does anyone know what the status of the investigation into wilson's wife's

[truthisfreedom]

exposure as a cia agent by two administration officials is right now?

[QuietStorm]

1. Update: The Valerie Plame Affair

The Bush administration's decision to expose the wife of Joe Wilson as an undercover CIA operative involved with the fight to curtail WMD, is receiving new media attention. The Seattle Post Intelligencer is reporting on a cancer inside the Bush administration. The inevitable comparisons to the UK's David Kelly tragedy have begun.
CIA disclosure is dangerous

There's a cancer somewhere in the Bush administration. Two officials revealed national security information to embarrass or scare critics of the administration's mishandling of Iraqi intelligence.

Columnist Robert Novak wrote recently that the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- the man who blew the whistle on the Niger uranium fraud -- is a Central Intelligence Agency operative, specializing in weapons of mass destruction. Novak attributed his information to two senior administration officials. Time magazine has said officials provided similar information.

It's illegal for government officials to reveal the identities of CIA operatives who have worked overseas within the preceding five years.

http://www.likelystory.net/archives/000153.html

Friday, August 15, 2003

JOHN DEAN ON VALERIE PLAME

John Dean, in his column at FindLaw *, gives a thorough analysis of the Plame affair and the relevant law. He argues that the Espionage Act of 1917 would apply, and cites the Morrison case (an analyst went to prison for selling three classified photographs to a magazine, even though there was no evidence that he had any intention to damage the national security) as precedent. Dean also notes that a low-level CIA clerk spent two years in prison under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which almost certainly applies to the facts of the Plame case, for something she told her boyfriend.

The bottom line: Dean thinks that the Plame Affair, and the insouciance with which the White House is treating it, reflect a more-than-Nixonian depth of depravity.

Thread starts here. My summary here.

follow mark Kleinman's lead from above link or here (scroll down)

http://markarkleiman.blogspot.com/

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. An impartial investigation has discovered...

...that the exposing was probably done by the White House itself, and based on the Nixon Doctrine, "If the President does it, it isn't illegal", no further steps need to be taken.

If it turns out that Bob Novak got the story on his own, he is exculpated because he's a reliable Republican, especially on tax issues.

In this case as well, the law would not apply.

Thank you for your interest.

The Ministry of Truth (www.minitrue.gov)

[antineocon1]

3. I've heard that the FBI is investigating it...

But, I've also heard, surprise surprise, that the WH is stone walling.

[GreatAuntK]

4. Buzzflash had a link to this report

Will the CIA Protect the White House?
08/16/2003 @ 12:32am
The leak about Wilson's wife was an ugly act. Wilson is convinced it was arranged by the White House to intimidate others who might consider disclosing information troubling for the administration. If Bush officials did purposefully destroy the cover of a government employee combating WMD proliferation in order to punish Wilson, certainly an accounting is deserved and punishment warranted. But is Tenet in any position to sic the FBI on the White House, upon which he depends for his budget and his own job? Can FBI officials who answer to Ashcroft be sure their careers will not be impaired should they vigorously investigate Bush officials? Perils abound for the spooks and law enforcement officers who chase this case. After all, the suspects are people who went after a man's family.

The public may not learn--officially--whether the CIA requests an investigation. The CIA has good reason to keep its decision under wraps. If the CIA or the Justice Department were to announce that the Agency had asked for an investigation, it would be public confirmation that Wilson's wife was (and may still be) a CIA officer. Members of Congress and officials at the CIA and the FBI, though, will be in a position to know if an inquiry goes forward. And news of an investigation--or the lack thereof--will likely slip out. In the meantime, the few Senate and House members who have expressed outrage over the Wilson leak ought to start considering the next step. The only way to assure that there is an honest investigation devoid of bureaucratic intrigues could well be to turn to a special counsel and free Tenet and Ashcroft from deciding whether the Bush White House ought to be probed for a dirty deed that might have threatened national security.

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=888

[huckleberry]

6. My e-mail to Newsweek -

After reading David Corn's article earlier today, I sent this e-mail to Newsweek. I got a "boiler-plate" reply that they would forward it to the "appropriate location".

FOR MICHAEL ISIKOFF

Mr. Isikoff -

Could you please investigate the leaks concerning Ambassador Wilson's wife? I'm concerned that the current "administration" will try to undermine any governmental investigation so to have a fair and comprehensive investigation it will have to be performed by the media. In my opinion, you are the fairest and most experienced one to do this. I believe that this matter is one of national security - please see attached article by David Corn for more information.

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=888


Thanks for your consideration.

[Stephanie]

7. That's a really good letter

I appreciate having letters like this posted that I can use as a blueprint for my own letter. That's a public service. Thanks!

[never cry wolf]

5. What investigation???

As far as I know there is NO official investigation and from the previous posts not nearly enough looking into by the media. When this forst broke a month ago I thought "hotdamn, this is it, this is what will get em." I am very dissappointed to see that since then it has gone virtually nowhere.

[TacticalPeek]

8. Rest assured, this is "it", or at least one of the early "its".

Either a senator or staffer was quoted saying the investigation is "underway". When Congress returns next month, the fat will start to fry. Because of the intel and security angles, the early groundwork will not be as officially public as it would be otherwise, but judicious leaks will cover that. The "senior White House officials" are as doomed as an ice cream cone in hell.

There are two things remaining to be seen. How much more self-inflicted damage will the scumbags perpetrate on themselves? And how shamefully will the press continue to degrade their profession as they chatter over the emperor's pretty new clothes? Regarding the latter point, I simply must paste in the following from one of the Southern threads floating around here.

"The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell. In my view, far from deserving condemnation for their courageous reporting, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers should be commended for serving the purpose that the Founding Fathers saw so clearly. In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam war, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do." US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black