Ashcroft, Plame & Rove: pushback time- will he take the papers?

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

Now that Ashcroft's got a foot out the DOJ door, it's time to use the Gonzales nomination hearing to hit hard on the disgraceful conduct in which he engaged in the early days of the Plame probe.

If there's any paper trail about what Ashcroft knew and when he knew in re Rove's involvement, he probably transcribed it all longhand on Crisco-anointed papyrus (like his resignation letter).

<http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8073>

... Attorney General John Ashcroft received numerous detailed briefings last year regarding the criminal investigation of the unauthorized disclosure of a CIA agent's identity, during which he was told specific information relating to the potential culpability of several close political associates in the Bush administration, according to senior federal law-enforcement sources.

Among other things, the sources said, Ashcroft was provided extensive details of an FBI interview of Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's chief political advisor. The two men have enjoyed a close relationship ever since Rove advised the Attorney General during the course of three of Ashcroft's political campaigns.

[acmavm]

1. Anyone who thinks anything is ever going to come of this is probably

also in the market for some sweet swampland down in the beautiful state of Florida. You know, where the people in that state let their civil rights be hijacked TWICE by a crooked republican system.

[kohodog]

2. I hate to agree, but

with Gonzolas as AG, Fitzgerald's hands may bre tied. I think he wants to get to the bottom of this and is close. But goss and gonzalas amy sink the boat. We'r niot in America any more.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

3. disagree -- prosecutor has been very quiet

Because of the silence, there is just as much reason to believe that Fitzgerald is onto something, and will pursue it, as there is to think that nothing will come of it.

[kohodog]

6. Thanks for reviving me nix

I've been googling daily and all is mum. Hopefully the next few weeks will be different. I'm ready for some good news.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

8. patience will pay off -- remember Agnew (if you can!)

Many people draw an analogy to Nixon, but the correct corollary is Agnew.

The Agnew resignation came practically out of nowhere. Very few people were covering the grand jury investigation, and even some of those were surprised in the end to learn that Agnew himself was the target all along.

Bam, boom, he walks into court, makes his plea, and resigns the No. 2 job in the land. It was surreal.

And, as with the Nixon-Agnew situation, most of the investigative bloodhounds have drawn a scent straight to the VP's door.

[kohodog]

9. I was living in Canada when Nixon resigned.

The jubilation felt then will pale in comparison to the world celebration when shrub is evicted!

[H2O Man]

10. The DoJ can not stop

the grand jury process. It is beyond their control. The last thing that they could do to influence the process was to pick Fitzgerald. There is no reason to believe that they are happy with what he has done in the past year.

On the other hand, there is reason to believe that Plame & Wilson are happy. That reason would be the public statements of Ambassador Wilson. One could add the statements of John Dean.

Keep in mind that in early July, when the initial investigation should have been wrapping up, the federal judge hearing it allowed Fitzgerald an extension. The reason is because more information came to light. In every scandal like this, the conspiracy to "cover up" leads to more charges than the original crime.

Comparing this to the Florida elections shows a lack of faith in the system; that is unfortunately understandable. However, it also shows a lack of insight and understanding. It is better compared to Watergate and Iran-Contra .... in many cases, the same cast of characters with man of the same tactics and goals. Both of these scandals bore fruit in second term.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jefferson_dem]

5. DUDE! Great pics but do you have to spam every single thread with them?

[Royalfred]

7. Was Rove being watched?

My gut feeling is Rove was being watched. They had him in front of the Grand Jury about the Plume affair. That was right before the election. Certainly the CIA had enough motivation to bring him down after Plume and after getting the 911 buck passed onto them.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

11. you mean being watched as in being set up by The Company?

Are you suggesting the CIA discreetly planted the idea in Rove's head to out Plame and made sure that, once he leaked, the agency boys had him dead to rights with the evidence? It sounds intriguing, but I'm skeptical of the mechanics of bringing it about.

[Royalfred]

13. Treason

No, I'm suggesting he's been under surveillance, up to and including election day. And if he's facing treason charges from the Plume affair he may start squealing like the pig he is.

[ethereal]

12. Ashcroft to be the new Tenet?

anyone else think Ashcroft will be sold out as the person who outed Plame?

[H2O Man]

14. Can't happen.

He's been DoJ. The leak was from the White House, specifically the VP's office.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

15. Yes, maybe the VP's office, but who?

Most accounts mention Libby, but I just don't think a trained lawyer would be that careless.

To the extent that Rove, as political monarch, is a link between the Bush and Cheney realms, he may be in fairly thick too. It's conceivable that Fitzgerald has plans to turn Rove and make him finger members of the national "security" team.

[demgrrrll]

16. Someone suggested that Rove may have already made a deal.

Could someone tell me what kind of deal might have been made with Rove? Could he have pointed the finger somewhere else in exchange for immunity? I wonder what is going on because 3 hours is a damn long time to testify.

[H2O Man]

17. If you read Wilson's book

you'll know who it was, and the role Libby etc played.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

18. I regret that I've not yet read Wilson's book

My hope is that Fitzgerald HAS read it.

[H2O Man]

19. You should. It's a good book.

I think everyone who reads it enjoys it.

I think it is safe to say that Fitzgerald has done a thorough job.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

20. I remain optimistic ...

that this seriously traitorous conduct will not go unpunished.

Waterman (and others who are informed): Much of the recent media speculation has been that Fitzgerald is at the end of his rope, that his last ditch is to apply the threat of jail time as pressure on the reporters to open up. Do you suspect that the case remains more active than just looking for ironclad eyewitness accounts?

[H2O Man]

22. To force a reporter to testify

in a federal grand jury hearing, the prosecutor has to show that there is no other source for finding out that specific answer that the reporter can provide. That is pretty simple in this case: who did you speak to on July 10, 2003, from the White House?

It is thus more accurate to say that Fitzgerald id nearing the end of his investigation, and has all the rope he needs. The only question is can he prove intent in the case of the White House officials who planned and executed the leak of Plame's identity.

The next question involves the activities of those who sought to cover up this planning and execution. The obvious problem is that those people at the (relatively) lower level will take the fall and protect the president.

Rove has been discussed tonight on this thread. I think Mr. Rove is willing to place as much blame as possible on individuals from the VP's office.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

23. just to be clear ...

Do you think that Fitz has enough to try to prosecute already but that the reporters' info might lend more credence to whatever indictment(s) he seeks?

I'm also at a total loss about what Bush and Cheney told the prosecutors. I can't believe they knew before the fact about the original outing, so the queries to them just about had to have been about the ensuing coverup. In addition, the fact that Bush hired private counsel suggests to me that he wanted to tell Gonzales something about his knowledge but was persuaded not to.

[Me.]

24. My Thought Is That There's No Way Cheney Didn't Know

It was in his office that a "work-up" on Wilson was decided upon, and it was in his office that the decision to "get out the earthmovers", to cover it up, was taken. And honestly I don't think anything goes on in the WH that Cheney doesn't know about. I bet he even knows each time ***H goes for a pee.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

25. Cheney -- any more than that initial talk?

So far what is publicly known is that Cheney talked to prosecutors in the spring. His office revealed nothing about what he told Fitzgerald et al. Does anyone know whether he has subsequently spoken to either the prosecution, either with or without the grand jury present?

<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/02/politics/main620810.shtml>

[Me.]

34. No Further Talks Have Been Reported

Though I grant you that doesn't mean they haven't. No reporting on a subject doesn't mean anything these days. When Rove testified recently, nary a newscast even mentioned it. And you won't hear anything from Fitz's end as he is playing this very close to the vest.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

37. Thanks.

And we should all remember that some in the press are hopelessly conflicted, which dampens the reporting. Those who know the most about what happened are also those -- because of promises of confidentiality -- who are least able to say anything.

[coeur_de_lion]

21. Ah, I knew the famous "Plame threads" would revive after the stolen

election. All along I've been thinking that if Bush would steal the election, and it appears that he did, Plame was about our only hope of getting rid of him.

I want my frog march still. Want to bet? I'll bet you five bucks that Plame will be the beginning of the end of Bush.

C'mon H2O. Reassure me (like you always have) that we'll see justice in the Plame investigation.

[H2O Man]

26. We've been waiting

for you to return before we started the Plame Threads back up.


Is everybody in?

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

30. I am most assuredly in

For months -- and contrary to the pessimistic reasoning of others that because we haven't heard anything, then this is turning into small potatoes -- I have believed that this is THE textbook story of the pathological lust for power in the administration.

Ashcroft gave up control of the investigation only when the fire got so hot that even his self-proclaimed "fairness" could no longer meet the standards of objectivity.

[H2O Man]

31. It is the most important of the

related scandals. By this I mean the Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandals. Each built upon the foundation of the others, are each presented a more severe threat to the democratic state.

Many people wanted instant results. Real life does not work that way. Though it was possible for Fitzgerald to bring indictments in July, it was more important for him to fully investigate the crimes with the power of the grand jury.... which allows him to question reporters under oath.

Many people have been confused by the baloney about protecting the press and "whistle blowers." Fitzgerald recognizes that the defendants will have the option of calling the reporters as defense witnesses in the criminal cases. There is an old saying that you should never ask witnesses any question that you don't know the answer to .... while Fitzgerald can't call the reporters, he can cross examine any defense witness. And now they can't go beyond their GJ testimony.

I think we will have the most interesting cases in recent times.

[Me.]

35. Can't Hardly Wait

Now that ***h is in his second term, the 2nd term curse can apply and it may be the Plame case that puts paid to his dastardly self.

[kohodog]

42. I'm in!

Google (plame) has been very quiet lately. I'm waiting for the first small finger of smoke to appear. Then we'll gather in a pow wow and decide our strategy.

[Lugnut]

39. I did.

And I agree with you. :)

[seemslikeadream]

27. Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security John Shaw

According to Pentagon and Justice Department sources, U.S. investigators discovered that Ahmad Chalabi and his business partners were involved in fraudulently obtaining cellular phone licenses in Iraq. The Pentagon's Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security John (Jack) Shaw smelled a neo-con rat when the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), in late 2003, awarded cellular phone contracts to three companies - Orascom, Atheer, and Asia-Cell - with ties to Ahmed Chalabi. As with all those who challenge the impropriety and illegal activities of the neo-cons, Shaw was, in turn, charged with improperly steering Iraq cell phone contracts to Qualcomm and Lucent. However, it is Shaw, reported by his longtime colleagues to be a solid and trustworthy public servant, who has the confidence of law enforcement, Pentagon investigators, and the military brass. Anything with Ahmed Chalabi's fingerprints on it also bears the fingerprints of his nephew Salem Chalabi. Salem, named as the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's trial, is a law partner of L. Marc Zell, a Jerusalem-based attorney who was the law partner of Douglas Feith - the head of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans that concocted phony intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda with the assistance of Likud operatives seconded by Ariel Sharon's government.

The law firm of Feith & Zell, in concert with Perle, was instrumental in funneling hundreds of millions of dollars from Arab and Muslim countries to the Bosnian government during that nation's civil war. While that effort was ostensibly designed to assist the Bosnians to purchase weapons, officials familiar with its actual operation reported that some of the arms and money "spilled over" to Al Qaeda and Iranian Pasdaran forces in the Balkans.

The neo-con attack on Shaw was predictable considering their previous attacks on Ambassador Joe Wilson, his wife Valerie Plame, former U.S. Central Command chief General Anthony Zinni, former counter-terrorism coordinator Richard Clarke, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, CIA counter-terrorism agent Michael Scheuer (the "anonymous" author of Imperial Hubris who has recently been gagged by the Bush administration), fired FBI translator Sibel Edmonds (who likely discovered a penetration by Israeli and other intelligence assets using the false flag of the Turkish American Council and who also has been gagged by the Bush administration), and all those who took on the global domination cabal. But Shaw showed incredible moxie. When he decided to investigate Pentagon Inspector General Reports that firms tied to Perle and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were benefiting from windfall profit contracts in Iraq, Shaw decided to go to Iraq himself to find out what was going on. When Shaw was denied entry into Iraq by U.S. military officers (yes, a top level official of the Defense Department was denied access to Iraq by U.S. military personnel!), he decided to sneak into the country disguised as a Halliburton contractor. Using the cover of Cheney's old company to get the goods on Cheney's friends' illegal activities was yet another masterful stroke of genius by Shaw. But it also earned him the wrath of the neo-cons. They soon leaked a story to the Los Angeles Times claiming that Shaw actually snuck into Iraq to ensure that Qualcomm (on whose board sat a friend of Shaw's) was awarded a lucrative cell network contract.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Shaw, who worked for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, represented the Old Guard Republican entity that in August 2003 set up shop in the Pentagon right under the noses of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Feith to investigate the neo-con cabal and their illegal contract deals. The entity, known as the International Armament and Technology Trade Directorate, was soon shut down as a result of neo-con pressure. Not to be deterred, Shaw continued his investigation of the neo-cons. Although the neo-cons told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI was investigating Shaw, the reverse was the case: the FBI was investigating the neo-cons, particularly Perle and Wolfowitz, for fraudulent activities involving Iraqi contracts. And in worse news for the neo-cons: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was giving the Inspector General's and Shaw's investigations a "wink and a nod" of approval.

The financial stakes for the Pentagon are high - the Iraqi CPA's Inspector General recently revealed that over $1 billion of Iraqi money was missing from the audit books on Iraqi contracts. For Shaw and the FBI, it was a matter of what they suspected for many years - that Perle, Wolfowitz, and their comrades were running entities that ensured favorable treatment for Israeli activities - whether they were business opportunities in a U.S.-occupied Arab country or protecting Israeli spies operating within the U.S. defense and intelligence establishments.
more
http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/081104_winds_change.shtml

[seemslikeadream]

28. DoD Statement on Jack Shaw and the Iraq Telecommunications Contract

For several months there have been allegations in the press that activities of John A. Shaw, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for International Technology Security, were under investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD IG). The allegations were examined by DoD IG criminal investigators in Baghdad and a criminal investigation was never opened.

Furthermore, attempts to discredit Shaw and his report on Iraqi telecommunications contracting matters were brought to the attention of the DoD IG and were accordingly referred to the FBI.

Shaw carried out his duties in the investigation of Iraqi telecommunications matters pursuant to the authorities spelled out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the DoD IG and the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Shaw provided a copy of his report to the DOD IG and, at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission.

Shaw is not now, nor has he ever been, under investigation by the DoD IG. Any questions concerning FBI activities should be addressed to the FBI.
http://www.dod.mil/releases/2004/nr20040810-1103.html


Why do you ask would the DoD have to release a statement like this?

The little neocons tried to discredit this guy too.

[seemslikeadream]

29. Defense Official Probed on Contracts - The Smear

Defense Official Probed on Contracts


Los Angeles Times
July 07, 2004
T. Christian Miller

Washington -- A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents.
John "Jack" Shaw, deputy undersecretary for international technology security, represented himself as an agent of the Pentagon's inspector general in conducting the investigations this year, sources said.

...

the former top U.S. transportation official in Iraq -- is under investigation for his role in promoting an Iraqi national airline with a company linked to the Saddam Hussein regime.

The inspector general's office -- which investigates waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon -- has turned over its inquiry into Shaw's actions to the FBI to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the sources said.

The FBI is also looking into allegations, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, that Shaw tried to steer a contract to create an emergency phone network for Iraq's security forces to a company whose board of directors included a friend and one of Shaw's employees.

more
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/unitedstates/democracy/2253.html

[seemslikeadream]

32. Defense budget practices probed The Investigation

Analysis: Defense budget practices probed
Thursday, 02-Oct-2003 10:00AM PDT Story from United Press International
Copyright 2003 by United Press International (via ClariNet)


MIAMI, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The Pentagon's inspector general is investigating allegations that the Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., is squirreling away money in its budget for use on a rainy day.

House Appropriations Chairman C.W. "Bill" Young, R-Fla., questioned Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim at budget hearing Tuesday, and Zakheim denied any wrongdoing. Young was not satisfied, and is expected to pursue the issue.

He wants to know if the Pentagon intentionally deceived Congress by hiding the money.

Zakheim said it is not policy to handle funds in any improper manner.

....

"If it's not, what brought this about on his occasion? And if it is a normal practice, since the Special Operations Command is one of your smaller budgets I wonder how many other agencies might have been asked to park money in this program?" Young asked.

Zakheim said the word "parked" was unfortunate, but said he thinks "the method is tried-and-true and very much above board. But I can't speak to the audit for obvious reasons."

Young is clearly not finished and called it "an obvious attempt to keep from Congress what was happening. I think that would make you suspicious. It makes me a little suspicious."

The General Accounting Office, Congress's investigative arm, said it was not familiar with the practice of "parking," as described in the e-mail message.

The Anti-Deficiency Act mandates that money appropriated by Congress can only be used for the purpose specified by Congress when it passes the budget. Other federal laws and regulations also govern the content of budget proposals presented to Congress.

more
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/dp/Uus-defense-young-analysis.RUt1_DO2.html

[seemslikeadream]

33. Pentagon finance manager resigns - The Resignation

Pentagon finance manager resigns

Thursday 11 March 2004

Rabbi Dov Zakheim's refused to tell journalists the exact reason for his departure on Wednesday. A former adjunct economics professor at New York's Yeshiva University, Rabbi Zakheim has spent more than 30 years working in various jobs at the Pentagon.

But he has also worked in private industry, specifically as a consultant to McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.


Rabbi Dov Zakheim,
Pentagon comptroller and chief financial officer, a conservative Republican who graduated from Jew's College in London in 1973, Zakheim first joined the Department of Defence in 1981 under former president Ronald Reagan.

He was responsible for such tasks as preparing defence planning guidance for nuclear war.

As Pentagon Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, Rabbi Zakheim's priority has been financial management.
But that does not include additional spending needed to support US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - a sum expected to range from $30 billion to $50 billion.


A General Accounting Office report found Defence inventory systems so lax that the US army lost track of 56 aeroplanes, 32 tanks and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units.

more
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/635B6007-9DD0-436C-BFF6-E6521520B1C7.htm

[seemslikeadream]

36. So where is that missing $1.1 trillion?

In a report to the DoD comptroller, Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim, acting Assistant Inspector General for Auditing David Steensma wrote: "We reported that DOD processed $1.1 trillion in unsupported accounting entries to DOD Component financial data used to prepare departmental reports and DOD financial statements for FY2000. For FY2001 we did not attempt to quantify amounts of unsupported accounting entries; however, we did confirm that DOD continued to enter material amounts of unsupported accounting entries to the financial data."

What this gibberish means is that the DoD still cannot account for at least $1.1 trillion from fiscal 2000 under former president Bill Clinton, and the assistant inspector general of DOD wouldn't even touch the unsupported money expenditures for fiscal 2001 because "material amounts" still couldn't be accounted for properly in the year George W. Bush came to power. The trillion-dollar question is how much is "material amounts"? Because the auditor would not "quantify" the amount, some fear it's worse than the previous year's unaccounted for $1.1 trillion.

Of course the Department of the Army, headed by former Enron executive Thomas White, had an excuse. In a shocking appeal to sentiment it says it didn't publish a "stand-alone" financial statement for 2001 because of "the loss of financial-management personnel sustained during the Sept. 11 terrorist attack."

So where is that missing $1.1 trillion? Traditionally the top dogs at the Pentagon haven't liked the word "missing." The rationale at DoD has been that just because the money can't be accounted for doesn't mean it is lost, stolen or strayed. According to Susan Hansen, a spokeswoman for DoD: "These are unsupported entries. When the auditors go to audit the books and they look at the balance sheet for the year, someone has entered in an adjustment because they made an error somewhere."
more

http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=246188

[seemslikeadream]

38. Don't ask Dov Zakheim - He's moved on - Grand old profiteering

Grand old profiteering

Yet even Allbaugh is small-time compared to the latest defector to the private sector, Pentagon comptroller Dov Zakheim, who announced two weeks ago that he will be leaving for a partnership at Booz Allen Hamilton, the technology and management strategy giant that is one of the nation's biggest defense contractors. Although Zakheim is not nearly as familiar as Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, or Defense Policy Board member Richard Perle, he too has been identified as one of the ultrahawkish "Vulcans" who shaped Bush foreign and military policy from its earliest days. Zakheim has bustled through the revolving doors before, serving as a deputy undersecretary of defense during the Reagan administration, where he worked for Perle before leaving government to join a missile-defense contractor.

At the mammoth Booz Allen firm, Zakheim will join R. James Woolsey, the former director of central intelligence and Perle associate on the Bush Defense Policy Board. These were the defense intellectuals who favored invading Iraq long before Sept. 11 -- and long before any U.N. resolutions on the topic were introduced.
So far Booz Allen has yet to win any major Iraq contracts of its own, although it has shared Pentagon boodle for several years with Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary that is by far the biggest contractor out there. (At a recent hearing on Halliburton's scandal-scarred performance in Iraq, Zakheim did his best to defend the vice president's old company. "They're not doing a great job," he shrugged, "but they're not doing a terrible job.")

Booz Allen swiftly jumped on the Baghdad bandwagon last May, when it co-sponsored (with the Republican-connected insurance giant American International Group) a postwar conference on "The Challenges for Business in Rebuilding Iraq" that featured speeches by Woolsey and Undersecretary of Defense Zakheim. (The price of admission for industry executives ranged from $528 to $1,100 a head.) Included was the chance for executives to participate in a "not-for-attribution session that will permit a dynamic, frank exchange of views on the opportunities and challenges businesses will face in post-conflict Iraq."

More recently, Booz Allen was listed as a partner in a controversial $327 million contract to outfit the new Iraqi army. The prime contractor in this murky deal was Nour America Inc., which on closer inspection turned out to be controlled by a close associate of Ahmad Chalabi, the dubious former exile promoted by Perle, Woolsey and their ideological associates as the best possible leader for Iraq after Saddam. Chalabi is a leading member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and enjoys enormous influence inside the Defense Department, which issued the Nour contract. Unfortunately Nour had scant qualifications, if any, for the lucrative contract. After protests from more qualified contractors who had lost out, the contract was withdrawn for rebidding. Meanwhile, Booz Allen denied any role in the Nour affair, aside from a post-bid $50,000 consulting contract.

more
http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:iUASMhjvMuIJ:www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/03/30/profiteers/+Booz+Allen+Hamilton+Zakheim&hl=en

[Me.]

41. Remember How Rummy Was Adamant About Having The Pentagon Audited...?

They worked on it for a full year and found it couldn't be done. Nobody could tell where any of the money was going. What a joke! Except we're not laughing as money continues to fly out of our pockets and into the hands of...well who knows?

[Iris]

40. Ashcroft is a dumb ass. eom