In the flurry of "grand jury leaks" and Friday afternoon news dumps about the criminal investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame's name, it's critical we keep the facts straight and the big picture in focus.
WITNESS TO A CRIME
What has been lost in the focus on Novak is the fact that there are SIX WITNESSES TO THE LEAK. On September 28, 2003, an administration source told the Washington Post that at least 6 other journalists were contacted with the leak before Novak's article: "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge." He stated that he was sharing the information because the disclosure was "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility."
Almost two years later, a clearer picture has emerged as to who those six journalists were:
-snip-
11 HOUR GAP
On the evening of September 29, 2003, the White House was instructed to preseve any and all evidence relating to the Plame investigation. Eleven hours later, Alberto Gonzales sent out an email instructing staff to preserve information. For eleven hours, the White House sat on Justice Department order. The phone records and email records (if they still exist) during that time are critical to Fitzegerald's conversation.
It is just one day after that 11 hour gap that Novak publishes his article refuting his "two senior administration officials" claim, blaming it instead on the CIA. It is just two days later that the White House changed its claims from broad innocence, instead employing legal jargon and super-technical statements filled with carefully chosen words:
Bush aides began to adjust their response to the expanding probe. They reigned in earlier, broad portrayals of innocence in favor of more technical arguments that it is possible the disclosure was made without knowledge that a covert operative was being exposed and therefore might not have been a crime." (Milbank and Allen, "Outside Probe of Leaks Is Favored," Washington Post, Oct 2, 2003)
It is because of these events that we should not give much weight to anything that comes out from the White House, or anything that seems to exonerate the White House. Just as the leak was the careful dissemination of Plame's name to 6 reporters, I assure you, the cover-up is a thousand times more meticulous.
ONE x TWO x SIX
This diary began by quoting the Washinton Post's source, who revealed a planned leak by two senior administration officials to six reporters. This source has been referred to as "One by Two by Six."
Who is the source? Look at the picture that accompanied the source story. Maybe it means something, maybe not.
The Washington Post, citing a source, has reported that the leaker described Wilson's wife as "fair game." The Washington Post, September 28, 2003. Interesting language, isn't it? That's the exact same phrase attributed to Karl Rove when he called up Chris Matthews to say Wilson's wife is "fair game." Another reporter called up Wilson to warn him, saying "watch out, they're coming after you"--but that journalist is uncertain whether any reference was made to Wilson's wife's employment at the CIA. link
What remains clear is that everyone, from the reporters to the administration officials, have something to lose here. Accordingly, we should not rush to presumptions that anyone is telling a clean, unshaded, or uncoerced version of the story. That's Fitzgerald's job. To examine the body of evidence (almost all of which is not available to us) and to piece together this huge puzzle, to see which testimonies fit, which don't, whether they are corroborated by documents, whether those documents have been tampered with.
For those who believe that Rove is innocent, or the Bush administration will get away with it, here is a reminder of who is at the heart of this investigation:
Among those who are known to have been interviewed by the FBI or testified before the grand jury are Bush White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, political adviser Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis I. Libby, Republican National Committee consultant Mary Matalin, former Cheney press aide Catherine Martin, White House press secretary Scott McClellan, communications director Dan Bartlett, deputy press secretary Claire Buchan, and former assistant press secretary Adam Levine. Bush and Cheney also have been interviewed, as has Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
This case implicates the very core of the Bush administration. Let us not underestimate its desire to spin and manipulate the media to fit its agenda. Whereas before, propaganda was launched to support the Iraq war, the propaganda we are seeing as of late is meant to lead the media astray in a new war: a war for the truth. Claims of Rove's exoneration are just the latest attempt to quell the resurrection of the "free press". One leaked email does not a defense make. One leaked testimony--which could be discredited or challenged by facts--is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. And sometimes, one conspiracy to cover up can be more damning than the crime itself...
much more at the link
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/16/104748/906
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