Doesn't make sense to me.

[skip fox]

3. Other ideas on this? Rove's phonebank.

It could lead to three or more indictments of top officials.

[skip fox]

4. Here's another with the same thinking.

When Wilson's Op Ed appeared in the NY Times, someone with clearance (or in-the-know) probably told others (esp. Rove since such knowledge played to his speciality and he is expert in killing-the-messanger) the Wilson's wife, Valery Plame worked for the CIA and was instrumental in getting Wilson assigned to investigate the Niger-yellow-cake matter. Rove, and perhaps his source, probably immediately realized the power of this knowledge. They could imply Plame and Wilson had an agenda to discredit the admistration and played it out through his selection.

The likely next step was for Rove to formulate a plan whereby this information was leaked. Since we know 6 reporters were contacted and at least 3 had multiple sources, the smallest number of initial calls would be 6 and at least 3 return calls (as follow-up administration official return calls as confirmation sources). Perhaps there were as many as 12 calls altogther and not just 9.

At any rate, there were a number. This and the apparent fact that Cooper's and Miller's sources are different (since Cooper's source revealed him but Miller's did not) implies that there were at least two initial callers (initial/primary sources).

Taking this fact and knowing Rove's procedure, the likely supposition is that Rove had DIFFERENT administrative officials (including himself) call their own contact reporters, knowing those reporters (like Novak) would verify by calling another in the administrative phonebank.

Therefore, there is likely to be multiple indictments including one for Rove for revealing Plame's name and one for him orchestrating the release of classified information (her name).

Think of the possibilities: Cheney, Libby, Rice, etc., etc.

[skip fox]

5. And where would the Plame information be started? In Cheney's office.

Since Wilson was reportedly sent at the behest of the Vice President (a bit more comlicated than that, but from the administrative perspective, Cheney's office would seem to be the responsible party), either the President called Cheney's office (asking why the hell he sent Wilson and to investigate how he got this assignment) or Cheney took it upon himself (or his aide Scooter Libby did) to find out how Wilson got assigned. A few calls would confirm that he was assigned by the CIA at his wife's suggestion. At that point Cheney's office would use it clearance and find out Plame was indeed CIA and they would also realize the general method of discrediting Wilson.

But Cheney would probably not have acted on his own, especially when he know that Rove specialized beating such messengers into the ground. (His office may never have been involved in other that telling Rove that Plame was CIA and got Wilson the assignment. Of course that's a major violation of the law in itself.)

Rove would have assigned the calls, at least in general, telling the officials to call their own contacts initially and to confirm the information of other reporters in follow-up calls.

Everything I hear about Fitzgerald gives me confidence that if this is so, it will come out, even if these sources invoke the 5th.