WH Broke Law in Order to Punish Ambassador

[TNOE]

On Edit - See date of 7/24 - maybe this has already been posted - but news to me - and maybe some of you.

White House Source Broke Law in order to 'Punish' Ambassador; Exposes CIA Agent and Contacts to Foreign Enemies



Following up on news reports that Bush Administration officials "leaked" the name of a CIA officer who is the wife of administration critic Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) has asked the FBI to initiate a criminal investigation into the matter.



"This disclosure was part of an apparent attempt to discredit Ambassador Wilson's findings about potential uranium exports from Niger to Iraq and intimidate other officials from speaking their minds," Sen. Schumer wrote in a July 24 letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller.



"As you are aware, the unauthorized disclosure of information relating to the identity of an American intelligence official is a crime punishable by fines and up to 10 years in prison under the Intelligence Identities and Protection Act," he noted.



(That Act, at 50 U.S.C. 421-26, prohibits disclosure of identities of intelligence personnel as part of a "pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents." It is not clear that a single disclosure would legally constitute such a "pattern.")



"This current scandal is just as serious as the one from June 2002.... The FBI needs to find out who made the name of this agent public and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. There can be zero tolerance for this kind of action," Schumer said. See his July 24 letter here:



http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2003/07/cs072403.html

[Yavin4]

1. Remember The Clinton Travel Office Scandal?

Remember how the right wing went ape shit over the firing of the White House travel office? Remember the investigations into it? Remember how they would blow trivial Clinton matters way, way out of proportion?

Just remember all of this as the so-called, "Liberal Media" covers this story or should I say, doesn't cover this story.

[MattNC]

2. agreed

there is no excuse for this story not getting more air time.

[searchingforlight]

3. Just another thing that the WH ignores and

it becomes a dead issue.

Read anything in the mainstream press about GWB autographing a flag yeserday.

Guess anything goes with repugs.

The funny thing is that the CIA and FBI employees will probably vote for him.

[JackSwift]

4. It's a crime, and Bush should demand

confessions. I never understood the travel office crap. Wasn't Clinton entitled to fire them and pick his own people?

[tomp]

5. you can't blame bush.

the second assistant undersecretary for spy outings forgot to tell him about it seventeen times.

[antineocon1]

6. Remember that this is how the Niger flap started.

It started with a letter. This will be the undoing of the Bushco. It's the last straw.

[whoYaCallinAlib]

9. I wish I had $1 for every time someone on this board said

"this is the end of Bush", "Bush is toast", "this is the last straw". Look, I hope . . . no I pray you are right. I've been disappointed so many times, I no longer get too excited about these kinds of stories. This one less so because I doubt that Bush is the one who leaked her name.

[hotphlash]

7. I'd like to see Novak in cuffs for his part in this mess

nt

[blm]

8. This issue should stay

on the front page for weeks.

[never cry wolf]

10. this has been out for a couple of weeks

and it has not gotten any real traction yet which is really dissappointing. my sen. durbin also brought it up and it was in newsday and time. google "valerie plame", that is wilson's wife. this should be a HUGE scandal but i think that maybe the media isn't pushing it because it goes back to another media member having to reveal a source.

i don't know if there is any special look into it by the senate due to shermer and durbin but there may be later. also, i am hopeful that bush* has po'd the cia enough that this will be the proverbial straw. they burned an undercover agent who was working on WMD jeopardizing her life, her family and all of her contacts. this is treason, pure and simple and needs to come out!!!

[Rebellious Republican]

11. If I were the CIA, I would be all over this. If Bush is allowed to get

away with this one, then it will be deemed open season on any CIA agent. I would hope that the CIA would be able to figure this out and shut them down fast!