Forum Name Latest Breaking News
Topic subject White House Security Chief Reveals -- No Probe of Plame Leak There
Topic URL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2769574#27695742769574
, White House Security Chief Reveals -- No Probe of Plame Leak There
Posted by sabra on Fri Mar-16-07 12:27 PM
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003559300 BOMBSHELL: White House Security Chief Reveals -- No Probe of Plame Leak There
NEW YORK Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, told a congresisonal committee today that he was aware of no internal investigation or report into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.
The White House had first opposed Knodell testifying but after a threat of a subpoena from the committee yesterday he was allowed to appear today.
Knodell has testified that those who had participated in the leaking of classified information were required to attest to this and he was aware that no one, including Karl Rove, had done that.
He said that he had started at the White House in August 2004, a year after the leak, but his records show no evidence of a probe or report there: "I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office," he said……….
Forum Name Latest Breaking News
Topic subject 'CIA leak' hearing: Waxman says Plame was 'covert'
Topic URL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2769405#27694052769405, 'CIA leak' hearing: Waxman says Plame was 'covert'
Posted by sabra on Fri Mar-16-07 09:51 AM
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/03/cia_leak_hearin.html 'CIA leak' hearing: Waxman says Plame was 'covert'
<snip>
Update at 10:29 a.m. ET. She was "covert:"
The question of whether Plame was a "covert" agent when her identity was revealed in 2003 has been greatly debated. The issue is important because leaking the name of a "covert" agent violates a specific law designed to protect such operatives.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., just said he has been told by the CIA, in a statement authorized by CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden, that "Miss Wilson's CIA employment status was covert." (Plame is married to former U.S. diplomat and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. She does go by the name Valerie Wilson, but is most often referred to in the media as Valerie Plame, her maiden name, because that is how she first came to be known when her name was leaked.)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/16/plame.congress.ap/index.html Plame: I was outed for 'purely political reasons'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former CIA officer Valerie Plame told a congressional committee Friday that she believes she was outed in 2003 for "purely political reasons."
Plame, whose outing triggered a federal investigation, said she always knew her identity could be discovered by foreign governments but said she was surprised to be identified by her own government.
"My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House and State Department," Plame testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "I could no longer perform the work for which I had been highly trained." (Watch Plame describe how she felt when her identity was revealed Video)
...
"It's not our job to determine criminal culpability, but it is our job to determine what went wrong and insist on accountability," Rep. Waxman said as he opened hearings………
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Forum Name Latest Breaking News
Topic subject Wilson: I did not recommend husband for Niger trip
Topic URL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2769518#27695182769518, Wilson: I did not recommend husband for Niger trip
Posted by sabra on Fri Mar-16-07 11:32 AM
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/03/wilson-i-did-not-recommend-husband-for.html Wilson: I did not recommend husband for Niger trip
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson testified Friday that it was not her idea for her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, to make a trip to Niger to investigate an allegation that Iraq had sought yellowcake uranium.
"I did not suggest him. I did not recommend him. There was no nepotism involved," she said, adding, "I did not have the authority."
It was the suggestion of another CIA officer who knew that Joe Wilson had previously gone on other CIA missions "to deal with some other nuclear matters," she said.
Later, she was asked to write an e-mail summarizing the discussion that included the possibility of her husband going. A portion of that e-mail was later taken out of context to make it seem that she had suggested her husband go, she said. …
Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Valerie Confirms Larisa's Work On CIA Doing Damage Assessment
Topic URL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x428985#428985428985, Valerie Confirms Larisa's Work On CIA Doing Damage Assessment
Posted by kpete on Fri Mar-16-07 01:58 PM
Confirmed, CIA did do a damage assessment...
Well it is nice to finally have outside confirmation of my work. I have been dragged through the mud because I reported there was a damage assessment done by the CIA... today at the hearing, Mr.s Wilson confirmed that to the committee. I await as many letters of apology as I got when I first wrote the story claiming that I had fabricated the information. I, however doubt, that most of those people would apologize. In any case, at least I am no longer on my own with regard to this information.
From my article then:
"Intelligence sources would not identify the specifics of Plame's work. They did, however, tell RAW STORY that her outing resulted in "severe" damage to her team and significantly hampered the CIA's ability to monitor nuclear proliferation.
Plame's team, they added, would have come in contact with A.Q. Khan's network in the course of her work on Iran.
read the rest at:
http://www.atlargely.com/2007/03/confirmed_cia_d.htmlForum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject VIDEO: Top Bush Official Reveals White House Never Investigated Plame Leak
Topic URL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3165906#31659063165906, VIDEO: Top Bush Official Reveals White House Never Investigated Plame Leak
Posted by babylonsister on Fri Mar-16-07 02:00 PM
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/16/white-house-plame-leak /
Top Bush Official Reveals White House Never Investigated Plame Leak
Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, revealed today that there was no evidence that the White House ever ordered a probe, report, or sactions as a result of the Plame leak. “I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office,” he said.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said he was “shocked” by Knodell’s testimony, adding that the White House’s lack of action was a “breach on top of a breach.”
Knodell claimed the White House did not investigate because there was an outside investigation taking place. But Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) noted that the investigation “didn’t start until months and months later, and had the purpose of narrowly looking to see whether there was a criminal law violated.” Waxman asked, “But there was an obligation for the White House to investigate whether classified information was being leaked inappropriately, wasn’t there?” Knodell answered, “If that was the case, yes.” Watch it AT LINK:
Shortly after the leak was revealed by Novak, Bush said he wanted an investigation to identify the leaker:
A senior official quoted Bush as saying, “I want to get to the bottom of this,” during a daily meeting yesterday morning with a few top aides, including Rove.
Bush: “If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.“
E&P reports, “The White House had first opposed Knodell testifying but after a threat of a subpoena from the committee yesterday he was allowed to appear today.”
Transcript:
CUMMINGS: Let me ask you a few questions, because in answering some of the chairman’s questions, you left me shocked. And I want to make sure I heard you right.
Are you saying, with regard to this case — that is the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson — there is no report?
KNODELL: Not in my office; there is not.
CUMMINGS: And are you also saying that there was no investigation?
KNODELL: Not by my office.
CUMMINGS: Not by your office. And so you would — I could conclude then that there were no sanctions. Is that correct? No sanctions within your office? I mean — is it one of your jobs, is it part of your job to recommend sanctions where you find that there is then a breach?
KNODELL: Correct. But there was already an outside investigation that was taking place — criminal investigation. That’s why we took no action.
CUMMINGS: Now, one of your main objectives for being in the White House is to make sure that you — make sure that these kinds of things don’t happen. Is that right?
KNODELL: Correct.
CUMMINGS: And I would assume that if anyone were to take the job that you took, that one of their — in considering what happened before you got there — that this would be something that would be on the minds of everybody, because, again, this is like bells ringing, alarms going off.
CUMMINGS: This is the kind of thing that you don’t want to do, because this could end up in your lap. Is that right?
KNODELL: In this particular case, you’re absolutely right. This started long before my tenure in this position. By the time I took the position, the criminal investigation was already under way.
CUMMINGS: But did you look into it at all? You didn’t look into it at all?
KNODELL: Right.
CUMMINGS: I mean, just so that you could make sure you did your job right and didn’t allow this to happen again?
KNODELL: We didn’t want to have collateral investigations going on at the same time, sir.
CUMMINGS: So if there is a criminal investigation and you have got to — you’re trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again, so you don’t even look into it at all?
In other words, you, as the guy — you’re the guy who is responsible for guarding all of this and making sure that everything goes right. So it sounds to me like we had a breach on top of a breach. We had one situation where Ms. Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity and covert status was disclosed. And then within the very office within the White House, there’s no report, there’s no investigation and there are no sanctions.
KNODELL: Sir, again, any reporting would have taken place prior to my arriving into the office.
CUMMINGS: Now, the criminal case is…
WAXMAN: Will the gentleman yield to me…
CUMMINGS: Of course.
WAXMAN: … because I just want to pin this point down? Do you know whether there was an investigation at the White House after the leaks came out?
KNODELL: I don’t have any knowledge of an investigation within my office.
WAXMAN: Ever?
KNODELL: I do not.
WAXMAN: Because the president said he was investigating this matter and was going to get the bottom of it. You’re not aware that any investigation took place?
KNODELL: Not within my office, sir.
WAXMAN: And if there was an investigation, what were you referring to, Mr. Fitzgerald’s investigation?
KNODELL: Yes, the outside investigation.
WAXMAN: OK, that didn’t start until months and months later, and that had the purpose of narrowly looking to see whether there was a criminal law violated. But there was an obligation for the White House to investigate whether classified information was being leaked inappropriately, wasn’t there?
KNODELL: If that was the case, yes.
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