Swing State Project: Plamegate Archives

Plamegate Archive:

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Republican Electoral Liability on Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

OK, this is funny. In the last post, I pointed out how the Swing State Project would be focusing on the electoral fallout of the White House Indictments. As always, I made a point of mentioning that our readers are our eyes and ears to what is going on race-by-race. However, the Republican National Committee decided to pull all of this information together for us:

Republican Senators Defend Karl Rove:

NRSC Chairwoman Elizabeth Dole (R-NC): “The Partisan Attacks Against Karl Rove Are Out Of Control And Entirely Inappropriate. He Is A Distinguished Member Of The White House And He Is My Friend.” (National Republican Senatorial Committee, “Elizabeth Dole Statement On Karl Rove,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Dole: “It Is Incredibly Irresponsible For Individuals And Organizations To Make Accusations Based On Rumor And Innuendo. It Is Unfair To The Investigation And Even More Unfair To Karl Rove.” (National Republican Senatorial Committee, “Elizabeth Dole Statement On Karl Rove,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN): “My Democratic Friends Would Be Doing The Nation A Great Service If They Spent Half As Much Time Getting Legislation Passed That Will Benefit The Country As They Do In Attacking Karl Rove.” (Sen. Norm Coleman, Press Release, 7/13/05)

Coleman: “We Have Enough To Do In The Senate In Minding Our Own Business Than To Be Sticking Our Noses Into Someone Else’s Business. Everyone Needs To Cool The Rhetoric, Focus On The Business Of The People, And Allow The Investigation To Run Its Course.” (Sen. Norm Coleman, Press Release, 7/13/05)

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA): “I Don’t See Any Evidence Out There That He Violated The Law.’’ (Richard Keil and Holly Rosenkrantz, “Rove’s Role In Spy Inquiry Reverberates Throughout Capital,” Bloomberg, 7/12/05)

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT): “In All Honesty, The Facts Thus Far – And The E-Mail Involved – Indicate To Me That There Is Not A Problem Here…” (Jim VandeHei, “GOP On Offense In Defense Of Rove,” The Washington Post, 7/13/05)

Hatch: “I Have Always Thought This Is A Tempest In A Teapot." (Jim VandeHei, “GOP On Offense In Defense Of Rove,” The Washington Post, 7/13/05)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): “If Anyone Thought The Anger And Political Sniping That Infested The Capital During The Campaign Would End After The Election, They Were Flat Wrong. Partisan Attacks In Lieu Of The Facts Have Replaced Ideas, Action And Cooperation.” (Sen. John Cornyn, “Attacks On Rove ‘More Anger And Political Sniping,’” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Cornyn: “Sadly, These Attacks Are More Of The Same Kind Of Anger And Lashing Out That Has Become The Substitute For Bipartisan Action And Progress. While Republicans Focus On Accomplishing An Ambitious Agenda For The American People, Some Democrats And Their Allies In The Hyper-Partisan Interest Groups Continue On Their Path Of Smear And Distract.” (Sen. John Cornyn, “Attacks On Rove ‘More Anger And Political Sniping,’” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA): “I Support Karl Rove.” (Tom Raum, “Newsview: CIA Leak Probe Focuses On Rove,” The Associated Press, 7/13/05)

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL): “Karl Rove Is A Friend Who, By All Accounts, Is Fully Cooperating With The Investigation. He Has Been A Most Valuable Member Of President Bush’s Team And Has Always Conducted Himself According To High Standards. It’s Disappointing That Some Democrats Are Using An Ongoing Investigation To Try And Score Political Points. Instead Of Focusing On The People’s Business, Democrats Are Prejudging An Incomplete Investigation And Doing Nothing More Than Mounting Partisan Political Attacks.” (Sen. Jeff Sessions, “Statement Of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions On Karl Rove,” 7/13/05)

Republican Congressmen Defend Karl Rove:

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO): “I Think We See Too Many Efforts Now Where People Quickly Rush To Judgment, Rush To Call For The Most Bizarre Solutions To Problems That Are Problems That Are Often Just Created In Their Own Minds.” (Rep. Roy Blunt, Floor Statement, U.S. House Of Representatives, 7/13/05)

Blunt: “Karl Rove Has Fully Cooperated In Any Investigation, And For More Than A Year Now Has Permitted Investigators To Talk To Him.” (Rep. Roy Blunt, Floor Statement, U.S. House Of Representatives, 7/13/05)

House Republican Conference Chair Deborah Pryce (R-OH):” I Think What The Democrats Are Doing With Karl Rove Is Just Another Politically Motivated Part Of Their Agenda.” (CNN’s “Wolf Blitzer Reports,” 7/13/05)

NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY): “The Extreme Left Is Once Again Attempting To Define The Modern Democrat Party By Rabid Partisan Attacks, Character Assassination And Endless Negativity. And As Has Become Their Custom, The Rest Of The Democrat Party Is Standing By Silently.” (National Republican Congressional Committee, “NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds Statement On Karl Rove, Democrat Partisan Attacks,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Reynolds: “Democrats Are Bitter About Losing In 2004. And They Will Stop At Nothing To Accomplish Through Character Assassination What They Could Not Accomplish At The Ballot Box.” (National Republican Congressional Committee, “NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds Statement On Karl Rove, Democrat Partisan Attacks,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA): “Karl Rove Is Just The Latest In A Long Line Of Targets For The Democrats Vitriol And Political Games. The American People Want To Know How Congress Is Going To Keep The Economy Growing, Lower Energy Prices And Keep Them Secure At Home.” (Rep. Eric Cantor, “Cantor Statement on Democrat Attacks On Karl Rove,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA): “Karl Rove Who Did Not Even Know This Woman’s Name Did Not Have Any Information Of Her Acting In Any Covert Manner. It Is Just Silly.” (“Fox News’, “Fox News Live,” 7/13/05)

Kingston: “The Democrats Are Absent On Issues Such As Social Security, They Are Ambivalent About Iraq To Begin With And They’re Throwing Up One More Smoke Screen Aimed At Karl Rove Who They’re Mad At.” (“Fox News’, “Fox News Live,” 7/13/05)

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX): “I Support Karl Rove …” (Tom Raum, “Newsview: CIA Leak Probe Focuses on Rove,” The Associated Press, 7/13/05)

DeLay: “This Is Typical Of The Democrats. They Smell Blood And They Act Like Sharks. Karl Rove Is A Good Man. He Was Doing His Job. He Was Trying To Talk A Reporter Out Of Filing A False Story Based Upon False Premise. I Don’t See That He Has Done Anything Wrong.” (Fox News’ “Studio B,” 7/13/05)

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX): “The President And Karl Rove Are Doing Exactly What They Should. They Are Cooperating Fully With The Pending Investigation.” (Rep. Kay Granger, “Congresswoman Granger Calls Democrat Attacks On Rove Partisan Gamesmanship,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Granger: “He Knew Then That Much Of What Joe Wilson Was Saying Was Untrue. The Calls For Mr. Rove’s Resignation Are Simply Partisan Gamesmanship.” (Rep. Kay Granger, “Congresswoman Granger Calls Democrat Attacks On Rove Partisan Gamesmanship,” Press Release, 7/13/05)

Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY): “Republicans Should Stop Holding Back And Go On The Offense: Fire Enough Bullets The Other Way Until The Supreme Court Overtakes.” (Jim VandeHei, “GOP On Offense In Defense Of Rove,” The Washington Post, 7/13/05)

Thank you to the RNC for pulling all of the quotes together on which Republicans are defending the treasonous outing of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Posted at 06:01 PM in 2006 Elections, 2006 Elections - House, 2006 Elections - Senate, Culture of Corruption, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) | Technorati

Indictments of White House Staff

Posted by Bob Brigham

The Swing State Project has devoted a good deal of time to the Karl Rove Scandal. As the indictments come down, we will be looking for information on how this is influencing specific races, please feel free to use the contact info to keep us in the loop.

This is a story that the netroots have been all over from day one and I'm sure there will be plenty of electoral fallout for SSP to cover.

Strategically, I prefer to devote my time blogging to issues at their beginning or end. I have said that I don't believe blogs are the best vehicle for sustained engagement. However, I am questioning that after viewing the coverage to date from Talk Left:

Posted at 05:42 PM in Culture of Corruption, Netroots, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | TrackBack (0) | Technorati

Friday, September 23, 2005

Scandal: Karl Rove and Jack Abramoff

Posted by Bob Brigham

From the Washington Post:

Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bragged two years ago that he was in contact with White House political aide Karl Rove on behalf of a large, Bermuda-based corporation that wanted to avoid incurring some taxes and continue receiving federal contracts, according to a written statement by President Bush's nominee to be deputy attorney general.

Timothy E. Flanigan, general counsel for conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that Abramoff's lobbying firm initially boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fend off a special liability tax because he "had good relationships with members of Congress," including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Abramoff later said "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue, according to the statement by Flanigan, who oversaw Tyco's dealings with Abramoff and his firm and received reports from Abramoff about progress in the lobbying campaign. Flanigan's statement is the latest indication that Abramoff promoted himself as having ready access to senior officials in the Bush administration.

WTF? In 2006, the Republicans will fear two words: competence & corruption. The worst case scenario is when the Democrat is authentic.

Democrats are lucky that George Bush is too stubborn to fire Karl Rove. He's corrupt! Corrupt hack running an incompetent Republican Administration.

Rove played fast and loose for too long. Now he's been linked to Jack Abramoff. Not only did he compromise National Security for political paybacks, but he is also corrupt. A five-year-old could write this storyline -- even the Establishment Democrats might figure it out.

Bonus points for a very specific, "no recollection" of the scandal:

A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said Rove "has no recollection" of being contacted by Abramoff about Tyco's concerns.

Talking Points Memo has had the best info on the next part:

Rove's personal assistant at the time, Susan Ralston, formerly worked as Abramoff's secretary.

TYCO, in addition to being an awful company, helped fund an "army of lobbyists" to prop-up the GOP:

Tyco was among a raft of companies, including Ingersoll-Rand and Noble Corp., that hired an army of lobbyists to stall the legislation and ultimately kill most of it. House Republican leaders argued that corporate flight was merely a symptom of a much broader problem with the U.S. tax code that should be treated in a larger tax reform package.

Abramoff remains the focus of a lengthy investigation by a task force led by prosecutors at the Justice Department and including investigators at the Internal Revenue Service, the Interior Department and General Services Administration. The probe was initially focused on whether he bilked Native American tribes that paid him tens of millions of dollars in lobbying and other fees, but has since widened to include other matters.

And, of course, our favorite lobbyist firm, makes the story...

The ties between Tyco and Greenberg Traurig have already been investigated by a special counsel appointed by Greenberg to examine Abramoff's activities at the firm. According to knowledgeable sources and Flanigan's written statement, Greenberg has promised to repay three-quarters of a $2 million fee that Tyco paid, at Abramoff's direction, to a firm called Grassroots Interactive.

The fee was supposed to finance a letter-writing campaign by Tyco suppliers against the offshore tax bill, but Greenberg concluded that $1.5 million of it was "diverted to entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff" and misspent, according to Flanigan's statement.

Andrew Blum, a spokesman for Abramoff's law firm, declined to comment, as did Jill Perry, a spokeswoman for Greenberg Traurig.

"No recollection" and denials. This scandal is only going to get bigger. You can't trust Republicans with money. . .

Hat-tip to TPM for the heads-up - Thanks!

Posted at 12:04 AM in 2006 Elections, Culture of Corruption, Plamegate, Texas | Comments (1) | Technorati

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Fire Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

WTF is up with this?

Karl Rove, President Bush's top political advisor and deputy White House chief of staff, spoke at businessman Teddy Forstmann's annual off the record gathering in Aspen, Colorado this weekend. Here is what Rove had to say that the press wasn't allowed to report on.

On Katrina: The only mistake we made with Katrina was not overriding the local government...

On The Anti-War Movement: Cindy Sheehan is a clown. There is no real anti-war movement. No serious politician, with anything to do with anything, would show his face at an anti-war rally...

On Bush's Low Poll Numbers: We have not been good at explaining the success in Iraq. Polls go up and down and don't mean anything...

On Iraq: There has been a big difference in the region. Iraq will transform the Middle East...

On Judy Miller And Plamegate: Judy Miller is in jail for reasons I don't really understand...

On Joe Wilson: Joe Wilson and I attend the same church but Joe goes to the wacky mass...

Holy fucking shit Karl Rove is out of touch. I've been on the ground, I've seen the faces of the evacuees and everyone knows that the Republican Administration totally fucked over the Americans impacted by the disaster. Total FUBAR. I've spent two weeks in the middle of Lake George and I haven't seen anything as disgusting as this. Rove has no business working in the White House. None.

Posted at 08:25 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Karl Rove "Official Investigation" Drinking Game

Posted by Bob Brigham

From Amanda Congdon's rocketboom. Must see.

Posted at 01:17 PM in Netroots, Plamegate | Technorati

Monday, August 08, 2005

MoveOn: Loose Lips, Pink Slips -- FIRE KARL ROVE

Posted by Bob Brigham

Personally, I'm a big fan of Open Source message creation. If we care more about the content than the source, then collectively we can usually find a better message than a handful of political consultants. If not, Open Source will allow the political consultants' message to prove it is the best by rising to the top.

At Swing State Project, we often write about onling campaigning in the post-broadcast era and open source message creation is a big part of the puzzle. Take the Ohio 2 race for example. Tim Tagaris nailed the message in a blog post. It turned into a viral video ad and then ended up in an email from the DNC to 4 million Democrats (see paragraph 4). Political message has turned into a discussion and the days of talking at people are over.

Democracy for America Open Sourced Tom DeLay a few months ago for a successful billboard campaign.

Now, MoveOn has done it to Karl Rove. Bonus points for the pic component. Full email after the break...

Dear MoveOn member,

It has been a busy week in the Karl Rove CIA Leak scandal. Columnist Robert Novak was suspended by CNN after he swore profanely and then walked out of the CNN studio rather than answer questions about his role in the CIA leak.1 The American Prospect reports that jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller met with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and discussed Valerie Plame six days before Plame's undercover status with the CIA was revealed.2 Finally, after a week and 17,740 entries from MoveOn members we have a winner in the Fire Karl Rove Slogan Contest. And the winner is... "Loose Lips Deserve Pink Slips. Fire Karl Rove." Now that we have the slogan we need to get it out there. We've designed a downloadable poster from the winning slogan. You can print it easily on a desktop printer and it's perfect to place in your window, hang on your refrigerator, and tack on a bulletin board at home, work or in your community, in a gym locker or anywhere else that makes sense. Take a minute right now to click on the link below to download and print the poster (you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader). http://political.moveon.org/firerove/poster.html After you've prominently hung up your photo send us a digital photo of where you've displayed it or a photo of you or your friends holding the poster. Just e-mail it as an attachment to: rovephotos@moveon.org Use the subject line to give your photo a title, and the body of the email to give it a description. Please include the location (venue, city, state) in the description. The author of the winning slogan is Mary Thornquist, a MoveOn member from Catonsville, Maryland. Mary has been a MoveOn member since 1998. We asked her to write about the slogan and the Karl Rove CIA Leak scandal. Here is what she wrote. Tom— Thanks for letting me know my slogan was chosen. As I said, I was really impressed with many of the entries. It's clear that a lot people are disappointed with the current administration's lack of integrity on this and other issues. My entry, obviously, derives from the World War II slogan, "Loose Lips Sink Ships". The patriotic message then was clear: divulging information, intentionally or not, aided the enemy and put our armed forces at risk. The President's promise to fire anyone in his administration found to be involved in leaking the identity of Valerie Plame was consistent with the spirit of this message. Now we see this was mere patriotic posturing. The Right's real message about patriotism keeps re-emerging: that disagreeing with the administration's policies, actions, and decisions—especially decisions to go to war regardless of the evidence—is what is unpatriotic and what harms our troops and our nation. No matter that one of the closest advisers to the President divulged the identity of an undercover CIA operative to the press, likely putting American lives at risk and undoing years of intelligence gathering. No matter that he did so with the ugly purposes of retaliation and to undermine the operative's husband, who had the audacity to publicly question the President's weak justification for war. What Karl Rove did was wrong, dangerous, and tantamount to treason. It was unpatriotic. Calling on the president to fulfill his promise to do something about it is not. The special prosecutor's ultimate findings about whether Mr. Rove's behavior was intentional or criminal are irrelevant. The American people deserve more than the President "flip-flopping" over whether or not he will hold his people accountable. They deserve to know that consequences follow when mistakes are made. They deserve to see this country be secure, peaceful, and well respected once again. Mary Thornquist Catonsville, Maryland MoveOn member since 1998 Thank you Mary and thanks to everybody who participated. The winning slogan won 16,826 votes. The next favorite earned 14,135 votes. The Top Five Slogans from the contest were: Loose Lips Deserve Pink Slips. Fire Karl Rove (Our winner!) Karl Rove: The Voice of Treason Treason is Not a Family Value Support Homeland Security—Fire Karl Rove Firing Rove: A REAL Patriot Act Some other top slogans we thought were good include: It's not Left or Right—it's WRONG. Fire Karl Rove Bush Knew: Fire Him Too Keep Your Promise—Fire Rove! Fire Rove. It's not just a good idea, it's the law. And one favorite plays off of Karl Rove's defense that he didn't use Valerie Plame's name—he only called her "Joe Wilson's wife." That slogan is: "Fire Mrs. Rove's Husband." That one made folks laugh. There were some great slogan suggestions from MoveOn members. One theme that ran through a lot of them was America's security. Clearly millions of Americans don't see this as just another Washington scandal but as a serious issue about accountability, lies and real security for our families and our country. Thanks to everybody who participated as a slogan author or voter. Don't forget to download your poster. http://political.moveon.org/firerove/poster.html Thanks for all you do. –Tom, Eli, Justin, Carrie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team Monday, August 8th, 2005 Sources 1. CNN suspends Robert Novak for on-air outburst, Reuters August, 5, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=830

2. The Meeting, The American Prospect online. www.prospect.org August, 6, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=831

Good stuff, thanks Moveon!

Posted at 02:31 PM in Activism, Democrats, Netroots, Plamegate, Plamegate | Comments (1) | Technorati

MoveOn: Loose Lips, Pink Slips -- FIRE KARL ROVE

Posted by Bob Brigham

Democracy for America Open Sourced Tom DeLay a few months ago for a successful billboard campaign.

Now, MoveOn has done it to Karl Rove. Bonus points for the pic component. Full email after the break...

Dear MoveOn member,

2. The Meeting, The American Prospect online. www.prospect.org August, 6, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=831

Good stuff, thanks Moveon!

Posted at 02:31 PM in Activism, Democrats, Netroots, Plamegate, Plamegate | Comments (1) | Technorati

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

MD-Sen: Michael Steele and Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

michael steele - karl rove - corruption While Karl Rove's schedule is jammed back with political retribution and lessons on walking in shackles with a coat over his head, he is also busy playing bagman for politicians willing to continue the Republicans' Carnival of Corruption in Washington. Karl Rove's man in Maryland, Lt. Governor Michael Steele, has shown incredibly poor judgement by not cancelling a fundraiser with somebody who betrayed a CIA agent.

Here is the host committee: SENATOR ELIZABETH DOLE, CURT ANDERSON, WAYNE BERMAN, CHARLIE BLACK, KIRK BLALOCK, MANUS COONEY, RICK HOHLT, BRUCE MEHLMAN, JACK OLIVER, BILL PAXON, and DAVID URBAN.

Join Rove and his man in Maryland tonight from 5:30 - 7:30 at the Ronald Reagan Center, 425 2nd Street NE.

Posted at 10:40 AM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Activism, Maryland, Plamegate | Technorati

Monday, July 25, 2005

12 Hour Gap: White House Cover-up of Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

During the last two media cycles, the press has begun devoting more attention to the sketchy 12 hour gap. There is the appropriate speculation that the Bush White House may have ramped up their cover-up efforts during the 12 hour gap. Speculation that there may have been a Midnight Massacre of evidence. Frank Rich says:

As White House counsel, [Alberto Gonzales] was the one first notified that the Justice Department, at the request of the C.I.A., had opened an investigation into the outing of Joseph Wilson’s wife. That notification came at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2003, but it took Mr. Gonzales 12 more hours to inform the White House staff that it must “preserve all materials” relevant to the investigation.

Think Progress relays:

On CBS’s Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer noted that this time gap would have “give[n] people time to shred documents and do any number of things.” Gonzales argued that he asked for and received permission from the Justice Department to wait until the next morning to order White House staff to preserve all documents regarding their contacts with journalists about Valerie Plame.

Given that the Bush White House is now stonewalling the AP when asked "whether Card passed that information to top Bush aide Karl Rove or anyone else", I think it is safe to assume that the Bush White House took full advantage of a 12 hour window before they would officially be told to preserve the evidence.

So how much information could have been shredding in a Midnight Massacre? Well, it depends upon the shredding equipment. Swing State Project has compared four different shredders to estimate the volume of information that could have been destroyed during the 12 hour gap.

InnoDesk Paper Shredder

This light-weight, battery-powered personal shredder is a compact and even features a strap.

While this shredder is the "perfect size to shred receipts or other personal items at home or when traveling" – it does not offer a cross-cut so it probably lacks the security necessary to work in the White House (where everyone but the senior Bush Administration staff takes security very seriously).

Ativa X1800

This is a solid shredder with extra heavy-duty features that allow the Ativa X1800 to even shred CDs. For added security, it shreds paper into confetti-style bits with its cross-cut mechanism.

It can hold 18 sheets per pass and shred 7 feet per minute, making it suitable for minor cover-ups but it is probably not of the quality necessary for a Republican Administration.

Fellows 480C

This is the type of high capacity business shredder you would expect to see in a place such as the White House. It shreds 24 sheets at a time and is powerful enough to shred staples and even paper clips.

For users engaging in a conspiracy to destroy evidence, it offers a "continuous-duty motor" which can shred 30 feet a minute. The specs on the Fellows480C say it can shred 10,000 pages per day, or at least 5,000 pages during the 12 hour gap.

GBC 606X

This is the type of shredder you expect a guy like Karl Rove to own. The GPC6060X boasts a 43-gallon collection bin, a 16" throat and "shreds up to 20,000 pages per day" on continuous duty.

A single GBC 6060X could have shredded 20 reams of paper during the 12 hour gap due to the 25' per minute shredding speed. For all-nighters, it features an "exclusive in-cabinet basket jog-foot pedal" which compacts shreds to allow for longer shredding time between bag changes. Again, a single GBC 6060X could have shredded 10,000 pages that night.

I think it is safe to assume that there is more than one shredder in the White House, which would multiple the volume accordingly. This looks bad, really bad. And the White House stonewall makes it look as bad as Nixon's 18 minute gap. But remember, this is "worse than Watergate"!

Posted at 05:10 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Karl Rove Scandal: The Big Question Finally Asked

Posted by Tim Tagaris

Big victory for the folks at DailyKos who have asked the question each day for the past two weeks: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"

Headline from the Washington Post: "What Did the President Know?"

But now Fitzgerald's investigation appears to have turned its focus to discrepancies in the testimony of White House senior adviser Karl Rove and vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Fitzgerald may be trying to determine whether evidence exists to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges.

And that raises the issue of what -- if anything -- Rove and Libby told Bush and Cheney about their roles.

So does that mean Fitzgerald might call Bush and Cheney to testify before the grand jury -- under oath? Might he even have done so already? We have no idea, of course, because the White House isn't saying anything at all about the investigation anymore.

Can't wait to find out the answer on this one.

Posted at 04:15 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Karl Rove Talking Points

Posted by Bob Brigham

Talking Points:

As the days go on, more is learned about White House involvement in the Valerie Plame CIA scandal. It was recently revealed that when the Department of Justice first notified Alberto Gonzales (then the White House counsel) that they were launching a criminal investigation into the leak of Plame’s identity, he was instructed to notify the White House staff to preserve all documents related to the case. But Gonzales didn't comply with the request immediately – instead he gave a heads up to Chief of Staff Andrew Card, letting him know that all White House staff would be told to preserve all documents related to the case the next morning. Gonzales’ call to Card gave him a 12-hour window to alert other White House staff, presumably giving them time to destroy or hide evidence. As speculation grows around the White House and this breach of our national security, Bush administration officials are remaining conspicuously silent.

* Gonzales’ reasoning for not immediately complying with the investigation doesn’t hold water. Gonzales defended his giving the White House a 12-hour head start, saying that he contacted the Department of Justice and it gave him the OK, effectively giving White House employees 12 hours to shred and destroy incriminating evidence. What Gonzales doesn’t say is that the DOJ and the investigation were both run by former Attorney General John Ashcroft, whom Karl Rove worked for over the course of two decades. Ashcroft had so many conflicts of interest in the Plame scandal that in December, 2003, he recused himself from the case.

* What was White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card’s role in the scandal? In addition to getting that 12-hour heads up from Alberto Gonzales, Andrew Card has been involved in the CIA leak scandal from the beginning. He was aboard Air Force One when the top secret State Department document that contained the identity of Valerie Wilson was also on board. Card also shares the blame with President Bush for allowing Karl Rove to stay on staff after it is evident that he lied to the American people about being involved in the Plame scandal.

* If Gonzales can answer questions about an ongoing investigation, why can’t Scott McClellan? Ever since Karl Rove’s involvement in the leak was revealed, both President Bush and White House press Secretary Scott McClellan have refused to answer any questions, citing “an ongoing criminal investigation.” However, on Fox News Sunday yesterday, Alberto Gonzales clearly commented on the investigation and answered questions about the leak, stating “I had no information regarding Ms. Plame and her role at the CIA.” Why can’t Scott McClellan or Karl Rove answer any questions?

From the DNC (via email release):

WHAT'S BEEN UNCOVERED Gonzales Notified Card of Pending Justice Department Investigation Hours Before President and White House Staff. Attorney General and former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez appeared on Fox News this weekend and admitted to having advance notice of the Justice Department's investigation into the Valerie Plame leak. On September 29, 2003 Gonzales, in his capacity as White House Councel, was notified of the investigation, Gonzales immediately contacted White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card but waited to notify Bush and the White House staff until the next morning. [Bloomberg, 7/25/05] WHAT AMERICANS DESERVE TO KNOW
Who did Card speak to in the time between Gonzalez's notification and the official notification of the staff? Who did he call? Who did he email? The White House should release Card's phone records and his schedule from the time in question.

Posted at 11:55 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

John Bolton is Toast

Posted by Bob Brigham

Via Buzzflash check Ragged Thots:

Then, as Josh Marshall points out, as part of her confirmation hearings for a State Department public relations position, Karen Hughes was, by law, obligated to answer a questionnaire, that among other things, asked whether there were any legal proceedings to which she might be a be part of: She admitted that she had testified before Fitzgerald's grand jury. Marshall points out, Bolton answered "no" on the questionnaire -- though, it turns out he also testified before the grand jury on the contents of the Plame memo.

If Bolton intentionally misled the Senate in his questionnaire, he's toast. End of story. [...]

The key is revealed in Clemons' latest post: He asserts that Bolton was a major source for NYT's Judith Miller, currently incarcerated for refusing to surrender a source's name to the Fitzgerald grand jury. Now, one has to toss in a couple of caveats here: Steve, of course, has to depend on an anonymous source that somehow "knows" that Bolton was an anonymous source for many of Miller's stories.

Still, bringing it all together: DC now has two major players potentially facing legal peril, a reporter in jail -- and the most contentious confirmation process ever for a nominee to the United Nations. But the link of Bolton to Miller -- and thus to the Plame-Rove story -- is what can turn a confusing, "silly summer season" story into Washington nuclear pyrotechnics.

Remember, Bolton has yet to be confirmed because the Bush White House is stonewalling the U.S. Senate.

Posted at 11:37 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Bush Administration Lied to American People

Posted by Bob Brigham

They spoke to Rove:

Scott McClellan at a briefing Sept. 29, 2003.

Q. All right, let me just follow up. You said this morning, quote, "The president knows that Karl Rove wasn't involved." How does he know that?

A. Well, I've made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person who made that suggestion backing away from that. And I said it is simply not true. So - I mean, it's public knowledge I've said that it's not true.

Q. Well, how …

A. And I have spoken with Karl Rove. I'm not going to get into conversations that the president has with advisers or staff, or anything of that nature. That's not my practice.

Q. But the president has a factual basis for knowing that Karl Rove …

A. Well, I said it publicly. I said that - and so, I've made it very clear.

Q. I'm not asking what you said, I'm asking if the president has a factual basis for saying - for your statement that he knows Karl Rove …

A. He's aware of what I said, that there is simply no truth to that suggestion. And I have - I have spoken with Karl about it.…

McClellan mocked the press corps by calling Rove's involvement "ridiculous" -- AND BUSH CLEARED IT. Either Bush and McClellan lied or Rove lied. Whoever lied has got to go, we impeach people over lying to the American people. Somebody has got to go.

Posted at 12:30 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Friday, July 22, 2005

Karen Hughes and Karl Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

Via email, I received an important DNC Press Release on Karen Huges: Queen of the Spin-Doctors and Captain of the White House Smear Campaign. Full post in extended entry.

Karen Hughes, Queen of the Spin-Doctors and Captain of the White House Smear Campaign President Bush has nominated his closest adviser, Karen Hughes, to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. In this new position, Hughes will be responsible for kick-starting America’s diplomatic marketing effort in the Muslim world. However, Hughes’ involvement in the Bush Administration’s manipulation of pre-war intelligence, her leadership role in the White House smear campaigns against Joe Wilson and Richard Clarke, and her potential involvement with the Plame leak, makes her an unlikely candidate for this position. Hughes Involved in Pre-War Manipulation of Intelligence...Hughes Part of Iraq Working Group, Which Set Strategy for Marketing War in Iraq. Despite formally leaving the White House in July of 2002, Hughes was one of the regular participants in the White House Iraq Group which set the strategy for going to war in Iraq. The “internal working group”, which was began its formal coordination in August of 2002, was responsible for marketing the war in Iraq and involved other political strategists such as Mary Matalin, Karl Rove, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and Andy Card. Card hinted at the WHIG’s mission to the New York Times saying “From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.” [Washington Post, 8/10/03; KTVT, 7/8/02] Escalation of False Rhetoric Regarding Iraqi Threat Came After Formation of White House Iraq Group. The Washington Post reported that the “escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “ including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation of a White House Iraq Group, or WHIG, a task force assigned to ‘educate the public’ about the threat from Hussein, as a participant put it.” [Washington Post, 8/10/03] Hughes Was Intimately Involved In Preparation Of Discredited 2003 State Of The Union. The Houston Chronicle reported that Hughes “was involved in drafting the speech.” Hughes said that convincing Americans of the dangers of Iraq was a primary goal of the speech. Hughes: “What people want to hear is the comprehensive logic: Why is Saddam Hussein's continued defiance a threat to our country and to peace in the world?” [Houston Chronicle, 1/27/03; NBC Today, 1/28/03] …And Led White House Smear Campaigns to Cover Up the Lies HUGHES PROMISED TO ELEVATE POLITICAL DIALOGUE Hughes Claimed She Would Not Engage In Anonymous Attacks And Wanted To “Elevate Political Dialogue.” “I worry that Christians, myself included, give Christianity a bad name because we so often fail to model the love and humility displayed by the life of Jesus Christ,” she writes [in her new book “Ten Minutes from Normal”]. Hughes, in what she called an effort to elevate political dialogue, vowed that she will no longer provide quotes to reporters without attaching her name to them. “I admit in the book: In the past, I’ve done it myself,” she said. “You tend to be harsher and meaner when you can make those charges anonymously.” [Washington Post, 3/29/04] BUT LED SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLARKE AND WILSON Hughes Led Attempts To Smear Richard Clarke. The New York Times reported, “Ms. Hughes was an advocate of the howitzer treatment of Mr. Clarke, the former counterterrorism chief who was attacked by the White House as politically motivated and dishonest. She was also a sounding board for Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, who reached out to Ms. Hughes this week for advice on how to present her case against the criticisms of Mr. Clarke, who said she had ignored his dire warnings about terrorism.” [New York Times, 3/28/04] Hughes Admitted To Being Involved In Attempts To Smear Clarke. When asked by Barbara Walters on 20/20 whether she was involved in the White House’s response to Richard Clarke’s allegations, Hughes said, “I'm involved in White House discussions about those issues, and I try to help… I think, from personal knowledge, that many of the things he said are not true.” [ABC’s 20/20, 3/29/04] Hughes Constructed Strategy To Defend Against Criticisms Of Bush’s Use Of False Evidence In The State of the Union, Focusing On Discrediting Democrats. After the Niger/uranium scandal escalated, the White House struggled to confront the charges. Hughes helped to devise a communications plan. As reported by USA Today, the plan was to: “Most important: Question the motives of Democrats who supported the war but now are criticizing the president.” [USA Today, 7/24/03] AND POSSIBLY EXPOSED VALERIE PLAME AS A CIA OPERATIVE White House Iraq Group Subpoenaed In Leak Probe. In March 2004, the investigation of who leaked the identity of undercover CIA operative to the media subpoenaed all White House records pertaining to the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) from July 6 through July 30, 2003. Hughes was a member of the WHIG. [Newsday, 3/6/03] Hughes Defended Rove In Leak Charge. Hughes said that the public disclosure of a CIA operative's name was a disservice to the president and “very disruptive to democracy.” Hughes “said she was confident that her fellow Texan and sometime rival, Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, didn't leak the name to a syndicated columnist because ‘Karl has said that he was not involved.’” [Houston Chronicle, 10/2/03] WIDESPREAD CONCERN ABOUT HUGHES APPOINTMENT GAO Said Administration Failing To Develop A Strategy To Improve US Image Abroad. The GAO criticized the administration in April 2005 for failing to develop a strategy to improve the image of the United States as "recent polling data show that anti-Americanism is spreading and deepening around the world." The report warned that anti-American sentiments could increase support for terrorism. [Washington Post, 4/18/05] Despite Administration Failures, Hughes Delayed Reporting to State Department. Hughes isn't slated to arrive in Washington, where she still faces a confirmation vote, until the fall. The frustration of some diplomats has prompted quiet criticism of Hughes for waiting so long after her March nomination to join the team. "She should have joined immediately," said one diplomat. [The White House Bulletin, 6/23/05] Arab Leaders Worried About Hughes Appointment. James Zogby, director of the Arab-American Institute, who has advised several administrations on both policy and public diplomacy in the Arab world, worries that Hughes will adopt "what seems to be in vogue today - the explanation that (the Arabs) don't really dislike us, they dislike their own governments, so if we advocate freedom, we'll win" as the main message for Washington to crank out to the region. [Inter-Press Service, 3/15/05] Muslim Community Skeptical of Hughes Appointment. Muslims are skeptical of Hughes’s appointment, saying that Bush administration policies, chiefly the war in Iraq, remain sources of animosity and distrust in the Muslim world. "We can reduce anti-Americanism, but it is difficult to salvage anti-Bushism," said Muqtedar Khan, director of international studies at Adrian (Mich.) College. If Hughes makes it her task to defend the Bush administration, her appointment will prove to be "a waste of time and money," Khan said. [Religion News Service, 3/16/05] HUGHES USED 9/11 FOR POLITICAL GAIN Hughes Defended Politicizing 9-11 In Campaign Ads. In March 2004, during the early stages of the presidential campaign, the Bush campaign released an ad showing the charred shell of the World Trade Center, and another showing firefighters removing shrouded remains from ground zero. A firefighters union and relatives of victims objected to the politicization of 9-11. Discussing the campaign on CNN, Ms. Hughes said of the ads: ''I think it's very tasteful.” [NYT, 3/5/04] Hughes Linked Pro-Choice Supporters to Terrorists. “Wolf Blitzer asked the Bush adviser whether abortion would be an issue in this election. ‘Well, Wolf, it’s always an issue,’ she answered. ‘And I frankly think it’s changing somewhat. I think after September 11th the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life.’ Just in case anyone didn’t get it, she added that ‘the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life.’” [Goodman, Washington Post Writers Group, 4/30/04, accessed on workingforchange.com]

For more information on the scandal, visit our Karl Rove Blog.

Posted at 01:25 PM in DNC Chair, Plamegate, Republicans | Technorati

Sen. Democratic Policy Committee and House Gov. Reform Committee Hearing on Leak

Posted by Bob Brigham

Watch live on C-SPAN 3. I'll use this thread for updates. Here is the background on today's committee investigation

UPDATE: (Bob) Check out the c-span live blog at Mahablog and Republic of T.

UPDATE: (Bob) DC Media Girl has Larry Johnson's prepared opening testimony (full remarks posted in extended entry)

UPDATE: (Bob) Good Americans are talking about the hearings over at AmericaBlog.

UPDATE: (Bob) Great moments in mainstream media asking great questions and getting proportional responses:

Carl, and then I'll go to Bob.

Q Scott, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, lead by Byron Dorgan, along with the Democrats of the House Government Reform Committee, are going to hold a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on the leaking of classified information and the damage that it could cause. Do you think that that investigation that they're conducting on -- just Democrats is helpful?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that it's helpful for all of us to make sure we're doing our part to allow the people overseeing the investigation to do their job. And that's what we've been doing from this White House. And I really don't have anything to add beyond that.

UPDATE: (Bob) Building is NOT being evacuated.

UPDATE: (Bob) Daily Kos has Live Open Thread.

UPDATE: (Bob) If you have surround sound, put your settings to "Hall" (or equivalent)...if you're looking for something to read, browse our backfiles on the Karl Rove Scandal.

Via DC Media Girl, Larry Johnson's prepared opening testimony:

Copy of my testimony to be presented on Friday, 22 July 2005 before a joint session of Congressional Democrats.

CORRECTING THE RECORD ON VALERIE PLAME

by Larry C. Johnson I submit this statement to the Congress in an effort to correct a malicious and disingenuous smear campaign that has been executed against a friend and former colleague, Valerie (Plame) Wilson. Neither Valerie, nor her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson has asked me to do anything on their behalf. I am speaking up because I was raised to stop bullies. In the case of Valerie Plame she is facing a gang of bullies that is being directed by the Republican National Committee.

I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985 as a member of the Career Trainee Program. Senator Orin Hatch had written a letter of recommendation on my behalf and I believe that helped open the doors to me at the CIA. From the first day all members of my training class were undercover. In other words, we had to lie to our family and friends about where we worked. We could only tell those who had an absolute need to know where we worked. In my case, I told my wife. Most of us were given official cover, which means that on paper we worked for some other U.S. Government Agency. People with official cover enjoy the benefits of an official passport, usually a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card. It accords the bearer the protections of the Geneva Convention.

Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. At the time I only knew her as Valerie P. Even though all of us in the training class held Top Secret Clearances, we were asked to limit our knowledge of our other classmates to the first initial of their last name. So, Larry J. knew Val P. rather than Valerie Plame. Her name did not become a part of my consciousness until her cover was betrayed by the Government officials who gave columnist Robert Novak her true name.

Although Val started off with official cover, she later joined a select group of intelligence officers a few years later when she became a NOC, i.e. a Non-Official Cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. She was using cover, which we now know because of the leak to Robert Novak, of the consulting firm Brewster-Jennings. When she traveled overseas she did not use or have an official passport. If she had been caught engaged in espionage activities while traveling overseas without the black passport she could have been executed.

We must put to bed the lie that she was not undercover. For starters, if she had not been undercover then the CIA would not have referred the matter to the Justice Department. Some reports, such as one in the Washington Times that Valerie Plame’s supervisor at the CIA, Fred Rustman, said she told friends and family she worked at the CIA and that her cover was light. These claims are not true. Rustman, who supervised Val in one of her earliest assignments, left the CIA in 1990 and did not stay in social contact with Valerie. His knowledge of Val’s cover is dated. He does not know what she has done during the past 15 years.

Val only told those with a need to know about her status in order to safeguard her cover, not compromise it. Val has never been a flamboyant, insecure person who felt the need to tell people what her “real” job was. She was content with being known as an energy consultant married to Joe Wilson and the mother of twins. Despite the repeated claims of representatives for the Republican National Committee, the Wilson’s neighbors did not know where Valerie really worked until Novak’s op-ed appeared.

I would note that not a single member of our training class has come forward to denounce Valerie or question her bona fides. To the contrary, those we have talked to have endorsed what those of us who have left the CIA are doing to defend her reputation and honor.

As noted in the joint letter submitted to Congressional leaders earlier this week, the RNC is repeating the lie that Valerie was nothing more than a glorified desk jockey and could not possibly have any cover worth protecting. To those such as Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, P. J. O’Rourke, and Representative Roy Blunt I can only say one thing—you are wrong. I am stunned that some political leaders have such ignorance about a matter so basic to the national security structure of this nation.

Robert Novak’s compromise of Valerie caused even more damage. It subsequently led to scrutiny of her cover company. This not only compromised her “cover” company but potentially every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company or with her.

Another false claim is that Valerie sent her husband on the mission to Niger. According to the Senate Intelligence Committee Report issued in July 2004, it is clear that the Vice President himself requested that the CIA provide its views on a Defense Intelligence Agency report that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium from Niger. The Vice President’s request was relayed through the CIA bureaucracy to the Director of the Counter Proliferation Division at the CIA. Valerie worked for a branch in that Division.

The Senate Intelligence Report is frequently cited by Republican partisans as “proof” that Valerie sent her husband to Niger because she sent a memo describing her husband’s qualifications to the Deputy Division Chief. Several news personalities, such as Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly continue to repeat this nonsense as proof. What the Senate Intelligence Committee does not include in the report is the fact that Valerie’s boss had asked her to write a memo outlining her husband’s qualifications for the job. She did what any good employee does; she gave her boss what he asked for.

The decision to send Joe Wilson on the mission to Niger was made by Valerie’s bosses. She did not have the authority to sign travel vouchers, issue travel orders, or expend one dime of U.S. taxpayer dollars on her own. Yet, she has been singled out by the Republican National Committee and its partisans as a legitimate target of attack. It was Karl Rove who told Chris Matthews, “Wilson’s wife is fair game”.

What makes the unjustified and inappropriate attacks on Valerie Plame and her reputation so unfair is that there was no Administration policy position stipulating that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium in February 2002. That issue was still up in the air and, as noted by SSCI, Vice President Cheney himself asked for more information.

At the end of the day we are left with these facts. We went to war in Iraq on the premise that Saddam was reacquiring weapons of mass destruction. Joe Wilson was sent on a mission to Niger in response to a request initiated by the Vice President. Joe Wilson supplied information to the CIA that supported other reports debunking the claim that Saddam was trying to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger. When Joe went public with his information, which had been corroborated by the CIA in April 2003, the response from the White House was to call him a liar and spread the name of his wife around.

We sit here more than two years later and the storm of invective and smear against Ambassador Wilson and his wife, Valerie, continues. I voted for George Bush in November of 2000 because I wanted a President who knew what the meaning of “is” was. I was tired of political operatives who spent endless hours on cable news channels parsing words. I was promised a President who would bring a new tone and new ethical standards to Washington.

So where are we? The President has flip flopped and backed away from his promise to fire anyone at the White House implicated in a leak. We now know from press reports that at least Karl Rove and Scooter Libby are implicated in these leaks. Instead of a President concerned first and foremost with protecting this country and the intelligence officers who serve it, we are confronted with a President who is willing to sit by while political operatives savage the reputations of good Americans like Valerie and Joe Wilson. This is wrong.

Without firm action by President Bush to return to those principles he promised to follow when he came to Washington, I fear our political debate in this country will degenerate into an argument about what the meaning of “leak” is. We deserve people who work in the White House who are committed to protecting classified information, telling the truth to the American people, and living by example the idea that a country at war with Islamic extremists cannot expend its efforts attacking other American citizens who simply tried to tell the truth.

You can find more in our backfiles on the Karl Rove Scandal.

Posted at 10:00 AM in 2006 Elections - House, 2006 Elections - Senate, Activism, Democrats, Netroots, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Weekend Political Weather Report

Posted by Bob Brigham

Political Heat Wave Special Report… It is looking like an unbearably hot weekend, but first we have a report that the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority joint committee will be meeting at 10AM Eastern tomorrow. The hearing will be investigating the national security implications of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. This should be a media circus, it is going to make for great stories. But more importantly, this will mark a significant escalation of congressional action to address the Karl Rove Scandal. The weather is expected to be stuffy and unseasonably hot.

It will hit the papers on Saturday -- the forecast calls for dry and windy. I recommend grabbing a cold beverage and reading up on John Roberts (also enjoy the GOP internal memo).

Sunday could see record highs. Skip the talking heads, it will be boring (each time a Democrat is asked about John Roberts you're going to hear an answer talking about the Karl Rove scandal). The opinion pages will be combustible. When it gets this hot and the wind begins to whip, it doesn't take much start a wild fire.

Next week, the heatwave will continue with no end in sight.

UPDATE EMERGENCY WARNING - The Damn is about to Break:

Operation Save Rove's Ass is about to be dealt another serious blow, as their flanking attack with Roberts was at best a minor diversion. Roberts proved to lack in the, what would you call it, "Ann Coulter factor". Democrats took a look at him, saw a conservative but not the worst kind, and said, "we'll get to him in September". Not much for the press to dig into, really.

The Rovians didn't count on another fact -- that most news organizations have more than one reporter. So they could assign one to cover Roberts, and a second to continue digging on the Rove affair. And Roberts or no Roberts, the Plame Affair is still one juicy story.

If Olberman and Raw Story are right, the real fireworks are about to begin.

Posted at 09:08 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Scandal in the White House

Posted by Bob Brigham

A couple of updates on the Karl Rove Scandal.

* It has been 741 days since Karl Rove violated his obligations under Standard Form 312 without the White House taking “corrective action.”

* New website: www.IsItTreason.com

* Congressman Henry Waxman's first Kos Diary

* The June 2003 AP photo by Lauren Shay has been getting lots of attention in the last 24 hours, Rove's button says, "'I'm a source, not a target."

* Tune in to C-SPAN (hopefully) for coverage of the 10:00 AM, Friday, July 22, 2005 U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority joint committee to investigate the national security implications of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer:

SENATE AND HOUSE DEMOCRATIC PANELS TO HOLD OVERSIGHT HEARING ON NATIONAL SECURITY CONSEQUENCES OF DISCLOSING THE IDENTITY OF A COVERT INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- The U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority will conduct a joint hearing at 10:00 AM, Friday, July 22, in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, to examine the national security implications of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. The hearing will be co-chaired by Senate DPC Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND), and U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Government Reform Committee.

The panel of witnesses will include former intelligence officers and analysts who will discuss the impact of such disclosures, based on decades of experience and service to our country on intelligence and national security matters.

The hearing comes only days after the witnesses who will appear at the hearing, along with other former intelligence officers and analysts, delivered to the House and Senate leadership a letter expressing deep concern over both the disclosure of the identity of a covert intelligence officer and the continuing partisan attacks on that officer. The letter said that public statements questioning her status and the significance of disclosing her identity "reveal an astonishing ignorance of the intelligence community and the role of cover."

Details on Monday's hearing follow:

WHO: Members of Congress: U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), and other members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Witnesses: Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst; Jim Marcinkowski, former CIA

case officer; David McMichael, former CIA case officer; Mel Goodman, former

senior CIA analyst.

WHAT: Oversight hearing on the impact of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer

WHEN: 10:00 AM, Friday, July 22, 2005

WHERE: Room 138 - Dirksen Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.

WHY: To examine the national security consequences of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer.

And the scandal is not going away:

We now know that Karl Rove disclosed Plame's status to at least two reporters, contradicting two year old White House denials that Karl Rove had "no involvement" in the leak. We know that White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer read a classified State Department memorandum which revealed information about Plame's CIA status in a paragraph marked '(S)' for secret, a day before Karl Rove confirmed this information to the columnist Robert Novak. We know that the Vice President's Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby, confirmed Plame's status to at least one reporter. We know that the CIA classified Valerie Plame's identity as covert and she wasn't, as Rove's defenders say, just a desk jockey at Langley. We know that President Bush promised to fire "those involved" in the leak and is now backing away from that promise.

And we learned in today's Washington Post, that the State Department's own investigations "already had disproved the allegation that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger" in February 2002 -- nearly a year before President Bush tried to terrify the American people by including that claim in his State of the Union speech. In the end, this matter all comes back to Iraq. The White House got into this trouble through its concerted and coordinated effort to smear anyone questioning its erroneous intelligence about WMD in Iraq [USA Today 7/24/03]. Continuing to stonewall and smear opponents will not get them out of it.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will determine if the White House officials' leaks violated the law. But it is undeniable that the White House has violated the public's trust. President Bush should put an end to the stonewalling and explain to the American people the facts about his White House's role in this grave matter.

Posted at 07:05 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

1000 Words: Why Karl Rove is Toast

Posted by Bob Brigham

Game, Set, Match

Posted at 02:08 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Rove to Roberts and Back to Terrorism

Posted by Bob Brigham

John Roberts had his day in the sun. The expectations game was won because Bush's nominee isn't yet FUBAR -- quite an accomplishment for a Lame Duck President whose partisan hacks are under investigation for high crimes against national security.

And now we have this:

1440 It is now becoming clear that there were three attempted bombings today - at Oval station, at Warren Street station, and on a 26 bus in Hackney. Speculation suggests the detonators on these devices went off, but the bombs themselves did not. Should this be the case, there are clearly going to be huge risks in disarming the devices. But in the bombs there is the potential for clues as to who, exactly, is behind this.

1431 Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police commissioner, says there are four scenes of explosions, or attempts at explosions. He says "casualty numbers are very low" and the devices are smaller than last time. The tube is closed down "for a short while", although mainline trains are running normally. The Cobra committee is about to meet.

1430 Newsblog reader Robert Andrews notes possibly the first moblogged pictures and video from one of the scenes.

Remember, the UK blogs will be a great source for the coverage. But the blogs in America are going to stay focused on Karl Rove.

Posted at 10:28 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Valerie Plame Secret Agent

Posted by Bob Brigham

Washington Post:

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

Watch freeper heads explode.

Posted at 12:30 AM in Plamegate | Comments (1) | Technorati

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Bush Rushed to Pick Partisan Hack to Save Partisan Hack

Posted by Bob Brigham

"Republicans familiar with administration strategy" are telling the press that Bush rushed to appoint John Roberts to distract from the Karl Rove Scandal.

So me see if I have this straight. The (worse than Watergate) Rove Scandal is threatening to take down the entire Bush Administration senior staff. Bush is in this scandal because of the actions of his partisan hacks. So Bush needs to rush to judgement in deciding a nominee. So who can he trust? Another partisan hack.

From Bloomberg;

Bush accelerated his search for a Supreme Court nominee in part because of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name, according to Republicans familiar with administration strategy.

Bush originally had planned to announce a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on July 26 or 27, just before his planned July 28 departure for a month-long vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, said two administration officials, who spoke on the condition they not be named.

The officials said those plans changed because Rove has become a focus of Fitzgerald's interest and of news accounts about the matter.

Posted at 02:11 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

White House Scandal Day 10

Posted by Bob Brigham

What Did the President Know and When Did He Know It?

Posted at 11:43 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Media Distracted by Partisan Hack Shuffle

Posted by Bob Brigham

AmericaBlog points out:

Question for the MSM Today
Can the MSM walk and chew gum at the same time? Can they do something as complicated as cover two, yes two, stories at once? Or will they let Roberts completely overtake the Rove scandal?

Doesn't look good so far. Pete Williams from NBC led his piece on the Today Show telling us Roberts loves golf and is ambidextrous when he plays squash. Wow, Pete. Great reporting.

Bob Franken: "Speaking of the Karl Rove matter, of course, that is news that is considered at the moment so yesterday. We've moved on."

Dana Milbank: "...This is going to dominate the news up until the court begins in Oct 1; that's not to say the Karl Rove story won't make its cameo appearance somewhat-of course it will and it's likely to go on somewhat after this nomination ends, but this is clearly going to be the main game in town now..."

The treason scandal is "worse than Watergate" and yet some members of the press are too lazy to learn to walk and chew gum? I'm still waiting to see who history will remember as the Woodward and Bernstein of the Rove Scandal.

Posted at 11:07 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Stop the Cover-up

Posted by Bob Brigham

The DSCC has a new website: www.StopTheCoverup.com:

The media is swarming with reports that Karl Rove may have illegally leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent to a reporter, but you wouldn't know it by listening to the "no comments" coming out of the White House.

Congressional Republicans, instead of tending to the people's business, have been distracted by the need to go into "defense mode." Instead of wasting time defending Karl Rove, Congressional Republicans ought to be standing up for what's right and demanding answers.

George Bush promised to fire anyone in his administration responsible for the leak. Now that new information suggests Rove had something to do with it, the White House has refused to answer any questions about the case. No one will even say whether the president is sticking to his promise to fire those responsible.

This is the worst kind of cover-up. It's up to us to show George Bush that the American people want answers. Sign the new DSCC petition and tell the White House to stop the cover-up today.

I don't normally sign petitions, but I signed this one because the cover-up needs to stop. Liberal Oasis reminds us that, It has been 740 days since Karl Rove violated his obligations under Standard Form 312 without the White House taking “corrective action.”.

740 days of covering up for the partisan hacks in the Bush White House.

Posted at 10:45 AM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Karl Rove's Last Stand

Posted by Bob Brigham

Bush White House #2 Man and Senior Advisor to the President Karl Rove is in a pile of shit. It is up to his second chin.

Billmon's Rove's Last Stand -- an instant legend.

Fitzgerald is honing in and Rove's days are limited. Scott McClellan is now completely worthless as a Press Secretary -- he was busted lying to the American press to cover-up the sins of Karl Rove. Scooter Libby is also in trouble, along with Ken Mehlman and Ari Fleisher.

So when Bush nominates a partisan hack to distract attention I'm not going to let the arrogance of the Washington Republicans distract me from the White House Scandal.

John Roberts is nothing but a partisan hack, he won the spot for his partisanship, not his judicial record. I mean, the guy is a fucking lobbyist. And the Radical Right will spend millions on lobbyists to try to get a lobbyist on the bench.

But back to the Karl Rove scandal...

Play the West Wing game, the entire senior staff may have liability on this scandal:

POSITION	CAST	THE WEST WING	SUSPECTS	BUSH WHITE HOUSE
Chief of Staff		Leo McGarry		Andy Card
Deputy Chief of Staff		Josh Lyman		Karl Rove
Communications Director		Toby Ziegler		Dan Bartlett
Press Secretary		C.J. Cregg		Ari Fleisher Scott McClellan
VP Chief of Staff		Will Bailey		Lewis "Scooter" Libby

Play along. If Will Bailey and Josh Lyman were busted leaking the identity of an undercover CIA operative to Danny, who else would be involved. Let's say C.J. was caught on tape lying about Lyman. Who else? My guess is another Bush partisan hack.

Either Rove lied to the President or Bush lied to the American People.

What did the President know and when did he know it?

Why hasn't the White House followed protocol and initiated investigation into Rove's violation of his nondisclosure agreement.

Did Rove lie and committ perjury under oath?

Fire Karl Rove.

Posted at 12:01 AM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals, Supreme Court | Comments (2) | Technorati

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

SCOTUS: Ethically Challenged John Roberts (Another Partisan Hack)

Posted by Tim Tagaris

An ethically challenged lawyer appointed by an ethically challenged "win-at-all-cost" administration.

U.S. v. Smithfield Foods - Roberts representing a pork processing company against Clean Water Act violations. This is what the court had to say about Roberts the litigator:

"The mischaracterization and distortion of this Memorandum is frustrating to the court. Quotes are being taken out of context, and it appears that words are being conveniently deleted or added for purposes of argument." "A totally misleading argument presented to this court."

I am not sure the amount of cases he has argued is very compelling if that is the way that he argues them.

UPDATE: Roberts on Roe v. Wade -- Brief field in Rust v. Sullivan

"We continue to believe that Roe was wrongfully decided and should be overturned." "[T]he Court's conclusions i Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion and that government has no compelling interest in protecting prenatal human life throughout pregnancy find no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution."

UPDATE (Bob) John Aravosis has info from NARAL Pro-Choice America on John Roberts and the huge oppo file from Alliance for Justice on John Roberts.

UPDATE (Tim) Aravosis has more, including Roberts' weak resume, and militant crusade to erode a woman's right to privacy, choice, and apparently right to live free from violence.

UPDATE (Tim) Jeralyn already debunks the Right's first talking point, that he was approved by the Senate to the Appeals Court overhwlemingly.

UPDATE (Bob) Here is PFAW on John Roberts (PDF)

UPDATE (Bob) Update the dkosopedia page on John Roberts and the Wikipedia page on John Roberts.

UPDATE (Bob) The John G. Robert's 2003 Confirmation Hearings

UPDATE (Bob Chris Bowers is right, John Roberts is a Partisan Hack:

The Bush administration has clearly stepped up the nomination of John Roberts in order to deflect attention from Karl Rove. Really, it makes sense. One partisan hack is deflecting attention from another.

Karl Rove is a lifetime Republican operative. John Roberts has been filing briefs and providing legal support for recounts (Roberts worked for Bush-Cheney 2000 in Florida) on behalf of Republicans for two decades. John Roberts is a partisan hack taking the heat for another partisan hack. He has only been a judge for two years. He has been a partisan Republican hack for twenty years.

The Bush administration was elected by the Supreme Court, and now it is electing a member of its campaign team to the Supreme Court in order to deflect attention away from ethics violations by the head of its campaign team, Karl Rove. The is partisan hackery at its best. The Bush administration has decided to treat the Supreme Court as an ambassadorship.

And so the fight is enjoined--the Bush administration wants to nominate a partisan hack who helped elect Bush to the Supreme Court, which elected Bush, in order to deflect attention from possible the possibly treasonous activates of another partisan hack who led the Bush campaign in 2000 and 2004. And so this is our fight--the Supreme Court is not the Northern Mariana Islands. The Supreme Court is not a way to reward those who helped get you elected. The Supreme Court is not a way to help deflect attention from the ethics violations of those who helped elect you. The Supreme Court is not a place for partisan hacks, but the Bush administration thinks it is. And so this is our fight--country over partisanship. And so it begins.

Howard Dean (from a press release):

Washington - Faced with a growing scandal surrounding the involvement of Deputy White House chief of Staff Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis Libby in the leaking the identity of a covert CIA operative, President Bush announced his nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court late this evening. Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement on the nomination: "It is disappointing that when President Bush had the chance to bring the country together, he instead turned to a nominee who may have impressive legal credentials, but also has sharp partisan credentials that cannot be ignored.
"Democrats take very seriously the responsibility to protect the individual rights of all Americans and are committed to ensuring that ideological judicial activists are not appointed to the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee will now have the opportunity to see if Judge Roberts can put his partisanship aside, and live up to a Supreme Court Justice's duty to uphold the rights and freedoms of every American and the promise of equal justice for all."

Posted at 08:02 PM in Activism, DNC Chair, General, Netroots, Nuclear Option, Plamegate, Scandals, Supreme Court | Technorati

Monday, July 18, 2005

Bush's Watergate: Karl Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

Watergate scandal's John Dean (10-3-2003):

I thought I had seen political dirty tricks as foul as they could get, but I was wrong. In blowing the cover of CIA agent Valerie Plame to take political revenge on her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for telling the truth, Bush's people have out-Nixoned Nixon's people. And my former colleagues were not amateurs by any means.

Then Republican National Committee Chair Ed Gillipsie:

Hardball (MSNBC - 9/30/03):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Don't you think it's more serious than Watergate, when you think about it?

RNC CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE: I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA operative -- it's abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a crime.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?

GILLESPIE: It's -- Yeah, I suppose in terms of the real world implications of it. It's not just politics. [via mediawhores]

Yeah, this is worse than Watergate. But it is also very similiar...check out the Ron Ziegler video Crooks and Liars dug up.

Posted at 06:22 PM in Plamegate, Republicans | Technorati

New Poll: Karl Rove Should be Fired

Posted by Bob Brigham

New ABC News Poll (July 13-17, 2005, 1,008 adults, ± 3%):

Just a quarter of Americans think the White House is fully cooperating in the federal investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's identity, a number that's declined sharply since the investigation began. And three-quarters say that if presidential adviser Karl Rove was responsible for leaking classified information, it should cost him his job.

Skepticism about the administration's cooperation has jumped. As the initial investigation began in September 2003, nearly half the public, 47 percent, believed the White House was fully cooperating. That fell to 39 percent a few weeks later, and it's lower still, 25 percent, in this new ABC News poll.

The public understand that The White House lied to the American people. The Bush Administration has lost credibility with all but the most die-hard Republicans.

But the People agree, Karl Rove should be fired:

This view is highly partisan; barely over a tenth of Democrats and just a quarter of independents think the White House is fully cooperating. That grows to 47 percent of Republicans — much higher, but still under half in the president's own party. And doubt about the administration's cooperation has grown as much among Republicans — by 22 points since September 2003 — as it has among others.

There's less division on consequences: 75 percent say Rove should lose his job if the investigation finds he leaked classified information. That includes sizable majorities of Republicans, independents and Democrats alike — 71, 74 and 83 percent, respectively.

Should Karl Rove Be Fired If He Leaked Classified Information?

POLL	Yes	No
All	75%	15%
Republicans	71	17
Independents	74	17
Democrats	83	12

Pay attention, this is a serious scandal:

The leak investigation is seen as a meaningful issue: About three-quarters call it a serious matter, and just over four in 10 see it as "very" serious. These are down slightly, however, by five and six points respectively, from their level in September 2003.

Fifty-three percent are following the issue closely — a fairly broad level of attention. Those paying close attention (who include about as many Republicans as Democrats) are more likely than others to call it very serious, to say the White House is not cooperating, to say Rove should be fired if he leaked, and to say Miller is doing the right thing.

People are not buying the White House lies. People are paying attention and the more they pay attention the more they are hating the corrupt arrogance of the Bush White House.

Posted at 04:54 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

GOP Smear Machine History

Posted by Bob Brigham

Watching the White House Scandal unfold, it has become clear that the GOP is smearing anyone and everyone not hyping RNC talking points. This isn't anything new, in fact, this is part of a very clear pattern.

A DNC press release:

THE REPUBLICAN SMEAR MACHINE CONSTANTLY IN MOTION
Republicans follow a tried and true tactic of attacking, smearing, and sliming anyone who might get in their way or threaten their political survival. Their ongoing effort to discredit Joe Wilson and their destruction of his wife's career is just the latest in a long line of questionable tactics that the Bush Administration, Karl Rove, and Ken Mehlman consistently use to protect themselves and ensure their continued political power.
ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF PUNISHED FOR TROOP LEVEL ASSESSMENT
Shinseki Punished For Honest Assessment Of Troop Levels Needed In Iraq; Retribution Intimidated Commanders. Then Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki told Congress in 2003 that the occupation of Iraq would require 'several hundred thousand' troops. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called that estimate 'wildly off the mark.' The Pentagon leaked the name of Shinseki's replacement months before his scheduled retirement, rendering him a lame duck. The Washington Times reported that some officers said privately that the rebuke intimidated commanders in Iraq. [UPI, 4/12/04; Washington Times, 4/10/04]
FORMER COUNTER-TERRORISM CHIEF SMEARED
FOR CRITICISMS
Richard Clarke Smeared After Talking About White House Lackadaisical Attitude Towards Al-Qaeda. The Bush White House worked hard to discredit its counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, after he wrote a book suggesting the President let down his guard on al-Qaeda because of an obsession with Iraq. After Clarke testified to White House inadequacies, the White House assailed Clarke's motives. "In an interview evening, Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, dismissed Mr. Clarke's charges as 'politically motivated,' 'reckless' and 'baseless.'" [ New York Times, 3/22/04; AP, 11/16/04]

White House Tried To Paint Picture of Disgruntled Former Employee. After claiming that Clarke is linked to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said "Mr. Clarke has been out there talking about what title he had...He wanted to be the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department after it was created. The fact of the matter is, just a few months after that, he left the Administration. He did not get that position. Someone else was appointed to it." [White House Briefing, 3/22/04]

Cheney Claimed That Counterterrorism Chief Was Not "In the Loop." Cheney: "[Clarke] wasn't in the loop, frankly, on a lot of this stuff...It was as though he clearly missed a lot of what was going on." [Cheney to Rush Limbaugh, 3/22/04]

White House Asked the CIA to Declassify Select Material to Highlight "Contradictions." In response to Richard Clarke's call on "Meet the Press" for "all" of his testimony to be classified, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported, "NBC News has learned, at the request of the White House, the CIA is already going through Clarke's testimony to Congress to see what could be declassified, supposedly to show contradictions. All part of an unrelenting White House counteroffensive." [NBC Nightly News, 3/29/04]

Frist Called Clarke Apology to 9-11 Families Arrogant and Manipulative. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) said "In his appearance before the 9/11 commission, Mr. Clarke's theatrical apology on behalf of the nation was not his right, his privilege or his responsibility. In my view it was not an act of humility, but an act of supreme arrogance and manipulation." [Frist Statement, 3/26/04]
TREASURY SECRETARY FIRED FOR OPPOSITION TO TAX CUTS
O'Neill Fired For Expressing Misgivings Over Bush's Additional Tax Cuts. Paul O'Neill, his first treasury secretary, was fired after expressing misgivings about the need for additional tax cuts proposed by the president. [AP, 11/16/04]
Administration Launched Investigation After O'Neill Wrote A Book. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called O'Neill twice after hearing he was writing a book on the Bush Administration. Rumsfeld called it a "sour grapes" book. Soon after the book was published the Treasury department launched an investigation into whether O'Neill shared secret documents with 60 Minutes. Ron Suskind, the author of the book, who was given access by Mr. O'Neill to 19,000 documents that were turned over to him by the department after his departure, said the document that was shown on "60 Minutes" was the cover sheet for a February 2001 briefing paper on planning for a post-war Iraq. But he said Mr. O'Neill was not provided with the briefing paper itself. [NYTimes, 1/13/04; NYTimes, 1/14/04]
ECONOMIC ADVISER FORCED TO RESIGN
Lindsey Forced to Resign After Citing Large Cost of Iraq War. White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey annoyed the White House in September 2002 when he suggested that war with Iraq would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, an estimate Administration officials insisted was too high. In December 2002, the White House requested Lindsey resign from his post. "While I think this economic team has clearly had problems working together, I think the criticisms of Larry Lindsey have often been inconsistent and unfair for someone who was loyally carrying out the president's agenda, however much I disagreed with it," said Gene Sperling, Mr. Lindsey's immediate predecessor under Mr. Clinton. [NYTimes, 12/8/02; Houston Chronicle, 12/7/02]
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS DIRECTOR FIRED FOR
BUDGET CRITICISM
Army Corps Director Fired For Comments On Bush Budget. "Mike Parker, director of the Army Corps of Engineers and a former Republican congressman from Mississippi, testified on the Hill that Bush budget cuts would have a 'negative impact' on the Corps and that he had no 'warm and fuzzy' feelings toward the Administration. A furious (Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell) Daniels sent a transcript of Parker's comments to the White House. Soon after, he was given 30 minutes to resign or be fired." [ Christian Science Monitor, 12/17/02; USA Today, 3/14/02]
PARK POLICE CHIEF FIRED FOR CRITICM OF BUSH POLICY
Park Police Chief Fired For Comments On Bush Policy. U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was suspended from her job when she said her "understaffed department had to curtail critical patrols in Park Service jurisdictions beyond the Mall, such as major parkways and crime-ridden U.S. parkland in neighborhoods, because of Interior Department orders requiring more officers to guard downtown national shrines... For responding with the truth to questions from The Washington Post and other news outlets about staffing in her department, U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers has been placed on leave and notified that superiors in the National Park Service and Interior want her fired." [Washington Post, Editorial, 12/24/03]
Department of Interior Threatened Lawsuit Against Chambers; Turns Down Gag Deal. The Department of Interior's Park Service announced that it wanted to fire Chambers in December and was considering pressing charges related to release of sensitive information, lobbying, insubordination and breaking the chain of command. Chambers rejected an offer from the National Park Service that would have resulted in all charges against her being dropped in exchange for her agreeing to receive permission before speaking to Congress or the media. [Greenwire, 1/21/04]
REPORTER SMEARED FOR REPORTING ON TROOP MORALE
ABC News Reporter Smeared By Bush Administration For Documenting Low Troop Morale. After ABC News reporter Jeffrey Kofman did a story on "World News Tonight" detailing low morale among the troops serving in Iraq, the Bush Administration sought to discredit the messenger rather than refute the message. The internet's Drudge Report published a headline that read: "ABC News correspondent who filed troop complaints story is openly gay, Canadian." Site publisher Matt Drudge later told the Washington Post that "someone in the White House communications shop tipped me" to the ABC correspondent's piece and the Advocate profile. [Chicago Tribune, 7/23/03; Washington Post, 7/18/03]
INS AGENTS DEMOTED FOR POINTING OUT LAX SECURITY
INS Agents Demoted for Discussing Lax Security On Canadian Border. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Agents Mark Hall and Robert Linderman were demoted from their positions after they told reporters that United States security at Canadian borders was lax. The demotions were later over-ruled by INS Commissioner James W. Ziglar after a report by the INS Office of Special Council found that Hall and Linderman were not aware of rules against INS agents speaking with the media. [Washington Post, 4/6/02]

Posted at 04:37 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Karl Rove Losing His Religion

Posted by Bob Brigham

Karl Rove:

"I've already said too much."

REM:

The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no I’ve said too much
I set it up

That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no I’ve said too much
I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I’m
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no I’ve said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed

I'm sure this is now stuck in your head. While you hum along, go read the latest scandal news.

Posted at 02:56 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Karl Rove Scandal: Credibility Gap

Posted by Tim Tagaris

Break out the sirens, Drudge. Just 1/4 of the American public thinks the White House is cooperating with the Karl Rove/White House investigation into the deliberate leaking of an undercover agent.

ABC NEWS POLL: THE CIA LEAK INVESTIGATION – 7/17/05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, July 18, 2005
Many Doubt White House Cooperation

With Federal Investigation of CIA Leak

Just a quarter of Americans think the White House is fully cooperating in the federal investigation of the leak of a CIA operative's identity, a number that's declined sharply since the investigation began.

I've already said too much, Atrios has the rest.

Posted at 02:56 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Dean: Bush Must Keep His Word

Posted by Bob Brigham

A press release from the DNC:

Dean: Bush Must Keep His Word

Washington - This weekend, newspapers from around the country, responding to the scandal surrounding the White House, called on President Bush to keep his word with the American people and put our national security interests above his personal politics. Now that it's clear that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney's top aides, Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, spoke to reporters as payback against a political opponent, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean reiterated his call for President Bush to keep his earlier promise to fire any aide who improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover CIA operative.
"Faced with a question about whether or not he will keep his promise to fire those involved in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent while we are at war, President Bush backed away from his initial pledge and lowered the ethics bar," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "With several sources now citing Rove and Libby as two sources of the leaks, Bush should be prepared to keep his word, and to enforce a high standard of ethics in the White House as he promised from the beginning of his administration."

Newspaper Editorials From Across the Country: Scandal Erodes White House Credibility and Bush Must Keep His Word

Associated Press: Rove Episode A "Disgrace." "The whole episode is a disgrace. It's also a sad reminder of how this administration plays fast and loose with truth." [AP, 7/12/05]
Costa Times: Scandal "Does Not Look Good for [Rove]...Bush." "On Wednesday, Bush did not defend Rove. That does not look good for the president's deputy chief of staff, nor does it look good for Bush, who either knew or should have known about high-level leaks in the White House. [Contra Costa Times, 7/14/05]
San Francisco Chronicle: "Rove Should Be Put On Leave." "The official silence from the White House on Monday was quite disturbing...At a minimum, Rove should be put on leave while the evidence that he may have used top-secret information for political purposes is being sorted out." [The San Francisco Chronicle, 7/12/05]
Denver Post: Rove Should "Come Clean About His Role." "It's time for Bush administration power broker Karl Rove - and others in the White House - to come clean about his role in the 2003 outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame...Rove's hairsplitting is an inadequate explanation for us." [Denver Post, 7/12/05]
St. Petersburg Times: Rove's Involvement "Erodes the Bush Administration's Credibility." "The revelation that the White House aide was indeed involved with the outing of a CIA operative further erodes the Bush administration's credibility." [St. Petersburg Times, 7/14/05]
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: White House Statements "Look Like Lies." "The White House and Rove have denied for two years that he played any role whatsoever in Plame's exposure as an undercover agent. Even under the most friendly of interpretations, those statements now look like lies." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/13/05]
The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Rove "Attempted to Destroy Credibility of 2 National Security Veterans." Observed an editorial in The Record (a Bergen County newspaper), "If you can't shoot the messenger, take aim at his wife. That clearly was the intent of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. To try to conceal the fact that the president had lied to the American public about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, Rove attempted to destroy the credibility of two national security veterans and send an intimidating message to any other government officials preparing to publicly tell the truth... Yet what the emerging Rove scandal demonstrates is the ease with which a wily top White House official can subvert the Bill of Rights' protection of the free press to serve the tawdriest of political ends." [ The Record, 7/14/05]
Herald News (New Jersey): Administration "Owes the American People Answers." "It is ridiculous that an administration willing to let a reporter go to jail for not breaking her pledge of confidentiality to a source is stonewalling the American public on what it knew about the leak. Rove is one of the most influential advisers to the president. Whether Rove identified Plame by name or merely suggested that she could be behind Wilson's trip to Niger, Rove's hands are not clean... Bush, McClellan and Rove owe the American people answers." [Herald News, 7/14/05]
Albuquerque Journal: Affair Puts Administration's "Credibility...Squarely at Issue." "All legal questions aside, this puts the Bush administration's credibility on this question squarely at issue... The president earlier vowed to fire anyone in his administration found guilty of leaking Plame's name. If prosecutors indict Rove, Bush will have little choice but to follow through." [Albuquerque Journal, 7/14/05]
Charlotte Observer: President Should "Get the Facts." According to a Charlotte Observer editorial, "...in September 2003 a White House spokesman said Mr. Rove had not been involved in disclosing Ms. Plame's name. The Time e-mail shows he did disclose her CIA connection... The president has the power to get the facts and tell the public the truth. He should use it." [Charlotte Observer, 7/13/05]
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Bush "Choosing to Stonewall" "The Bush administration, like many of its predecessors, when finally faced with questions of confidence and honor, apparently is choosing to stonewall the questioners - exactly the worst thing it can do." [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/13/05]
Philadelphia Inquirer: President Engaged in "Goofy Posturing." "Either presidential adviser Karl Rove wasn't telling the truth to President Bush about his role in revealing the identity of a CIA officer. Or Bush wasn't telling the truth to the public about Rove's involvement. Neither option is defensible...to contend that [Rove] had no role in revealing her identity is to engage in goofy posturing worthy of the old TV spy series Get Smart." [ Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/13/05]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Rove "Betraying the Country." "The White House operative who blew CIA Agent Valerie Plame's cover to journalists Matt Cooper and Judith Miller was betraying the country, pure and simple." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/28/05]
Intelligence Journal: "Rove Deserves to be Fired." "The petty and vengeful disclosure of the identity of Valerie Plame...contrasts sharply with an administration that likes to highlight its discipline and talk about its values... The president promised to fire leakers in the Plame affair. If Coopers notes are correct, Rove deserves to be fired." [Intelligence Journal, 7/13/05]
Philadelphia Daily News: Rove "Can't Be Trusted...Must Go." "It's now clear that Rove, President Bush's chief political street fighter, can't be trusted with the nation's secrets. Not when a cheap political attack can be made... There is no easy way to explain this away. And the White House shouldn't even try. Rove must go." [Philadelphia Daily News, 7/12/05]
The Herald: Rove "Lied to President...Might Have Compromised National Security." "Rove apparently lied to the president. He publicly identified a CIA agent. He engaged in an active effort to discredit and intimidate Wilson simply because he was critical of the president. He did not volunteer information about his role in this affair to federal investigators for two years. And he might have compromised national security." [The Herald, 7/14/05]
The Jackson Sun: President in "No-Win Situation." "Of course, the question that should be answered first deals with Bush's own knowledge of Rove's activities. This is a no-win situation for the president. If he admits prior knowledge of Rove's conversations with Cooper, that suggests that he approved of his actions. If he continues to claim ignorance, that suggests something far worse: that Rove was acting on his own, without presidential authority." [ The Jackson Sun, 7/1305]
Roanoke Times & World News: "Apparent Violation of Public Trust" "The Roanoke Times Rove can stick to the story that he did not actually name Plame, and hope Bush's conservative base will overwhelm critics with howls about a media witch hunt. But a public disgusted by one president's arguments over the legal meaning of the word 'is' likely will not be buying. And in this case, the apparent violation of the public trust involves matters much more serious than presidential peccadilloes. It deals with national security and war - specifically, selling the American public on the war in Iraq." [Roanoke Times & World News, 7/13/05]
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: President Must Live Up To Earlier Promise. "The President must live up to his early promises about dealing severely with the abusive leak of Plame's identity. On Oct. 6, 2003, Bush told reporters, 'This is a very serious matter, and our administration takes it very seriously.' Unless the plain meaning of those words is not their true meaning, Bush was saying that he and other top advisers were outraged at the leak and had nothing to do with it. Now, it turns out that Rove, indeed, did have something to do with using Plame's CIA activities to attack Wilson." [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 7/12/05]
Sarasota Herald Tribune: "Americans...Are Baffled By the Changing Story." "Americans who are baffled by the changing story and troubled by the partisan defenses and attacks can only hope that Fitzgerald sets the record straight." [Sarasota Herald Tribune, 7/17/05]
Miami Herald: "Rove Violated the Spirit of the Law." "Mr. Rove violated the spirit of the law and engaged in behavior unworthy a senior administration official...Is this how President Bush wants the White House to conduct business?" [Miami Herald, 7/15/05]
Capital Times: Aggravated about Rove's avoidance of accountability. "There is no longer any question about the fact that Rove was Cooper's source. So is Rove going to jail? That's far from certain. Rove's a master manipulator, and he has a long record of avoiding accountability for wrongdoing." [Capital Times, 7/14/05]

This is why Bush has a credibility problem.

Posted at 02:08 PM in DNC Chair, Plamegate | Technorati

Blogs on Karl Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

Over at Seeing the Forest, Dave Johnson has a great wrap-up piece on the Karl Rove Scandal.

Also, Salon's Peter Daou has started new page tracking the blogs on the scandal. Readers familiar with the layout know Peter puts liberal links on the left, and convervative on the right. He's expanded on the thought with the headline, "A selection of key blog posts on Karl Rove and the Valerie Plame case".

The conservatives can try all they want, but this scandal isn't about Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson, it is about the Bush White House. The American Prospect put this on the cover. Repeat after me: Karl Rove Scandal.

Posted at 01:45 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Karl Rove Scandal Mementos

Posted by Bob Brigham

Nothing like a t-shirt vendor to compliment the festival-like atmosphere as we watch the Bush Administration attempt to cover-up treason. Either Karl Rove lied and should be fired or Bush lied to us all. So enjoy the entertainment and get your Karl Rove Scandal T-Shirt.

Posted at 12:55 PM in Activism, General, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

SF 312 - Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement

Posted by Bob Brigham

The Liberal Oasis on SF 312 - Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement

The whole point of Russert bringing up SF 312 was under that nondisclosure agreement, it doesn’t matter where Rove got the info. He was obligated to make sure it wasn’t classified.

He was, at the barest minimum, being negligent in his handling of sensitive national security information, which is a violation of SF 312.

Now “remedial action” can mean a lot of things.

But common sense would dictate that a careless handling of classified info warrants a revoking of one’s security clearance.

And using classified info for political payback warrants dismissal.

Why hasn’t the White House begun its own investigation to determine if Rove or others violated SF 312 and deserve remedial action, as is required?

Ken Mehlman can’t answer that question.

Which means: keep asking.

Indeed. Regardless of the criminal investigation, the Bush White House has a Duty to follow protocol with an investigation into the nondisclosure agreement.

Posted at 10:55 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Howard Dean: American People "Deserve Answers"

Posted by Bob Brigham

The DNC issued a great press release on the abuse of power scandal. I've included the whole thing postjump.

DEAN: AMERICAN PEOPLE “DESERVE ANSWERS” "Despite his best efforts to cloud the facts, not even Ken Mehlman and the Republican spin machine can change the fact that the Bush Administration's credibility problem is only getting worse. The list of unanswered questions surrounding the Rove scandal and its impact on our national security continue to grow," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "The American people deserve answers to these questions. And they deserve to know whether the President is a man of his word. Mr. President, keep your word." See below for a new document from DNC Research: WHAT DID ROVE KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT? THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PLAME LEAK Until recently, Karl Rove had denied even knowing Valerie Plame’s name. Then, after the release of emails from Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper revealing the name of the White House source, Rove’s lawyer confirmed that Rove did speak with reporters about the case. Now, previously secret Time emails demonstrate that Rove did indeed leak to Cooper information about “Wilson’s wife” -- Valerie Plame, and lawyers revealed that Rove confirmed Valerie Plame’s identity for Bob Novak. That means that Karl Rove spoke with both of the journalists who published original accounts about Plame, and places him squarely in the center of this scandal. “If left unpunished, this cowardly act will not only hinder our efforts to recruit qualified individuals into the clandestine service, but it will have a far-reaching, deleterious effect on our ability to recruit foreign intelligence assets overseas.” — Larry Johnson, former CIA Analyst [Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, 10/24/03] DID ROVE DELIBERATELY MISLEAD? McClellan Said Rove Never Told Reporters that Plame Worked for CIA. White House Press Secretary Scott McCllelan was asked whether Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams or Lewis Libby told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?” McClellan responded by denying that Rove or the others had leaked any classified information. “Those individuals — I talked — I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that’s where it stands.” [WH Briefing, 10/10/03] THE NEXT LOGICAL QUESTION: We know Rove’s initial public statements and his statements to Scott McClellan were false. And we know that after testifying once in front of the grand jury, they called him back. Did he knowingly lie to Scott McClellan? Did McClellan knowingly mislead the press? Did Rove change his answers to the grand jury? Did Rove commit perjury in front of the grand jury? Regardless of where Rove heard about Plame, wasn’t it a violation of national security policy for him to confirm her identity to Novak? ROVE REVEALED “WILSON’S WIFE” TO COOPER, CONFIRMED HER IDENTITY FOR NOVAK Rove Told Cooper That It Was “Wilson’s Wife” Who Worked on WMDs for the CIA. Rove had a conversation with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper on July 11, 2003. Cooper wrote an email about the conversation to his Time bureau chief, describing how Rove gave him a “big warning” that Wilson’s assertions might not be entirely accurate and that it was not the director of the CIA or the vice president who sent Wilson on his trip. Rather, “it was, KR said, wilson’s wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd who authorized the trip.” Wilson’s wife is Valerie Plame, then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations counterproliferation division. [Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05] Rove Confirmed Plame’s Identity for Bob Novak. Rove indirectly confirmed the CIA affiliation of Joe Wilson’s wife for Robert Novak the week before he named her and revealed her position. “Novak said he had learned that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA…"I heard that, too," Rove replied.” [Washington Post, 7/15/05] THE NEXT LOGICAL QUESTION: Now that we know that Rove told Cooper about “Wilson’s wife,” who told Rove? Who was Bob Novak’s original source? If Rove really didn’t have first-hand knowledge of Plame’s work as an operative, why did he lead Matt Cooper to believe he did? Why did Novak use the name Valerie Plame when Cooper used the name Valerie Wilson? WHO ELSE LEAKED BESIDES KARL ROVE? Rove Gave Cooper Permission to Testify—Allowing Cooper to Avoid Jail Time—But Miller Chose to Go to Jail. Rove’s lawyer confirmed that Rove was the secret source who, at the request of both Cooper’s lawyer and the prosecutor, gave Cooper permission to testify. Cooper avoided jail time last week by agreeing to testify before the grand jury about conversations with his sources, while New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to discuss her confidential sources. [Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05] THE NEXT LOGICAL QUESTION: Rove has “released” Cooper from confidentiality. If Rove were Miller’s source, wouldn’t he do the same for her? So who was Miller talking to? If everyone is cooperating with this investigation, why hasn’t Miller’s source released her from her promise of confidentiality? If everyone is cooperating with investigators, why hasn’t Bush fired those that have refused to sign waivers of confidentiality? ROVE HAD PREVIOUSLY DENIED HIS INVOLVEMENT—WHY? Rove Had Previously Denied Any Involvement: In August 2004, Rove Claimed He Did Not Know Who Plame Was. In August of 2004, facing questions of his role in the Plame leak scandal, Rove denied his involvement, saying that he did not even know who Plame was at the time of the leak. “I didn’t know her name and didn’t leak her name.” [CNN, 7/4/05] Rove Spoke With Novak Five Days Before Plame’s Name Became Public. Novak telephoned Rove in the week before the publication of the July 2003 column. Rove confirmed Plame’s identity for Novak, saying that he too had heard that she was a CIA operative. [Washington Post, 7/15/05] Rove Spoke to Cooper Three Days Before Plame’s Name Became Public. To be considered a violation of the law, a disclosure by a government official must have been deliberate, the discloser must have known that the CIA officer was a covert agent, and he or she must have known that the government was actively concealing the covert agent’s identity. Although Cooper’s email does not prove that Rove knew Plame was a covert operative, “… it is significant that Rove was speaking to Cooper before Novak’s column appeared; in other words, [three days] before Plame’s identity had been published.” [Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05] In Rove’s Defense, His Lawyer Claims that Rove Did Not Identify Plame by Name—But Who Else Could “Wilson’s Wife” Be? According to the Washington Post, “Rove’s lawyer said yesterday that his client did not identify her by name.” Yet, the substance of the email from Cooper to Time editors states that it was “Wilson’s wife.” Since there is as yet no evidence that Wilson was a bigamist, just who else “Wilson’s wife” could be besides Plame is unclear. [Washington Post, 7/11/05] THE NEXT LOGICAL QUESTION:
If Rove is innocent, then why would he claim that he didn’t know who Plame was? Why was he so careful, saying that “I didn’t know her name and didn’t leak her name”? Even though Cooper’s email does not indicate that Rove knew what Plame’s job was, couldn’t this fact simply mean that Rove did not reveal any more than he needed to Cooper?

Get the latest scandal news.

Posted at 07:35 PM in DNC Chair, Democrats, General, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Friday, July 15, 2005

Scott McClellan Cancelling Daily Press Briefings

Posted by Bob Brigham

For the second day in a row, Bush Administration Press Secretary Scott McClellan has cancelled the daily press briefings. This is highly irregular, in fact the last time this happened it was because Bush was at the Pope's funeral.

The reason why? Scott McClellan can't end the daily press briefings. The White House website has a video tour of the Press Briefing Room. In the tour, McClellan explains the importance of having daily briefings, but he also notes:

It is a tradtion here at The White House that the briefing does not end until the senior wire correspondent -- here in the front row -- says, "Thank you."

Right now, the press corps has nothing to thank McClellan for. In fact, it would make sense for the senior correspondent not to end the next briefing until McClellan levels with the press and the American people. Could this be why McClellan has taken the highly unusual step of cancelling the daily press briefing? Is he worried that once he starts a briefing, it won't end?

Posted at 04:58 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

DCCC: Fire Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

The The Stakeholder has a ton of information on Rove, including a new video (click on image), letters and fact sheets.

Jesse Lee is fired up, calling it a "blitz" and judging by the amount of action by Democrats in Congress, this is scandal is going to get even bigger next week.

I'm glad to see the DCCC throwing the anvil.

"Is the President going to stand by his word...or stand by his man?"

The DCCC smells blood, this is going to be an elections issue. Bush lied on Iraq, Bush tried to privatize Social Security, Bush over-reached on Schiavo, and now Bush is covering up for a traitor.

Posted at 04:32 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Plamegate | Comments (1) | Technorati

Editorial: Scott McClellan Should Resign Immediately

Posted by Bob Brigham

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial:

The person who should step down immediately is White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

Every White House correspondent knows that a press secretary's job involves a good deal of "spin" and administration-friendly interpretations of the facts. But it can't involve what now seem like outright falsehoods. And that is the trap in which McClellan now finds himself.

He insisted on several occasions that Rove played no role in the Plame incident. He ridiculed those who even suggested it. "Totally ridiculous" and "not true," he said. "There is simply no truth to that suggestion," McClellan said on Sept. 29, 2003, in a typical statement. "And I have spoken with Karl about it."

Now McClellan is squirming and stonewalling by saying he won't comment because of the "ongoing investigation" into the mess -- further infuriating a press corps that feels it was had.

Yes, McClellan lied to the press corps and played them for fools. In fact, Bush operatives have used this approach since they first started campaigning for President. They used it in Texas. And only know is the press corp finally waking up -- and demanding McClellan's scalp.

His credibility is shot.

McClellan is not the source of this mess at the White House, but his obfuscation about the abrupt U-turn in the official story line is unacceptable.

He should resign.

I think Scott McClellan should be fired. He lied to the American people in a cover-up. He should be fired immediately.

Posted at 03:53 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Is Ken Mehlman Lying About Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

Sidney Blumenthal

"At one point, on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked Mehlman if he had attended meetings at the White House on how to deal with Wilson. Suddenly, the voluble Mehlman constricted. "I don't recall those meetings occurring," he said. Has the prosecutor inquired about such meetings and their participants?"

Left Coaster

In that exchange, anyone who has ever confronted a liar -- and that includes every parent whose child has fibbed, every teacher who's had a pupil turn in a late assignment, every staffer who's worked for a politician, and every prosecutor who's asked a suspect for an alibi -- can see the wheels turning and the tongue forking.

That is why Rove and McClellan aren't going to be the only ones to fall. There Administration is engaging in a cover-up, a cover-up of treason. The Left Coaster suggests:

Accordingly, I propose that no White House spokesman or GOP talking head should be allowed to spout off to any newspaper reporter or TV personality on any subject without first answering these simple questions:

* When were the White House meetings?
* Who attended?
* What was said?
* Who said it?

If no reporter or talk show host or screaming-heads TV personality is enterprising enough to get answers to these few simple questions, the American media may as well be pronounced D.O.A.

Posted at 02:37 PM in Plamegate | Technorati

Rove Scandal: Scott McClellan Mocked

Posted by Bob Brigham

Scott McClellan lied about Karl Rove. He went out to the podium and opened his "voice of the Bush White House" mouth -- and lied to the press corps. He lied to the American people. I understand why he's scared, the entire press thinks he's full of it. McClellan looked them in the eyes and lied.

McClellan's time as Bush's Press Secretary is coming to an end, because there is nothing he can do to regain credibility. He lied to the press, trying to cover-up a gross abuse of power. One word that is really driving the press backlash is the word, 'ridiculous' -- which McClellan used to attack journalists for even asking if Rove might have had a role in the scandal.

From the New York Times:

After saying in 2003 that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that Mr. Rove had any role in the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's name, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, has refused in recent days to discuss any specifics of the case. But he has suggested that President Bush continues to support Mr. Rove. [...]

The Rove-Novak exchange also leaves Mr. McClellan, the White House spokesman, in an increasingly awkward situation. Two years ago he repeatedly assured reporters that neither Mr. Rove nor several other administration officials were responsible for the leak.

The press aren't the only ones mocking McClellan, check out this release from the DNC:

McClellan Recuperating From Shark Attack?
Washington - After a week of refusing to answer numerous legitimate questions about White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove’s involvement in the potentially illegal outing of a CIA agent, and jokingly comparing those briefings to a shark attack, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has not held a public briefing in two days.
“After three days swimming in the shark-infested waters of the White House briefing room earlier this week, it looks like McClellan is ‘once bitten, twice shy,’” said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Josh Earnest. “Given his attempts to keep his head above water this week, it’s no surprise he’s unwilling to take a proverbial dip in the White House traveling press ‘pool.’”
The last time the White House went two weekdays in a row without a gaggle or briefing was more than 3 months ago - while President Bush was in Rome attending the Pope's funeral.

Posted at 11:36 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Rove Confirmed Plame Operative

Posted by Bob Brigham

Rove's troubles grow and grow.

Armando asks:

Did the President know that Rove leaked AND confirmed Plame's identity as a CIA operative and when did he know it?

Posted at 09:32 AM in Plamegate | Technorati

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Harry Reid on Rove Scandal: Cover-Up...Abuse of Power

Posted by Bob Brigham

AP:

Democrats stirred the pot Thursday in the case of powerful presidential aide Karl Rove and the news leak that unmasked a CIA agent. They triggered a partisan clash in the Senate, sought a House investigation and brought the husband of the undercover operative to the Capitol, where he accused the White House of a "smear campaign." [...]

Speaking in favor of his legislation to strip Rove of his clearance for classified information, Reid said the president should already have done so. Instead, Reid said, the administration has attacked its critics. "This is what is known as a cover-up. This is an abuse of power," Reid said.

Indeed.

But here's the best quote:

"I made my bones confronting Saddam Hussein. ... Karl Rove made his bones by dirty political tricks," said Joseph Wilson, who was the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq during the first Persian Gulf War.

At a news conference hosted by Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), a New York Democrat who heads his party's Senate campaign organization, Wilson said he has been targeted by a "smear campaign launched from the West Wing of the White House."

A smear campaign against somebody who disagrees with the Bush White House?

Senate Republicans countered with legislation — swiftly sidetracked — put together largely to embarrass Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and his deputy. [...]

In rebuttal, the Republican National Committee distributed a document entitled "Joe Wilson's Top Ten Worst Inaccuracies and Misstatements."

Senate Democrats attempt to defend National Security against a White House leaker and the GOP tries to embarrass Democrats. Joe Wilson, who like his wife has dedicated his entire career to America, is smeared as a liar by the RNC.

The GOP is beyond belief in their efforts to cover-up for a traitor.

Posted at 11:01 PM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Will Patrick Fitzgerald Hear Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

Dave Johnson:

Here is what I think the Rove thing will come down to: Is Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for northern Illinois, the special prosecutor investigating the Plame leak, able to withstand the kind of intense pressure and character assassination that will be applied to him?

If Karl Rove is known for anything, it is what happens to people who go against him. Remember the Rove quote, "We will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever fucked him!"

Can Fitzgerald hear Rove? Rove's trying, turn on any tv and watch the Republican lies.

Posted at 10:58 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Convention Wisdom: Bush Fucked Up

Posted by Bob Brigham

Digby:

There is a confluence of events right now with the bad news on the ground in Iraq, the Downing Street memos, the London bombings and Rovegate flaring up that are beginning to filter into the body politic. A new conventional wisdom is being written. I think that people are putting these things together which is why you are seeing the preciputous dip in the president's approval ratings. It's not that people know, or even want to know, the details. Only junkies like me (and you) get this into it. But the ground has shifted and people are understanding that something went terribly wrong.

The president's right hand man exposing a covert CIA agent for political puposes perfectly symbolizes the entire fetid mess.

The backlash is building. Rove failed Bush. They wanted that war so bad they would do anything for the adventure. But they lied and got caught, people have heard about the Downing Street Memos and the Rove Scandal. People get it, Bush fucked up. He forced a war for no reason and is now losing.

Posted at 10:45 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Rove Scandal: W Ain't No H.W.

Posted by Bob Brigham

There was a time when self-respecting Republicans didn't take shit from anybody – least of not Karl Rove. President George H.W. Bush fired Karl Rove for leaking (to Bob Novak).

President George W. Bush is covering for Karl Rove's leaks – and this time the leaks the leaks are worse. (link via Dave after heard on Randi.) Wayne Madsen Report:

Another source reported that at least one Brewster Jennings NOC operating in a hostile intelligence environment was executed by counter-intelligence agents as a result of the White House disclosure.

more…

Other B&JA assets were forced to abandon their ongoing operations to identify networks involved in weapons of mass destruction proliferation. The CIA has been working on a damage assessment report on the Plame/B&JA disclosures. If no indictments of White House officials result from the Fitzgerald investigation, look for parts of that highly classified report to be leaked and then look for more imprisonments of journalists who refuse to divulge the source(s) of those leaks. Word from intelligence sources is that the damage assessment report is "devastating."

The L.A. Times remembers how Daddy did it:

During George H.W. Bush’s second presidential campaign, Rove was fired from the campaign team because of suspicions that he had leaked information to columnist Robert Novak — the same columnist who first reported Plame’s CIA role in 2003, citing anonymous administration sources.

Rove own's Bush's ass. Rove will go when W. goes. Fire Karl Rove!

Posted at 10:39 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Stop the Cover-Up: Fire Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

Moveon protest

Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The husband of a CIA agent whose identity was exposed during the fierce debate over the Iraq war accused the White House on Thursday of being involved in a giant "cover-up" involving top aide Karl Rove. [...]

"What this thing has been for the past two years has been a cover-up, a cover-up of the ... web of lies that underpin the justification for going to war in Iraq," said Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a career foreign service officer who served in the Clinton White House.

"And to a certain extent, this cover-up is becoming unraveled. That's why you see the White House stonewalling," Wilson told NBC's "Today" show. [...]

About 100 protesters picketed outside the White House later, chanting "Hey, hey, ho ho, Karl Rove has got to go." They were organized by the liberal group MoveOn.org, which provided signs that read: "Stop the Cover-up: Fire Karl Rove."

More pics from the MoveOn Political Action rally after the jump:

white house protest

fire karl rove

NJ-GOV: Lautenberg Says: Give Back the Blood Money

Posted by Bob Brigham

As was to be expected, the Karl Rove Scandal is now turning into an elections issue.

Check out the email Senator Frank Lautenberg sent today:

Last month, Doug Forrester and the New Jersey Republican Party held a fundraiser with Karl Rove as the star attraction. We don't know what Rove said, because the event was closed to the press and public. But we can guess, because the day after the Forrester fundraiser Karl Rove tore into progressives, saying "liberals saw the savagery of the 9-11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." What did Forrester have to say about this baseless partisan attack? Nothing. Now according to his own lawyer, Karl Rove is involved in leaking the identity of a CIA undercover agent working to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Yet Forrester is still silent, apparently believing that it's more important to protect the patronage of the national Republican Party leadership than the safety of our country. Sign the petition demanding Forrester repudiate Karl Rove's despicable behavior and return the blood money Karl Rove raised at the Forrester fundraiser: http://www.corzineforgovernor.com/rove Damaging national security for partisan revenge threatens the safety of all Americans. And having it come from inside the White House threatens the stability of our political system. Early last week, I called for Karl Rove's security clearance to be revoked. But we must ask for more than this. We must ensure that anyone who profits politically by the divisive and possibly illegal activity of high level operatives like Karl Rove be held to account for their implicit endorsement of such behavior. Add your voice to those demanding Forrester repudiate Rove's support: http://www.corzineforgovernor.com/rove It's not yet known how much damage Karl Rove has done to this country by compromising CIA assets. I hope and pray that this White House recommits itself to protecting Americans instead of playing partisan games. Until then, we can only ask Republicans and Democrats of good conscience to demand that this behavior stop, and that those who compromise national security be brought to justice. Thanks for your help, and if you have a moment, please forward this petition to your friends and family.
Best, Senator Frank Lautenberg

Posted at 06:42 PM in 2005 Elections, New Jersey, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Senate Democrats Stand Up for National Security

Posted by Bob Brigham

Check out CSPAN 2 right now, the Senate Democrats are sticking it to the GOP on national security.

Reid's statement in extended entry.

All caps from rush transcript...

Washington, DC - “MR. PRESIDENT, I WANT EVERYONE HERE TODAY TO BE CLEAR WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. YOU CAN CALL IT POLITICS. I CALL IT GOVERNMENT. I CALL IT GOOD GOVERNMENT. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY. AT LEAST ONE, THERE COULD BE MORE BUT AT LEAST ONE SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL DISCLOSED THE IDENTITY OF A SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER TO A REPORTER OR REPORTERS AND THEN THIS ADMINISTRATION PROCEEDED TO DENY AND DEFLECT THE TRUTH AFTER IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT IT HAD BEEN LEAKED. IT PUT THIS AGENT'S LIFE IN JEOPARDY. I REPEAT, PUT THIS AGENT'S LIFE IN JEOPARDY. PLUS PEOPLE THAT SHE HAD DEALT WITH FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AND HERE IN AMERICA. IT PUT OUR INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY AT RISK, AND, OF COURSE, JEOPARDIZED OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.

“EVEN THE PRESIDENT'S FATHER, MY FRIEND, PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, A FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY HIMSELF, RECOGNIZES THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS OFFENSE. HE SAID, AND I QUOTE, ‘I HAVE NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT AND ANGER FOR THOSE WHO BETRAY THE TRUST BY EXPOSING THE NAME OF OUR SOURCES. THEY ARE IN MY VIEW THE MOST INSIDIOUS OF TRAITORS.’

“WHOEVER DID THIS, ACCORDING TO GEORGE BUSH, THE FIRST BUSH PRESIDENT, WOULD BE AN INSIDIOUS TRAITOR. BUT INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM, THIS ADMINISTRATION, THIS WHITE HOUSE AND THE MAJORITY HERE IN THE SENATE, WANT TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM THIS BREACH OF NATIONAL SECURITY. -- BREACH OF NATIONAL SECURITY.

“UNFORTUNATELY, MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S A PATTERN WE'RE ALL TOO FAMILIAR WITH FROM THIS WHITE HOUSE. WHEN THEY ARE ON THE ROPES, THEY ATTACK. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, YOU NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN YESTERDAY'S ‘WASHINGTON POST’, JULY 13, 2005, WHICH DETAILED THE REPUBLICAN STRATEGY FOR THIS AFFAIR. AND I QUOTE, ‘THE EMERGING G.O.P. STRATEGY DEVISED BY R.N. C. CHAIR KEN MEHLMAN AND THOSE OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE IS TO TRY TO UNDERMINE THE DEMOCRATS CALLING FOR ROVE'S OUSTER TO DROWN OUT THE CONTROVERSY ACCORDING TO SEVERAL HIGH-LEVEL REPUBLICANS.’

“MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS A COVERUP. THIS IS AN ABUSE OF POWER. THIS IS A DIVERSION FROM WHAT WE SHOULD BE DEALING WITH HERE IN THE SENATE. NO INTEREST IN COMING CLEAN AND BEING HONEST WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

“THIS AFTERNOON MEHLMAN'S STRATEGY IS BEING BROUGHT RIGHT HERE. BUT YOU KNOW THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THIS. THIS MORNING A WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOT A BASTION OF LIBERALALITY, THEIR POLL THIS MORNING SAID ONLY 41% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT IS BEING HONEST AND STRAIGHTFORWARD. THAT'S FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL THIS MORNING WHICH CONFIRMS AND UNDERLINES
WHAT I'VE SAID.

“THIS IS A COVERUP. IT'S AN ABUSE OF POWER. IT'S DIVERSIONARY. IT'S TIME TO QUITE PLAYING PARTISAN POLITICS WITH OUR NATIONAL SECURITY. IT'S TIME FOR THE WHITE HOUSE TO COME CLEAN. IT'S TIME TO ADDRESS THE PRESSING ISSUES FACING THIS COUNTRY.

“THIS SECOND-DEGREE AMENDMENT, MR. PRESIDENT – AND I'VE BEEN IN THE CONGRESS MORE THAN TWO DECADES -- IS ABOUT AS JUVENILE AND AS MUD-SLINGING AS I HAVE SEEN. WE'RE HERE TO DEAL WITH NATIONAL SECURITY. WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT LEAKING INFORMATION OF OUR C.I.A. AGENTS. ISN'T THAT PART OF OUR NATIONAL SECURITY? I CERTAINLY OPEN SO.

“WE HAVE PRESSING ISSUES FACING THIS COUNTRY. THE REASON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LOST FAITH IN THIS ADMINISTRATION IS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT DEALING WITH THE PROBLEMS THEY CARE ABOUT. 45 MILLION AMERICANS WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE, MILLIONS OF OTHERS UNDERINSURED, OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IS WONTING; K-12, BIG PROBLEMS. PENSIONS -- ONLY HALF OF AMERICAN WORKERS TODAY HAVE PENSIONS. AND MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE PENSIONS ARE IN DISTRESS. PEOPLE ARE WORRYING JUST LIKE THOSE
PEOPLE THAT WORK ALL THOSE VALIANT YEARS AT UNITED AIRLINES, ARE THEY GOING TO LOSE THEIR PENSIONS OR ARE THEY GOING TO BE CUT?

“THIS ADMINISTRATION IS OBSTRUCTING THIS PROGRESS. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE MORE. THE REPUBLICANS SHOULD STOP PLAYING GAMES AND WORK ON ISSUES TO HELP THIS COUNTRY. WHAT WE HAVE HERE TODAY WITH THIS LITTLE SECOND-DEGREE AMENDMENT IS A DIVERSION, IT IS AN ABUSE OF POWER AND IT IS A COVER-UP.

Posted at 05:50 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Security Clearance Amendment

Posted by Bob Brigham

Senator Reid will offer the following amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (on the floor right now) on behalf of Senator Levin:

No federal employee who discloses or has disclosed classified information, including the identity of a covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, to a person not authorized to receive such information shall be entitled to hold a security clearance for access to such information.

Reid is being joined by (at least) Levin, Rockefeller, Biden and Durbin. A vote is expected today.

Posted at 02:25 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Comments (1) | Technorati

Scandal in the West Wing

Posted by Bob Brigham

With all of the lies and stonewalling and covering up the Bush Administration is doing in the Plame scandal, I think it might be helpful to think of The West Wing when trying to understand who is being investigated and why. Here's how the fictional characters in the Bartlet Administration match up with their real world counterparts in the Bush Administration.

POSITION	CAST	THE WEST WING	SUSPECTS	BUSH WHITE HOUSE
Chief of Staff		Leo McGarry		Andy Card
Deputy Chief of Staff		Josh Lyman		Karl Rove
Communications Director		Toby Ziegler		Dan Bartlett
Press Secretary		C.J. Cregg		Ari Fleisher Scott McClellan
VP Chief of Staff		Will Bailey		Lewis "Scooter" Libby

So play this out. Let's say there's an episode of The West Wing where Josh is accused of treason for outing an undercover CIA agent. In such an episode, we know some scenes that would be included. There would be the scene where Leo yells, "Get Josh in here" to find out why Josh got caught in such a petty political smear. There would be the scene with Tody prepping C.J. for the White House press briefing. There would be the scene where President Bartlett asks Leo what is going on. Will Bailey would be in the thick of things in the episode.

We know for a fact that at least one other senior Administration official is involved in the leak. Instead of asking which additional senior administration official is involved, I think we need to be asking if any officials are not involved.

When Scott McClellan lied about Karl Rove, it wasn't one man lying to the press corps – it was the White House, the Bush Administration, lying to the American people. Which senior administration officials were involved in the outing? which senior administration officials were involved in the cover-up? What did the President know and when did he know it?

This wasn't just Rove or McClellan, this was The White House.

Posted at 02:03 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Republicans for Treason: Doing Our Oppo For Us

Posted by Tim Tagaris

The Republican National Committee handed us a gift today in the form of a press release that details quotes from a list of Republicans supporting Karl Rove. It's a ready made oppo research piece presented to us by the opposition. We will gladly hang these quotes around the necks of the following Republicans up for re-election in 2006.

Rick Santorum (R-VA/PA):

"I Don’t See Any Evidence Out There That He Violated The Law."

Deborah Pryce (OH-15):

"I Think What The Democrats Are Doing With Karl Rove Is Just Another Politically Motivated Part Of Their Agenda."

Tom DeLay (TX-22):

"This Is Typical Of The Democrats. They Smell Blood And They Act Like Sharks. Karl Rove Is A Good Man. He Was Doing His Job."

Thank you. Much more fun on the actual release. I will keep this one handy.

Posted at 12:38 PM in 2006 Elections, Plamegate | Comments (2) | Technorati

Ari Fleischer and the Karl Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

What is former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher's role in the Karl Rove scandal over outing undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame? We know that Fleisher's former deputy and now successor Scott McClellan lied about Karl Rove. And there is a good deal of discussion about whether Fleisher was the second source, why he is being questioned, and which names he might be naming.

Bloomberg:

People familiar with the inquiry say Fitzgerald also is reviewing testimony by former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, though it is not clear whether the prosecutor is focusing on him or seeking information about higher-ups. Fleischer last night refused to comment.

Chris Bowers says:

As Anna noted in the comments, Fleischer actually resigned the day Novak's column first appeared. Even though Fleischer had announced his resignation nearly two months earlier, stepping down the day Novak's column appears means that he would have been able to avoid questions on the matter, and thus compile a public record of statements on the matter.

In addition to reminding us that Fleischer was one of the first Bush officials on record criticizing Wilson, Nico also provides the opportunity:

Details are still uncertain, but news reports suggest one theory for what might have occurred. In the days after Wilson’s NYT column was published but before Novak’s article appeared, Ari Fleischer was among the White House officials aboard Air Force One on a presidential trip to Africa, where he might have had access to the classified State Department document brought aboard by Secretary of State Colin Powell that likely tipped administration officials off to Plame’s true identity.

Talk Left says:

We know that Fitzgeral subpoenaed the complete transcript of his July 12, 2003 press gaggle conducted at a hospital in Nigeria. We know that he subpoenaed telephone records for Air Force One during a portion of the trip. We also know that he subpoenaed the July 6 to July 30, 2003 records of the White House Iraq Group, a public relations kind of task force formed by Cheney's staff to promote the Administrations' view of the war.
We also know that the White House won't release the names of those who accompanied President Bush on the trip, although we know that Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Andrew Card were with him.
Why would Fitzgerald want these documents? I don't think it's to get Ari Fleischer. I think it's to catch Lewis Libby and others on Vice President Cheney's staff, and/or Karl Rove, who attended almost all the White House Iraq Group meetings, in a lie. Ari Fleischer's statements may lead Fitzgerald to the lie - and establish a conspiracy to out a covert agent or obstruct justice - or perjury or false statements to federal investigators by these White House officials.

At the very least I would think the Special Prosecutor would use the questioning of Ari Fleischer to delve into the process used by the Bush White House to prepare the Press Secretary for gaggle's and press conferences. Particularly, which senior administration officials participated in the daily prep. Or more likely, if there were any senior administration officials who were not involved.

Posted at 12:33 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Rove Scandal: Senior White House Officials

Posted by Bob Brigham

Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Karl Rove is in deep shit. Indictments are rumored to be imminent. At this point, the question is not if Rove will be indicted, the question is whether one of his defense lawyers will have the common decency to throw a coat over Rove's fat head during the perp walk and shield the American people from the look in Rove's eyes.

Like a jonsing political junkie, Rove has played fast and loose with his very unique style of politics. Bush has never told Rove to stop and with each smear Rove has become emboldened and more addicted to the thrill of the smear.

But this scandal isn't just treason, it is treason and a cover-up. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan lied about Karl Rove.

The great thing about the popularity of The West Wing is that it has demonstrated to a helluva lot of people what goes on before a Press Secretary takes the podium. Americans know the Press Secretary doesn't go out before the cameras and wing it.

Senior White House staff keep the Press Secretary is on message by ensuring that the proper Administration line is ready and rehearsed in response to any potential question. They knew McClellan would be asked about Rove – they decided to lie. They prepared (prep'd) their flack. Senior White House staff.

So this is where it gets real interesting – who else was involved in the cover-up. Rove is looking at indictment, McClellan can no longer function in his role as the entire press corps despise him for lying to their faces. Who else will fall?

Andy Card? Dan Bartlett? Ari Fleischer? Lewis "Scooter" Libby? Adam Levine? Vice President Dick Cheney?

What did the President know and when did he know it?

Posted at 11:36 AM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Today: 2:30 PM - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Posted by Bob Brigham

Go to today's MoveOn's Protest.

2:30 TODAY
The White House
Stop the Cover-Up and Fire Karl Rove

Posted at 09:32 AM in Activism, Plamegate | Technorati

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Karl Rove's Security Clearance

Posted by Bob Brigham

Via Atrios we have big news from David Sirota:

Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney (D) just announced that all Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence today sent a letter to President Bush demanding that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's security clearance be revoked in the wake of revelations that he was involved in the leak of a covert CIA operative's name.

Indeeeed.

Do what needs to be done to get down to the White House at 2:30 PM -- tomorrow!

Posted at 07:36 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

EMERGENCY D.C. MOBILIZATION: Stop the Cover-Up and Fire Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

If you live near DC, do whatever you have to do to get down to it. From a MoveOn Political Action press release:

Stop the Cover-Up and Fire Karl Rove

Citizens to Protest and Picket in Front of White House

Citizens from across the country will join MoveOn Political Action members tomorrow at a protest in front of the White House to demand that President Bush fire his top political advisor, Karl Rove, for outing Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA operative.
Currently the President has refused to take action against Mr. Rove, his close friend and top political advisor. On September 29, 2003, Scott McClellan stated in a White House press briefing: “If anyone in this Administration was involved in it, [theValeriePlameleak] they would no longer be in this Administration.”
MoveOn Political Action, formerly known as MoveOn PAC, demands the administration stay true to its word and fire those responsible for the leak.

Protest details:

Who: Citizens from across the country and MoveOn members

Where: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., in front of White House

When: Thursday, July 14, 2005, 2:30 PM EST

Full email invite:

Dear MoveOn member,

You're invited to come speak out against Karl Rove's abuse of power and demand that President Bush fire Rove. Join other MoveOn members and members of the community at a peaceful protest and picket, Thursday July 14, at 2:30 PM on Pennsylvania Avenue outside The White House.

Rove betrayed the identity of an undercover CIA operative forcing her to end a decade of important national security work. He did it to protect the Bush political agenda. Now, the White House is covering up this betrayal of our national security. The media is ready to report on public outrage about Rove. Will you show up and speak out?

Please join us tomorrow and let Bush, the media and Congress know that Americans are angry about Rove.

What: Protest and Picket to Demand Bush Fire Karl Rove

Where: The White House, Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC (Metro: Farragut West or McPherson Square)

When: 2:30 PM :: Thursday, July 14, 2005 (rain or shine)

Signs will be provided.

I'll see you there. Thanks for all you do.

-Tom Matzzie
MoveOn PAC
Wednesday, July 13, 2005

P.S. If you want to come dressed up in costume as a spy and protest the media will love that. Think: trench coat, sunglasses and a little nametag that says, "Spy."

Posted at 01:50 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Comments (1) | Technorati

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Rove is Busted

Posted by Bob Brigham

The Karl Rove / Scott McClellan Lies have become a scandal. From the New York Times:

Nearly two years after stating that any administration official found to have been involved in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer would be fired, and assuring that Karl Rove and other senior aides to President Bush had nothing to do with the disclosure, the White House refused on Monday to answer any questions about new evidence of Mr. Rove's role in the matter.

Scott McClellan played the press corps like a $2 fiddle -- and they played for all they were worth. Which is crap.

Posted at 01:09 AM in Plamegate, Scandals | Comments (1) | Technorati

Monday, July 11, 2005

Scott McClellan Should Resign

Posted by Bob Brigham

White House flak Scott McClellan was busted lying to the press corps. His job is not to lie for the Republican Administration, but to provide facts for the press corps. McClellan failed and since our tax dollars pay his salary, we need to pay attention. Tax dollars are financing his lying to the American people. If Scott McClellan doesn't resign, he should be fired.

Posted at 06:48 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Scott McClellan Lies about Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

Thanks to Billmon, we have a full history of Scott McClellan's statements on Karl Rove. Thanks to Raw Story, we have a Rush transcript of McClellan on Karl Rove today. Thanks to Crooks and Liars, we have today's video. Comparing, we see that Scott McClellan lied about Karl Rove, right up until he was busted.

TODAY:

QUESTION: Scott, can I ask you this: Did Karl Rove commit a crime?

MCCLELLAN: Again, David, this is a question relating to a ongoing investigation, and you have my response related to the investigation. And I don't think you should read anything into it other than: We're going to continue not to comment on it while it's ongoing.

9-29-2003:

QUESTION: Has the President either asked Karl Rove to assure him that he had nothing to do with this; or did Karl Rove go to the President to assure him that he . . .

McCLELLAN: I don't think he needs that. I think I've spoken clearly to this publicly . . . I've just said there's no truth to it.

QUESTION: Yes, but I'm just wondering if there was a conversation between Karl Rove and the President, or if he just talked to you, and you're here at this . . .

McCLELLAN: He wasn't involved. The President knows he wasn't involved.

-------------

TODAY:

QUESTION: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003, when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby, and you said, "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me they are not involved in this"?

QUESTION: Do you stand by that statement?

MCCLELLAN: And if you will recall, I said that, as part of helping the investigators move forward on the investigation, we're not going to get into commenting on it. That was something I stated back near that time as well.

9-29-2003:

QUESTION: Weeks ago, when you were first asked whether Mr. Rove had the conversation with Robert Novak that produced the column, you dismissed it as ridiculous. And I wanted just to make sure, at that time, had you talked to Karl?

McCLELLAN: I've made it very clear, from the beginning, that it is totally ridiculous. I've known Karl for a long time, and I didn't even need to go ask Karl, because I know the kind of person that he is, and he is someone that is committed to the highest standards of conduct.

QUESTION: Can you say for the record whether Mr. Rove possessed the information about Mr. Wilson's wife, but merely did not talk to anybody about it?

McCLELLAN: I don't know whether or not -- I mean, I'm sure he probably saw the same media reports everybody else in this room has.

QUESTION: When you talked to Mr. Rove, did you discuss, did you ever have this information?

McCLELLAN: We're going down a lot of different roads here. I've made it very clear that he was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion that he was.

-------------

TODAY:

MCCLELLAN: There will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time to talk about it.

QUESTION: Do you think people will accept that, what you're saying today?

MCCLELLAN: Again, I've responded to the question.

QUESTION: You're in a bad spot here, Scott...

(LAUGHTER)

... because after the investigation began -- after the criminal investigation was under way -- you said, October 10th, 2003, "I spoke with those individuals, Rove, Abrams and Libby. As I pointed out, those individuals assured me they were not involved in this," from that podium. That's after the criminal investigation began.

Now that Rove has essentially been caught red-handed peddling this information, all of a sudden you have respect for the sanctity of the criminal investigation.

MCCLELLAN: No, that's not a correct characterization. And I think you are well aware of that.

We know each other very well. And it was after that period that the investigators had requested that we not get into commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation.

And we want to be helpful so that they can get to the bottom of this. Because no one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States.

I am well aware of what was said previously. I remember well what was said previously. And at some point I look forward to talking about it. But until the investigation is complete, I'm just not going to do that.

10-1-2003:

McCLELLAN: Let me make it very clear. As I said previously, he [Karl Rove] was not involved, and that allegation is not true in terms of leaking classified information, nor would he condone it.

QUESTION: He does not condone people pointing reporters toward classified information that's been released; he would not condone that either? Is that what you're saying?

McCLELLAN: The President doesn't condone the activity that you're suggesting, absolutely he does not.

-------------

TODAY:

QUESTION: Does the president continue to have confidence in Mr. Rove?

MCCLELLAN: Again, these are all questions coming up in the context of an ongoing criminal investigation. And you've heard my response on this.

QUESTION: So you're not going to respond as to whether or not the president has confidence in his deputy chief of staff?

MCCLELLAN: You're asking this question in the context of an ongoing investigation, and I would not read anything into it other then I'm simply going to comment on an ongoing investigation.

10-10-2003:

QUESTION: Scott, earlier this week you told us that neither Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams nor Lewis Libby disclosed any classified information with regard to the leak. I wondered if you could tell us more specifically whether any of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?

McCLELLAN: I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands.

QUESTION: So none of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?

McCLELLAN: They assured me that they were not involved in this.

In today's gaggle, a report commented, "You're in a bad spot here, Scott." I agree. Conspiracy to cover up treason is a serious affair.

Posted at 04:05 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Suspend Karl Rove's Security Clearance

Posted by Bob Brigham

I've been saying this for some time, but now I'm not the only one. From Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

CREW sends letter to President Bush: suspend Karl Rove's security clearance pending outcome of Plame investigation

As reported today in Newsweek, Karl Rove was a confidential source for Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper on the identification of a covert CIA agent. Rove disclosed that Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s trip to Iraq to investigate charges that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger was authorized by Mr. Wilson’s wife, a CIA employee working on issues related to weapons of mass destruction. At that time, Valerie Plame, Ambassador Wilson’s wife, was a covert operative with the CIA whose identity as such had not yet been publicly revealed.
Under federal law, it is a crime to “intentionally disclose[] any information identifying” a covert agent “to any individual not authorized to received classified information.” 50 U.S.C. §421(a). Thus, by disclosing to Matt Cooper Ms. Plame’s relationship with the CIA and thereby identifying her as a covert agent, Mr. Rove appears to have committed an illegal act. “Considering that it is a federal crime to identify covert agents, and that President Bush signed executive orders identifying the vital role the President plays in protecting national security secrets from unauthorized disclosure, it is appropriate for the President to suspend Mr. Rove’s clearance pending the investigation’s outcome,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today.
“The evidence uncovered so far raises serious questions about Mr. Rove’s conduct and his ability to safeguard highly sensitive classified information. Until those questions are resolved, CREW believes it is not appropriate for Mr. Rove to have continued access to classified information. Anything short of suspension raises an unacceptable risk to our nation’s security,” Sloan wrote to the President today.

Posted at 02:44 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Scott McClellan on Karl Rove Scandal

Posted by Bob Brigham

One thing we all know, is that the White House Press Secretary knows what he is going to say before the question is asked. Senior White House officials work together to figure out these answers, so that they can be fine-tuned before the cameras are on. So when Scott McClellan misleads the press corps about Karl Rove, it isn't just McClellan, but probably points towards a concerted effort at a cover up.

And it is clear that McClellan repeated mislead the press about Rove's involvement in the Plame outing scandal. Which means this isn't just a case of the Deputy White House Chief of Staff outing an undercover CIA agent (treason), but also a case of the Republican White House working to cover-up the treason.

If there are any doubts, the historical record should put those to rest. Billmon stayed up late researching, I've included the entire results in the extended entry to make it easier for reporters researching the scandal to find:

Vouching for Karl

QUESTION: The Robert Novak column last week . . . has now given rise to accusations that the administration deliberatively blew the cover of an undercover CIA operative, and in so doing, violated a federal law that prohibits revealing the identity of undercover CIA operatives. Can you respond to that?
McCLELLAN: Thank you for bringing that up. That is not the way this President or this White House operates. And there is absolutely no information that has come to my attention or that I have seen that suggests that there is any truth to that suggestion. And, certainly, no one in this White House would have given authority to take such a step.
Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
July 22, 2003

---

QUESTION: Scott, has there ever been an attempt or effort on the part of anyone here at the White House to discredit the reputations or reporting of former Ambassador Joe Wilson, his wife, or ABC correspondent Jeffrey Kofman?
McCLELLAN: John, I think I answered that yesterday. That is not the way that this White House operates. That's not the way the President operates . . . No one would be authorized to do that within this White House. That is simply not the way we operate, and that's simply not the way the President operates.
QUESTION: In all of those cases?
McCLELLAN: Well, go down -- which two?
QUESTION: Joe Wilson and his wife?
McCLELLAN: No. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
July 23, 2003
---
QUESTION: Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove . . . Did Karl Rove tell that . . .
McCLELLAN: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous. But we've already addressed this issue. If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous.
QUESTION: But did Karl Rove do it?
McCLELLAN: I said, it's totally ridiculous. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
September 16, 2003
---
This morning, ABC News producer Andrea Owen happened to find herself near Karl Rove (who was walking to his car), and an ABC camera.
Owen: "Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?"
Rove: "No."
At which point, Mr. Rove shut his car door as Ms. Owen asked, "What is your response to the fact that Justice is looking into the matter?" ABC News
The Note
September 29, 2003
(courtesy of Think Progress)
---
QUESTION: Has the President either asked Karl Rove to assure him that he had nothing to do with this; or did Karl Rove go to the President to assure him that he . . .
McCLELLAN: I don't think he needs that. I think I've spoken clearly to this publicly . . . I've just said there's no truth to it.
QUESTION: Yes, but I'm just wondering if there was a conversation between Karl Rove and the President, or if he just talked to you, and you're here at this . . .
McCLELLAN: He wasn't involved. The President knows he wasn't involved.
QUESTION: How does he know that?
McCLELLAN: The President knows. Scott McClellan
Press Gaggle
September 29, 2003
---
QUESTION: Weeks ago, when you were first asked whether Mr. Rove had the conversation with Robert Novak that produced the column, you dismissed it as ridiculous. And I wanted just to make sure, at that time, had you talked to Karl?
McCLELLAN: I've made it very clear, from the beginning, that it is totally ridiculous. I've known Karl for a long time, and I didn't even need to go ask Karl, because I know the kind of person that he is, and he is someone that is committed to the highest standards of conduct.
QUESTION: Can you say for the record whether Mr. Rove possessed the information about Mr. Wilson's wife, but merely did not talk to anybody about it?
McCLELLAN: I don't know whether or not -- I mean, I'm sure he probably saw the same media reports everybody else in this room has.
QUESTION: When you talked to Mr. Rove, did you discuss, did you ever have this information?
McCLELLAN: We're going down a lot of different roads here. I've made it very clear that he was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion that he was. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
September 29, 2003
---
QUESTION: Yesterday we were told that Karl Rove had no role in it. . .
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
QUESTION: Have you talked to Karl and do you have confidence in him . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I know of nobody -- I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action. George W. Bush
Remarks to Reporters
September 30, 2003
---
McCLELLAN: Let me make it very clear. As I said previously, he [Karl Rove] was not involved, and that allegation is not true in terms of leaking classified information, nor would he condone it.
QUESTION: He does not condone people pointing reporters toward classified information that's been released; he would not condone that either? Is that what you're saying?
McCLELLAN: The President doesn't condone the activity that you're suggesting, absolutely he does not. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
October 1, 2003
---
QUESTION: Scott, you have said that you, personally, went to Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and Elliot Abrams to ask them if they were the leakers . . . Why did you do that, and can you describe the conversations you had with them?
McCLELLAN: They're good individuals, they're important members of our White House team, and that's why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved. I had no doubt of that in the beginning, but I like to check my information to make sure it's accurate before I report back to you, and that's exactly what I did.
QUESTION: So you're saying -- you're saying categorically those three individuals were not the leakers or did not authorize the leaks; is that what you're saying?
McCLELLAN: That's correct. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
October 7, 2003
---
QUESTION: Scott, earlier this week you told us that neither Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams nor Lewis Libby disclosed any classified information with regard to the leak. I wondered if you could tell us more specifically whether any of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?
McCLELLAN: I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands.
QUESTION: So none of them told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA?
McCLELLAN: They assured me that they were not involved in this. Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
October 10, 2003
---
Rove also adamantly insisted to the FBI that he was not the administration official who leaked the information that Plame was a covert CIA operative to conservative columnist Robert Novak last July. Rather, Rove insisted, he had only circulated information about Plame after it had appeared in Novak's column. The American Prospect
Plugging Leaks
March 8, 2004
---
I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name. Karl Rove
CNN Interview
August 31, 2004
---
"Karl did nothing wrong. Karl didn't disclose Valerie Plame's identity to Mr. Cooper or anybody else . . . Who outed this woman? . . . It wasn't Karl." Luskin said Rove "certainly did not disclose to Matt Cooper or anybody else any confidential information."Rove attorney Robert Luskin
CNN Interview
July 4, 2005
---
Luskin confirmed that Rove and Cooper had spoken prior to the publication of the original Time article, but said that Rove “did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA” nor did he “knowingly disclose classified information.” Newsweek
Turning Up the Heat
July 6, 2005
---
Rove told Cooper that Wilson's trip had not been authorized by "DCIA"—CIA Director George Tenet—or Vice President Dick Cheney. Rather, "it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip." Wilson's wife is Plame, then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA's Directorate of Operations counterproliferation division . . . Rove was speaking to Cooper before Novak's column appeared; in other words, before Plame's identity had been published. Newsweek
Matt Cooper's Source
July 10, 2005

---

As Atrios says:

Free research for the taking, reporters.

Posted at 01:38 PM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Comments (1) | Technorati

Rove Either Guilty as Traitor or Complete Idiot

Posted by Bob Brigham

I think this week will be a huge week as the Karl Rove Traitorgate scandal unfolds. It appears that Rove might be positioning for a legal defense that he didn't "knowingly" commit treason by outing and undercover CIA agent. As a Swing State Project reader pointed out in an email, "knowingly" is irrelevant, "he was either malicious or an idiot. in either case it was a treasonous act. our government officials are supposed to be smart and certain or silent."

I was thinking about that word -- 'knowingly' -- as I was reading Talking Points Memo's take on Rove's ~~mob~~ defense lawyer:

One case that jumps out at you is his representation of Stephen A. Saccoccia.

Saccoccia and his wife Donna were eventually convicted of laundering more than a hundred million dollars for various Colombian drug kingpins. Stephen is currently serving a 660 year sentence. Their racket was laundering drug money through companies which traded in precious metals.

Saccoccia was convicted in 1993. And Luskin took up his case on appeal.

Eventually the Feds got the idea that the money Saccoccia had paid Luskin and his other attorneys for their services was itself part of the $137 million in drug money he was ordered to forfeit. Now, on the face of it this seems a bit unfair since under our system everyone is entitled to good representation and how was Luskin to know it was tainted money.

Well, the prosecutors thought he should have gotten some inkling when Saccoccia started paying Luskin's attorney's fees in gold bars.

Yep, you heard that right. Luskin got paid more than $500,000 of his attorney's fees in gold bars from his client who was trying to appeal his conviction on charges that he laundered drug money through precious metals dealers. Who woulda thought that was drug money?

Luskin insisted that he "never have, and never would, knowingly accept a fee that was the proceeds of illegal activities."

But when federal prosecutors finally got a chance to depose Luskin and Saccoccia's other lawyers, they found that their lawyers' fees had come in forms "such as gold bars, cash that was dropped off at hotels and trunks of cars, and money transfers from Swiss bank accounts."

Eventually, in 1998, Luskin came to a settlement with the government in which he agreed to cough up $245,000 of the money he'd gotten from Saccoccia.

Uh, yeah, probably should have known better. Rove is "Bush's Brain" so the "I didn't know" defense would be a clear indication he's guilty as hell. But whether he claims he knowingly did it or not is irrelevant, he played fast and loose with classified information and an act of treason occured. Rove has got to go. If he doesn't resign, Bush should relieve him.

Posted at 12:04 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

MoveOn PAC: Rove Should Resign

Posted by Bob Brigham

The Karl Rove Treasongate scandal is really taking off. From a MoveOn PAC press release:

MoveOn PAC Calls for Rove’s Resignation
Questions President’s Failure to Act

Michael Isikoff reports in the July 18 issue of Newsweek that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove revealed to Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper that Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joe Wilson, worked for the CIA.
Statement by Tom Matzzie, Washington Director, MoveOn PAC: “This report makes two things clear: First, in revealing the identity of a covert CIA agent, Rove either knowingly broke the law, or committed an act of gross negligence. In either case he should resign or the President should fire him. Second, the President failed to act upon learning that his chief political adviser blew the cover of a CIA agent. These facts raise several questions to which the President owes the American people answers: What did he know? When did he know it? And why did he fail to act?
Clearly Rove sought to retaliate against Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, for correctly refuting Administration claims that Saddam Hussein sought to acquire ‘yellowcake’ uranium in Africa, part of the case the President was attempting to make for invading Iraq. Clearly, Rove put the protection of President Bush's political agenda ahead of national security when he disclosed Plame’s identity. He jeopardized the safety of an under cover intelligence agent who was working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Clearly Rove’s and the President's willingness to remain silent about this until the very last minute caused significant pain and anguish to two journalists, one of whom is now in jail, for refusing to reveal Rove as their source.”

Posted at 11:06 AM in Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Technorati

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Rove Fingered as Traitor

Posted by Bob Brigham

Newsweek confirms what you knew was probably true. Rove should have his security clearance revoked and be placed on leave while we wait for the indictments. Rove has zero business working in the White House.

Posted at 12:44 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Comments (1) | Technorati

Thursday, July 07, 2005

GOP - Karl Rove Indictment

Posted by Bob Brigham

Lots of chatter that Rove will be indicted – soon. As we learn via SusanG, the blogs are driving this story:

I am glad to play a small role. In my America, when companies get big and lazy, competion arises. That is what is happening with the blogs. The press MSM) has gotten fat and lazy. The blogs are now driving the stories.

Arianna Huffington points out:

From the way they’ve acted so far, the mainstream media would rather this scandal just go away (bloggers take note).

Digby says:

It is, therefore, a good time for the blogs to keep pushing. I believe that we were part of the reason that the DSMs finally gained some traction --- enough to make the administration nervous anyway --- and I think we can have an effect on this story as well. Nobody should ever forget that Drudge was fed quite a bit of his information during the Clinton scandals by journalists who were trying to find a way to get the story into the ether so they could say "it's out there."

Steve Gilliard looks one step further:

You want a not lazy media, you need to give us the tools to challenge the MSM. Money, support, spreading the word. Joe Wilson isn't just being nice. Bush tore his life and ruined his wife's career. This ain't a story to him. As we raise money, I'd consider what he said seriously. Because it's serious to him, and to us.

(Go support Steve during his fund drive)

Billmon has a must read piece on the marketplace of ideas and "thought contagion" in the pundit class. Understanding this dynamic is why it is critical that the blogs continue to lead on this scandal involving a traitor in the Republican White House.

More to come…

Posted at 01:59 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Fire Karl Rove

Posted by Bob Brigham

Via AmericaBlog, we have a stunning reminder of the stakes in the TreasonGate scandal. From cnn (September 29, 2003):

McClellan said that if anyone at the White House leaked Plame's identity, he should be fired, and pursued to the "fullest extent."

"No one was authorized to do this. That is simply not the way this White House operates and if someone leaked classified information it is a very serious matter," he said.

Totally ridiculous, I agree it is very serious, he should be fired. Luckily, I know of a Fire Karl Rove Petition. It talks about some different reasons, but feel free to sign it for whatever reasons cause you to organize to shitcan his ass.

Posted at 06:44 PM in Plamegate, Scandals | Technorati

Karl Rove: It's Not the Lying, It's the Treason

Posted by Bob Brigham

Updated with more on TreasonGate.

The blogosphere is a buzzing with news that Karl Rove has been exposed as the source of the Plame leak. In the next week, we're going to hear a great deal about the timeline and the two-person rule, the former centering on the federal crime of outing an undercover agent and the later necessary to establish the bonus charge of perjury.

Over at the Huffington Post, Lawrence O'Donnell hints that Rove may be in trouble on both counts.

I revealed in yesterday's taping of the McLaughlin Group that Time magazine's emails will reveal that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source. [...]

Since I revealed the big scoop, I have had it reconfirmed by yet another highly authoritative source. Too many people know this. It should break wide open this week. I know Newsweek is working on an 'It's Rove!' story and will probably break it tomorrow.

If Rove is the traitor and if he lied about it before the Grand Jury -- then he could achieve rare political status of having the cover-up not as bad as the crime -- for him at least. But cover-ups usually involve more than a single man, and this could turn into one giant shitburger considering who "Bush's Brain" spends time with in the West Wing (where he now serves as both Senior Advisor to the President of the United States and Deputy White House Chief of Staff).

Last week, the story was about the move to fire Karl Rove. This week, at a minimum, Rove should have his security clearance yanked while this is investigated. From AmericaBlog:

And now that this allegation is out there, of Karl Rove being a TRAITOR who divulged national security information putting our lives and the lives of CIA agents and their contacts at risk around the world, is this suspected threat to national security still AT the White House at this moment? Is he in the proximity of the president of the United States? What does the Secret Service have to say about that? Simply because of this allegation, a very serious public allegation by a credible on-the-record source, this man's security clearances should be revoked immediately, albeit temporarily, until this matter can be resolved.

Is the Secret Service REALLY going to let a man facing these accusations have access to the president of the United States in a time of war?

Come on MSM, ask the White House NOW if Karl Rove is still in the building, or if his clearances have been temporarily revoked.

Now remember, the idea that Rove is responsible for this is nothing new, yet the Secret Service has done nothing to-date to secure the President and the White House from whoever is guilty. For more on Rove as the source, check out the "historical briefings" here, here, here, here, here, and here,

Also, a full investigation of Rove and the media, will of course come back to Jeff Gannon. Somebody in the inner-circle of the White House planted Jeff Gannon and with Jeff Gannon's relationship to the Plame Affair, we're going to see a lot more on this. Which could potentially even move the scandal into something beyond lying about treason. When I searched my computer for "Rove + Source" I found the following transcript from an appearance I had on Air America earlier this year. The transcript is from this MP3, about a 102 minutes in (from 02/03/2005):

Sam Seder: Just go back to the Gannon thing for a little bit, where do you think the investigation is going to come from?

Bob Brigham: I think that Congress, in one way or anot her, is going to have to start investigating. If this continues to be a blog-driven investigation, it's a worse case scenario for a lot of Republicans, specifically Republicans who might have hypocrisy liability on a gay prostitute story and it will actually defuse the story somewhat by there being an investigation, just because then it won't be just constantly the blogosphere outing more and more Republican hypocrites.

Sam Seder: So Bob, let me read between the lines here. What you're saying is that there may be information out there, that there are some gentleman involved in the White House, who have taken some positions that would be inconsistent with perhaps some of their sexual dalliances.

Bob Brigham: You know, the Republican Party has more perverts than a whorehouse on Saturday night.

Sam Seder: Sweet Bob

Janeane Garofalo: Nice one.

Bob Brigham: We saw this in the nineties with Clinton. And the hypocrisy there when that come to light was very telling in the true moral character of the Republican Party.

Sam Seder: That's right. Henry Hyde had like three girlfriends or something like that.

Bob Brigham: Livingston was taken down, was Speaker for what, a week? And now that that the Republican Party has spent two years bashing gays, that is going to catch up with the Republican Party also. The fact that they are now bashing the AARP on gay marriage, they're seniors, they aren't having gay sex, they aren't having any sex. It's seniors. It just shows how ridiculous the entire smearing people as homosexual, conduct has become in the Republican Party and they're going to pay a price for their hubris.

Sam Seder: So you're saying that there's going to be perhaps a couple of Ed Shrockian moments coming up?

Bob Brigham: I think definitly. I think that is going to be a very interesting swing of the penjelum.

Janeane Garofalo: May I throw my two cents in Bob, because you've be unbelievably polite about this. Here's exactly is going to happen. Here is what the Gannon/Guckert sexual hypocrisy, whatever the scandal is, beyond the scandal we all know about. My gut feeling is that Karl Rove is either bisexual or gay, Scott McClellan, either bisexual or gay and either one of those two men – I tend to think it is Karl Rove – has had an affair with Ganon/Guckert.

[SILENCE]

Janeane Garofalo: Oh, don't be so silenced.

Bob Brigham: Oh, well that is a very interesting theory.

Sam Seder: Well it remains to be seen. It remains to be seen.

Janeane Garofalo: I'm telling you that Rove and McClellan, I mean, Ken Mehlman is at least up front about being gay, is he not?

Sam Seder: I don't know.

Janeane Garofalo: He at least admits to being gay, doesn't he?

Sam Seder: I don't think so.

Bob Brigham: He refuses to claim that he's straight in public.

Janeane Garofalo: Well I mean at least's he's, I don't think he's as closeted. He unfortunately supports a homophobic, bigoted, hypocritical agenda and that's the problem, not his gayness. And who cares if Gannon/Guckert is gay or bi and who cares if Rove or McClellan are gay except for their hypocrisy and their gay-unfriendly agenda. But I'm telling you McClellan, Rove, Ralph Reed, these guys are the gay mafia, they are gay as French horns as they say. I don't know why French horns are gay, but I think that the Gannon/Guckert scandal is, that the source of it is that Rove is his lover.

Discovering where this leads is going to be great fun, hubris is expensive and the bill is now past-due. Sure you're saying that would be totally ridiculous. Let me remind you of this White House exchange with Scott McClellan (via slate):

Q: On the Robert Novak-Joseph Wilson situation, Novak reported earlier this year quoting "anonymous government sources" telling him that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative. Now, this is apparently a federal offense, to burn the cover [of] a CIA operative. Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove. He's quoted from a speech last month as saying, "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs." Did Karl Rove tell that—

A: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous. But we've already addressed this issue. If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous.

Q: But did Karl Rove do it?

A: I said, it's totally ridiculous.

Hubris is costly.

UPDATE: (Bob): This is getting good, from Newsweek (via Atrios):

The e-mails surrendered by Time Inc., which are largely between Cooper and his editors, show that one of Cooper's sources was White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to two lawyers who asked not to be identified because they are representing witnesses sympathetic to the White House. Cooper and a Time spokeswoman declined to comment. But in an interview with NEWSWEEK, Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, confirmed that Rove had been interviewed by Cooper for the article. It is unclear, however, what passed between Cooper and Rove.

But this is very interesting:

Novak appears to have made some kind of arrangement with the special prosecutor, and other journalists who reported on the Plame story have talked to prosecutors with the permission of their sources. Cooper agreed to discuss his contact with Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, after Libby gave him permission to do so. But Cooper drew the line when special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked about other sources.

It appears that unlike Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, Karl Rove did not give Cooper permission to discuss the scandal with the Special Prosecutor. Which is odd, given that Rove serves at the pleasure of the United States of America (via AmericaBlog):

Q Mr. President, on another issue, the CIA leak-gate. What is your confidence level in the results of the DOJ investigation about any of your staffers not being found guilty or being found guilty? And what do you say to critics of the administration who say that this administration retaliates against naysayers?

PRESIDENT BUSH: First of all, I'm glad you brought that question up. This is a very serious matter, and our administration takes it seriously. As members of the press corps here know, I have, at times, complained about leaks of security information, whether the leaks be in the legislative branch or in the executive branch. And I take those leaks very seriously.

And, therefore, we will cooperate fully with the Justice Department. I've got all the confidence in the world the Justice Department will do a good, thorough job. And that's exactly what I want them to do, is a good, thorough job. I'd like to know who leaked, and if anybody has got any information inside our government or outside our government who leaked, you ought to take it to the Justice Department so we can find out the leaker.

I have told my staff, I want full cooperation with the Justice Department. And when they ask for information, we expect the information to be delivered on a timely basis. I expect it to be delivered on a timely basis. I want there to be full participation, because, April, I am most interested in finding out the truth.

And, you know, there's a lot of leaking in Washington, D.C. It's a town famous for it. And if this helps stop leaks of -- this investigation in finding the truth, it will not only hold someone to account who should not have leaked -- and this is a serious charge, by the way. We're talking about a criminal action, but also hopefully will help set a clear signal we expect other leaks to stop, as well. And so I look forward to finding the truth.

Actually, I doubt Bush is looking forward to anything that is remotely related to the Truth when it comes to this TreasonGate.

UPDATE (Bob): We all knew that more and more people are going to be sucked into the TreasonGate Scandal, Digby gets the following tip:

Wilson indicates that the work up on him beginning March, 2003, turned up the information on Valerie -- which was then shared with Karl Rove who then circulated it through Administration and neo-Conservative circles. He cites conservative journalists who claimed to have had the information before the Novak column.

So the question is -- in the work-up process beginning about March 2003, who had the information re: Plame?

I think it was John Bolton. At the time he was State Department Deputy Secretary with the portfolio in WMD and Nuclear Proliferation. Assuming that Valerie Plame's identity was that of a NOC (No Official Cover) the information about her would have been highly classified, compartmentalized, and only those with a need to know would know. Bolton's Job probably gave him that status. However to receive it he would have to sign off on the classification -- that is he would have to agree to retain the security the CIA had established.

At the time, Bolton had two assistants who also worked in the White House in Cheney's office, David Wurmser and John Hannah. Their names have been around as the potential leakers -- Hannah if you remember is the guy who kept putting the Yellow Cake back in Bush's speeches even though Tenet had demanded it be removed.

So -- I think we have a game of catch going on here -- or maybe some version of baseball, and the scoring is Bolton to Wurmser and Hannah, to Cheney (and/or Libby) to Rove.

more to come...

Posted at 01:59 PM in General, Plamegate, Republicans, Scandals | Comments (5) | Technorati

GOP: Rove Fingered for Outing Plame

Posted by Bob Brigham

Oh boy, we're talking federal crime. Via Americablog, the transcript shows up on DailyKos:

"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's emails-within Time Magazine, uh, are handed over to the grand jury is the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is. And I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of-for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time Magazine's going to do with the grand jury."

More at Catch and discussion on Eschaton.

UPDATE: (B0b): From Editor and Publisher:

Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, top White House mastermind Karl Rove.

Here is the transcript of O'Donnell's remarks:

"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's e-mails, within Time Magazine, are handed over to the grand jury, the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is.

"And I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury."

Other panelists then joined in discussing whether, if true, this would suggest a perjury rap for Rove, if he told the grand jury he did not leak to Cooper.

On top of the federal crime of outing a covert operative, it now looks like perjury bonus points would pile on.

Posted at 12:45 AM in Plamegate, Republicans | Technorati

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

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Indictments of White House Staff

Friday, September 23, 2005

Scandal: Karl Rove and Jack Abramoff

Sunday, September 18, 2005

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Wednesday, August 24, 2005

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Monday, August 08, 2005

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Tuesday, July 26, 2005

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Monday, July 25, 2005

12 Hour Gap: White House Cover-up of Rove Scandal

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Friday, July 22, 2005

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Thursday, July 21, 2005

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Sunday, July 17, 2005

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Friday, July 15, 2005

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