The Plame Page

MSNBC reports that Scooter Libby has hired a leading expert on memory, Harvard professor Daniel Schacter, to help with his "I forgot" defense.:

Libby's lawyers hinted in court filings last week that memory loss will be [one of the?] "central themes" of Libby's defense. Libby's lawyers write: "...any misstatements he made during his FBI interviews or grand jury testimony were not intentional, but rather the result of confusion, mistake or faulty memory."

Libby's lawyers say that, during Libby's hectic days handling sensitive national-security matters, "it is understandable that he may have forgotten or misremembered relatively less significant events. Such relatively less important events include alleged snippets of conversations about Valerie Plame Wilson's employment status."

Posted by Nick at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Slate's John Dickerson comments on the new website of Scooter Libby's legal defense fund. He finds it "remarkable" that Libby still has many friends in high places within the GOP. Dickerson discusses how the site, with its testimonials from Libby's friends and supporters, seems to preview Libby's possible defenses, from lauding Libby's character to playing up the limitations of his memory to attacking Patrick Fitzgerald.

Posted by Nick at 01:36 PM | Permalink

To anyone out there reading this blog,
I have too much going on until the end of March to keep this site up to date. I think there will be some interesting bits coming down the pike. Nick and Dante work on this blog with me and they are probably way more able than I am so hopefully they will keep the page updated. If they don't have time, please know that I will be back at the beginning of April.
Best,
Susi

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 02:06 PM | Permalink

Fitzgerald discloses White House recently turned over 250 pages of emails in CIA leak inquiry by John Byrne, Raw Story, Feb. 24, 2006

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a court hearing Friday that the White House "recently located and turned over" 250 pages of emails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, according to an article filed by the Associated Press Friday evening.

The AP article focused primarily on the fact that U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton told Vice President's former chief of staff I. Lewis Libby that he was not entitled to know the name of the individual who "outed" CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

Posted by hekebolos at 01:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

The AP had three articles about the Plame case today. The first one by Locy via Forbes
reports

that Libby wants Fitzgerald fired because Comey didn't have the authority to hire… … because Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was not appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.

The defense attorneys also said Fitzgerald's appointment violates federal law because his investigation was not supervised by the attorney general. They said only Congress can approve such an arrangement.

Libby's lawyers warned U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton that he may need to require the Justice Department to turn over records - including a secret letter from Comey to Fitzgerald - to determine whether the special counsel's appointment is legal.

Meanwhile, the very busy AP reports via The Southern Standard, that Tennessee's Senator is preparing for the worst:
Thompson joins effort to fund defense of Cheney's former aide

Actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has signed up to help raise at least $5 million for the legal defense of …"Scooter" …

Then on the strikes for and against, Locy reports via Salon - Identity of Official to Be Kept From Libby

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, charged with perjury in the CIA leak case, cannot be told the identity of another government official who is said to have divulged a CIA operative's identity to reporters, a federal judge ruled Friday.

At the same time, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said Libby could have copies of notes he took during an 11-month period in 2003 and 2004 while serving as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The judge also set the stage for a showdown in late April over the defense's plans to subpoena reporters and news organizations for notes and other documents in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity.... ...

The judge put off deciding whether Libby can have access to highly classified presidential daily briefs, ... ...

Walton said he is concerned that Libby's request could "sabotage" the case because President Bush probably will invoke executive privilege and refuse to turn over the classified reports.

"The vice president -- his boss -- said these are the family jewels," the judge said,

On the Libby’s such a busy man to bother swatting at a simple fly like Plame/Wilson defense, Salon’s Tim Grieve provides a very useful timeline as to just how important they were to Scooter at the time. Talkleft provides links to all of the flurry legal activities –the order, the response, and this letter. Thanks so much for sharing this valuable research. In this same post Talkleft also discusses the defense memory argument further:

One thing I noted in a brief review of the Libby's pleadings on the document issue is the continued emphasis on Libby's faulty memory. Team Libby says it has spent months researching the principles of memory. It sounds like there could be a battle royale at trial between psychological memory experts discussing the three phases of memory -- the acquisition stage, the storage phase and the retrieval phase. I'm looking forward to this, having studied it extensively with two of the nation's leading experts, Elizabeth Loftus and Gary Wells, as it relates to eyewitness identification.

Firedoglake .explains in unlegal legalease why she thinks Libby’s motion is utter BS and she cites the National Review Online Corner’s cogent argument based on experience. Byron York hashes it out with McCarthy as well. Firedoglake also points to the WaPo which gives another legal perspective:

"I think it's a nice try, but I don't give it much chance of success," said Scott Fredericksen, an associate independent counsel during the Reagan administration who helped investigate scandals at the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Experts said the Libby defense claim is similar to a challenge the Supreme Court rejected by a vote of 7-1 in 1988. In that case, Morrison v. Olson , the Justice Department sought to quash subpoenas of its officials by an independent counsel. They argued that the law that allowed the appointment of independent counsels violated the president's authority under the Constitution and gave such independent investigators inappropriately broad powers.
I've said this previously, but it is worth repeating: prosecutors and law enforcement investigators get incredibly annoyed with people who lie to them or otherwise obstruct their case -- precisely because the lying and obstruction is designed to derail a criminal investigation and thwart justice. We are a nation of laws, and no one should be exempt from accountability for breaking them. Period. Justice is blind for a reason -- and trying to cheat her is conduct for which one should pay a penalty.

I’m sure there is more. Pressing engagements press on me right now…

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 06:17 PM | Permalink

It's Libby's turn to defend and the poor guy says he just can't get a fair trial if his position as secret keeper means he can't share his secrets. Pete Yost reports about it for the AP
Libby's Lawyers Deny 'Greymail' Claims

The government's `greymail' accusation is not only false, but insulting," said Libby's lawyers, who assert that they are entitled to the classified material so that their client can get a fair trial.

One point they emphasize - the defense really does want to learn what other reporters told Fitzgerald, whether it involved Libby or not. Frankly, I don't see how a judge can dispute its relevance...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:38 PM | Permalink

NSC, Cheney Aides Conspired to Out CIA Operative by Jason Leopold, Truthout, February 20, 2006
"The sources said it was during this time that Libby, Hadley, Joseph, Hannah and Rove plotted to silence Wilson by leaking his wife's name to a specific group of reporters, saying that she chose him for the fact-finding mission to Niger and as a result his investigation was highly suspect. It's unclear what role, if any, Cheney played, but the sources said Fitzgerald is trying to determine if the vice president was involved."
Via Swopa of needlenose.com, who has commentary on the article: "Jason Leopold is either steadily breaking open the story of who outed Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA officer, or he's just plain making stuff up; I'm not sure which....How would Leopold's supposed State Dept./CIA sources know all this?..."

Posted by Nick at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As a rather gossipy aside -- has anybody heard about the female Ambassador who was present at the shooting? Has anyone else heard that the reason for the delay was that she was Cheney's girl and needed to be removed? Could be idle gossip but...
I am taking the rest of the day off. I apologize for two earlier posts that didn't work and/or were inappropriate...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Libby's Bid for Classified Documents Opposed Associated Press by way of Washington Post, February 18, 2006 More on Scooter's justice evasion...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1436)

Intelligence, Policy,and the War in Iraq By Paul R. Pillar, Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations, March/April Issue, 2006 This one is worth a read.
"...During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, writes the intelligence community's former senior analyst for the Middle East, the Bush administration disregarded the community's expertise, politicized the intelligence process, and selected unrepresentative raw intelligence to make its public case...." Hat tip: Tom Maguire

Maureen Dowd - Irretrievably Inaccurate by Tom Maguire, Justoneminute, February 18, 2006 "...On the off-chance that anyone still reads Maureen Dowd, let me quickly praise her latest coinage - Cheney and Libby are now "Shooter and Scooter"...."

Evidence Dick Didn't Declassify the NIE by Emptywheel, The Next Hurrah, February 17, 2006
"And I'm fairly certain the answer to that question is no. Why am I certain that Dick didn't declassify the NIE? Simple. Because 10 days after Libby shared pieces of the NIE with Judy, the NIE was declassified...."
Emptywheel cites this Truthout.org article

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (94)

Prosecutor Says Libby Seeks to Thwart Criminal Case By Neil A. Lewis, The New York Times, February 18, 2006
"A federal prosecutor has said I. Lewis Libby Jr., former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is trying to sabotage the criminal case against him by insisting through his lawyers that he be given sensitive government documents for his defense...."

Of Greymail, CIPA, Scooter and Fitz by Reddhedd, Firedoglake, February 18, 2006
..."It's a high stakes gamble on all sides, but I would argue that the case law makes it clear that if the documents and evidence requested are neither "material" nor "relevant" to the charges in the indictment, nor are exculpatory (shorthand: make Libby look not so guilty), then the defendant is not entitled to the discovery...."

Firedoglake's Reddhedd links to the Department of Justice's 2054 Synopsis of Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) Reddhedd also links to analysis of this issue by Frederic. F. Manget, the Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency
Another System of Oversight
Intelligence and the Rise of Judicial Intervention

More Comments on Libby's 'strategy' by Think and Ask, February 17, 2006
"...It sounds like Lewis Scooter Libby had an idea too...His new testimony reveals that he was authorized to disclose "sensitive information;" ... ... Libby was indicted on five counts of perjury, obstruction, and lying to the FBI about how he discovered Plame's identity..."

Update 1: Judge Weighs Libby's Request for Documents By Tony Locy, Associated Press, in Forbes Magazine, February 17, 2006
Just another way to obstruct justice -- legally. Salon has more below...

Fitzgerald: Libby Lawyers Are "Graymailing" The Government by Tim Grieve, War Room, Salon.com, February 17, 2006 At least Fitzgerald is clear about why he indicted Libby.

Fish Or Cut Bait by Reddhedd, Firedoglake, February 17, 2006
"...Never play poker with Fitz. That's all I'm saying."

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (67)

From Hunter To Hunted by Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist, Boston Globe, February 16, 2006
"Cheney, the hunter, is now Cheney, the hunted. The media have him in their sights, with fresh ammunition thanks to the shots he accidentally fired at Whittington. As a political lame duck, he can dodge the press as he sees fit. But what about the special prosecutor? Fitzgerald's investigation is not as easily sidestepped."

Analysis of Executive Order 13292 By Public Citizen, Bushsecrecy.org, February 16, 2006
Changes in Classification Policy Imposed By the Bush Administration Executive Order

Selective Prosecution by Dean Lawrence R. Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, Lee Rockwell.com,February 16, 2006
"...One is not speaking of selective prosecution of Libby, who is not being prosecuted for disclosing classified information but for lying to the grand jury. One is speaking, rather, of those persons whom Bush has ordered found..."

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:51 PM | Permalink

The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power:
Have you ever heard of Executive Order 13292? by Byron York, National Review Online, February 16, 2006
"...Executive Order 13292 is real evidence of real power in the vice president's office. Since the beginning of the administration, Dick Cheney has favored measures allowing the executive branch to keep more things secret. And in March of 2003, the president gave him the authority to do it." (via Josh Marshall, who also has a follow-up post on the issue of whether the Executive Order allows the Vice President to unilaterally declassify information as well as classify it.)

Posted by Nick at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (180)

Hit Refresh? Why Bush may be thinking about replacing Cheney. by Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2006
"Why would they be thinking about this? It's not the shooting incident itself, it's that Dick Cheney has been the administration's hate magnet for five years now. Halliburton, energy meetings, Libby, Plamegate."

Posted by Nick at 04:37 PM | Permalink

Cheney & Classification by georgia10, Daily Kos, February 16, 2006
In a March 2003 executive order, Bush greatly expanded the Vice President's authority over classification decisions. Did he do this to pave the way for exposing Plame's identity?
"So the decision was made to smear the [sic] Wilson by leaking the information about his wife. Such a leak could not originate from the President's office--too dangerous, its members too high-profile, and we know that the dirty deeds have been orchestrated by the vice-president's office in the past. Did the President and the Vice-President conspire then to alter the exective order to give the Vice-President the authority to orchestrate the smear?"

Posted by Nick at 11:43 AM | Permalink

Update 8: Cheney Says He Has Power to Declassify Info By Pete Yost, Associated Press, Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Okay, here's just a little editorial speculation -- When the Plame story broke, two people in DC told me (anonymously) that Rove did it. With Cheney's heart condition and Rove being Bush's brain and all do we think that Cheney has been chosen as this administration's Ollie North? Just a thought...Susi

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cheney Says He Can't Discuss CIA Leak Case Associated Press, Wednesday, February 15, 2006
"'It's nothing I can talk about,' Cheney said in an interview with Fox News Channel. 'I may well be called as a witness at some point in the case and it's, therefore, inappropriate for me to comment on any facet of the case.'...
"Cheney said there is an executive order that gives the vice president, along with the president, the authority to declassify information. But he said, 'I don't want to get into' whether he has ever done it on his own."

UPDATE: Atrios comments on the declassification issue.

Posted by Nick at 06:10 PM | Permalink

Gonzales Withholding Plame Emails By Jason Leopold, Truthout.org, Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Wow...our top law enforcement official withholding evidence from the public...What does that say to all those who work under him?

US Actions May Have Triggered Hostilities Against Media By WebIndia123.com, Wednesday, February 15, 2006 ''Repressive governments are delighted when a democracy like the United States imprisons a journalist. It makes it easier for them to justify their own restrictive policies,'' he said referring to the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller...
Forty-seven journalists died in the line of duty in 2005..."

Report: Valerie Plame Was in Covert Op on Iran When Outed By Talkleft, Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 02:29 PM | Permalink

Petrodollars and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation By Michael Keefer, global Research.ca, Scoop News, Wednesday, February 15, 2006
'The leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent may therefore have been not merely an act of revenge for her husband’s contribution to the delegitimizing of one war of aggression, but also a tactical maneuver in preparation for the next one.'

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 09:13 PM | Permalink

Outed CIA officer was working on Iran, intelligence sources say by Larisa Alexandrovna, Raw Story, February 13, 2006

Plame "was part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran....[I]ntelligence officials...suggest that Plame's outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for U.S. national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program....According to their own assessment, the CIA would be impaired for up to 'ten years' in its capacity to adequately monitor nuclear proliferation on the level of efficiency and accuracy it had prior to the White House leak of Plame Wilson's identity." (via TalkLeft)

Cheney Team's Plame Leak Sabotaged America's Iran-Watching Intelligence Effort by Steve Clemons, Huffington Post, February 13, 2006

Clemons calls the Raw Story report "huge news" and speculates, based on anonymous source(s), that Joe Wilson found some evidence that Iran may have been trying to purchase uranium from Niger.

Posted by Nick at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dean Says Cheney May Have Broken the Law By Toni Locy, AP, Monday, February 13, 2006
' "If Vice President Cheney has, in fact, ordered the leaking of political information - of intelligence information, that means he has to step aside," Dean said on CNN'

Five Agencies Review Libby Case Evidence By Toni Locy, AP in Casper Star Tribune, Monday, February 13, 2006
And how much is this going to cost the taxpayers?

Americans’ faith left in “A Million Little Pieces” By Nancy Tubbs, Timberjay News, Monday, February 13, 2006
"Presidents have a tremendously hard job. It’s even harder when they’ve lost the trust of their constituents. Isn’t it time to claim those mistakes, clean ‘em up and fly right? Or is it true what they say—if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the Bush Administration.

Libby's Nixon Lawyer Gets Punked by Emptywheel, The Next Hurrah, Monday, February 12, 2006 and Emptywheel follows with Why Did Comstock Blackball Eric Lichtblau? Monday, February 13, 2006

"Just The Facts" Versus "Check The Statutes" by Tom Maguire, Just One Minute, Monday, February 13, 2006

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 10:52 PM | Permalink

George Allen: Check Cheney out for CIA leak by John Amato, Crooks and Liars, February 12, 2006
'For anyone to insinuate that it's only Democrats who want Cheney investigated over the Plame leak, there's this:...'

Meet Barbara Comstock by John Amato, Crooks and Liars, February 12, 2006
Ashcroft's lacky is Libby's moneybags is that legal? Anyway, here's her picture

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 10:48 PM | Permalink

The Truthiness of John Tierney by Greg Mitchell, Editor and Publisher, February 12, 2006
'But what can you expect from someone who, last summer, dubbed the Valerie Plame/CIA leak scandal "Nadagate"'...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:53 PM | Permalink

Senators: Cheney Should Be Probed in Leak by Washington Associated Press, Feb 12, 2006
Now let's see if it happens...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:43 PM | Permalink

Comstock Load of Crap by ReddHedd, Firedoglake, February 11, 2006
It seems that one of Libby's lawyers has a conflict of interest.

Posted by Nick at 07:37 PM | Permalink

Cheney Role Risks Political Fallout by Anne Marie Squeo and John D. McKinnon, Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2006
"The disclosure that Vice President Dick Cheney may have authorized his former chief of staff to release classified information to justify the war in Iraq has political consequences for the White House, but the legal fallout may be muted."

Posted by Nick at 03:52 PM | Permalink

Conyers Seeks Answers From Cheney and Bush on Libby Leaks by Jeralyn Merritt, TalkLeft, February 10, 2006
"Rep. John Conyers has sent this letter today... to Bush and Cheney seeking answers about Murray Waas' reporting yesterday that Cheney or others authorized leaking classfied information to reporters."

Posted by Nick at 03:27 PM | Permalink

Libby, Cheney and Fitz, Part II by Jeralyn Merritt, TalkLeft, February 10, 2006
"Libby will try to get the Judge to order the Government to turn over as much classified information as possible, hoping among the material is something the Government wants to protect so badly it would decide to drop the case against Libby rather than produce it."
"Is Cheney out of the woods? I'd say not by a longshot. But I don't think it's because Libby is trying to sell him down the river. Cheney is perfectly capable of hanging himself..."

Posted by Nick at 03:20 PM | Permalink

The Case Against "Me-Too" Journalism by Tom Maguire, JustOneMinute, February 10, 2006
"...until I see actual evidence, I am stuck on the notion that Ms. Plame's status was classified, she had been covert at one time, but as of June/July 2003, she was not a covert agent as defined by the relevant statute."

Posted by Nick at 02:55 PM | Permalink

Curiouser and Curiouser by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, February 10, 2006
"...this may be an indication that there is a struggle going on within the Libby defense squad, between those who see their job as defending Libby and those who want to protect those he's standing in front of."

Posted by Nick at 02:22 PM | Permalink

What Cheney Told Bush by Tim Grieve, War Room, Salon, February 10, 2006
"And, as Waas explains, it raises questions about the motives that may have driven Libby to lie to federal investigators and to Fitzgerald's grand jury: Was he protecting himself, or was he covering the tracks of his "superior"?" My point exactly...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Bush's Dilemma by Mark Kleiman, Reality Based Community, February 9, 2006
"If revealing classified information is against the law, then either Bush or Cheney (or both) broke the law. And Bush promised that anyone who committed a crime would have to leave the Administration. So is Bush going to ask for Cheney's resignation, or offer his own?"

Scooter Blames His Boss by Wonkette, February 9, 2006
Passing the buck up...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 07:35 PM | Permalink

Froomkin on TIME-Plame coverage in Crooks and Liars, February 9, 2006
Okay, here's where it gets really wierd -- Crooks and Liars reported that The Washington Post's Froomkin reported that the Time's "should have stopped at nothing until they found a way to report what they knew to be the truth."

Libby's Attorney Graymail Specialist by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, February 9, 2006
"Libby has hired John Cline, one of North's attorneys who helped keep Ollie out of the clink:
Among his detractors, Cline is what is known as a "graymail" specialist-an attorney who, critics say, purposely makes onerous demands on the federal government..."

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 03:53 PM | Permalink

Cheney Spearheaded Effort to Discredit Wilson by Jason Leopold, truthout, February 9, 2006
The effort began in March 2003, after Wilson first publicly commented about Iraq.
""The way I remember it," the CIA official said about that first meeting he attended in Cheney's office, "is that the vice president was obsessed with Wilson.... He wanted us to do everything in our power to destroy his reputation..."" (hat tip: TalkLeft)

Posted by Nick at 02:46 PM | Permalink

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information by Murray Waas, National Journal, Feb. 2006
Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

EDITOR'S NOTE by DANTE ATKINS: If true, obviously a huge piece of breaking news concerning the Plame investigation, and we'll be eagerly awaiting Fitzgerald's next move. Either way, it seems clear that Libby will not take the fall and will force administration higher-ups to defend themselves.

Russert Still Hasn't Clarified Plamegate Role by Joe Fontaine, Huffington Post, Feb. 9, 2006
During the press conference, you repeated your argument, made in the court documents to which I referred, that you resisted testifying after Mr. Libby released you to do so because you believed his waiver was coerced. How do you reconcile that position with your apparent lack of concern -- noted by Patrick Fitzgerald himself -- over the voluntary nature of Richard Clarke's waiver? Their waivers were both signed at the directive of the Bush What House, so where is the difference?

Posted by hekebolos at 03:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Random CIA Leakery by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, February 8, 2006
"...but it's become quite obvious that Father Tim's loyalty is to slavering at the feet of power and not to performing any kind of news function...."

Undercover work and Langley desk jobs by Mark Kleiman, The Reality-Based Community, October 14, 2005
I came across this and it just seemed relevant...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 10:29 PM | Permalink

House Cleaning at CIA? by Larry Johnson Feb 7, 2006
"Now, if George Bush and Dick Cheney would finally admit that outing CIA case officers like Valerie Plame is a bad thing, we would truly be on the road to a new and better CIA."

Seeking Spiesby Linda Robinson and Kevin Whitelaw February 13, 2006
"Why the CIA is having such a hard time keeping its best"

Posted by Nick at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Time Magazine's Unclean Hands by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, Feb. 7, 2006
"In reviewing John Dickerson's Slate piece this morning, one thing becomes clear -- Time Magazine has been doing an awful lot of ass-covering for BushCo. that does not exactly accrue to is journalistic integrity."

Is CIA Leak Probe a 'Witch Hunt'? by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, ABC News, Feb. 7, 2006
"Director Launches Internal Investigation Into Who Gave Sensitive Information to the Media.." This seems like a slippery slope...

Time Magazine Spikes the Plame Story by Jane Hamsher, The Huffington Post, Feb. 8, 2006
John Dickerson is now Slate's chief political correspondent but he was also one of the journalists working with Matt Cooper at Time Magazine when Karl Rove exposed Valerie Plame's identity in July of 2003...

We Hold This Truthiness to Be Self-Evident by Michael Winship, BuzzFlash, February 8, 2006.
"There's an old saying that politicians use statistics like a drunk uses a lamppost -- more for support than illumination...."

Posted by hekebolos at 05:35 AM | Permalink

The Scooter Libby case: Lies or just a bad memory? by Tim Grieve, Salon.com, Feb. 7, 2006, If you can't remember something just say it. Reagan did. Making up stuff because you don't remember isn't even worthy of a child let alone the second in command to our VP...

Where's My Subpoena?
Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me. by John Dickerson, Feb. 7, 2006, Slate "...I came back from the trip harboring a suspicion that only fully made sense when I learned Plame's CIA cover had been blown. It seemed obvious that the people pushing me to look into who sent Wilson knew exactly the answer I'd find. Yet they were really careful not to let the information slip, which suggested that they knew at the time Plame's identity was radioactive. ..."

Is Cliff May A Reporter? How About John Dickerson?by Tom Maguire, Just One Minute, Feb. 7, 2006"Who is a reporter in this puzzling age of bloggers, foundation presidents, and on-line jounralists? A recently disclosed letter from Special Counsel Fitzgerald has us wondering." Good question...

Dickerson Speaks...And Drops Some Bombshells by Reddhedd, Firedoglake, Feb. 7, 2006

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (656)

And the Award for Shamelessly Repeating What Ever Bullshit the GOP Shovels Your Way Goes To... by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, February 6, 2006 And the winner is...

Valerie Plame: Was She, or Wasn’t She? by Byron York, The National Review, February 06, 2006 A day late and a dollar short but here it is...

Back in the Saddle by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, February 4, 2006 Again, we are looking at obstruction of justice not the Intelligence Identities Act...Hamsher gives her consistently clear analysis of the Fitz document release...

Will Scooter Libby Graymail the CIA? by David Corn, The Nation, February 6, 2006 "...Libby is certainly not doing all he can to help Fitzgerald get to the bottom of the leak case, as Bush once ordered all White House aides to do..." and that's just what Fitz is trying to prove...

The missing emails by Mark Kleiman, The Reality Based Community, February5, 2006 Yup. Emails don't just go missing...

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 12:01 AM | Permalink

Child abuser leads Scooter's fundraising committee... Is that someone you'd pick for your team?
Mel Sembler, the founder of Straight, Inc is the very same person who is leading the fundraising efforts for 'Scooter'...Mark Kleiman writes about him in 'Child Abuse Dressed Up As Drug Treatment'.

The CIA Leak: Plame was Still Covert by Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, February 13 issue
But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion.

Beating a Dead Horse by Marisa, Yes, and then some..., February 5, 2006
"How many times do we have to go over this? The CIA says she was a covert agent that worked over-seas in the last five years. Period. Full Stop."

How Many Times Did Libby Talk To Novak? by Emptywheel, The Next Hurray, February 5, 2006

RE: GRAND JURY SUBPOENA, JUDITH MILLER Reissued February 3, 2006The document all the fuss is about -- Unredacted version of Judge Tatel's Concurrence.
Here's a tidbit..."Leaks similar to the crime suspected here (exposure of a covert agent) apparently caused the deaths of several CIA operatives in the late 1970s and early 1980s"

Posted by hekebolos at 05:47 PM | Permalink

More Allegations of Libby Lies Revealed by Carol D. Leonnig,Washington Post Staff Writer, February 4, 2006 The question is -- not whether Libby lied or not but for whom he lied -- himself or to protect others...

Death Knell for the Case against Scooter Libby? Clarice Feldman, American Thinker, Feb. 4, 2006 Feldman asserts no proof Plame undercover and adds..."This is why the criminalization of politics should be stopped. This is why there should never be another special prosecution. And this is why this case deserves to be dismissed."

The Libby Watch - Mark Your Calendars by Tom Maguire, JustOne Minute, Feb. 4, 2006 "The judges order setting out a timetable for the next steps is here" Maguire also comments on 'Friends In High Places' -- requesting donations for Libby and he backsFeldman's assertion that 'Fitzmas Never Comes'

Fitzgerald Court Papers: Bush Was Briefed on Joe Wilson by Murray Waas, Huffington Post, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2006 Those pesky Presidential Daily Briefs again...tsk, tsk, tsk...will these be Bush's Nixon tapes?

Iraq, Niger, And The CIA by Murray Waas, special to National Journal, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006 As the CIA backed Wilson, Libby and Cheney decided to get personal...

Plame archives in the National Journal by Murray Waas, special to National Journal,

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 12:13 AM | Permalink

Those Eight Pages by emptywheel, Daily Kos, February 3, 2006
"...Which may explain why Fitzgerald went after the June 23 conversation. Honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Judy had first learned of Plame's identity even earlier, and that the remaining meeting were all fine-tuning about what she should and shouldn't say..."

Libby got Plame story from CHENEY!!! by EZ Writer, Daily Kos, February 3, 2006
"No wonder Libby was indicted. He can't keep the story straight at all."

Posted by hekebolos at 07:33 PM | Permalink

When Two Worlds Collide --Rove v. Fitzgerald by Elizabeth de la Vega, Tom Dispatch, February 3, 2006
For Rove "no news...is not good news. ...Seismic activity is notoriously silent..."

Tomgram: De la Vega on Why Rove Will Fall by Tom Engelhardt, Tom Dispatch, February 3, 2006
Engelhardt agrees...and on the State of the Union ..'ill-digested chunks of so many other speeches...'

Judge Sets Trial for Libby in CIA Leak
By Toni Locy, The Associated Press Friday, February 3, 2006 Libby's happy about the post midterm election date. Can't say the same for dems...

Google has a list of articles about Libby's trial date here.
February 03, 2006

A reader sent me this. Thanks to Kevin.
February 03, 2006
Partial release of redacted pages from Miller/Cooper ruling:
New stuff starts at p. 72

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 04:02 PM | Permalink

Let's See...Who Was It that Thought He'd Be Indicted? Oh yeah, it was Stephen Hadley.
by Reddhedd, Firedoglake, February 02, 2006
Reddhedd makes the graymail case while indicting Hadley. Amazing and she precedes with

Where There's Smoke...

Graymail and missing emails by Mark Kleiman, The Reality based Community, February 2, 2006
Kleiman puts it all in perspective as usual -- 'The idea is to ask for something arguably relevant to the defense which the government can't allow to appear in open court for national-security reasons, hoping to force a dismissal.'

More Court Filings From Libby by Tom Maguire, Just One Minute, February 01, 2006
Maguire wonders out loud 'So - are emails missing, and was this beyond the scope of Fitzgerald's investigation?'

Posted by Suzanne Levi-Sanchez at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (291)

Bush and Cheney deleted evidence? by Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, February 01, 2006
Josh Marshall found this buried in a Daily News article. Shouldn't deleted emails by the Oval Office be front page news? It is here.

Leak prober got supersecret files by James Gordon Meek, Daily News, Washington Bureau
January 31,2006
This is the article Talking Points Memo is referring to.

Don't fear the Spooks..., They may save our Republic. Comment by Cowboy Steve, The Randi Rhodes Show January 31, 2006
Who would be a spook? Someone who loves the US, cares for its Constitution, may have fought in our Military. Someone who's educated.