George Bush Authorized the Leak of Valerie Wilson’s Identity

[kpete]

George Bush Authorized the Leak of Valerie Wilson’s Identity
By: emptywheel Thursday May 29, 2008 8:02 am


Scottie McC doesn't know it yet. But that's basically what he revealed this morning on the Today Show (h/t Rayne).

During the interview, Scottie revealed the two things that really pissed him off with the Bush Administration. First, being set up to lie by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. And second, learning that Bush had--himself--authorized the selective leaking of the NIE.

..................

But now we've got George Bush, confirming that he, the President of the United States, authorized the leaks of "this information."

Now, though Scottie refers, obliquely, to "this information," he explicitly refers only to the NIE. But as I've described over and over again, it's not just the NIE Bush authorized Dick to order Libby to leak.

.................

At this point, Scottie McC is still accepting Scooter Libby's lies, though I suspect he sees the dangerous frailty of them. With Bush's clear admission to Scottie that he was in the loop, and the evidence that, subsequent to receiving an order from Cheney (authorized by Bush) to leak classified information to Judy Miller, Libby leaked Valerie Wilson's identity, the circumstantial evidence shows the President was directly involved in the deliberate outing of a CIA spy. The only question now is whether Bush realized he authorized the leak of Valerie's identity, in addition to a bunch of other classified documents.

Think of how much sense this makes. We have evidence that George Bush ordered Libby to respond to Joe Wilson on June 9, 2003. We now have Bush's own confirmation that he authorized the leak Libby made to Judy Miller on July 8, 2003--which included the leak of Valerie Wilson's identity. We know on July 10, Condi told Stephen Hadley that Bush "was comfortable" with the response the White House was making towards Wilson. And we know that--when Cheney forced Scottie McC to exonerate Libby publicly that fall, he did so by reminding people that "The Pres to stick his head in the meat-grinder." We know that Libby's lawyers tried desperately to prevent a full discussion of the NIE lies to be presented at trial. And we know that--after those NIE lies did not come out, for the most part (though one juror told me that NIE story was obviously false, even with the limited information they received)--the President commuted Libby's sentence on July 2, 2007.


http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/29/george-bush-authorized-the-leak-of-valerie-wilsons-identity/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. To the Bastille, Citzens!

[oldtime dfl_er]

3. Oooh I like that!

Great pic!!!

[Indenturedebtor]

6. Wow that picture would make a great watermark for our Strongly Worded Letter! n/t

[Poll_Blind]

36. Laughing until my breath begins hitching and I cry. SO true. n/t

PB

[eShirl]

11. "allons enfants de la patrie...!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise

[bdamomma]

14. exactly, we have thugs ruining our country.

[Mme. Defarge]

66. Hey -- that's my line! n/t

[HowHasItComeToThis]

71. SEND THE PRESSAGANDISTS TO THE GALLOWS

HAVEN'T DONE THEIR JOB SINCE MONICA

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. K & R

Its funny, WE all knew this, didn't we? It's a bitter pill to swallow, even so, that such an UNpatriotic charlatan defiled the Oval Office with his presence for eight long years...

[ladjf]

13. We all knew it. And now we all continue to be very disturbed to

see that his crimes will go unpunished.

[bdamomma]

17. somebody or someone better stop this SOB.

or should have stopped him a long time ago. Sickening how this imbecile jerked us around for so long, and he is not finished yet. What a sick SOB he is, he does have a severe mental illness.

I have kept this for a long time. And it still holds true for today. It is long but worth the read.


http://www.larouchepub.com/other/interviews/2006/3314justin_frank.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

41. ty for sharing this interview..

I am a retired MH therapist....it so validates what I have been seeing in him. I got the untreated alcoholism bit way early on but the reading dysfunction adds a lot to the picture...

no pun intended

much more scary than I originally thought..and he is the perfect material for a puppet.

Edited to add:

This is a great statement Dr. Frank made:

"For too long we have not paid attention to the psychology of our own willingness to collude with destructive leadership. "

[tblue37]

49. What is an "MH therapist"?

People use initials for things all the time on the Net, but not everyone knows what some of those initials stand for.

I am, for example, a college W and an LT, and I ran an HDC for 18 years, even while continuing to teach college. I also had my own DB for two years, and I T at all levels, too. I am a FLW, as well, and also a FLE.

My daughter is an ERD. My son's job isn't one I can initialize easily, though, so there's no point in discussing him.

[dixiegrrrrl]

51. Mental Health...

[klook]

67. TYFTIP. IFIH.

(Thank you for the interesting post. I found it humorous.)

I thought maybe MH stood for:

• Man Hattan


• Makeup and Hair


• Methadone and Heroin


• Mole and Hamster or


• Mad Hatter

[AlbertCat]

73. I used to wonder....

.... what K&R meant.

here are some examples, but my fave is not there. It was "Kidnap & Ransom"


http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=KR

[klook]

75. Ha! K&R KR

Kidnap and Ransom Keanu Reeves.

Just kidding, in case any FBI guys are reading this. :P

[tblue37]

80. Mata Hari? n/t

[madinmaryland]

4. Hmm. Wonder if Scottie revealed this in his sworn testimony before

Patrick Fitgerald???

[midnight]

12. That is probably the case, and a reason Patrick let us know

that he knew sand was thrown in his eyes via suppression of intormation.

[H2O Man]

18. yes n/t

[Imagevision]

5. Watch, the WH. will simply not comment on Scottties book report...

therefore it's only a matter of time this blows over, anyone know if Cheney is dead yet?

[Virginia Dare]

7. Kenny-boy Lay has chartered him a plane to Dubai...n/t

[bdamomma]

19. oh I am sure big Dick will have a response like

so what??? or I find his allegations to be ridiculous.

[FSogol]

8. Time to Impeach!

:mad:

[Swamp Rat]

10. IMPEACH BUSH!!!

[ExPatLeftist]

35. That's a killer bumpersticker! n/t

[Patchuli]

47. Great bumper sticker SR!

Love your work...! I sometimes wish I could just K&R your artwork within threads.

[cascadiance]

9. And if what Wayne Madsen recently said about Plame's investigation of Libby, etc. is true...

... this could be REALLY big, and perhaps point to the president himself being involved with leaking of nuclear secrets to Pakistan via Turkish and Israeli intermediaries, and then trying to cover it up through directing the leaking of Plame's identity and pardoning Libby, etc.

http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/4943361/

The Swiss CIA - Nuke Connection

Wayne Madsen - Plame leak damaged a major CIA investigation linking senior Bush administration officials to WMD proliferation. U.S. intelligence insiders have pointed out that the White House is using "Rovegate" and "Who in the White House said what to whom?" as a smoke screen to divert attention away from the actual counter-proliferation work Mrs. Wilson and her Brewster Jennings & Associates team were engaged in.

The arrival of Timothy Flanigan as Patrick J. Fitzgerald's boss is likely related to the mountains of evidence Fitzgerald has now collected to indict senior White House officials, particularly, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for criminal conspiracy in exposing a sensitive U.S. intelligence operation that was targeting some of their closest political and business associates. Libby, it will be recalled, was the attorney for fugitive global smuggler and Clinton-pardoned multi-billionaire Marc Rich, someone who has close ties to the Sharon government and Israeli intelligence.


Lewis "Scooter" Libby

It is no coincidence that FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds uncovered nuclear material and narcotics trafficking involving Turkish intermediaries with ties to Israel at the same time Brewster Jennings and the CIA's Counter Proliferation Division was hot on the trail of nuclear proliferators tied to the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon and the A. Q. Khan network of Pakistan.

...

[AntiFascist]

46. WOW, it could all tie together on the Plame - AQ Khan network connection....

Corrupt neocons (together with much of the rest of government) fostering nuclear proliferation in order to advance Bush 41's New World Order agenda. Can there be any higher form of treason?

I suspect that when Scott McClellan was "reflecting" on what had transpired within the Bush Administration, perhaps he had been exposed to the PNAC Statement of Principles and the history of Cheney and Rumsfeld after the end of the Cold War (as spelled out in Hijacking Catastrophe).

[cascadiance]

55. And I just saw another documentary tonight that might show another individual at the center of this.

This individual is mentioned on this page as well as Sibel...

http://djysrv.blogspot.com/2008/01/turkey-plans-5-gwe-8-billion-nuclear.html

And of course this fits right into the Bush trying to "legitimize" us giving nuclear secrets to Turkey too, which is another form of "coverup" for the Plame mess too!

[Mugsy]

15. No, Cheney admitted it was himself.

Cheney basically admitted it was he who declassified Plame's identity, on "Meet the Press":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idPFHEdp-Qo

[chapel hill dem]

60. Tinfoil hat alert: Could Scotty's book be a way to get everyone off the hook?

I do not trust his sudden reversal of loyalty. The POTUS, and VP according to Cheney, have the absolute power to classify and declassify any and all government info. If Bush really declassified Plame's position at the CIA, then it may immunize everyone who passed on the "unclassified" information.

Scotty's book, and publicity tour, could be a well-planned GOP operation.

FWIW.

[helderheid]

16. Can we impeach them NOW??? Would that stop a war in Iran (or at least slow them down)???

[AZ Criminal JD]

45. No, Pelosi and Reid are too busy trying to engineer an Obama victory.

[orleans]

52. no, pelosi and reid are too busy doing ANYTHING to avoid impeachment n/t

[KansDem]

20. I'm usually a little slow on the uptake, but isn't this "treason?"

Aiding and abetting the enemy?

It seems to me if you expose an undercover American intelligence operation, that's what you're doing!

[kpete]

21. not slow

at all

[Bette Noir]

29. It has been treason all along.

Outing the identity of a secret agent in time of war carries the death penalty, as does war profiteering. Somehow, I don't think we'll see any prosecutions during this administration.

[leveymg]

22. What did Bush think he was doing when he okayed the NIE leak?- silencing critics.

I doubt anyone bothered to tell Bush the particulars that they were going to "out" Valerie Plame, in particular.

But, that doesn't really matter. Legally, when a Mafia Don orders his underlings to "take care of a problem", and someone gets whacked, the Don still takes the fall under the standard interpretation of the criminal laws of conspiracy.

Bush can't pardon himself. I still expect he'll resign later this year, so Cheney can do that.

[Divine Discontent]

23. they have to answer for leaking a CIA undercover operative working on anti-proliferation of nukes...

they HAVE to...
because if they don't I'm outta this country. I'm just so sick of the media protecting them... I'd never take a paycheck over my morals knowing I was pushing absolute liars as not really trying to out Plame - but it being accidental... bullcrap!

New Obama Items Weekly!
www.cafepress.comw/warisprofitable

[Dystopian]

32. link fixed : )

:hi:
I couldn't get your link to work...I noted the problem....
Now to get stuff! Thank you....
www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

I wish I could leave the country, but I'm stuck here...:-(






peace~

[Divine Discontent]

37. thank you

:)

well I hope I don't have to leave, but if I do, I'll send postcards from wherever I go... I will not stay in a country that would put Nixon/Ford/Reagan/Bush/Bush/McCain with only Carter & Clinton mixed in there for 12 years from the span of '68-'16


Disgusting neocon murders...

[Honeycombe8]

24. Authorizing the leak is a traitorous act, isn't it? I think so. I mean, you can't "authorize" a

traitorous act, can you? Even if you're President?

[Vyan]

59. The Key element of Treason

is whether you're revealing information in order to help a foreign power. In this case, Bush and Cheney released information to help themselves and their own political positions, Yes, it did hurt the United States but that not a requirement in the statute, exactly how it helped any other country (certainly not Iraq) is not clear.

It might be argued that it helped Iran, but it would be difficult to claim it was done for that reason and is therefore, Treason. Treasonous, yes. Treason, no.

Vyan

[DemReadingDU]

62. Geo HW Bush: Spy name leakers "most insidious of traitors."

4/26/1999

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvu3Ecnvd74

[tomp]

72. i aasume we would all agree that outing covert agents,...

...especially those involved in nuclear anti-proliferation, would be against the interests of the U.S. The strong, almost unavoidable implication is that another coutry or countries would gain an advantage over the U.S. Does it matter if the action is taken without the aiding a specific country in mind? Wouldn't there be records of which countries the anti-nuclear prolferation team were concerned about, and couldn't it be simply assumed that the action was to the benefit of those countries? Should it not be assumed that the *resident is supposed to know which countries might benefit from the outing of such an agent or team of agents?

(edited for punctuation)

[Vyan]

74. It's a bit of a bank shot

to get to that point, and that's where the problem is. This wasn't a leak of classified information to a foreign country, it was to the U.S. press for clearly political purposes.

Whem someone gives secrets to the Chinese, it's pretty cut and dried - but this wasn't like that.

I honestly think this lack of a direct foreign beneficiary is why Libby was never charged with violation of the IIPA for revealing that Plame worked at CIA, plus it was never clearly established that Libby and Rove were specifically told that she was Covert. Robert Grenier, who told Libby about Plame didn't mentioned it. Neither did Marc Grossman at the State Dept. THe thing is that the first person to tell Libby about her employement was Cheney it was never established during the Libby trial exactly how Cheney found out and just how much he knew about her at the time.

Vyan

[tomp]

79. i think you're taking a bank shot around my argument.

i haven't been able to research exactly what the law says treason is. i'm not sure that an argument can be made that one must be working directly with a foreign entity for one's activity to legally qualify as treason. perhaps you can enlighten.

consider, however, if memebers of government at high levels are involved in trading nuclear secrets, as has been alleged by many, including sibel edmonds, would not the outing of Plame be part of a treasonous enterprise. and consider further: what if wilson was not the prime target, but a simply wonderful synchronicity to block Plame's investigations which might have been coming too close to the treasonous trading of nuclear secrets.

[KaptBunnyPants]

25. Didn't Bush say he'd fire whoever leaked the name?

President, fire thine self.

[Bette Noir]

31. No, I believe his precise words were, "I'll take care of him."

He did.

[Divine Discontent]

38. he did, he said he'd fire anyone convicted of leaking... eom

[orleans]

53. lucky no one was "convicted" isn't it? n/t

[Raksha]

26. That's treason. n/t

[dave123williams]

27. Sure. Makes perfect sense. You just get the sense that he's a petty and vindictive little man.

Why *wouldn't* he have been in the loop on the decision to go after the guy's wife? He probably let loose with one of his trademark snickers when he did it.

Oh, how I would love to read that he's been jailed for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

[Historic NY]

28. Can he pardon himself? People die when Bush lies.....

[SpiralHawk]

30. The k and the r

Impeach the republicon traitor

[Dystopian]

33. Thanks! K&R

Great find, thank you...


peace~

[kpete]

34. more at:

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=60460

The White House deftly distracted public attention away from the true scandal here — the treasonous acts of the president’s men — by focusing on the vivid personalities of the covert agent, Valerie Plame, and her husband Joe Wilson.

[phrigndumass]

39. Scott M. clearly said the same thing on Countdown tonight

Dubya authorized it.

It was a good interview with Keith Olbermann.

:thumbsup:

[myrna minx]

40. K&R n/t

[2Design]

42. we have known this but the media, congress and anyone in power is

unwilling to do their job - none of them except perhaps kucinch and no one is listening to him - what do we do when our government is a failure and noone seems to care except people on a forum who have truth on their side. Didn't change the 2000 election, didn't change the iraq war, didn't change anything - so what do we do - it does not seem to matter - I get so angry - and they say we are just angry - that dems are angry people and not patriots - the republicans have their flags in their yards and lapel pins - how is this much different than yellow stars to separate the people ???

You always have such great information and investigative reporting - it is truly great - but the 'powers that be' don't care

[Olney Blue]

43. Bush feigned indignation and said he would fire anyone involved in the leak.

[Duppers]

44. he is guilty of TREASON!

Just another one of his many crimes: outing a covert CIA agent.

[Wizard777]

56. Actually it's not a crime. As President Bush can declassify and reveal anything.

Including cover Agents. But that's only as President. They should go after him for outting Barry Seals.

[Star80]

57. I thought a NOC

was classified by Congress?

Ergo anything of that nature must be de-classified by Congress?

The chimp seems to have no authority in this case.

I'd love to see the law as written though...

[lovuian]

48. Fitz Congress where are ya????

watching Scottie tell the truth???? for a change

[Disturbed]

50. Can't the Wilsons subpoena Scott M. to testify in their

Civil Trial?

[orleans]

54. hope so. n/t

[Vyan]

58. The NIE

didn't include Plame's identity, that was revealed in the INR memo requested by Marc Grossman. The funny part is that Libby didn't really reveal what the NIE actually said, he told Judith Miller that it's conclusions were "unequivocal", without noting the lengthy dissents from the State Dept and Energy Dept, or the hints that the Niger documents were likely forged.

It's true that the President authorized Libby's NIE disclosure, it's not clear that he also authorized information from the classified INR memos or Plame's ID to be compromised. If he had, then there would have been no need for the FItzgerald investigation since technically, the President (and Vice President) really can declassify anything they want - including the ID's of their own agents.

Vyan

[SpiralHawk]

61. Renewed outrage at republicon treason yields: a morning kick for America

Impeach Commander AWOL Bush and the republicon traitors against America.

[Echo In Light]

63. K&R

[Senator]

64. Impeachment Can Be Done In Days -- Yes Really

There's nothing to investigate. No required procedures.

A simple up or down vote on torture and treason in the House.

There are no circumstances or witnesses for a Senate Trial. No questions of law or even fact.

We can have caretaker President Danforth (or Warner) removing troops from the meatgrinder all summer.

---

[frickaline]

65. K&R

[klook]

68. Swear Scottie In. (n/t)

[eleny]

69. He also told Keith O last night, too

[spanone]

70. add to that 'for purely political reasons'

[defendandprotect]

76. How much attention did this get last night on TV . . . I'm sure KO covered . . .

but I don't remember it being a highlight ... ???

[defendandprotect]

77. I M P E A C H . . .. as many of us have been saying for more than two years!!!

[librechik]

78. Yup. Thats' why the book is not enough and Scotty must testify before Congress.