Saturday, October 29, 2005

Indictment Dissected: Libby’s Knowledge of Plame’s Covert Identity. [This is the second part of a Think Progress series breaking down the significance of the Libby indictment.] In at least three instances, it appears from the facts outlined in the indictments that Libby was aware that Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA agent. 1. Libby spoke to his Principal Deputy [John Hannah] about an article in The New Republic and discussed whether they could share information about the role of Wilson's wife in sending him to Niger. "Libby responded that there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing that information publicly, and that he could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line." (see #14) [comment: Hannah appears to have flipped] 2. In a lunch with Ari Fleischer, Libby tells him that Wilson's wife works at the CIA and "noted that such information was not widely known." 3. In a conversation with Judith Miller, Libby specifically asked that the information on Plame's identity be attributed to a "former Hill staffer" rather than to a "senior administration official," as had been the understanding with respect to other information that Libby provided to Miller during this meeting. (see #17) UPDATE: A reader points out a crucial piece of information from the indictment strongly indicates that Libby knew Plame worked undercover and then misrepresented that knowledge. The indictment says Cheney told Libby that Plame worked in the "Counterproliferation Division" (see #9), an agency in the CIA's Directorate of Operations. But when Libby later talked to Miller, he told her, according to Miller's notes, that " Wife works at WINPAC." WINPAC is part of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence. Why is this significant? The Directorate of Operations works undercover. As the CIA website states: The Directorate of Operations is responsible for the clandestine collection of foreign intelligence. The current director is under cover and cannot be named at the present time. So Libby learned from Cheney that Plame worked undercover but then told Judith Miller that Plame worked in the Directorate of Intelligence, which "is on the overt side of the CIA" and does not work undercover. It appears from this information that Libby intentionally misled Miller. Josh Marshall has more. [Think Progress] 6:07:54 PM    comment []

Indictment Dissected: Cheney’s Role. [This is the first part of a Think Progress series breaking down the significance of the Libby indictment.] There are a few instances in the indictments that point to a larger role that Dick Cheney may have played in the leak. Here are some examples: 1. Libby was"advised by the Vice President" that "Wilson's wife worked" at the CIA in the Counterproliferation Division (see #9). The verb "advised by" is oddly-placed and echoes language from fact #16 when Libby "advises" Ari Fleischer about Plame's identity. The verb seems to be synonymous with "instructed." This discussion, referenced in fact #9, follows a staff meeting in the VP's office the preceding day (see #8) in which Wilson was discussed. Was Cheney trying to emphasize what he saw as the most strategic attack to Pincus's column? 2. While onboard Air Force Two with Cheney, Libby is reported to have "discussed with other officials aboard the plane" what to say in response to media inquires about Wilson (see #22). See Talking Points Memo for more about Cheney’s role on this flight. 3. On p.21 of the indictment, a transcript of Libby's grand jury testimony is provided. The prosecutors ask Libby why he was telling reporters that his source of knowledge for Plame's identity was "a reporter rather than the Vice-President." [Think Progress] 6:06:44 PM    comment []

Stephen Elliott: Bush, Libby, And What It's About. There was a long editorial in the Times this morning titled The Case Against Scooter Libby. It went into all kinds of detail. There was big lying on the part of Libby. Libby is a fried fish. There's been other talk as well. Talk about Rove and what he did and didn't have to do with it. Does it matter if he broke the law? He certainly lied to the American people. As did the Vice President, Dick Cheney. The last line of the New York Times unsigned editorial - And as absorbing as this criminal investigation has been, the big point Americans need to keep in mind is this: There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. And really that is everything. One has to wonder if anything else matters. We are at war under false pretenses and nobody seems to know what to do about that. 2,000 Americans are dead. We've created an unstable situation in the middle of the Middle East. We've removed a ruthless dictator and replaced him with a killing zone, a magnet for anti-Americanism. Some minor side effects have been reduced ability to confront threats from Syria, Iran, and North Korea as well as a crippled federal government unable to cope with disasters at home. It will be very hard to get the American public behind another military action and this makes us so much weaker. We've lost our leverage. And people are dying. And the administration keeps saying we must honor our dead soldiers by completing the mission. But the mission is not going to be completed, the mission has already been blown. We are going to leave Iraq at some point and it is not going to be pretty. So now a top advisor has been indicted and the administration has been exposed, once again, as devaluing truth as well as honest debate. Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA agent because her husband exposed the administration's willful twisting of intelligence in the run up to war in Iraq. In my last couple of posts I've been derided by the minions of the right. "Why don't you just blame everything on George Bush" they say. OK, I do. I blame George Bush for our failure in the Middle East and in New Orleans. For waging a war against science whose victims are evolution and stem cell research. I blame George Bush for giving away a surplus, a surplus that we really needed, to his rich friends. And what does this have to do with Scooter Libby? Everything. He was Dick Cheney's closest advisor. If Dick Cheney didn't know what Libby was doing (and he did) that would be even worse. If Cheney's office is operating outside the president's control, it's just as bad. The president is responsible for his people, for the culture of deceit. His administration is the soil. And the scandals - the torture at Abu Ghraib, the missing weapons of mass destruction, the unqualified director of the Federal Emergency Management Association, and the lies freely spun by the people in the highest offices of the executive branch - these are the flowers that grow in the president's dirt. - Stephen Elliott [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 5:59:40 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Patricia Thurston.