Ending months of speculation, columnist Bob Novak finally revealed at least some of what he told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about how CIA agent Valerie Plame’s name was outed by the Bush White House. Novak said Bush adviser Karl Rove confirmed the identity of Valerie Plame but was not his primary source — and he still won’t name that off-the-record source, but said it was not a Bush “political operative.”
Still, considering President Bush’s pledge to “fire anybody” found to have leaked Plame’s identity, does Rove’s role in confirming that leak put him in danger of losing his job? Don’t count on it.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- SolDevVB on Open thread 11/24
- donndublin on Open thread 11/24
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/24
- dtrabert on Too many exemptions
- gster on Goldman Sachs ‘apology’ hollow
- SolDevVB on Open thread 11/24
- SolDevVB on Open thread 11/24
- donndublin on Open thread 11/24
- donndublin on Open thread 11/24
- Pleefer on Open thread 11/24
36 Comments
Dear Randy,
This whole Valerie Plame non-event is slowly unraveling and you still hold on to hope!
I still predict that charges against poor ol’ Scooter will be dropped before the end of the year!
Hank
Funny how the Righties complain mightily about leaks – unless it is their own!
Hank,I think you are dismissing the case a little early. I wonder how Cheney is going to fair in the ongoing investigation. It sounded as though he had more than a little involvement with this whole deal.
Dear Ben,
It wasn’t a leak. She wasn’t a covert agent. There was no crime. Get over it!
Hank
Dear DD,
It wasn’t a leak. She wasn’t a covert agent. There was no crime. Get over it!
Hank
Yeah, you dumb liberals! There was no crime. That’s why Libby was indicted. That’s why a grand jury was convened. To determine if there was a crime.
And they found there was no crime.
The sun is shining outside right now. That’s why it is NIGHT.
What’s wrong with you liberals?!
Novak’s source had signed a waiver allowing Novak to identify him.
Novak did identify him to the Grand Jury but won’t identify him to the public.
What this means is that this tough-talking conservative spilled his guts and when confronted in court.
Judith Miller went to jail. Tough guy Novak sang like a little girl.
Typical conservative.
“Yeah, you dumb liberals! There was no crime. That’s why Libby was indicted. That’s why a grand jury was convened. To determine if there was a crime.”Posted by: Bookworm | July 13, 2006 at 10:47 AMHey Bookworm, do you not know the charges that were made against Mr. Libby were the same as were made against President Clinton,
LYING UNDER OATH!
Why did it not a crime when Mr. Clinton did it?
Because in the Land of Shrubdom, the truth is fully adjustable, i.e., one size fits anything.
“It wasn’t a leak. She wasn’t a covert agent. There was no crime. Get over it.”
Hank,
Where oh where, do you get your “facts”?
Since Fitzgerald can counter your misstatements of truth better and in a more authoritative way than I can, I will let him do that:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/libby_indictment_28102005.pdf
Hey DD,
Thanks for the link! Now I know the specifics of the bogus charges that will be dropped before the end of the year!
Hank
)Criminal No.)GRAND JURY ORIGINAL)Count 1:Obstruction of Justice)Counts 2-3:False Statements)Counts 4-5 PerjuryThere was not an indictment for disclosing that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA agent.”It wasn’t a leak. She wasn’t a covert agent. The leak was not a crime. Get over it.”
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060713/20060713005611.html?.v=1
Uh, not so fast on the “this story is over” stuff.
Golly, I’d sure hate for Chainsaw Dick Cheney to lose some of his profits from the oil windfall, the Iraq windfall, et al.
Kinda takes the glow off getting oil up to $77 a barrel, doesn’t it, Dick?
Enjoy that raft of billable hours, you crook.
The Scooter lesson is one that people in D.C. can never seem to remember:
“The cover-up is always worse than the crime.”
Fitzgerald chose to prosecute the “lying” related charges because he has Libby dead to rights on those. The outing of a covert agent is harder to prove — I am recalling the prosecutor would have to show an intent to do harm on the part of the leaker. (I have wondered if Fitz is saving that charge for Cheney).
Libby is going down. He may take Cheney with him. Get over it.
If you all believe that Cheney controls the price of oil then you better have your dogs stop barking at him or he may raise the oil to 200 dollars a barrel to pay for this trump up charges. OK for Clinton but not for Libby?
It wasn’t right when Clinton committed perjury. Who said it was right?
He shouldn’t have done it. He shouldn’t have lied. He shouldn’t have run for re-election when it was brought out at the end of his first term. In fact, I believe he lied so that he would get re-elected and that he hurt Al Gore’s chances in the process (even though Gore actually won of which there is little doubt at this point).
Now turning to Libby.
His goose is cooked, and something tells me that this guy is going to sing like a conservative when the judge’s gavel hovers over a potential jail term.
Cheney doesn’t control the price of oil–nobody believes that.
What is obvious however is that he knows how to profit by pulling the levers of power.
Cheney owns stock options with Halliburton. Halliburton gets no-bid contracts worth billions in Iraq. Why were they no-bid? That’s classified? How much are they getting? Classified. Is anyone checking the waste or fraud? Can’t say, classified.
How stupid do you have to be to see that Cheney’s policies benefit Cheney?
To NOT see, obviously . . .
Novak is still very cagey about his primary source.
I saw him asked if he thought that source would ultimately be revealed.
“I think so.” He said.
He did not say this dismissively…..you know like he would if it were something that he took lightly.
He said it and looked away……with a pained expression…….something like dread.
This is NOT over.
“This whole Valerie Plame non-event is slowly unraveling and you still hold on to hope!”
Be nice. Their fantasies are all they have. They have to hire consultants to figure out what they believe in and then whine about why they have no ideas or accomplishments. And finally conclude it’s all because of those meanie Republicans that don’t play fair.
Pathetic. But hilarious.
Just out of curiousity, Jack, what do Republicans believe in?
Why would anyone believe ANY Republican after the mess they have made of our country Bookworm?
Heard on NPR this afternoon that Valerie Plame-Wilson filed a civil suit alleging that Richard Cheney (V.P.), Scooter Libby, and Karl Rove violated her civil rights by outing her identity as a CIA agent.
It appears that the civil suit is using most of the homework (investigation) completed by Fitzgerald.
So, there may be some Ronald Goldman type justice here, if nothing else. But I would not be counting on the lack of criminal consequences as many of the conservatives here seem to be thinking.
Interesting, DD, velly interesting. The burden of proof is a lot lower in civil cases, as OJ found out . . .
And Jack Sh*t, that’s a good question–what do conservatives believe?
C’mon. Give it a shot. I’d like to hear it.
*yawn*
NEW YORK (AP – 7/13/06) – Former CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose outing led to the indictment of a White House official, has agreed to write her memoirs for Simon & Schuster, weeks after a reported seven-figure deal with the Crown Publishing Group fell through
Why isn’t Tiahrt demanding that Novak be prosecuted to reveal the inside Govt. leaker? Such Hypocrites. And, who but a conservative can compare lying about ones infidelities to lying about outing a Govt. undercover agent!
Well . . . speak of the devil and he appears.
So you’re saying that her motives are purely for a book deal and that equals money?
Hey, I thought you KKKonservatives were all for profit and money, especially for people who are already rich.
Look at Ann Coulter. She’s rich. She must be doing something right, correct?
But you tell me, what do conservatives believe?
The standard for civil cases is the “predonderance of evidence” which I think means more likely than not. Whereas the criminal standard is “beyond reasonable doubt”.
I think the Plame-Wilson kids could use Dick Cheney’s money. Probably could get them into the best colleges in the world.
Hehehe . . . I wouldn’t answer that question either, if I were you, Jack Squat.
Whatever you say, Bush will have failed at–
* fiscal responsibility* smaller government* not using the military for “nation building” (like Bill Clinton did, oh ick)* medicare / social security reform* getting government off your back except for illegal spying, no fly lists, free speech “zones,” outlawing gay marriage, restricting abortion, arresting people for their T-shirts, and (cue the national anthem) an amendment to make a religious icon out of the American flag!
But since you mention the polls, Jack, check this one from FOX NEWS:
NEW YORK — Less than four months before Election Day, the latest FOX News Poll finds that voters strongly favor the Democrats on key issues such as the economy and gas prices, and give the minority party a double-digit lead for control of Congress this fall. For most of President Bush’s second term in office, more Americans have said they disapprove than approve of his job performance and that is again the case in this new poll.
The president’s approval rating dropped to 36 percent, down from 41 percent approval two weeks ago and 40 percent in mid-June. Bush lost ground this week among some key constituent groups, such as Republicans, whites and men. Overall, 53 percent of Americans say they disapprove.
Americans think the most important issues facing the country today are Iraq (21 percent), the economy (11 percent) and health care (10 percent). On each of these, Democrats are seen as the party that can do a better job — by a razor-thin margin on Iraq (+2 percentage points), and by much more significant margins on the economy (+20 points) and health care (+29 points).
Even though it is extremely close, this is the first time the GOP is no longer the preferred party on Iraq: By 38 percent to 36 percent voters say they think the Democrats would do a better job handling the war.
It’s not going to amount to anything. That is why Valire Plame decided to sue Cheney and Rove, because she wants to keep this story alive. $$$ in the book and publicity helps. Especially for those shawank limo elitest parties in NYC. Get to meet all the elitest Democrats and drink lots of booze.
In two years, this will blow over. It will be a faint memory for some people, most won’t remember or even as today even heard about this incident, and Fitzgerald will be known as the Ken Starr of the Bush Administration.
Can’t wait until the next celebrity Special Prosecutor for the next President.
Monica Lewinsky cashed in and now is a millionaire.
Valarie Plame is cashing in.
The next unknown will do the same.
How about Ann Coulter, Joe?
Didn’t she cash in? Didn’t Dick Cheney cash in on the war for Halliburton? How about the company that gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bush campaign, more than any company to any candidate?
I speak of course of Kenny Boy Lay’s company, Enron?
Joe, you don’t get to call yourself a “libertarian” and then complain about people who are earning a buck and call them “elitist.”
Libertarians say let me live my life as I see fit and I’ll do the same for you.
You can’t complain about people who ride around in limos if you truly have that philosophy.
“Elitist” by the way is when George W. Bush stood up in a fricking tuxedo and looked around at the crowd all dressed in tuxs and designer night gowns with ice tinkling in glasses and blue haze of expensive cigar smoke and said, “some call you the ‘haves and the have mores.’ I call you ‘my base.’”
Now that’s as elitist as you can get.
Prospero. Didn’t say there was anything wrong with them making a buck!
I call them elitest, because they claim to be and like to be called that. Again! Nothing wrong with it. I call it as it is.
Dick Cheney is an opportunist, Halliburton is an aggressive military contractor, and Ken Lay is dead. What else can I say?
As a Libertarian, there is no room for political correctness or sanitizing what people are or do. Speak your mind. :)
Yep! Bush is an elitest. He would never have gotten to anything that he ever did. Yale, Havard, Fighter Pilot for the National Gaurd, Harkin Energy, Texas Rangers, Texas Governor, and President of the USA. He was born into it.
It’s a fact. Some people just get born into it. What you may call “winning lifes lottery”
I don’t think Valerie Plame is an elitist and I don’t think she’d like to be called that, but . . . I agree with everything else you posted :)