BREAKING: Fed of Amer Scientists Files FOIA for Plame PDB

[leveymg]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/8/123226/9653
by leveymg
Wed Feb 08, 2006 at 10:32:26 AM PDT

WASHINGTON. February 8 - The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has filed a FOIA request asking for declassification and release of the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) given to President Bush in June 2003, just weeks before the identity of CIA analyst Valerie Plame was illegally revealed.

The existence of that PDB was first made public late last week in the course of the prosecution of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who served as former White House advisor to both Vice President Cheney and President Bush. A letter dated January 9 from Patrick Fitzgerald contained reference to the PDB which had been requested as part of discovery by Libby's defense team.

leveymg's diary :: ::

In a related development, David Corn reports in The Nation this week that Libby's attorney was pursuing a "greymail" defense strategy, requesting documents the government might be expected to refuse release, in the hopes of raising an appeal point. http://www.thenation.com/...

That tactic now appears to have backfired, after Fitzgerald obtained redacted versions of the President's daily brief. In an intriguing development, Fitzgerald makes explicit reference in his letter to one or more PDBs, and hinted that there is additional writing "contained within or written on" them. http://www.dailykos.com/...

Fitzgerald also alludes to approaches that were made to a third Time Magazine reporter by ranking White House aides on July 11, 2003 during the President's trip to Africa. http://www.dailykos.com/...

Time Magazine correspondent John Dickerson writes in Slate about being team-tagged by Condi Rice and a second ranking aide on that trip in an apparent coordinated effort to draw TIME journalists attention to Valerie Plame. See, http://www.slate.com/... /

Where's My Subpoena?
Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me.
By John Dickerson

<snip>

In July 2003, I was a White House correspondent for Time magazine, traveling with the president in Africa. Bush was trying to promote his $15 billion AIDS assistance package but he kept getting interrupted. He would visit a clinic and give a speech, but all reporters wanted to ask about was faulty prewar intelligence. Joe Wilson had published his infamous op-ed in the New York Times just before the trip. That, along with other disclosures, led White House spokesman Ari Fleischer to make a rare public admission: The 16 words mentioning Saddam's efforts to buy uranium from Africa were "incorrect" and should not have been in the 2003 State of the Union address.

...

The senior administration official spoke to me on background about Wilson and the president's amazing decision to blame the CIA. Other reporters wandered in and out of the conversation, but there were stretches where it was just the two of us (my tedious newsmagazine questions always had a tendency to drive other deadline-oriented reporters away). The official walked me through all the many problems with Wilson's report: His work was sloppy, contradictory, and hadn't been sanctioned by Tenet or any senior person. Some low-level person at the CIA was responsible for the mission. I was told I should go ask the CIA who sent Wilson.

...

An hour later, as Bush spoke at an AIDS treatment center, I chatted with a different senior administration official, also on background. We talked about many different aspects of the story--the fight with the CIA, the political implications for the president, and the administration's shoddy damage control. This official also pointed out a few times that Wilson had been sent by a low-level CIA employee and encouraged me to follow that angle. I thought I got the point: He'd been sent by someone around the rank of deputy assistant undersecretary or janitor.

...

It had been a long week. I was co-writing a long story on the trip for the European edition, filing each day to the Web site and also filing for the domestic cover story on the fallout over the 16 words. Oh, and I also had to file a story on violence in Liberia. My inbox was a mess. In the middle of it was an e-mail from Matt Cooper telling me to call him from a land line when I had some privacy. At some time after 1 p.m. his time, I called him. He told me that he had talked to Karl Rove that morning and that Rove had given him the same Wilson takedown I'd been getting in Uganda. But Matt had the one key fact I didn't: Rove had said that Wilson's wife sent him.

FAS FOIA SEEKS BUSH'S PDB

In new development, the Federation of American Scientists has submitted a Freedom of Information Request for declassication and release of PDB and related materials referencing the Wilson and Plame matters. In a letter dated today to the CIA, Steven Aftergood, FAS Senior Analyst, writes:

"We request a copy of redacted versions of the President's Daily Brief and PDB-related material that were declassified and provided to the Office of the Special Counsel in connection with the prosecution of Mr. I. Lewis Libby."

*

While the Plame case has been long delayed, and the start of Libby's trial has been put off for another year by U.S. Circuit Court Judge Reggie Walton, it appears that the investigation is very much alive.

Hopefully, actual documents revealing the knowledge of Libby's "superiors" about Plame will be made available to the public before too much longer.

2006, Mark G. Levey

[converted_democrat]

1. K&R..................n/t

[stop the bleeding]

2. Yes yes yes yes yes - thank you leveymg - this is awesome news

did your posts/letter/diary have anything to do with this.

I have been trying to kick your thread this morning

[stop the bleeding]

3. How long will this take to process the request? n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. YEARS. They drag their feet when they don't want to release DAMAGING

information. It sounds like that PDB could take down The idiot. HE KNEW ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO TO PLAME. He also LIED about knowing anything about it on National TV when he said "whoever leaked this information should be fired." (paraphrased) He knew what was going on. HE'S TOAST if and when that PDB is released. They will probably say it's Top Secret and a matter of National Security and they can't release it.

[stop the bleeding]

14. matter of National Security and they can't release it - I was thinking

that as well

[leveymg]

21. Could be a while, or the Dem leadership could make a BIG stink,

and we could see it within a month or two. All depends how this story goes.

[AndyTiedye]

47. Only Allowed to Make a Little, Tiny Stink, and Then Only in the Basement

where only a few of us diehard CSPAN viewers even know that it is happening.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Thanks, we gatta keep the issue ALIVE....

Come, I treat, we go Bar...

[kwolf68]

5. Nothing going to come out of it

They also did a FOIA for the energy meetings some 3 years ago and we still haven't gotten that information.

[rodeodance]

30. that is cause the SC said NO>

[tridim]

45. Yep, just like the FOIA requesting the additional torture photos

The deadline was months ago and yet, nothing.

[drm604]

6. I'm curious about why FAS is doing this?

Is this of specific interest to the scientific community for some reason, or are they just acting as concerned citizens? I know that the scientific community has been very unhappy with this administration so maybe they're just trying to do whatever they can. Whatever the reason, good for them!

[myrna minx]

9. My guess is that it is about WMD.

PLame's CIA charge was to gather intel that could disrupt WMD proliferation. I think that The Federation of American Scientists would have an interest in this. :shrug:

[Catrina]

23. Maybe they're doing it on behalf of Dr. Kelly ~

Wasn't he a scientist and don't many people wonder whether or not he was murdered?

I also remember that over a dozen micro-biologists died under strange conditions, (suicides, accidents etc.) during and after that period of time. The press never paid much attention to it, but for a while, it seemed to be a very dangerous profession. Dr. Kelly was just one of them.


Eleven micro- biologists mysteriously dead over the span of just five months.

www.pathtofreedom.com/indepth/index.shtml

I don't know, just a thought ~

[stop the bleeding]

27. Kelly is very much a part of this - thanks for linking up the British role

in this scandal

I went to your link but did not see the story maybe I overlooked it.

[Catrina]

31. Oops, sorry about that ~ the link was way down in the article. Here's

a direct link. I notice that this list only covers deaths through 2002 and as I recall, there have been more since then ~ Dr. Kelly is, therefore, not on this list ~

Scientists' Deaths Are Under the Microscope
by Alanna Mitchell, Simon Cooper and Carolyn Abraham
Compiled by Alanna Mitchell

It's a tale only the best conspiracy theorist could dream up.

Eleven microbiologists mysteriously dead over the span of just five months. Some of them world leaders in developing weapons-grade biological plagues. Others the best in figuring out how to stop millions from dying because of biological weapons. Still others, experts in the theory of bioterrorism.



Statistically, what are the chances?



Throw in a few Russian defectors, a few nervy U.S. biotech companies, a deranged assassin or two, a bit of Elvis, a couple of Satanists, a subtle hint of espionage, a big whack of imagination, and the plot is complete, if a bit reminiscent of James Bond.

The first three died in the space of just over a week in November. Benito Que, 52, was an expert in infectious diseases and cellular biology at the Miami Medical School. Police originally suspected that he had been beaten on Nov. 12 in a carjacking in the medical school's parking lot. Strangely enough, though, his body showed no signs of a beating. Doctors then began to suspect a stroke.

Just four days after Dr. Que fell unconscious came the mysterious disappearance of Don Wiley, 57, one of the foremost microbiologists in the United States. Dr. Wiley, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard University, was an expert on how the immune system responds to viral attacks such as the classic doomsday plagues of HIV, ebola and influenza.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0504-06.htm

I'm going to look this up and try to find out how many more have died since this article was written. I guess we can Dr. Kelly to the list.

Whatever happened to the Anthrax investigation, btw?

[stop the bleeding]

32. very interesting article and no I don't think anything ever

became of the Anthrax investigations.

Time frame of Micro deaths are from 11/01/01 - 03/01/02 - started within 1 months of 9/11 - article was written in May of 2002 - so there are probably more deaths since then.

Kelly's body was discovered on 07/18/03 according to this research

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2023349

[Catrina]

44. Yes there were more deaths according to several articles I've read

Here is a list up to this year. More than 40 deaths.

http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scientists/dead.scientists.chron.html

The first listing includes five Israeli scientists killed in a plane crash, I think over the Ukraine. I've read about that elsewhere but don't have a link.

Dr. Kelly was involved with the Russian scientist and with two others, I think Wiley and Paschenik(sp?) according to another article I read.

Perhaps the reason for the scientists' request is suspicion that they especially might be the targets of wire-tapping. When you consider how many suspicious deaths there have been since 9/11, of scientists, it is understandable that they would want to find out whether or not they are being watched I would think.

This is a fascinating (and tragic) story. Each one, some quite young, left behind loved ones. Many were murdered, or had 'accidents' ~

I wonder how much Judith Miller knew about the work Dr. Kelly was doing. I have also read that he was either going to work, or had worked in the top secret lab in Israel on micro-biological issues. They were friends, or so he thought. That woman turns up everywhere ~

[flyarm]

48. SCIENTISTS DEAD SINCE 2001

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2005/270105deadscientists.htm

[flyarm]

49. DEAD SCIENTISTS LIST:

http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scientists/UpdatedDeadScientists.html

[flyarm]

50. Dr Kelly just the latest in a LONG list..a must read

http://www.global-elite.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=71

Dr Kelly just the latest in a LONG list..a must read

19 die in suspicious circumstances in the last 20 months....In chronological order they are....
November 6, 2001: Jeffrey Paris' body was found sprawled next to a three-story parking structure near his office. Mr. Wall, 41, had studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a biomedical expert who held a medical degree, and he also specialized in patent and intellectual property.
November 16, 2001: Dr. Don Wiley, 57, disappears during a business trip to Memphis, Tennessee. He had just bought tickets to take his son to Graceland the following day. Police found his rental car on a bridge outside Memphis. His body was later found in the Mississippi River. Wiley was one of the world's leading researchers of deadly viruses, including HIV and the Ebola virus. He was an expert on the immune system's response to viral attacks .

November 21, 2001: World-class microbiologist and high-profile Russian defector Dr. Vladimir Pasechnik, 64, dies of a stroke. Pasechnik, who defected to Britain in 1989, succeeded in producing an aerosolized plague microbe that could survive outside the laboratory. He was connected to Britain's spy agency and recently had started his own company. "In the last few weeks of his life he had put his research on anthrax at the disposal of the Government, in the light of the threat from bioterrorism.

November 24, 2001: Three more dead microbiologists: A Swissair flight from Berlin to Zurich crashes during its landing approach; 22 are killed and nine survive. Among those killed are Dr. Yaakov Matzner, 54, dean of the Hebrew University school of medicine; Amiramp Eldor, 59, head of the haematology department at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and a world-recognized expert in blood clotting; and Avishai Berkman, 50, director of the Tel Aviv public health department and businessman

December 10, 2001: Dead microbiologist: "Dr. Robert Schwartz, 57, was stabbed and slashed with what police believe was a sword in his farmhouse in Leesberg, Va. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged." All were part of what they called a coven, and interested in magic, fantasy and self-mutilation. The police have no motive as to why they would have wanted to kill Schwartz, who was a single parent and said to be very close to his children. Schwartz worked at Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology on DNA sequencing and pathogenic microorganisms.

[Catrina]

52. I think this topic should have a thread of its own ~

I can't find it now, but I did have a link that said that Dr. Kelly knew three of the scientits who died ~

Thank you for those links ~ this is a very scary story ~ and nothing at all about it in the MSM.

[Donailin]

54. Oh Wow.

If Andy Stephenson were here today. . .

[Catrina]

57. Wow, that's an incredible link ~ this has to be why the Scientists are

interested in the Valerie Plame case ~ and definitely from the WMD angle ~

There are more than 70 deaths since one month after 9/11 up to now. This is truly unbelievable, that it is not a big story.

#77: Robert J. Lull, age 66. Died: May 19, 2005 of multiple stab wounds. Despite his missing car and apparent credit card theft, homicide Inspector Holly Pera said investigators aren't convinced that robbery was the sole motive for Lull's killing. She said a robber would typically have taken more valuables from Lull's home than what the killer left with. Lull had been chief of nuclear medicine at San Francisco General Hospital since 1990 and served as a radiology professor at UCSF. He was past president of the American College of Nuclear Physicians and the San Francisco Medical Society and served as editor of the medical society's journal, San Francisco Medicine, from 1997 to 1999. Lee Lull said her former husband was a proponent of nuclear power and loved to debate his political positions with others.



So many of them could have contributed so much to saving lives ~ so many were murdered. This doesn't make sense ~

[druidity33]

33. where is that?

Couldn't find the link you were referring to about the 11 microbiologists.... an article title would help. Thanks.

[stop the bleeding]

34. here you go from post# 31

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0504-06.htm

Scientists' Deaths Are Under the Microscope

[savemefromdumbya]

10. me too

[leveymg]

13. FAS has been involved with lots of FOIAs in litigation

of national security cases. Check out their website. http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=325&projectId=5

[peacetalksforall]

22. Don't forget the 'deaths' of a rash of bio-chemists. nt

[atommom]

26. FAS has a project on government secrecy. They provide very interesting

updates on the latest secrecy news.

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

[canichelouis]

43. I just checked out their site

Very interesting. Everyone should check it out.

[Greeby]

7. "Lewis Libby determined to appear innocent within the United States"

:eyes:

[savemefromdumbya]

8. They won't declassify it

probably find that someone shredded it by mistake or the cat ran away with it?

[leveymg]

12. Fitz already has a redacted version of the PDB

If they shred it, they'll surely go straight to jail for obstruction of justice.

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. Why would they go to jail?

The law means NOTHING to these people. I'm just sayin'...;)

[savemefromdumbya]

38. nothning seems to be able to touch them!

[emulatorloo]

16. Kick Kick Kick EOM

[KoKo]

17. Problem is that if Fitz couldn't get an unredacted copy why does FAS think

that THEY can get one? So, what does requesting one achieve?

And, why didn't Fitz subpoena John Dickerson? ReddHead at Firedoglake thinks that Fitz already knows that Dickerson was told by two Administration Officials to go after "Wilson's wife" from previous testimony he had before the indictment. So, Dickerson is actually doing a service to write about this because it keeps the story going and flushes out more who might be willing to give Fitz some extra info.

:shrug:

[leveymg]

18. One more log on the fire.

It will take a while, but there's a pretty good chance that we'll end up seeing a copy of the that PDB, and whatever it is Fitz refers to as "contained within or written on" it.

[seemslikeadream]

19. let's throw this one on

:hi:

[stop the bleeding]

25. seeing that tree lying there makes me feel like I got hit in the gut

[druidity33]

36. yeah...

same here. To me that GIANT Redwood (Sequoia?) is a God and a grove of them like the heavens on earth. I've perched swaying near the tops of trees like those on small platforms for hours at a time (12) with nothing but a journal and a radio... to keep them from being cut down. Fall Creek in Oregon is still an active tree sit/logging campaign. With so much else going on it pains me to say i haven't stood up for the trees in a while. I was an active sitter in spring of 1999. Though 2 weeks of it was enough for me, some people had been out there for over a year already... far beyond what Julia Butterfly was able to do.

of course, i realize the picture was taken in the 50's... but it still got me all choked up.

peace to you...

[stop the bleeding]

37. Peace to you as well and keep the sitting movement alive

I live in Florida, but my Lady lived in Portland for 3 years. So even though we are here in Florida our spirits and hearts are in the Forest, animals and landscapes of the Northwest.

Peace!

[seemslikeadream]

39. sorry my bad

didn't mean to offend

:cry:

[stop the bleeding]

40. you didn't offend - you are creating awareness

see much better that way - taken out of Rove's page of twisting the facts

[AntiFascist]

28. One reason FAS could be involved....

it brings the attention of this matter to a highly intelligent, critically-thinking group who would not likely latch on to conspiracy theories, and lends more credibility to the issues. Kudo's to FAS for doing this. Bush's "policies" to warm up the globe and dumb down the populace may be the final straws.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Now the question is

will they do it? My guess? Nope.

[texpatriot2004]

24. thanks leveymg nm

[rodeodance]

29. k and r.

[redacted]

35. Thank you Mark! K&R!

[chat_noir]

41. K&R

[Nothing Without Hope]

42. K & R - great compilation. Here's an earlier thread re Dickerson:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x344698
thread title (2-7-06 GD): Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me. (John Dickerson's side of the story)
Comment/excerpt: More evidence that the leak was an organized conspiracy by the WH. Slate article.

And don't miss the superb and thorough commentary on this piece - and a major slam at these "journalists'" priorities - at firedoglake:
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006_02_05_firedoglake_archive.html#113936379364645512
title: "Time Magazine's Unclean Hands"

[Emit]

46. kick n/t

[Rainscents]

51. K&R

:kick:

[stop the bleeding]

53. good morning

:kick:

[dogindia]

55. K&R.

[Old and In the Way]

56. We need more investigative reporters like you Mark.

Your stuff deserves to be read by the general public. Kudos.