Oh what a tangled web we weave...

[EarlG]

"If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous." - Scott McClellan, September 16, 2003

"The President expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. No one would be authorized to do such a thing. Secondly, I've seen the anonymous media reports, and if I could find out who "anonymous" was, it would make my life a whole lot easier." - Scott McClellan, September 29, 2003

"The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." - Scott McClellan, September 29, 2003

"...if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of... I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true and get on about the business." - George W. Bush, September 30, 2003

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cialeak.html

"I think I made that very clear last week. The topic came up, and I said that if anyone in this administration was responsible for the leaking of classified information, they would no longer work in this administration. This is a very serious matter. The President made it very clear just a short time ago in the East Room, and he has always said that leaking of classified information is a serious matter. And that's why he wants to get to the bottom of this. And the sooner we get to the bottom of it, the better." - Scott McClellan, October 6, 2003

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/2003100...

"And, you know, there's a lot of leaking in Washington, D.C. It's a town famous for it. And if this helps stop leaks of - this investigation in finding the truth, it will not only hold someone to account who should not have leaked - and this is a serious charge, by the way. We're talking about a criminal action, but also hopefully will help set a clear signal we expect other leaks to stop, as well. And so I look forward to finding the truth. ... I don't know who leaked the information, for starters. So it's hard for me to answer that question until I find out the truth. You hear all kinds of rumors. And the best way to clarify the issue is for full participation with the Justice Department. These are professionals who are professional prosecutors who are leading this investigation, and we look forward to -- look, I want to know. I want to know." - George W. Bush, October 6, 2003

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/2003100...

"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea. I'd like to. I want to know the truth. That's why I've instructed this staff of mine to cooperate fully with the investigators -- full disclosure, everything we know the investigators will find out." - George W. Bush, October 7, 2003

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/2003100...

Q Given -- given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President Cheney's discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months ago, a suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name?

THE PRESIDENT: That's up to -

Q And, and, do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. And that's up to the U.S. Attorney to find the facts.

- June 10, 2004

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/2004061...

"As the President talked about earlier, there are a lot of senior administration officials in Washington, D.C. And the President wants the career officials at the Department of Justice, who are charged with looking into matters like this, to get to the bottom of this. And we are doing everything we can to assist them get to the bottom of this." - Scott McClellan, July 11, 2005

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cialeak.html

"It's best people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts." - George W. Bush, July 19, 2005

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8605680

[The Magistrate]

1. As Mr. Twain Said, Sir

"Always tell the truth. It's easier to remember."

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. That's why lies ALWAYS come back to bite you in the ass.

You can never keep them straight. EVER. Their arrogance made them think their lies would never catch up to them because they control all 3 branches of Government and the media. Ha!

[TaleWgnDg]

87. Lies, and more lies . . . but see where the whitehouse.gov

(press releases) cleans up Bush's act. EarlG's (cleaned-up) "transcribed" quotes are from the whitehouse.gov website. But listen to what Bush actually said:

www.awolcowboy.com/mp3/Bush_quotes_CIA_Leak.mp3

[SammyWinstonJack]

89. Or, " A lie can travel half around the World before the truth gets its

pants on." Who said that?

[Virginia Dare]

2. Send Lawyers, Guns and Money...

the SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN!

[mikeytherat]

53. Send lawyers, guns and money - DAD, GET ME OUT OF THIS!

Bad son! Bad!

mikey_the_rat

[saltpoint]

3. A handy primer for the White House press corps if they have the

wherewithal to consult it next time Dubya steps out into the press room.

Thank you for posting this!

[Mabus]

4. Helen Thomas used the same quote earlier today on Franken

when talking about Bush.

Thank you for the compilation.

[BrklynLiberal]

63. oops. Posted before I saw your post.

[Mabus]

68. LOL

I think this makes you the first person in the history of DU to do something like that

You know what they say about great minds.

[oldtime dfl_er]

5. great compilation

it oughta be on the front page of the NY Times!

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/752480

[cynatnite]

6. Will this do it?

Will this be the straw that brings down the entire administration of crooks?

Dare I hope?

[ClintonTyree]

37. Not if cable news is any indicator........

I haven't seen a thing about it yet. Pope, Immigration, Sexual Predators, Meredith Vieira.....nothing to see here. Bush is as popular as ever ( ) The fact that our supposed President is a treasonous, lying piece of shit seems to have escaped them. I am SOOOO fucking sick of Cable "News". It's nothing but personalities spouting their opinions, there's absolutely NO reporting going on whatsoever! Thank the FSM for the "internets". Without "them" no one in this country would ever know what's going on in this country or the rest of the world.

[0007]

50. Everyone seems to be able to spin both ways at the same time.

Some faster than others. While our present Democratic leaders go around only so slow and in the same direction.

Cable nooz, whom I believe takes orders from the White House like it was a drive up fast food joint.

[glitch]

66. Cable news is no longer the arbiter of news. They blew their own creds

awhile ago. People hate being shovelled shit day after day.

This is where it's at, and my justification of that statement is in the Bush plummeting poll numbers. Hu-ah!

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Bush has the authority to leak classified information even if

he doesn't know or care if he's doing it!--a Freeper

[wurzel]

61. Yes he can "declassify" information. But can he "leak" information?

Can a president "declassify" information and then "leak" it to single and favored reporter? I am not so sure. Legally I would think the information belongs to the country, not the president. It is not private property. While a president has control of it, he does not own it. Once he "leaks" it he no longer controls it, and has put it in the public domain. It might be illegal the same way as insider trading.

[Lasher]

84. Good question.

Leaking information and declassifying it are not one and the same. If information is declassified it is made available to all. Revealing classified information to one person while keeping it secret from others is not an act of declassification, IMHO.

Here's a good DU thread that discusses limits on the president's power to declassify:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[wurzel]

88. Yes. There has to be a legal procedure for declassifying information.

I doubt it is legal for a president to treat once classified information the way Bush has. There must be some kind of legal procedures for diseminating declassified information. Secretly leaking it to a chosen reporter can't be one of them.

[glitch]

67. Not all classified information, and not names of working undercover CIA

operatives. Never believe a freeper.

[RedEarth]

8. Sounds to me like he should be fired

[stanwyck]

14. He's going to fire himself.

He said he would fire anyone in his administration caught leaking information. He authorized the leak.
So. He's going to uphold his "highest standards" and fire himself.
Sweet.

[VolcanoJen]

9. The September 30th quote...

... which was delivered in front of a group of business leaders, makes it clear that Bush was deliberately lying to the American people about what he knew at the time, if Libby's testimony is to be believed.

The press should be all over this. It's Bush's "I did not have sex with that woman" moment.

[helderheid]

10. Time to resign, *

[bush_out_the_door]

11. I just hope...

I just hope he doesn't find a way to weasel out of this one.

[Catrina]

12. He lies so smoothly ~ did he participate in the ethics courses the WH

staff was ordered to attend?

If this was a novel, it would not be believable ~ but today's news is something I never thought we'd hear, even though all along his own behavior implicated him. He couldn't fire anyone.

I wonder why, early on, they didn't stop the investigation? The smear machine could have done a number on Fitzgerald, eg. They could have fired him, saying they would appoint a new prosecutor and the investigation could have been stalled indefinitely. They shut down the Abu Ghraib hearings, eg, which have never resumed.

For all we know, there must be so much we don't know ~ and some of them must now be asking themselves 'was it all worth it?'

Oh, a question ~ can the President pardon himself? What a shock if he were the one to be charged with outing an covert agent.

Meantime, is there enough yet to start impeachment hearings?

[Missy Vixen]

36. Patrick Fitzgerald cannot be legally fired as the special counsel

>The smear machine could have done a number on Fitzgerald, eg. They could have fired him, saying they would appoint a new prosecutor and the investigation could have been stalled indefinitely.<

The letters he received from James Comey as acting Attorney General state that there is nobody currently in government that can fire him. Not the President. Not Congress. He can be removed as a US Attorney, but he can't be fired as special counsel.

Julie
president for life of the PFEB

[H2O Man]

39. That is not true.

The president can for him for just cause. However, Fitzgerald is not prone to gross error, and so it will not happen. But it is incorrect to say that no one can fire him.

[IChing]

13. Katie Couric on the Today show broke this story months ago

Just kidding, great find,

Now to get what the pundits have to say about this
which of course we know will to de-marginalize and isolate the pResident of any responsibilities or culpability to this act of treason

[helderheid]

15. Please send to KO

[leesfirstalso]

16. "IDOLS NEED NOT BE SMASHED; THEY CRUMBLE OF THEMSELVES!"

“IDOLS NEED NOT BE SMASHED; THEY CRUMBLE OF THEMSELVES!”



Just when I was going to discuss George’s new folksy, “I’ll be honest with you” image, and his laugh a speech demeanor, {heh, heh, heh} and then expressing his disappointment blaming bad intelligence again, or John McCain’s new “JOHN HEARTS BUSH” rhetoric that doesn’t miss an opportunity{at this mornings immigration breakthrough speech] to profess his new encompassing love for all things Bush, or cozying up to Falwell makes each man looks like an example of walking hypocrisy.


George W. Bush has always had his own ethical ideals and treats them as an end in itself. This attitude allows him the authority to rewrite laws and alter or hide opinions or documents that oppose any of his views or policies. It allows him the convenience to speak as if God gives him his marching orders


In 2003 Mr. Bush made the statement he’d get to the bottom of the CIA outing of Valerie Plame committing himself irrevocably to getting at the truth, then hampering the course of action by denying information and documents that would help discern the truth. That has ALWAYS been the Bush/NeoCon method of averting detection on many vital issues. Now one of his own Cabinet is under indictment, with the trial scheduled as far into the future as possible so it will not affect elections, a ploy Bush/Rove have used many times before. They bank on the short memories of American citizens and the media! The Bush/Rove Political Machine are masters at postponing timely discussions and decisions, and are backed by Pat Roberts and the Republican Guards all the way!


Court Papers filed now reveals and confirms what we knew all along!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12187153 /


Libby: Bush himself authorized leak on Iraq
Former Cheney aide says president OK’d giving prewar intel to media


In an MSNBC report we find out, “Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide told prosecutors that President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.
Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.”
Libby’s participation in a critical conversation with Miller on July 8, 2003, “occurred only after the vice president advised defendant that the president specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the National Intelligence Estimate,” the papers by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald stated. The filing did not specify the “certain information.”
'Unique' circumstances
“Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller — getting approval from the president through the vice president to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval — were unique in his recollection,” the papers added.”

The replay of old campaign “IMAGES” and rhetoric hopefully will no longer sway the gullible and those of blind faith in the incompetent leadership of Bush and the dominant Republicans, who have made one bad decision after another and abused the power entrusted to them. “HONOR IS EASIER KEPT THAN RECOVERED!”

[ninkasi]

41. Good information, thanks

Welcome to DU...I look forward to more of your posts.

[vickitulsa]

72. Ewwwwwwwwww, that LAUGH!!! Yes, it grates on me too, yet you

are the first person I've heard mention it here on DU! (I've only been here a few months though.)

Honestly, when he does that ... that half-breathed, low pitched, intended to sound sort of self-deprecating and down-to-earth "chortle" of his, I want to kick in my TV set!

My dad had a laugh like that -- EXACTLY like it -- and Mom and I and my brother always called it his "dirty old man laugh." When we first made fun of him for it to his face after many years of joking about it behind his back because we feared his rage, he surprised us by NOT yelling or hitting anyone. Instead, he got this puzzled look on his face as if he truly had NO IDEA what we were talking about.

Wonder if anyone has ever had the gumption to let Dubya know that laugh of his grates on people's last nerves? Especially in these days when so many of his misdeeds, screw-ups, and outright LIES are being revealed.

Somehow, I rather doubt it....

[myrna minx]

17. Thank you for these quotes.

Oh dear. How are they going to spin this one? Shouldn't Bu$h fire himself?

[helderheid]

18. I just emailed this out to my peeps - crediting you of course!

[snappyturtle]

19. K&R......

He lied....*, i.e. Is this right?: Even if * can declassify the information that he authorized to be leaked, he still lied to us! Is that enough to send him over the cliff? Please say "yes"....I have a bottle of the bubbly that been in the 'frig since October 2004.

[countryjake]

20. So CNN is saying this in not a legal issue...

it's a political issue! What the hell?

"this investigation in finding the truth, it will not only hold someone to account who should not have leaked"...Two and a half years ago he said this!!!

I'm sending all the quotes you've found straight to that "newsroom", bejeebus, they're already spinning this as nothing!

[cynatnite]

23. MSNBC called it a PR problem

[countryjake]

25. I just heard that!

Sometimes I want to throttle some of those commentators. I'm taking this entire compilation and sending it to all of them. The somabitch lied to the American people, flat out...that should be enough, regardless, since it's "not a legal issue". Man, I couldn't believe when I heard them say that! What happened to ethics, morality? I'm printing these up and carrying them with me, to flap at all the fundies I know, who HATE liars.

[Tight_rope]

71. PR Problem?...WTF?...The WH must be calling in all favors today!

[Coexist]

27. spin, baby, spin...

when will it end.

[VolcanoJen]

28. Be happy that, for the moment, it *is* a political issue

Of course I think it's a criminal issue... but all this really does is illuminate Libby's likely defense: that since he was authorized to leak classified information by the President and Vice President, he's not guilty of perjury or obstruction of justice.

Thing is, he's dropping the dime on Bush and Cheney, politically, by using this as his defense. This new testimony, if it is to be believed, strikes a huge blow at Bush's already crumbling political credibility, as his party heads into the most important midterm election of their lives.

In the face of the new testimony, it's clear Bush was lying when he told reporters that he would get to the bottom of the leaks, and punish any leaders. He was misleading the American people, because he thought he could count on Libby (or someone) taking the eventual fall one day.

This is a fat, juicy political steak, and I'm going to eat it.

[countryjake]

40. Me & you, both!

Not a meat eater, but this is too bloody juicy to ignore. I know so many people who just drip with "morality" and have been slowly faltering in their faith, as each of this administration's lies have been exposed. If this doesn't send them over the edge, nothing ever will. He's gonna lose those whose own credibility is very important to them.

[H2O Man]

42. That's true.

It isn't a legal issue. No one questions that the president has the authority to reveal classified information in a number of contexts. It isn't a violation of the law. Rather, it is a political problem. While people were aware that Bush gave an order allowing the vice president to declassify information, that isn't a resolved issue. Bush made that decision shortly after the Niger documents were exposed as forgeries, and Wilson began to speak.

That indicates the president was making decisions on declassifying based on political interests. Not good for the administration.

If, however, Libby cops a plea, and admits that Cheney told him to leak Plame's identity, it is a different ballgame.

[countryjake]

47. If we use all of the above quotes...

to point out that he lied to the American people about this entire affair, the chances it will become a "legal" issue are much greater. I know lots of folks who will be embarrassed by this...killing thousands of people in an illegal war hasn't bothered them, but supporting lying Republicans certainly will!

Everytime I suggest the guy should be hauled off to the Hague, they will always say that he's just trying his best and made honest mistakes. Well, this page of statements sure won't appear very "honest" to any of those types.

[H2O Man]

49. If people read

the last paragraph on page 27 of Fitzgerald's document, the confusion about what the significance of Libby's statement is, would perhaps clear.

[countryjake]

58. Found here?

http://www.nysun.com/30561.pdf

[mike_c]

55. but aren't there specific statutory limits on revealing the identity...

...of covert intelligence agents? Wouldn't arbitrarily declassifying the name of an agent violate that law? My sense is that it's a catch-22 with Bush caught by the short and curlies.

[H2O Man]

57. If one reads

pages 27-28 of Fitzgerald's document, it becomes clear that this is not at issue.

[King Coal]

60. What do thoses pages say?

Where can I find them?

[bleever]

81. Didn't an incontrovertible legal issue surface today

if we believe the factuality of this excerpt from Jason Leopold's article:

According to four attorneys who over the past two days have read a transcript of the President Bush's interview with investigators, Bush did not disclose to either investigators or the special counsel that he had authorized Cheney or any other administration official to leak portions of the NIE to Woodward and Miller or any other reporter. Rather, these people said the president said he frowned upon "selective leaks."

Bush also said during the interview two years ago that he had no prior knowledge that anyone on his staff had been involved in a campaign to discredit Wilson or that individuals retaliated against the former ambassador by leaking his wife's undercover identity to reporters.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040606Y.shtml

Doesn't Bush now find himself, like Libby, caught in the pincers of known facts opposing testimony of record? Is this not prima facia obstruction of justice? Or am I missing some critical element here?

[H2O Man]

85. Yes.

If accurate -- and I believe it is -- this is one of the two huge stories that involves the president.

[bleever]

86. I'm stunned that this has received almost no atttention amidst the uproar.

My guess is that the enormity of what we learned from these filings is such that it will take time for the full import to become evident.


Things, as you say, sir, are good.

[tuvor]

21. Are you sure?

After all, it's not like it's a blow job or anything.

[bushmeister0]

22. Playing dumb fooled us!

"I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts."

Yeah right W., play dumb. As we just found out on 24, the dumb president is really the one behind the whole thing.

[DinahMoeHum]

24. Pull up a chair and have some popcorn. . .

this is gonna be fun!

[Caoimhe]

26. I just heard about this on NPR

I think Bush's numbers CAN and WILL sink even lower. Get your limbo stick out and toss it on the ground, that's how low this vile piece of filth * will go.

[KoKo]

34. It's being spun as "Bush didn't leak classified info because he had

declassified it." Doesn't wash when one reads these direct quotes. Fact is that "Plame's name or Wilson's Wife" was mentioned in that NIE Document and whatever way they are trying to spin it ...folks will remember that he was supposedly after leakers. If he had already declassified it ...then they wouldn't have been looking for the leakers. Seems to me they are going to get caught up in their language contortions on this. But, who knows.

Great links ...so that we can all keep it straight in our minds!

[Catrina]

43. He didn't declassify it until AFTER the fact. That in itself, I think,

could be even worse for him, depending on the lawyers involved. It could be seen as an attempt to cover his crime.

One thing though. Libby's word is all we, and Fitzgerald have now. And Libby is being prosecuted for lying.

Libby says Cheney said Bush ordered the leak! Bush could claim that Libby is lying. But if Fitz had evidence of Cheney's role, what will Cheney do to save himself? Will he turn in Bush?

[katty]

30. let the games begin

[lpbk2713]

31. "But ... but ... but ... that was then. This is now."

"Global war on terrorism."

"Support our troops."

"Um ... Next question."

[pacalo]

32. "Is the traitor under my desk? Or over there? Or here?"

Just look in the mirror, scumbag.

[Bucky]

45. Come here, Laura. There's a little traitor in my pocket who wants to smile

Okay, that was gross even for me.

[ClintonTyree]

33. So what is bush waiting for?

It's time to resign, no ifs, ands or buts. And take the rest of his criminal cabal with him. It's painfully clear that bush is a liar and hasn't an ounce of integrity and trustworthiness. Leave....GO! NOW!

[lonestarnot]

35. when at first we practice to deceive.

[PurpleChez]

38. CAN WE IMPEACH HIM NOW???

[Bucky]

44. I saw this news (link here) and said "CHA-CHINNNNGGG!!"

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ayK...

Ah, so sweet!

[understandinglife]

46. Well done! A lie is a lie is a lie is a .....

If You're pro-Bu$h, You're Anti-America

[monarch]

48. Very funny-- I misheard McKinney's apology as being from

McClellan and my reaction was to marvel at the speed of the spin. My partner is watching the TV is upstairs and I have been shuttling back and forth to watch each wonderful story unfold. I think I was halfway up the stairs when I realized that it was McKinney who was apologizing.

[NVMojo]

51. And with each passing day & comment, the shovel dug deeper

into the Bushit!

[Orion The Hunter]

52. What a lying bunch of weasels...eom!

[DWilliamsamh]

54. Somehow I don't think he will resign.

I guess when he said if anyone in the Administration was found to be responsible they would no longer be in the Administration he was not including himself, even though he IS a part of the Administration. Just one more way in which GWB is willing work from a different set of rules than the rest of the "little people."

I think I would fall over dead from shock if this weasel of a disgusting traitor ever did the honorable thing and resigned.... Heck I'd settle for ritual suicide for bringing shame upon his nation. Something tells me I have nothing to fear for the next three years.

[Susang]

56. This thread gives me deja vu

[WiseButAngrySara]

59. K & R & bookmarked & e-mailed: Send to KO and TDS--Zen moment!

[notadmblnd]

79. dont forget to add it to your journal

nt

[BrklynLiberal]

62. Helen Thomas used the same quote today on Al Franken's show

to describe this situation.
I cannot wait to see the entire thing unweave and watch them all struggle as they trip over it.

[emald]

64. okay, can we please impeach this worthless asshole

and all his enablers, including scotty mcfellate, and start to make right the crimes they all have engendered upon the world? What if the Resident decides to punch the button on Iran? Can we stop them? This, and there seems only one way to put this, cabal, has pushed way outside the limits of responsible government; criminality outlined by Nurenburg long ago has been committed by Bushit and his followers. Way past TIME TO IMPEACH.

[TaleWgnDg]

65. Woohoo, EarlG, I'd hate to be on your sh*tlist . . .

.

Woohoo, ElanG, I'd hate to be on your sh*tlist . . . you keep such great records! Yikes.






Why do I believe he lied again this time?

[Bossy Monkey]

69. He DIDn't know who the leaker was. Vampires can't see their reflections nt

[countingbluecars]

70. Heard on my way home from work on D.C. news radio

this teaser-"Stunning Developments in the CIA Leak Scandal". The reporter then went on to say that the same information that was leaked to Judith Miller was declassified a week later-so basically no big deal. I could scream!

[Beaverhausen]

73. how'd this get to page 2?

[ElboRuum]

74. Daily Affirmation With Scott and George? (eom)

[moosedog]

75. I think bush should fire himself!

I haven't posted in about a year. I've had a couple of strokes and I think this is an appropriate place for me to come in. I haven't seen any more corrupt administrations in all my years. I have been voting in every election since "Give em Hell Harry". Even Tricky Dick wasn't as bad as this crew.
Moosedog

[Sacajawea]

77. moosedog.....Welcome Back!

Hope you're feeling much better now.

[lovuian]

76. Here comes the Leak Chief...

Its Ok to try and destroy two law abiding patriotic Americans... who tell the truth....

just so I can lie about WMD in Iraq and have my war ...

I'm the President and I can do anything I want cause the Congress will let me...

[raggedcompany]

78. Well done

Except you made me read a bunch of Bush's languange. Thanks a lot.

[Left Is Write]

80. It's terribly childish of me, but my first thought was...

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

[orleans]

83. i started laughing and actually clapped a couple of times

and i was driving!

[Imagevision]

82. Bush: Yes. And that's up to the U.S. Attorney to find the facts.

I thought that one was pretty funny...