Speaking of ‘scandals,’ I am alternately under and overwhelmed with the tedious minutae of the Plame case, so I was sort of hoping to go a day without mentioning it. The NY Times felt otherwise:
In the same week in July 2003 in which Bush administration officials told a syndicated columnist and a Time magazine reporter that a C.I.A. officer had initiated her husband’s mission to Niger, an administration official provided a Washington Post reporter with a similar account.
The first two episodes, involving the columnist Robert D. Novak and the reporter Matthew Cooper, have become the subjects of intense scrutiny in recent weeks. But little attention has been paid to what The Post reporter, Walter Pincus, has recently described as a separate exchange on July 12, 2003.
In that exchange, Mr. Pincus says, “an administration official, who was talking to me confidentially about a matter involving alleged Iraqi nuclear activities, veered off the precise matter we were discussing and told me that the White House had not paid attention” to the trip to Niger by Joseph C. Wilson IV “because it was a boondoggle arranged by his wife, an analyst with the agency who was working on weapons of mass destruction.”
Mr. Wilson traveled to Niger in 2002 at the request of the C.I.A. to look into reports about Iraqi efforts to buy nuclear materials. He later accused the administration of twisting intelligence about the nuclear ambitions of Iraq, prompting an angry response from the White House.
Mr. Pincus did not write about the exchange with the administration official until October 2003, and The Washington Post itself has since reported little about it. The newspaper’s most recent story was a 737-word account last Sept. 16, in which the newspaper reported that Mr. Pincus had testified the previous day about the matter, but only after his confidential source had first “revealed his or her identity” to Mr. Fitzgerald, the special counsel conducting the C.I.A. leak inquiry.
Tom Maguire cuts through it all from the perspective of the right.
Lamont
Hadley joins Libby and Rove in the Gang of 3. Each from a different branch of the White House, each peddling the same tale. Coincidence?
Brad R.
Perhaps the Bush Brute Squad was making all of the the other phone calls to smear Wilson, intimidate potential whistleblowers, and get revenge. But it sounds like this leak was an attempt to get the White House side of the story in play, which jibes with what Rove told Cooper when he warned him not to get too close to Wilson.
So disclosing classified information is OK as long as you’re doing it to “get the White House side of the story in play” and not out of revenge. Glad Tom could clear that up for me.
Tim F
The Maguire Doctrine: good intentions cleanse the dirtiest felony.
To think these guys used to be conservatives.
Janus Daniels
“Tom Maguire cuts through it all…” I guess you intend sarcasm and irony?
Maxwell
For the past few weeks, most of the “new” information is coming from reporters or blogs that follow foreign relations and intelligence topics. This likely means the information is from sources at the State Dept. or the CIA. Some of it may be from witnesses who have testified before the Grand Jury or investigators and are permitted to relate what they testified. These sources may not be friendly to the White House and the neocons who have been shaping policy.
DougJ
T-Mag is tearing the left a new one on this. If Ms. Plame wasn’t undercover, how could there be a crime here? Quite frankly, I am stunned that Mr. Fitzgerald — a respected prosecutor — has wasted two years investigating a case where no crime was committed. Secondly, as Maguire points out, it is standard political practice to point out the possible motives of those who criticize the government. Sometimes that may hurt someone’s career. That’s life in the big city. If Ms. Plame doesn’t like it, she should have told her husband to shut up.
jg
what’s ‘boondoggle’ mean?
DougJ
That’s what this whole thing is, a boondoggle. First, a boondoggle trip to Niger to “prove” that Niger wasn’t trying to sell Uranium to Iraq, as if such a thing could ever be proven (it shall remain an “uknowable unknown” to use Rumsfeld’s phrase). Second a boondoggle to prosecute someone for outing a desk jockey at Langley as if such a thing were an actual crime.
If we’d spend half this amount of energy on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, we’d have found her by now!
Sojourner
The righties are working overtime trying to cover their crimes. I thought the Bushies were going to bring ethics back into the WH?
DougJ
“I thought the Bushies were going to bring ethics back into the WH?”
Hey, nobody’s getting BJs in the oval office. Show me the blue dress — then I’ll agree we’ve got a scandal.
Sojourner
Dougie has a thing for pretty blonde girls. Much more important than national security. Such a funny boy.
eileen from OH
My favorite li’l buddy, DougJ sez:
So Fitzgerald, a very highly respected, non-partison, extremely qualified prosecutor who has nailed some serious bad guys and whose reputation is absolutely sterling has suddenly, against every scrap of info there is about him and what everyone who knows him, done a complete 180 and turned into a capricious gad-about-the-court, wasting time and energy, skipping around the courtroom flinging torts and briefs with careless abandon over a non-case?
Do ya think there just MIGHT be another explanation?
eileen from OH
DougJ
“So Fitzgerald, a very highly respected, non-partison, extremely qualified prosecutor who has nailed some serious bad guys and whose reputation is absolutely sterling has suddenly, against every scrap of info there is about him and what everyone who knows him, done a complete 180 and turned into a capricious gad-about-the-court, wasting time and energy, skipping around the courtroom flinging torts and briefs with careless abandon over a non-case?”
Apparently, yes.
DougJ
“Dougie has a thing for pretty blonde girls. Much more important than national security.”
The left-wing media does, too — why else would they care so much about desk jockey Valerie Plame?
Sojourner
You really are an idiot.
jg
Seriously can someone tell me what a ‘boondoggle’ is? From context its not that clear. And Dougjs spin job doesn’t do anything at all. Nice of him to find an opening to drop more republican talking points on us.
Sojourner
From those nice folks at dictionary.com:
An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity.
jg
How can administration officials call it that when the point was to find out if Iraq was trying to buy uranium? They’re the ones who wanted to know if it happened, and now its all just a boondoggle?
Stormy70
It’s a boondoggle because an ex-ambassador was sent on a trip by his wife to sip tea and ask nicely if Iraq was interested in buying Uranium. Why didn’t the vaunted spy send an actual expert with undercover ties to the government in Niger, who could then actually attempt to find the truth. She sent her media-whore of a husband, who proceeded to lie to every reporter he could find. Mrs. ACT contributor sounds like a real CIA winner.
DougJ
“Mrs. ACT contributor sounds like a real CIA winner.”
Her contributions to ACT alone justify her “outing”. Seriously, what did she expect when her husband came out swinging against the big dawgs? I’m sorry she can’t work as a desk jockey, but she’s a liberal activist and she deserves it.
As far as I’m concerned, Karl Rove should ruin the career of everybody who gave money to American Communists Together.
Tim F
Sounds like Stormy has already reviewed the evidence, interviewed the witnesses and found the leakers innocent. I guess Fitz can pack up and go home now.
jg
Is that what happened? You heard this version on FOX?
Sojourner
And you wonder why a lot of us on the left think you’re a joke?
Sojourner
Perhaps because they didn’t really want to know. They were going to war regardless.
DougJ
“And you wonder why a lot of us on the left think you’re a joke?”
Typical leftist: anyone who doesn’t toe the leftist-Marxist party line gets called a joke. And of course Fox is a lot of our main source of news on this. The rest of the media is nothing but left-wing propaganda.
Mike S
Sometimes I’m embarrassed that I think of Stormy as reasonable. First off, Wilson did find the truth, as the ISG final report shows. But when she uses an obvious hit piece by the Post, she shows herself to be just like the rest. They went to see Bruce. He used to be an icon to both the left and the right. I guess now that he isn’t suitibly Patriotic he will be bashed incessantly.
Andrei
DougJ’s online parody of a GOPing, party-line toting, kool-aid drinking rightwing hack would be the perfect comedy act if it weren’t so close to reality.
From Powerline:
Given such things, and given Stormy’s performance on this blog as well, it just makes DougJ’s obvious comedic impersonation more tragic than funny. (Then again, maybe DougJ is so far ahead of the curve that his Andy Kaufmanesque rightwing snarks really are raw comedy at its best.)
Tim F
Some things drive her over the edge. There’s apparently still room to stonewall on torture, while the Plame thing has reached the point where the only possible defense is to go hysterically apeshit against the victims. ‘They had it coming’ doesn’t count for much as a felony defense, but it seems to help the wingies sleep at night.
jg
FOX is right wing propaganda. Doesn’t it concern you that you’re only hearing half the issue? And its the half that always sides with the administration.
Stormy70
Look, you know I said if Rove is guilty, he should be burned. But the Wilson’s are not credible in this, and the Senate report shows where Wilson lied about who sent him. His wife sent him, not Cheney. CIA nepotism. Who knew? I’ll have to ask my brother if he can get me a job.
Sojourner
His wife didn’t send him. She didn’t have the authority. Cheney didn’t send him. The CIA sent him at the request of the office of the VP. Get your facts straight if you expect to be taken seriously.
DougJ
What could Rove possibly be guilty of? Valerie Plame was not undercover and her contributions to ACT clearly marked her as a political enemy and hence as fair game.
Mike S
Stormy, why are you still parroting the Cheney sent him crap? From day 1 he has said that Cheney had questions so the CIA sent him. And even the guy that talked to Novak from the CIA said that his wife didn’t send him and told Novak that himself.
Andrei
Prove it.
Or better yet, let me offer you the same kind of bet I offered Rick: I’ll give you $100 if Plame sent her husband. You give me $100 if you are wrong.
We’ll settle the bet once Fitz releases his final report on the entire case.
And don’t forget: Suggesting, recommending or advising to send her husband (because well, you know, he knew people in Niger and had connections there that could be taken advantage of on such short notice that the information was requested) is not the same as being able to authorize him to go on that sort of trip; to actually “send” him on behalf of the CIA.
Anyone else want to take this bet with me and Stormy? In fact Stormy, if you are so right, you should take the same bet from 4 others on this site. You’d make an easy $500. Hell, find 9 others to take the bet with you besides me and it’s an easy $1000. That is, of course, if you are right. If you are wrong, you’d be out $500 to $1000.
Whattya say?
DougJ
“We’ll settle the bet once Fitz releases his final report on the entire case.”
Why should we believe this? What if Fitz just has it in for the Bush White House? Why not suggest that we settle bets based on what is shown in the next Michael Moore movie?
Stormy70
I don’t gamble, especially with someone who’s pockets are deeper than mine, Mr. $400,000. Why should I bother looking up the link to the Senate report stating his wife sent him, when you guys will just say it was wrong. We are at an impasse until the report comes out.
Andrei
Ok DougJ… while I’m personally loving the comedy, if you post too often, you’ll send up whiffers like this one. Slow down. Quality not quantity. John Cole isn’t going to ban you any time soon. You have plenty of time to make sure each and every one of your posts hits back with the kind of force like the Ed Helms “camera in my ballsack” piece. I have faith in you.
Andrei
Wow. Turning down easy money! I guess you’re just a RINO considering you don’t want the money.
By the way… it’s not gambling if you are right.
Sojourner
My absolute favorite Daily Show piece!!
Sojourner
Nah. She just likes to make shit up. She doesn’t want to be held accountable for it.
jg
He never said Cheney sent him. He said the VP office had questions about a report and the CIA sent him to investigate. Never said Cheney sent him.
Isn’t it odd to you that the guys you support are so concerned with ruining Wilsons credibility? Why not just take his accusations head on? His claim is that he was sent to investigate this, he reported back it wasn’t a concern, his report made it to the WH, yet they still put the 16 words in the SOTU.
Even if she wasn’t NOC at the time she was once. Previous contacts are blown, the front company is blown, a network is gone. A network to find wmd and keep it from terrorists is blown. Doesn’t that bother you? Out your politics in the closet for a mintue and think about that. At a time of war, for political gain, a network was compromised. Hard to consider? They’ve done it twice. To justify elevating the color of the alert status last year they gave too much info and outed an Al Qaeda operative who’d been flipped.
A network to find wmd and keep it from terrorists is blown. Doesn’t that bother you?
jg
I mean ‘Put’.
Andrei
Here Stormy, I looked it up for you:
Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq
On page 39, section II.B, the reports states:
Empasis mine.
Now I offer you the definition of “sent,” courtesy of Webster’s:
sent (v., v.tr.)
3a. To direct to go on a mission: sent troops into the Middle East. 3b. To require or enable to go: sent her children to college. 3c. To direct (a person) to a source of information; refer: sent the student to the reference section of the library.
And for tedium’s sake, here’s the defintion of “suggest”:
suggest (tr. v.)
1. To offer for consideration or action; propose: suggest things for children to do; suggested that we take a walk. 2. To bring or call to mind by logic or association; evoke: a cloud that suggests a mushroom; a ringlike symbol suggesting unity. 3. To make evident indirectly; intimate or imply: a silence that suggested disapproval. 4. To serve as or provide a motive for; prompt or demand: Such a crime suggests apt punishment.
Like I said, it’s not gambling if you’re right. I wasn’t gambling with you, but I’ll assume that went right over your head.
Sojourner
Careful, folks. You don’t want to confuse Stormy with facts. Her head might explode.
Stormy70
Wilson lied, and his wife is responsible for him being sent, instead of someone who could actually get to the truth. He asked over tea. Stellar.
jg
When did Wilson lie?
Sojourner
And your source for these claims is…
Mike S
Good lord Stormy. He got the truth. Why is that so hard for you to get?
Andrei
More help from Websters for you Stormy:
responsible (adj.)
1. Liable to be required to give account, as of one’s actions or of the discharge of a duty or trust. 2. Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority: a responsible position within the firm. 3. Being a source or cause. 4. Able to make moral or rational decisions on one’s own and therefore answerable for one’s behavior. 5. Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable. 6.Based on or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking: responsible journalism. 7.Having the means to pay debts or fulfill obligations. 8. Required to render account; answerable: The cabinet is responsible to the parliament.
Now that you’ve gone from saying Plame sent Wilson, to that she’s “responsible for him being sent,” please inform us which of the definitions of the word you’d like to use to make your case. And remember, according to the Senatge report you were so quick to use as evidence, all the the report claims she did was “suggest” that Wilson go, because he had a lot on contacts there that might be of use. Did you even bother to read the cite I quoted? Did you bothering reading the definition of “suggest” since you don’t seem to understand its meaning?
We can do this all you want, or you could just pick up the dictionary yourself and make sure you have a basic grasp of the English language before you say anything that we might you accountable to.
Ken Mehlman RNC
Stormy- Check your mailbox, the new talking points are there. Joe Wilson didn’t just drink tea on his journey, it was GREEN tea. You knows who drinks green tea?… Yeah, John Kerry that big, soft pansy.
Anyhow, tea talk is so ’03. In your mailbox you’ll find the new meme: professionally impotent and highly bureaucratic couple. An oldie but a goodie…
Yours truly in battle
Ken
scs
My theory is that the Wilsons set this all up. Why would Plame offer her husband, when they knew that as political rivals to the Bush administration, their offer would not be appreciated? Why would Wilson write an article criticizing the administration, knowing that to do so would probably expose his wife later? Apparently Wilson knew beforehand that his wife’s name would be exposed to the media. Why did he take no action at the CIA to stop that? Who was this mysterious stranger that approached Novak on the street? A Wilson plant perhaps to get the whole scandal rolling? I think its possible they purposely tempted the administration to mention Plame, so that they could cry foul after they took the bait.
Mike S
Tin Foil futures just went through the roof.
Andrei
While John Cole’s blogger stock started tanking due to the comments. And oh, SCS… we already have DougJ for comedic value… Stop being a hater. Let DougieJ do what DougieJ does best. We only need one.
Stormy70
Andrei – you’ve threatened to leave before when dissenting comments are posted, are you afraid of dissent? it’s the new patriotism, you know.
Everyone must agree with Andrei, or you are a hater.
Shamelessly yours…
Stormy
Sojourner
This coming from the girl who whines about how mistreated she is by her fellow bloggers.
scs
Hey, I’m just trying to think outside the box. A new conspiracy theory is always fun. The weirder it is, the cooler it is if it is found true.
Andrei
No. I’m afraid of morons who can’t acknolwedge facts when they are confronted with them and whom are allowed to vote in this country. I wonder whom I’m referring to.
I’m all for dissent when everyone can agree on the same basic facts and draw different conclusions. What you and many on this site aren’t doing is dissent because many of you refuse to even recognize even the simplest of facts.
Mike S
What you and many on this site aren’t doing is dissent because many of you refuse to even recognize even the simplest of facts.
Care to enlighten us?
Andrei
Mike S, I assume you didnt bother to read the exchange between Stormy and I above? You know, the know where I cited the part of the Senate report she claimed shows Plame sent her husband?
For a reply to you, I’d just copy and paste that entire exchange but I’d prefer to make you do some work and scroll up.
Mike S
Sorry. I was confused by your comment as far as which side of the argument you were on. Stormy, and most Rove defenders, are willfully ignorant.