OMG! I heard it! Fitz said it!

[cynatnite]

It hit me while listening to CNN!

"It's important that a CIA officer's identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation's security," the prosecutor said. "Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a reporter."


He's the first which means he wasn't the only one to tell someone.

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[opihimoimoi]

1. Good One....but then, who were the others? and will they be indicted also?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[opihimoimoi]

26. Hey...Welcome to DU.....

We will find out if there are others or not in due time....

Fritz is forming a new GJ.....apparently he still has ammo for his guns....

[newyawker99]

28. Hi poweriswithpeople!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Catherine Vincent]

2. But if other officials told after libby did, then are they off the hook?

Are they off the hook if the leak was already out there?

[cynatnite]

3. I don't think they are off the hook.

Rover comes to mind. I think he did some blabbing as well, but this tells me Fitz has more fish to fry. :evilgrin:

[fooj]

6. Rover "flipped" on the neo-cons. Not a good move, IMO.

He bought an extra week or so but that's about it. Fitzgerald is working Rove while the entire time Rove believes he's working Fitzie. Rove will take the entire cabal down before he takes the fall. Take that one to the bank.

Peace.

[Catherine Vincent]

7. I love your optimism Fooj!

Give me some of that over heyah! :hi:

[fooj]

10. Fitzie gives me hope!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[tulsakatz]

8. are you saying he told on Libby?

I was wondering how they found out that Libby told the reporters. The last I heard (before today's announcement) was Libby told Rove and Rove told the reporters.........of course that was just rumors.

It kind of makes me wonder why he didn't get him for the IIPA. But then, I guess he couldn't prove intent.

[GiovanniC]

29. I Believe Judy Miller Told Them Scooter Was Her Source

Scooter had notes written on one date about "Wilson's wife", and then he talked to Russert three or four days later and said he learned about her status from him. Apparently after he learned about her from Russert, he jumped into his WayBack Machine™ and wrote the notes about her three days earlier.

[deadparrot]

4. Good catch...I certainly hope you're right.

:bounce:

[flowomo]

5. according to the NYT, Rove told Novak and Cooper...

Rove is "Official A"

On July 9, 2003, Mr. Rove confirmed to the columnist Robert D. Novak that he had heard that Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie, was a C.I.A. officer; Mr. Novak revealed her identity in his column several days later. Referring to an "Official A," whom people briefed on the case have identified as Mr. Rove, the indictment recounted those events, as well as a conversation that Official A had with Mr. Libby about the subject. Mr. Rove also tipped off Matthew Cooper of Time magazine to Ms. Wilson's identity in a phone conversation on July 11, two days after he spoke to Mr. Novak.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/29/politics/29rove.html?hp&ex=1130558400&en=e9a7ca1be7ce4cf9&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[fooj]

9. That traitor, Miller, sat in jail to shield this admin from exposure

before the election in November. The minute Fitz said that he'd like to have wrapped this up in Oct. 2004...it just clicked. She wasn't protecting a source. She was protecting this treasonous administration. She betrayed us all.

Remember, I. Lewis Libby doesn't just work for the Vice President.

From the beginning of the administration, the source of Libby's power at the White House is that he works both for the Vice President (as Chief of Staff and National Security Affairs Advisor) and the President of the United States (as Assistant to the President).

Rove managed to buy an extra week or so. Pay me now or pay me later. It's all relative. His day is coming and IMO, it will be here soon. Fitz will ultimately nail him to the wall. Exit "Official A"!!!

Peace.

[Jane Austin]

11. Now that is a profound insight.

And just a thudding, stunning fact.

I am just speechless that this one person could not only guide us into an illegal war, but could ensure the reelection of this blood-thirsty and non-representative government.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maven]

13. Congress was lied to.

What's your point?

Edit: Actually, thanks for posting this. It gave me a laugh, especially this part:

Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated...

It'd be funny if it weren't so FUCKING TWISTED.

[The Kicker]

21. Good catch, Harvey

I've always liked Harvey Korman. My mom never missed an episode of The Carol Burnett Show. I learned a great deal about humor as a kid from that show. Thanks.

[NYC Liberal]

20. Yes, illegal war.

It was deemed an illegal, agressive war in violation of the United Nations charter, to which the U.S. is a signatory. This was an illegal war under international law.

But that resolution does have some "funny" bits, namely:

Whereas after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, Iraq entered into a United Nations sponsored cease-fire agreement pursuant to which Iraq unequivocally agreed, among other things, to eliminate its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs and the means to deliver and develop them, and to end its support for international terrorism;

Which it DID, in the early 1990s.

Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated;

Yeah, so what happened with that, huh?

Whereas Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations;

:yawn: More bullshit.

Whereas the current Iraqi regime has demonstrated its capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people;

How many nations did Iraq attack from 2001-2003? How many did the United States attack?

I could go on and on, but the point is: ILLEGAL, and BULLSHIT.

[DistressedAmerican]

23. Yes Illegal. This Legislation Does Not Establish The War A Legal

in any international sense. It was clearly a war of agression as defined by the United Nations. The IWR does nothing about that. Illegal.

Thanks for stopping by. Some asshats will never get it.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tsuki]

30. Then don't sign the papers. Remember these were rules made

by the US to prosecute at Nuremberg.

Oh, I get it. The US can impose the rules on all other countries and ignore the rules where they want. Because, because, Bushco WANTED to invade Iraq to show up dear old dad.

We have the same thing going on with NAFTA. We twisted arms to get NAFTA on board, but then we don't want follow the rules we made because it's not convenient.

[EstimatedProphet]

32. Go agree somewhere else

You have been weighed
You have been measured
And you have been found wanting.

[kestrel91316]

31. Welcome to DU. Enjoy your stay.

[SoCalDem]

17. Can you imagine the questions B&C would have been asked

during the lead-up to the election..They might have lost bigtime if Cheney would have been under suspicion..Who wants to elect a vice president who might be hauled off to jail..

[The Judged]

14. Thus the expected espionage charges may remain impending.

He also made the remark that the espionage charge must be made only for the right case.

[lovuian]

15. Bingo!!!

:bounce:

[SoCalDem]

16. But technically, she was outed by the first one(Scooter)

and the subsequent ones could be considered repetition, so maybe they would not be prosecutable.. If they "knew" the information was already "out there", they didn't actually "out" her..:shrug:

[The Judged]

18. (Actions before) + during + after = (elements of conspiracy?)

:)

[SoCalDem]

19. only if you can establish that they worked in concert

WE know the did, but proving it's another.. I think the "plan" came together during the trip to Africa on the plane..and i think Guckert/Gannon was in on it./.

[JDPriestly]

22. Outing is one crime,

but I believe that Fitzgerald emphasized today that any disclosure of classified information about a CIA employee is a crime. I could be wrong about this, but I think he said that. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[akarnitz]

27. Here's a pertinent link

to US v Morison(1985). It's an interpretation of the Espionage Act. The act, as written, would seem to not apply. But read this document
http://www.mtsu.edu/%7Elburriss/morison.html

Here's a highlight:
-snip-
Defendant Morison has filed this motion to dismiss the Indictment based on a number of grounds. He claims that the law under which he is charged in Counts I and III of the Indictment, 18 U.S.C. @ 793(d) and (e), is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad and that the law, which is part of the so-called "espionage act," was intended to punish only "espionage" in the classic sense of divulging information to agents of a hostile foreign government and not to punish the "leaking" of classified information to the press. Morison also claims that 18 U.S.C. @ 641, which punishes the theft or conversion of government property without authorization, does not <*658> apply to the theft of information and that therefore Counts II and IV should be dismissed.

The relevant law under which Morison is charged in Counts I and III is found in 18 U.S.C. @ 793(d) and (e), part of a broader espionage statute. Section 793(d) provides that whoever, having authorized possession or control of a document or photograph, relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense, which<**4> information the possessor had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States, and who wilfully delivers it to any person not entitled to receive it, or wilfully retains it and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee entitled to receive it, is guilty of the offense. Section 793(e) is basically the same provision, except that it refers to situations where the defendant is in unauthorized possession. Defendant Morison is charged under @ 793(d) with wilfully delivering the photographs to Jane's, which was not entitled to receive them, and under @ 793(e) with wilfully retaining and failing to return the Weekly Wires containing intelligence information. Morison's possession of the intelligence reports at his home is said to be unauthorized.

-snip-
This is not discussing the IIPA. This is about the Espionage Act of 1917. It's about releasing classified. So it doesn't seem to matter who leaked to Novak, making Ms. Plame's Identity public(so that further utterances of that fact could do no further damage)-which would be the violation of the IIPA- but it would matter that Libby leaked to Miller and Russert, and it would matter that Rove leaked to Cooper and Novak. These would all be leaks of classified information to unauthorized recipients.

I'm no lawyer, so pardon me if I'm reading things in to this argument that are incorrect, but I think Rove and Libby are going down for violating the Espionage Act; I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the WHIG are going down on conspiracy charges(especially Cheney and Bolton). My hunch is that Chimpy just said "Do whatcha gotta do," w/out having any specific knowledge of the illegalities.

on edit: Here's a link to the Espionage Act of 1917(as written; it's been amended and I'm too tired to wade through the US Legal Code at this time. Sorry.):
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/espionageact.htm

BTW, if you've got an interest in history, www.firstworldwar.com is a great site.