New twist in CIA spy Plame leak case

[ToxicSplooge]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...home-headlines

Bob Woodward's latest bombshell — this one about the CIA leak investigation — touched off a furor in Washington on Wednesday, raising questions about the noted journalist's previous failure to disclose what he knew, the completeness of the government's investigation of the case, and the identity of yet another top Bush administration source.

Woodward, an author and assistant managing editor of the Washington Post, disclosed that he had been told by a senior Bush administration official in mid-2003 about CIA operative Valerie Plame, which made him the first journalist known to have been leaked information about Plame, the wife of an administration critic.

Some observers said the disclosure abruptly altered the picture in the criminal case against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. "Woodward's disclosures are a bombshell to Mr. Fitzgerald's case," Ted Wells, an attorney for Libby, said in a statement.

Libby's lawyers jumped on the Woodward disclosure as helpful to their client and hurtful to the prosecution's case. "First, the disclosure shows that Mr. Fitzgerald's statement at his press conference of Oct. 28, 2005, that Mr. Libby was the first government official to tell a reporter about Mr. Wilson's wife was totally inaccurate," said a statement released by Wells. "Second, Woodward's disclosure that he talked to Mr. Libby during this period and that Libby didn't discuss Plame undermines the prosecution's claim that Libby was actively seeking to discredit Wilson by leaking information about his wife."

This throws a big monkey wrench into the prosecution case against Libby.

But even more important I think is what it does to put an end to government officials constantly leaking to the press. If this doesn't cause gov't officials to stop trusting the press than I don't know what will.

[downhill]

If you say so, but it really doesn't.

Not that it matters anyway. If this goes much further, it's going to erode a lot more support for the Whitehouse than you think, when it becomes more apparent that intelligence was either ignored or manipulated to garner support for the war in Iraq.

Of course Libby's lawyers are going to say that and in the end, maybe Scooter will be absolved. Who'd be surprised? Not me. It still doesn't change the fact that the Whitehouse outed her as payback for Wilson's piece in the NY Times, exposing lies the President gave the nation in his 2003 State of the Union address. Something that's been covered here countless times. But then you already knew that.

[Bouncer]

This throws a big monkey wrench into the prosecution case against Libby.

No it doesn't. Its not even a grain of sand thrown into the prosecutions cases against "Scooter". Look, he's charged with Obstruction of Justice, Perjury, and Making False Statements. The cases are about lying. Lying to the FBI agents and Lying the Grand Jury. And getting caught out. The cases are NOT about whether he was the first, second or forty-third to reveal the classified information.

The spinners on his defense team might as well be yelling "But he was clearly wearing RED shoes! Not BLUE shoes! Therefore the case is going to fall apart!" Because that declaration has as much relevance as a declaration about whether or not he was the first leaker. He could've been the 43rd leaker. The point is he is accused of lying under oath about what he revealed, to whom, when. Not about whether anyone else revealed that information before OR after him.

From the Indictment:

"On each occasion of LIBBY's testimony, the foreperson of the Grand Jury administered the oath to LIBBY and LIBBY swore to tell the truth in the testimony he was about to give.
31. In or about March 2004, in the District of Columbia,

I. LEWIS LIBBY, also known as "SCOOTER LIBBY,"

defendant herein, did knowingly and corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice, namely proceedings before Grand Jury 03-3, by misleading and deceiving the grand jury as to when, and the manner and means by which, LIBBY acquired and subsequently disclosed to the media information concerning the employment of Valerie Wilson by the CIA."

See? Nothing to do with timing, everything to do with misleading and decieving the grand jury about his involvement.

Source of text of indictment:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...102801086.html

But even more important I think is what it does to put an end to government officials constantly leaking to the press. If this doesn't cause gov't officials to stop trusting the press than I don't know what will.

Absolutely no chance of that. Washington is a sieve. In point of fact, the "Secret Foreign CIA Prisons" leaks most likely came from the Republican caucus. If anyone should know by now not to be all blabby, they should. But the leaks continue. And they will continue so long as information can be used as a tool to influence policy or public opinion (which is the back door to influencing policy).

Regards,
-Bouncer-