Last week ***** Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby had
the dubious honor of becoming the first sitting White House official
in 135 years to be indicted. http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04ms407.html
According to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/politics/28text-fitz.html?pagewanted=all
Valerie Wilson's cover was blown in July 2003.
The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published
a column on July 14th, 2003.
But Mr. Novak was not the first reporter to be told that Wilson's
wife, Valerie Wilson, Ambassador Wilson's wife Valerie, worked at the
CIA.
Several other reporters were told.
In fact, Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a
reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie
Wilson.
Fitzgerald continued:
Mr. Libby gave the FBI a compelling story.
What he told the FBI is that essentially he was at the end of a long
chain of phone calls.
He spoke to reporter Tim Russert, and during the conversation Mr.
Russert told him that, Hey, do you know that all the reporters know
that Mr. Wilson's wife works at the CIA?
And he told the FBI that he learned that information as if it were
new, and it struck him.
So he took this information from Mr. Russert and later on he passed it
on to other reporters, including reporter Matthew Cooper of Time
magazine, reporter Judith Miller of the New York Times.
And he told the FBI that when he passed the information on on July
12th, 2003, two days before Mr. Novak's column, that he passed it on
understanding that this was information he had gotten from a reporter;
that he didn't even know if it was true.
And he told the FBI that when he passed the information on to the
reporters he made clear that he did know if this were true.
This was something that all the reporters were saying and, in fact, he
just didn't know and he wanted to be clear about it.
Later, Mr. Libby went before the grand jury on two occasions in March
of 2004.
He took and oath and he testified.
And he essentially said the same thing.
He said that, in fact, he had learned from the vice president earlier
in June 2003 information about Wilson's wife, but he had forgotten it,
and that when he learned the information from Mr. Russert during this
phone call he learned it as if it were new.
When he passed the information on to reporters Cooper and Miller late
in the week, he passed it on thinking it was just information he
received from reporters; that he told reporters that, in fact, he
didn't even know if it were true.
He was just passing gossip from one reporter to another at the long
end of a chain of phone calls.
It would be a compelling story that will lead the FBI to go away if
only it were true.
It is not true, according to the indictment.
In fact, Mr. Libby discussed the information about Valerie Wilson at
least half a dozen times before this conversation with Mr. Russert
ever took place, not to mention that when he spoke to Mr. Russert, Mr.
Russert and he never discussed Valerie Wilson or Wilson's wife.
So it seems Libby assumed that he would be safe to lay the blame at
the feet of reporters because they would adhere to their ethical code
and not out him as their source.
Unfortunately for Libby, they weren't that stupid.
(Except Judith Miller, and Libby let her sweat in jail for three
months before he realized that the jig was up.)
The result: perjury, making false statements, and obstruction of
justice.
Shortly after Libby handed in his resignation George W. Bush called
him "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever
known," and said, "We're all saddened by today's news."
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=105736
I guess this is what Our Great Leader was talking about when he
promised to return honor and integrity to the White House.
From The Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Harry
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