CIA Leak Investigation Turns to Possible Perjury, Obstruction

[norml]

July 23, 2005 latimes.com : Nation

THE NATION
CIA Leak Investigation Turns to Possible Perjury, Obstruction
By Douglas Frantz, Sonni Efron and Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON — The special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation has shifted his focus from determining whether White House officials violated a law against exposing undercover agents to determining whether evidence exists to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges, according to people briefed in recent days on the inquiry's status.

Differences have arisen in witnesses' statements to federal agents and a grand jury about how the name of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent, was leaked to the press two years ago.

According to lawyers familiar with the case, investigators are comparing statements by two top White House aides, Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, with testimony from reporters who have acknowledged talking to the officials.

Although no one has suggested that the investigation into who leaked Plame's name has been shelved, the intensity of the inquiry into possible perjury charges has increased, according to one lawyer familiar with events who spoke on condition that he not be identified.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, and his team have made no decision on whether to seek indictments.


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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak23jul23,1,7011532.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

[Kazak]

1. Why do I suddenly not like the way this is smelling?

Someone tell me this is not bad for the cause.

[shraby]

2. I smell a rat in the woodpile.

Sounds like a story from Rove's attorney.

[snowbear]

3. WHY was Rove editing intellegence statements !?!?!?

PODESTA: This morning, again, in the New York Times, we learned that Karl Rove in the summer of 2003 was editing George Tenet’s statement about the faulty intelligence and the faulty statement that the President made in his State of the Union address to kind of rush us into the war in Iraq. Now Ed served as the political director of the White House. I’m fairly confident that he never edited any statements by Bill Casey at the CIA.

ROLLINS: None whatsoever.

More- http://thinkprogress.org/2005/07/22/why-was-rove-editing-intelligence-statements-in-2003/

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I saw this interview .......

Podesta seemed appropriately pissed off and disgusted. Rollins seemed in pain ... like he'd rather have been in the dentist's waiting room thinking about an upcoming root canal. He delivered the usual RW spew, but it was obvious to me his heart wasn't in it.

Maybe he drew the short straw ..... ?

What I took away from the interview was a sense that even some of the Repugs are beyond tolerance for idiot son.

[fasttense]

5. You know that many repukes have had it with brush

but just like Nazi Germany before WWII, they say nothing and continue to march in step with the illegal and immoral agenda.

[w13rd0]

6. "according to one lawyer familiar with events who spoke on condition"...

...i.e. Karl Rove's lawyer.

This is the beginning salvo in the next phase of "desperate rove defense", otherwise known as "smear Fitzgerald"...

See, he doesn't have a case, so he's going on a fishing expedition. You'll be hearing that phrase soon. Also, you'll be seeing them bring up Clinton a lot.

[bluedog]

7. reporters questioned

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July. They include:

Robert Novak, "Crossfire," "Capital Gang" and the Chicago Sun-Times
Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps, Newsday
Walter Pincus, Richard Leiby, Mike Allen, Dana Priest and Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post
Matthew Cooper, John Dickerson, Massimo Calabresi, Michael Duffy and James Carney, Time magazine
Evan Thomas, Newsweek
Andrea Mitchell, "Meet the Press," NBC
Chris Matthews, "Hardball," MSNBC
Tim Russert, Campbell Brown, NBC
Nicholas D. Kristof, David E. Sanger and Judith Miller, The New York Times
Greg Hitt and Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal
John Solomon, The Associated Press
Jeff Gannon, Talon News