NY Times Editors Go Insane

The Valerie Plame case has claimed another victim - the editors of the NY Times have lost their minds.

Their latest editorial calls on Special Counsel Fitzgerald to put or or shut up [in a "WHILE THE TIMES PASSES THE TIME" update, we exhort the Times to do the same]:

Last week, it was reported that Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, was the first to mention Valerie Wilson to Mr. Novak, and that the federal prosecutor knew this more than two and a half years ago.     The revelation tells us something important. But, unfortunately, it is not the answer to the central question in the investigation — whether there was an organized attempt by the White House to use Mrs. Wilson to discredit or punish her husband, Joseph Wilson.

...

Mr. Armitage, a White House outsider, would be an odd participant in such a plot. He is said to have learned from a State Department memo that Mrs. Wilson had recommended sending her husband to check the Niger story since he had worked there as a diplomat. The memo was prepared for Mr. Cheney, who was eager to prove that there was an Iraqi nuclear weapons program and to silence critics.

It’s conceivable that Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor, has evidence that suggests the information in the memo was used in some illegal manner. Or his investigators may have learned something troubling about the second, unknown, source cited in Mr. Novak’s column, or about some other illegal activity. But whatever it is needs to be made public. The Armitage story is mainly a reminder that this investigation has gone on too long.

...It’s time for Mr. Fitzgerald to provide answers or admit that this investigation has run its course.

Oh, stop - Labor Day officially kicked off the fall election season so now the Times wants Fitzgerald to hand a gift to one party or the other?  Why couldn't they have written this editorial in mid-June following the All-Clear For Karl announcement?  It is not as if the Armitage story is driving this, since, as the Times noted, "In recent months... Mr. Armitage’s role had become clear to many".

Look, if Fitzgerald is about to indict someone, fine, bring it on  (pigs may fly, IMHO).  But does the Times really expect him to send out a press release saying "I am ever-so-close to some Really Big Indictments, but I'm Not Quite There"?  Republicans would howl, and rightly so.

Or should the Special Counsel stage an "ally-ally-in-come free" press conference sometime soon?  Dems will wonder why that couldn't have waited until after the election; some will wonder why Fitzgerald could not have been a bit more forthcoming in the fall of 2004, when news that Libby and Rove were under the microscope might have swung the election.

Well.  The Times has certainly handed the Bush Administration a gift.  With the NY Times providing cover, shouldn't AG Gonzalez ask Fitzgerald for an update on his status and plans?  The Public Wants To Know!

And if the prognosis is grim for Cheney et al (it's not), then the Attorney general can exhort Fitzgerald to carry on and maintain his no-leak procedures.

But if the news is good for the Administration, will the Times object to a well-informed highly placed source passing that news along?  How could they?

This editorial is absurd - the Times will just have to wait with the rest of us for this investigation to fizzle out under its own lack of evidence.

BUT WHILE WE WAIT:  Doug Johnston of the Times thought it was over in June:

The decision to decline a prosecution in Mr. Rove's case effectively ends the active investigative phase of Mr. Fitzgerald's inquiry because Mr. Rove was the only person known to still be under active scrutiny.

The WaPo provided a source for that same conclusion:

With Rove's situation resolved, the broader leak investigation is probably over, according to a source briefed on the status of the case. Fitzgerald does not appear to be pursuing criminal charges against former State Department official Richard L. Armitage, who is believed to have discussed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame with at least one reporter, according to the source.

"I'm not worried about my situation," Armitage said last night on the Charlie Rose television show.

A source briefed on the case said that the activities of Vice President Cheney and his aides were a key focus of the investigation, and that Cheney was not considered a target or primary subject of the investigation and is not likely to become one. There are no other outstanding issues to be investigated, the source said, though new ones could emerge as Fitzgerald continues to prosecute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, on charges of lying to investigators and a grand jury.

The deeply committed still hold out hope that Libby will strike a deal to rat out Cheney before Bush delivers a pardon; for the rest of us, this is a Dead Case Walking.

ERRATA:  Here are some confidence-undermining points leaving one to wonder if the Times has followed this case:

It’s conceivable that Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor, has evidence that suggests the information in the memo was used in some illegal manner. Or his investigators may have learned something troubling about the second, unknown, source cited in Mr. Novak’s column, or about some other illegal activity.

The "second, unknown source"?  Are they talking about Karl Rove, who has been identified in court filings and by Bob Novak himself? I am at sea - all we know about Armitage is that several reporters have sources saying he was the leaker; neither Armitage nor Novak has confirmed that.  On the other hand, Novak has identified Rove.  So don't we "know" Rove is involved?

A second annoying bit of text is here:

A former diplomat, Mr. Wilson debunked the claim that Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from Niger to make nuclear weapons.

Well, he debunked the claim that Saddam had succeeded in buying uranium from Niger.  As to the attempt, Christopher Hitchens has been pounding the table about the 1999 trip to Niger by Saddam's nuclear ambassador.

Finally, the Times is factually challenged here (emphasis added):

Mr. Armitage, a White House outsider, would be an odd participant in such a plot. He is said to have learned from a State Department memo that Mrs. Wilson had recommended sending her husband to check the Niger story since he had worked there as a diplomat. The memo was prepared for Mr. Cheney, who was eager to prove that there was an Iraqi nuclear weapons program and to silence critics.

No, the memo was prepared at the request of Marc Grossman of State in response to questions from Libby (and by extension, Cheney); Mr. Grossman wanted a review of the State Department and INR role in the Wilson trip and the Niger-uranium reporting.  As best I know, neither Cheney nor Libby ever saw the memo, although Libby had a meeting with Grossman during which he was orally advised of its contents.

WHILE THE TIMES PASSES THE TIME:  While the Times waits for an accounting from Special Counsel Fitzgerald, perhaps they could deliver a bit of an accounting themselves:

(1) How did the Times fail to disclose, as part of the July 6 Wilson op-ed, that Wilson was working for the Kerry campaign and had changed the "debunked the forgery" story reported by Nick Kristof? Wouldn't that have been valuable to readers attempting to assess his credibility?

2. In all their fulminating about investigating the leak, did the Times ever grill Nick Kristof as to whether Wilson or his wife spilled the beans to Nick?  They all had breakfast together while Joe told his story, so this is not exactly a longshot.

And since we are talking about both a criminal and civil suit, doesn't the public have a right to a bit of a hint as to just how deep the BS is running here? (Aside - Yes, this strikes to the soul of the Times' "Protect our sources" religion, but I'll ask anyway)

3. Why did Times editors lie about just what it was Judy Miller was protecting when she went to jail?  Here is Bill Keller:

TERENCE SMITH: Now, the prosecutor made the point in court that not only does he know the identity of Judy Miller's source, that he -- that the source has signed a waiver of confidentiality, in which case, what is Judy Miller defending?

BILL KELLER: I don't know whether the special prosecutor knows the identity of her source. I do know this: that Judy Miller made an absolute pledge to her source that she would not reveal his name or the substance of their conversation, and to this point, she has received no waiver or release that she regards as freely given anyway from that source.

Fitzgerald had delivered a subpoena ordering Ms. Miller to describe her contacts with one person, I. Lewis Libby; Times management had reviewed the case with Ms. Miller and her attorneys.  Even if they had not been apprised of his name, surely they understood that there was a name, and just one - the WaPo understood, as did their readers.

Now, when she testified Ms. Miller certainly gave the impression that she had discussed Ms. Plame with more people than just Libby, so she may have been in jail to protect them (that was my Official Editorial Speculation last summer, anyway).  But that is hardly what Bill Keller is discussing here.

Comments

[Lew Clark]

The Times telling Fitz to "Put up or shut up" can be viewed two ways. A call for Fitz to drop the whole thing if he has nothing, or (more typical of the NYT) "Dammit Fitz, our side has an election coming up and we need your help. Accuse, indict, do pressers. It doesn't have to be based on fact. Make it the standard October Surprise, then we say never mind in December, after we gain control of congress."

[Other Tom]

A once-proud institution, now in way over its head and floundering. The cataclysmic tenure of the Pinch-Raines-Keller bunch will be the stuff of bemused post-mortems fifty years from now, no doubt published in a popular medium now beyond the imagination of anyone at the Times. Having hated the dishonest bastards at this rag for the forty-odd years of my adult life, I celebrate their disgraceful decline in a most unsportsmanlike manner. God damn them, and bad luck to them.

[clarice]

Or they are embarrassed by their role in this and just want the whole damned thing to go away so they can start a new mediagenic scandal.

[ordi]

Or is this their way of asking their source to send more info on the investigation. They may be paranoid/afraid to contact their source without leaving a traceable trail. ;)

[capitano]

Or they are embarrassed by their role in this and just want the whole damned thing to go away so they can start a new mediagenic scandal.

Martha Burke clears her calendar for the next 6 months.

[Sue]

The "second, unknown source"?

The only thing I could think of was the article Novak wrote that said a confidential source at CIA told him Valerie Plame was an analyst. I think it was in the 2nd article he wrote, where he said Armitage was no political gunslinger. I'll go look...

[JM Hanes]

Sheesh. First Johnston has Libby "commisioning" the INR memo and now they've got Cheney behesting it. They. Just. Can't. Learn.

[JM Hanes]

Oh, and while they're waiting for Fitzgerald, there's a long list of questions they could be answering themselves.

[patch]

Didn't Grossman change Valerie's last name in the memo from Wilson to Plame?...or am I thinking about something else?

[Cecil Turner]

No, the memo was prepared at the request of Marc Grossman of State in response to questions from Libby (and by extension, Cheney);

Regardless, it ought to be obvious from reading it that the subject is not "Valerie Plame," but the more generic Wilson/Niger. Which "muddies" any suggestion the question was a nefarious attempt to generate a known response.

[Sue]

However, an unofficial source at the Agency says she has been an analyst, not in covert operations.

Well, it doesn't read like I thought I remembered it. What does 'unofficial source' mean?

Novak

[Tom Maguire]

The only thing I could think of was the article Novak wrote that said a confidential source at CIA told him Valerie Plame was an analyst.

Interesting idea, but... per Novak's tell All column, Fitzgerald only grilled him about three Plame related chats, all from before July 14 - Harlow (CIA press flack), Rove, and a source to be named later (now "known" to be Armitage).

That suggests that the unofficial source for the Oct 1 column talked to Novak post July 14 (or at least, kept his role concealed through the investigation.)

So how did Fitzgerald get troubling info about this person, and how did the Times become aware of it?

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Well the editors are insane, that's a given, but the fact remains it is way past time for Fitz to sh!t or get off the pot. So, does anyone know what is going on with him or with the Libby court case? When are they due back in court? What motions are due? What do the current revelations do to to or for the Libby defense? Lots of questions ... when will we see some action?

[Tom Maguire]

while they're waiting for Fitzgerald, there's a long list of questions they could be answering themselves.

I love that. Off the top of my head I can think of three:

1. How did the Times fail to disclose, as part of the July 6 Wilson op-ed, that Wilson was working for the Kerry campaign and had changed the "debunked the forgery" story reported by Nick Kristof? Wouldn't that have been valuable to readers attempting to assesshis credibility?

2. In all their fulminating about investigating the leak, did the Times ever grill Nick Kristof as to whether Wilson or his wife spilled the beans to Nick?

Seeing as how we are talking about both a criminal and civil suit, doesn't the public have a right to a bit of a hint as to just how deep the BS is running here? (This strikes a tthe core of their "Protect our sources" religion, but I'll ask anyway)

3. Why did Times editors lie about just what it was Judy Miller was protecting when she went to jail? I am short on links, but the Times kept pretending she was protecting the *identity* of her source, which was not so.

[Sue]

I didn't say it was an airtight idea. ::grin::

Or his investigators may have learned something troubling about the second, unknown, source cited in Mr. Novak’s column

Okay. Reading it as the 2nd unknown source cited in Mr. Novak's column (the 1st one, I assume) they are referring to Rove. Who was technically the 2nd unknown source in Novak's column when it was written. Sloppy writing on their part?

[Sue]

Dagnab it!

[Sue]

pretending she was protecting the *identity* of her source

So why did she sit in jail until Fitzgerald allowed her to only testify about Libby? Maybe she was protecting the identity of her source. And it wasn't Libby.

[clarice]

Tom M, she contuned to refuse to testify, if you recall, until Fitz promised not to ask her about other sources.
Her notes indicate she had other sources and apparently so testified.
OTOH (a) she said she didn't recall them when Fitz surprised her by reneging on his pledge and she had no counsel present to object; and(b) Judge Walton who examined the Times documents indicate they contain material which may impeach her depending on how she testifies at trial.

Perhaps those other notes indicate those other sources.

[clarice]

**CONTINUED*******

[Javani]

Remaining questions needed to be answered -

1. Who set up Josh Marshall with Rocco Martino and was this part of a French intel operation?

2. If Karl Rove is such a smart operative, why didn't he have the smarts to attach the tag "Kerry campaign advisor" to Wilson's name in every Republican comment about the case once that role became known?

[Sue]

I have a great idea. The NYTs could explain how they came to believe what Wilson was telling them. They surely didn't use him as a single source for his story. Who vouched for him?

[Javani]

Clarice writes:

""OTOH (a) she said she didn't recall them when Fitz surprised her by reneging on his pledge and she had no counsel present to object;...""

IMO there are two storylines about the journalists that have been not covered as they deserve:

1. The lame excuses they leaked about the type and amount of waivers Miller and Cooper leaked they needed, creating the impression that the difficulty was with Rove and Libby, and heightening the case's intrigue. Turns out they were negotiating to not spill the beans on others than Rove and Libby.

2. Novak's admission that two sources told him not to print about Mrs. Wilson - but he did so anyway.

""...and(b) Judge Walton who examined the Times documents indicate they contain material which may impeach her depending on how she testifies at trial."

Pretty sures that's Cooper and Time, not Miller and Times.

[kate]

Oh, goodness. This is over. Is the grand jury even meeting on this still, it Fitz still in DC or back in Chicago. He's probably just let open for anything new until Libby's trial. Plus if he ends it now he'll have an army of angry moonbats after him.

[Syl]

Tom M, she contuned to refuse to testify, if you recall, until Fitz promised not to ask her about other sources.

Yes, she got assurance she would only be asked about Libby, but she also got a personal waiver from him which I think was more significant.

Miller wasn't protecting the identity of the source, that was known. (Libby)

She was protecting the contents of their conversation.

Yet it turned out she didn't even remember that conversation. :)

And wasn't even sure of the meaning of the stuff in her notes of the conversation. :)

[Neo]

I thought we established some time back that Fitzgerald was being supervised by Public Domain so I guess we should assume that AG Gonzalez already has the answer as to the status of Fitzgerald's investigation via these pieces in the Times and Post.

[clarice]

Javani, I correvtly described the Judge's ruling respecting Miller. The situation re Cooper is worse for the prosecution. The judge said of the documents in Times' possession, that they make Cooper's testimony no matter how he testifies at trial.

[Patton]

The Times forgot one main point about Fitzs investigation.

He has NOT found a single crime committed regarding this incident. With all the hype, NOT ONE CRIME.

Armitage was telling everyone who would listen about Plame and Wilson was bragging about being a CIA operative all over town...BUT NO CRIMES.

[clarice]

Syl,Judy was blindsided by Fitz. He asked her about a conversation EARLIER than the one he'd been focusing on ..Remember she didn't even have those notes with her at the gj so she obviously hadn't reviewed them before testifying and he asked her about other sources when he had promised her he would not.

Yes, the dance about the waiver from Libby was particularly revolting though.

[clarice]

******The judge said of the documents in Times' possession, that they make Cooper's testimony IMPEACHABLE no matter how he testifies at trial**********

[Tom Maguire]

Maybe she was protecting the identity of her source. And it wasn't Libby.

Good point - get me rewrite.

[Neo]

Please indulge me for a momemnt ..

wasn't there a personal connection between Joe Wilson and this Marc Grossman guy at State ?

[Sue]

Neo,

Fitz does seem to keep stepping in it, doesn't he? ::grin::

[clarice]

TomM, I have a permanent claim on rewrite. Sorry.

[Mister Snitch!]

Look, it's not as if the Times hasn't always been upfront regarding where it's coming from. See right there? "All the news that fits, we print." It's not their fault if you thought that meant news that fit in the available SPACE.

[lurker]

Yes, they were long-time friends, Neo.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

You gotta love Coulter:

Point No. 2, that Wilson's wife was an undercover agent, has been proved false even to the willfully blind since Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced the conclusion to his pointless investigation last year, saying that Plame's employment with the CIA was not undercover, but merely "classified."

Everything is "classified" at the CIA. They have no idea when 19 terrorists are about to hijack commercial aircraft and slaughter 3,000 Americans, but the CIA is very good at play-acting James Bond spy games.

How covert was Valerie Plame at the CIA? Her top-secret code name was "Valerie Plame."

From: Human Events Online "The End of an Error"

[Neo]

Thanx lurker.

So the guy who seems to be the pivotal character at State in regard to the Plamegate fiasco is a long time friend of Mr. Plame.

Pigs will fly.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

LOL. More from Coulter:

Thus, as recently as January of this year, a New York Times editorial said the issue of the "leak" about Wilson's wife, whom the Times called "a covert CIA operative whose identity was leaked" (two strikes already), concerned "whether the White House was using this information in an attempt to silence Mrs. Wilson's husband, a critic of the Iraq invasion."

Wilson was more precise about the White House "leaker," variously naming Karl Rove, Lewis Libby and Dick Cheney as the source. He even described "a meeting in the suite of offices that the vice president occupies, chaired by either the vice president or Mr. Libby," where, Wilson said, the decision was made to destroy him.

(If the secret plan hatched in the vice president's office was to send evil spirits to enter Wilson's body and make him act like a fool, the plan worked brilliantly.)

LOL.

[Javani]

Thanks Clarice. I didn't know there were such rulings on both of them, I recalled only Cooper's.

[Sue]

(If the secret plan hatched in the vice president's office was to send evil spirits to enter Wilson's body and make him act like a fool, the plan worked brilliantly.)

I knew it. I knew it all along. Cheney is the one in charge of the Super Duper Mind Ray Machine and Rove is only allowed to use it with permission.

[Sue]

(If the secret plan hatched in the vice president's office was to send evil spirits to enter Wilson's body and make him act like a fool, the plan worked brilliantly.)

I knew it. I knew it all along. Cheney is the one in charge of the Super Duper Mind Ray Machine and Rove is only allowed to use it with permission.

[Sue]

Now that is just plain weird. My post went through while it was making me type in a super duper secret code word.

Cheney strikes again...

[maryrose]

"Maybe she was protecting the identity of her source and it wasn't Libby"
Very intriguing indeed!
Kate:
I agree the fat lady is singing and this case is over. However the BMOC Fitz has requested a closed private conference on what documents can be used in the Libby trial. He is afraid to reveal classified info publicly.

[clarice]

I'm trying to recall something. When documentation was made public respecting the sealed pleadings Fitz made to the Miller court, some remained classified, didn't they? If so , it is possible he disclosed Armitage's confession. If not, it is certain he didn't.

Does anyone recall?

[Other Tom]

To pick up on one of Coulter's points, I have always said (taking my cue from Dr. Johnson or Churchill or someone) that the only prayer I have ever offered up to the Almighty is that my adversary be made to appear ridiculous. Finally, in the case of the whey-faced buffoon Wilson, my prayer has been answered. Hallelujah and Excelsior!

[Michael Tinkler]

I *love* the formulation "White House outsider".

[kate]

maryrose-maybe Fitz is too embarrassed to show his face in public. Ole Fitz is getting a little camera shy suddenly.

[MayBee]

Here's what the NYTs really is saying:

If you aren't going to oust the Imperial President from Office, step down so we can call for the next Special Prosecutor!

[Thomas Morrissey]

Other Tom

A variant on that theme, "those that the gods would destroy, they first make mad."

Ancient Greeks,but it fits,especially with all this "hubris" floating around.

[topsecretk9]

I told you Grossman took a page from Wilson's playbook and INR was at the behest of Cheney...