Mr. Fitzgerald, meet the Downing Street Minutes. DSM, meet Mr. Fitzgerald

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

CIA leak probe 'widening to include use of intelligence'
By Caroline Daniel and Edward Alden in Washington
Published: October 17 2005 21:39 | Last updated: October 17 2005 21:39

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ff92e968-3f4b-11da-932f-00000e2511c8.html

Evidence is building that the probe conducted by Patrick Fitzgerald, special prosecutor, has extended beyond the leaking of a covert CIA agent's name to include questioning about the administration's handling of pre-Iraq war intelligence. According to the Democratic National Committee, a majority of the nine members of the White House Iraq Group have been questioned by Mr Fitzgerald. The team, which included senior national security officials, was created in August 2002 to “educate the public” about the risk posed by weapons of mass destruction on Iraq.

Mr Fitzgerald, who has been applauded for conducting a leak-free inquiry, has said little publicly about his 22-month probe, other than that it is about the “potential retaliation against a whistleblower”, Joseph Wilson. After Mr Wilson, a former ambassador, went public with doubts about the evidence that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons, the name of his wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA official, was leaked to reporters.

The prosecutor has given no indication whether he will charge anyone in the case. At the weekend Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter jailed for 85 days after refusing to testify, provided new details about the scope of Mr Fitzgerald's investigation. She was asked “repeatedly” how Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, “handled classified information”.

Ms Miller said Mr Libby had made “a sharp critique of Mr Wilson”, and referred several times to the fact his wife worked at the CIA. Ms Miller also expressed surprise at a letter sent by Mr Libby when she was in jail that, she said, could imply he was trying to influence her testimony. “I replied that this portion of the letter had surprised me because it might be perceived as an effort by Mr Libby to suggest that I too would say we had not discussed Ms Plame. Yet my notes suggested that we had discussed her job,” she wrote.

[blm]

1. heheh....I just posted something similar.

;0

[Tiggeroshii]

2. I like!

It was gonna happen, just a matter of time. too bad our MSM are submissive asswhores to the reich wing nuts

[Roland99]

3. Is Fitzgerald doing the job of the Senate Investigative Committee now?

http://www.conjur.com/blog/2005/10/17/is-fitzgerald-doing-the-job-of-the-senate-investagive-committee-now/

I’m sure just about everyone has forgotten that the U.S. Senate was supposed to start Phase 3 of an investigation into the intelligence using to justify the invasion of Iraq before the 2004 elections. It was decided, by the Republican chair of that committee - Surprise! - to postpone that phase until later. Well, now we’re almost a year past the election and still nothing has been done. The third phase was to investigate the influence exerted by the White House on the various intelligence agencies to use dubious information and to remove doubts and wording about dual-use equipment and programs.