Plame Gate {American Prospect}

[AZCat]

Plame Gate

Did Robert Novak willfully disregard warnings that his column would endanger Valerie Plame? Our sources say "yes."

Murray S. Waas
2/12/04

Two government officials have told the FBI that conservative columnist Robert Novak was asked specifically not to publish the name of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame in his now-famous July 14 newspaper column. The two officials told investigators they warned Novak that by naming Plame he might potentially jeopardize her ability to engage in covert work, stymie ongoing intelligence operations, and jeopardize sensitive overseas sources.

These new accounts, provided by a current and former administration official close to the situation, directly contradict public statements made by Novak. He has downplayed his own knowledge about the potential harm to Plame and ongoing intelligence operations by making that disclosure. He has also claimed in various public statements that intelligence officials falsely led him to believe that Plame was only an analyst, and the only potential consequences of her exposure as a CIA officer would be that she might be inconvenienced in her foreign travels.

The two administration officials questioned by the FBI characterized Novak's statements as untrue and misleading, according to a government official and an attorney official familiar with the FBI interviews.
<snip>

http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/webfeatures/2004/02/waas-m-02-12.html

[Stuckinthebush]

1. Riiiiiiight.....

Yea, that's the ticket. We told Bob about Plame but asked him not to tell anybody. Right, that's it. We don't know why Mr. Novak thought it was fine to publish her name.

[krkaufman]

17. Article doesn't say it was the same "admin officials"

It's possible/likely that the "two government officials" from the American Prospect article are not the same two who leaked Plame to Novak, so it's not necessarily a C-Y-A move by the White House. My take on it is that these may have been other officials who knew of the leak or were contacted by Novak to confirm the info -- and who warned him of the gravity of the leak, contrary to Novak's prior statements.

If this article is accurate, Novak should be in a world of hurt and *could* be prosecuted for (treason?) -- which I expect would get him spilling his guts on who leaked the info to him.

edit: Ok, I've actually *read* the whole American Prospect article now, and see that the issue is being reframed as Novak hunting down the information on Wilson/Plame -- rather than admin officials calling him with the info.

[Homer12]

2. Robert Novak Republican Neo-Con Patsy

It's Pass-the-Buck season again.

[Fovea]

22. It is the price of loyalty

If it is the same two then
they think that as a loyal pnac soldier, Novak will
bite down on the suicide capsule.

I do not think so.

Why do these guys make me think of the Harkkonen from Dune.

[Bandit]

3. I consider him guilty of Treason

Right-wingers support treason at your own peril. He knew what he was doing. He is not an imbecile and should not be treated as such.

[jean]

4. Traitor - plain and simple and through and through

[lark]

10. Traitors

All of them - Novak, Leakers and their bosses who condone this kind of behavior.

[Oreegone]

5. It doesn't matter if it is true

Who told him in the first place? They had no business discussing this with him, he is a reporter. Looks like a lame excuse by the White House to make him the fall guy.

And I say that knowing that Robert Novak is a scumbag, and deserves it if he takes the fall. He should have known better.

[Desperadoe]

6. Can you say

TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be careful when apprehending this perp. He has a history of violence.

[Just Me]

7. Well, now, Bob,...how strong will your journalistic secrecy be now!!!

He's gettin' poo poo'ed on by the officials who used him as their instrument in taking revenge. Wonder if Bob will be beggin' for a way of exposing these manipulators without Bob losing face?

<edit for clarity>

[Mandate My Ass]

8. "Journalists should not lie.."

Unnamed officials talk to journalists for one reason and one reason only, to have that reporter leak the info they give them. :eyes:

Novack needs to go down for what he did, but moreso the leakers.

[Dhalgren]

9. This is a more important story

than Goober Dubya's NG service (or lack thereof). SOmebody's head has got to roll for this one. There can't be "well, he made mistakes, but I still have every confidence in him" bullshit. This is a Federal crime and the bastards have got to go down for it!

[lark]

11. Totally Agree

The perps (Leakers, Novak and bosses who condoned all) need to hang, but the deaf, dumb and blind Repugs will surely ignore this as they have the other thousands of crimes committed by the BFEE.

lark

[bif]

12. Hang the traitor!

I say

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

13. indict Novak?

So what if they indicted Novak not for contempt of court -- for not revealing his source -- but for treason? Would he squeal?

[krkaufman]

18. Like a little piggy, the coward. n/t

[AZCat]

14. The NY Times site has an article too, but...

Their server is fragged and I can't get to it.
Here is the link for reference tho:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/politics/12LEAK.html

Try it later and see if it has anything extra.

Edit: Okay, now it works. Partial list of people interviewed:
<snip>
The investigation has already spread through much of the White House. Among those who have been interviewed by the F.B.I. are Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, and powerful behind-the-scenes figures like I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Those who have trooped in to answer questions from the grand jury include Scott McClellan, Mr. Bush's press secretary; Claire Buchan, a deputy press secretary; Mary Matalin, a former top adviser to Mr. Cheney; and Adam Levine, a former White House communications aide.
<snip>

[salin]

20. yikes - the title: (NYT)Anxiety Takes Hold of Presidential Aides ...

Anxiety Takes Hold of Presidential Aides Caught Up in Leak Inquiry
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON and DAVID JOHNSTON

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — It started almost casually last fall, with F.B.I. agents leaving business cards under doors around the White House, politely calling for appointments and even meeting some officials, without any lawyers present, over a few beers at a nearby bar.

But the investigation into who at the White House leaked the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer has become much more intense in the last few weeks. Some administration officials have been summoned for confrontational interviews. Current and former members of the White House's communications and foreign policy teams have hired lawyers. At least a handful of White House aides have had to appear before a federal grand jury.

At the White House, the topic is rarely discussed openly among those who have already been drawn into the investigation and those who think they may be, people who have been questioned in the case said. The result, they said, is an information vacuum that is being filled to some extent by fear of what current or former colleagues may be telling investigators.

More (from the NYT article linked in the post above)

[ixion]

15. untrue and misleading

just like every other sentence uttered by a neocon.

They live to lie, IMO.

[NoKingGeorge]

16. The two traitors in the WH had no reason to know that info.

How did they get that information? Who with secret clearence at that level passed this information to them?
BTW: rUsh and the other guy..hanty, should note how their superiors throw this traitor under the bus....

[htuttle]

19. Bingo, that's the question to ask

There should only be 2-3 people in the White House with the clearance to know the identity of a NOC agent like Plame. It's about the most 'need-to-know' information there is, and hardly anybody really needs to know.

I've had a feeling, given the rest of their behavior, that security compartmentalization in the Bush administration is non-existent -- or rather aligned along purely political lines. I shudder to think what sorts of secrets Cheney passed to his oil company buddies during his energy meetings, for example.

I think that if they pursue this line of inquiry, ie., start with who was allowed to even know this information, they will discover that the Plame incident was only the most public case of compromising National Security in the service of politics.

[krkaufman]

21. Mail & call CNN and ask for Novak's termination...

... or at that he be put on leave until his name is cleared. (like that will happen)