Leak Potentially Horrific

Bush officials admit the leak of Plame's identity could potentially reveal other agency secrets beyond her identity.

"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."

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No Doubt: Plame Was Covert

This unclassifed document from the CIA lays to rest the matter of Plame's status as a covert operative.

"On 1 January 2002, Valerie Wilson was working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an operations officer in the Directorate of Operations (DO). She was assigned to the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) at CIA Headquarters, where she served as the Chief of a CPD component with responsibility for weapons proliferation issues related to Iraq.

While assigned to CPD, Ms. Wilson engaged in Temporary Duty (TDY) travel overseas on official business. She traveled at least seven times to more than ten countries. When traveling overseas, Ms. Wilson always traveled under a cover identity--sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias--but always using cover--whether official or non-official cover (NOC)--with no ostensible relationship to the CIA.

At the time of the initial unauthorized disclosure in the media of Ms. Wilson's employment relationship with the CIA on 14 July 2003, Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for whom the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States."

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Cheney Directed Leaks of Classified Info

As reported by Murray Waas in the April 14, 2006 National Journal, Cheney instructed Libby to leak the classified information to the press. And by July 12, Libby was already in his THIRD conversation with Judith Miller regarding Plame's CIA employment.

"Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified CIA report that Cheney hoped would undermine the credibility of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to Libby's grand jury testimony in the CIA leak case and sources who have read the classified report."

All signs point to Cheney as being the master puppeteer in this sordid affair.

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Was Plame Covert?

She was according to CIA Director Michael Hayden:

''Waxman said CIA Director Michael Hayden had informed the committee that at the time Wilson's identity was exposed, she was an undercover officer, and any disclosure of her employment status with the agency was prohibited by executive order.''

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Undercover, Covert, and Classified (Also Hush Hush)

Yup, she was covert. Special Thanks to Larry Johnson for this:

"What did we learn in school today? UNDERCOVER = COVERT = CLASSIFIED. Valerie Plame was UNDERCOVER, COVERT, AND CLASSIFIED. And Valerie Plame was betrayed by Bush Administration officials who played politics with her classified identity. Val put that on the record and is willing to go to jail if she lied. But she told the truth, at great personal cost. Speaking of jail, I wonder if Scooter Libby longs for a big, beefy roomate or prefers the Charles Manson variety? Just wondering."

Was Plame Covert?

It certainly looks that way accoring to the law.

"The term “covert agent” means—

(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency—

(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information, and

(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States; or"

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Plame Star Witness

Kudos to FireDogLake for this bit of reporting:

"With the personal clearance of the Director of the CIA, Committee Chairman Henry Waxman read a statement declaring that Plame had been a covert agent when the White House exposed her identity and employment, that her status had been classified and that the CIA had taken active steps to protect her classified identity and employment."

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Outing of Plame - Who's Going to Work for Us Now?

Think about it -- if you were an al qaeda insider, and you knew that Bush had outed Plame, would YOU agree to cooperate with the CIA now?

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Waxman's on the Case

Check out this from Henry Waxman's House Oversight Committee.

"Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity

Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. At the hearing, the Committee will receive testimony from Ms. Wilson and other experts regarding the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 16.

In addition, the Committee today sent a letter to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald commending him for his investigation and requesting a meeting to discuss testimony by Mr. Fitzgerald before the Committee.

The Oversight Committee will webcast the hearing live at www.oversight.house.gov."

The fun is just beginning, folks.

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Libby & Al Capone

"Convicting him of perjury was like convicting Al Capone of tax evasion or Alger Hiss of perjury. It doesn't mean they were not guilty of other crimes." - Joe Wilson

Rule of Law

I found some powerful statements by indignant republicans about how werewolf-like it is to lie under oath.

''How can educators teach our children? How can the rule of law for every American be applied equally if we have two standards of justice in America--one for the powerful and the other for the rest of us?'' - Chuck Hagel (R-NB)

"This nation sits at a crossroads. One direction points to the higher road of the rule of law. Sometimes hard, sometimes unpleasant, this path relies on truth, justice and the rigorous application of the principle that no man is above the law. Now, the other road is the path of least resistance. This is where we start making exceptions to our laws based on poll numbers and spin control. This is when we pitch the law completely overboard when the mood fits us, when we ignore the facts in order to cover up the truth. No man is above the law, and no man is below the law. That’s the principle that we all hold very dear in this country." - Tom DeLay

"What is on trial here is the truth and the rule of law. . . " Our failure to hold people accountable for "lying under oath and preventing the courts from administering equal justice under law, will cause a cancer to be present in our society for generations." - James Sensenbrenner

"I will have no part in the creation of a constitutional double-standard to benefit" those in positions of power. "He is not above the law. If an ordinary citizen committed these crimes, he would go to jail." - Bill Frist

---

Speaking about Scooter Libby?

Heavens no. That was when they wanted to nail Clinton on the same charges Libby was convicted on this week.

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Libby - the "Fall Guy"

Here's one I don't understand, unless we attribute it to pure stupidity on the part of our Bush supporters and Libby defenders.

When rightwingers complain that Libby was made the ''fall guy,'' they seem not to understand that they're implicating the people ABOVE the Special Assistant to the President - that would be Cheney and Bush.

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DOJ Authorized Fitz to Go after Perjurers

In a February, 2004 letter from the Acting Attorney General of the United States, to Patrick Fitzgerald, the AG specifically charged Fitzgerald with the authority to go after anyone who tried to interfere with his investigation of the alleged unauthorized disclosure of Plame's identity.

"At your request, I am writing to clarify that my December 30, 2003, delegation to you of "all the authority of the Attorney General with respect to the Department's investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA employee's identity" is plenary and includes the authority to investigate and prosecute violations of any federal criminal laws related to the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, your investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice...."

It's like Fitzgerald expected obstruction, destruction of evidence, and perjury, and asked permission in advance to expand his investigation if needed.

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Post Spins for Libby

In its March 6, 2007, lead editorial, the Washington Post attempts to downplay the Libby conviction. You might recall that we predicted such spin by the media.

"The trial has provided convincing evidence that there was no conspiracy to punish Mr. Wilson by leaking Ms. Plame's identity -- and no evidence that she was, in fact, covert."

On the contrary, the Post earlier reported this:

As he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President Cheney's former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the first time described a "concerted action" by "multiple people in the White House" -- using classified information -- to "discredit, punish or seek revenge against" a critic of President Bush's war in Iraq.

In order to believe the editorial's suggestion that there was no orchestrated effort to punish Wilson, one has to disbelieve the Post's own reporting.

As for whether or not she was covert, according to Fitzgerald, Plame's identity had been protected by the CIA "not just for the officer, but for the nation's security."

In statements to the press following the verdict, Fitzgerald stated clearly and emphatically that Libby had divulged "classified information." The question of whether she was covert is moot. The CIA referred the matter to the Justice Department for a reason. The outing of Plame had done serious damage to the security of the nation and to the CIA intelligence apparatus.

Further, in a Justice Department letter to Fitzgerald the department clearly granted him "authority to investigate and prosecute violations of any federal crime laws related to the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, your investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses."

Any way you cut it. Libby committed a very serious offense in jeapordizing a CIA operative and those working with her. Fitzgerald was perfectly within reasonable prosecutorial boundries in going after the man who tried to obstruct his investigation into it.

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Impeach Cheney

Larry Johnson from TPM Cafe sums it up neatly:

"If a President can be impeached for lying about a blow job then by God a Vice President should be impeached for setting in motion the forces that destroyed an intelligence network during a time of war. Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter, Armitage, Bartlett, Matalin, and Fleischer need to be subpoenaed and marched before an investigative committee."

I couldn't have put it any better.

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Libby Conviction Could Spell Trouble for Cheney

This piece by Murray Waas of the National Journal spells out some possible difficulties for Cheney if Libby is found guilty.

At the time that Libby offered his explanation to Cheney [in the fall of 2003, after the Plame investigation had begun], the vice president already had reason to know that Libby's account to him was untrue, according to sources familiar with still-secret grand jury testimony and evidence in the CIA leak probe, as well as testimony made public during Libby's trial over the past three weeks in federal court.

Yet, according to Libby's own grand jury testimony, which was made public during his trial in federal court, Cheney did nothing to discourage Libby from telling that story to the FBI and the federal grand jury. Moreover, Cheney encouraged then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan to publicly defend Libby, according to other testimony and evidence made public during Libby's trial.

If Libby is found guilty, investigators are likely to probe further to determine if Libby devised what they consider a cover story in an effort to shield Cheney. They want to know whether Cheney might have known about the leaks ahead of time or had even encouraged Libby to provide information to reporters about Plame's CIA status, the same sources said.

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Fleischer May Be Next!

Will Fitzgerald now indict Ari Fleischer? In the Washington Post reporter, Dana Milbank, writes:

The leadoff witness, The Post's Walter Pincus, testified that then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told him about Plame's identity -- directly contradicting Fleischer's sworn testimony.

[...]

As recently as two weeks ago, Fleischer testified otherwise, saying it's "absolutely correct" that he did not tell Pincus about the CIA worker.

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Libby Time-line

Here's an interesting timeline on the Libby scandal.

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Bush Lowers the Bar

Bush at first said he'd fire anyone involved in the Valerie Plame outing. Now that Rove's been identified as the leaker, Bush changes his mind.

From the Washington Post:

"In June 2004, Bush was asked if he would "fire anyone found to "have leaked the agent's name. "Yes," he replied."

Waxman Demands Bush Act on Treasongate

Oh my! Waxman's on Bush's case.

Under the executive order, you may not wait until criminal intent and liability are proved by a prosecutor. Instead, you have an affirmative obligation to take "appropriate and prompt corrective action." And the standards of proof are much different. A criminal violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald is investigating, requires a finding that Mr. Rove "intentionally disclose[d]" the identity of a covert agent. In contrast, the administrative sanctions under Executive Order 12958 can be imposed without a finding of intent. Under the express terms of the executive order, you are required to impose administrative sanctions – such as removal of office or termination of security clearance – if Mr. Rove or other officials acted "negligently" in disclosing or confirming information about Ms. Wilson's identity.