"Fair Game" By Valerie Plame - Based On A True Story

I am paging through Valerie Plame's bio, which hit the bookstores today.  Time does not permit a full assessment, but a few points have caught my eye so far:

1.  Was Valerie at the fateful breakfast in May 2003 when Joe discussed his classified trip with Nick Kristof?  Don't ask, and she won't tell.

2.  Was Joe working for the Kerry campaign in the summer of 2003 when he penned his NY Times op-ed?  The Boston Globe said so, and Joe admitted as much on NBC News, but that factoid eluded Ms. Plame and her publisher.

3.  Didn't the State Dept. and the Pentagon chime in asking for the CIA stance on the Feb 12 2002 Pentagon report that caught Cheney's eye and eventually led to a fateful phone call to Ms. Plame's unit of the CIA?  Weren't the wheels set in motion for the Wilson trip even before Cheney was briefed on the new DIA report on Niger and yellowcake?  Again, don't ask - in Ms. Plame's telling, the only interest in Niger and yellowcake was coming from the Vice President's office, and she is standing by her "Walking-By Guy" story - some underling nominated Joe to her as a candidate for the Niger trip, she and the underling then suggested Joe to her boss, and therefore she was not involved in suggesting Joe.  I have no doubt that explanation will work for her audience.

4.  Trouble In Paradise - apparently, Valerie forgot to mention to Old Joe that she had written a memo promoting him for the trip; when the Senate Intel report panned Wilson in July 2004 he was furious and felt (somewhat understandably) that the memo undercut his claim that his wife had no involvement in his Niger trip.  Oops!

The skimming continues!  Among other trivia points I very much want to see how she explains her leave of absence in June 2004, and I can't wait to learn whether Joe, never affiliated with the Kerry campaign in her telling, somehow becomes unaffiliated.

Comments

[PeterUK]

Looks like TM got a remaindered copy early.

[Matthew Crandall]

Hmm, somehow I think "OJ: How I woulda done it" is a more truthful book than anything written by the wonder twins of duplicity, Valerie and Joe.

[Sue]

I very much want to see how she explains her leave of absence in June 2004

Something to do with the VF shoot?

[Sue]

It still bugs me when Joe and Val ignore Armitage. There is a reason they do that, but other than keeping the story on Cheney/Rove/Libby, I can't figure it out. Was he the man they sent to start it all?

[BarbaraS]

The problem with lying is people forget not only what lies they told but also what lies their allies told that they are supposed to support. This sounds like the case. She doesn't sound too terribly smart. The question is was she a bimbo because she was CIA or was she CIA because she was a bimbo?

[Topsecretk9]

NYT's Blog not all that impressed.

this is pretty funny:

“Leaks are always bad news,” Ms. Wilson said.

In her brand new blog on Huffington Post, Ms. Wilson seemed more taken aback by the sudden celebrity:

Watching myself on 60 Minutes was surreal — who can ever get used to seeing themselves on TV? I guess the book tour has really started and it will be a crazy week ahead.

She also told “60 Minutes” that she regretted posing for pictures for a “Vanity Fair” spread. However, in the book, she admitted enjoying the image the photos encouraged — that she was a beautiful blonde. “I suppose that was better than an ‘ugly blonde’ — I do have an ego,” she said.

She’ll be updating the blog all week, she said before bidding readers good night: “I have an early wakeup call tomorrow to do the Today Show.” And there she was this morning in her first live interview. (”60 Minutes” is taped).

Well DUH!

[Sue]

Isn't there some kind of copyright infringement with the title of her book?

Fair Game The movie.

[MaidMarion]

Here's a question Couric missed:

"Was your counter-proliferation unit involved with the coordination of the 2002 Iraq NIE and if so, did you, as chief of your unit, note any of your concerns about its analytical assessments prior to its final publication?"

[Topsecretk9]

1. Was Valerie at the fateful breakfast in May 2003 when Joe discussed his classified trip with Nick Kristof? Don't ask, and she won't tell.

This is a good point because I believe at the Congressional hearing earlier this year she did admit she was present and didn't see anything wrong with it. One would think she'd take the opportunity in her book to explain why dining with journos while husband discusses classified was accepted CIA protocol.(tongue in check)

[Sue]

How dirty did the tricks get? Ms. Wilson describes being denied protection by the C.I.A., fearing for her children’s safety, finding out that her tax returns were being audited and having been lucky enough to discover that some bolts holding the Wilsons’ outdoor deck, high above the ground, had disappeared.

Sheesh

[Sue]

How dirty did the tricks get? Ms. Wilson describes being denied protection by the C.I.A., fearing for her children’s safety, finding out that her tax returns were being audited and having been lucky enough to discover that some bolts holding the Wilsons’ outdoor deck, high above the ground, had disappeared.

I seriously give up. My post at 3:28 is a quote from the NYT's review of her book.

[Sue]

Why would the CIA deny her protection if she was unfairly "outed"?

[kim]

Speaking of bolts, I thought they were bolting to East Africa not long before they decamped to New Mexico. Now it comes out that it was New Zealand they were looking at. Well, there is a poorly protected border for him, still.
=================================

[Topsecretk9]

1. Was Valerie at the fateful breakfast in May 2003 when Joe discussed his classified trip with Nick Kristof? Don't ask, and she won't tell.

Hearing Transcript - YARGB

REP. DAVIS: Let me just ask, try to put some -- some of the press speculation to rest and give you an opportunity to answer. In January 2004, Vanity Fair published an article -- not always known for great accuracy -- touching on your role in the Niger uranium affair. It said -- this was what they said -- "In early May, Wilson and Plame attended a conference sponsored by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee at which Wilson spoke about Iraq . One of the other panelists was New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Over breakfast the next morning with Kristof and his wife, Wilson told about his trip to Niger and said Kristof could write about it but not name him." Is that account accurate?

MS. PLAME WILSON: I think it is. I had nothing -- I was not speaking to Mr. Kristof. And I think my husband did say that he had undertaken this trip, but not to be named as a source.

REP. DAVIS: Okay.

Just to be clear, when your -- the article says that -- says your husband "met for breakfast with Kristof and his wife." Just to be clear, were you at the breakfast?

MS. PLAME WILSON: Briefly, yes, Congressman.

REP. DAVIS: Okay.

On June 13th, Kristof wrote a column about the Niger uranium matter. He wrote that he was piecing the story toge the r from two people directly involved and three others who were briefed on it. Do you know if you were one of those people he was referring to?

MS. PLAME WILSON: I can't imagine that I would be. I did not speak to him about it.

REP. DAVIS: Okay.

What about your husband? Would he have been one of the sources, probably?

MS. PLAME WILSON: I think he was speaking to Mr. Kristof at that point.

REP. DAVIS: Okay.

Was any of that information classified, to your knowledge?

MS. PLAME WILSON: Not that I'm aware of.

REP. DAVIS: I yield back at this point.

Plames book may make me think I am reading Pravda!

4. Trouble In Paradise - apparently, Valerie forgot to mention to Old Joe that she had written a memo promoting him for the trip; when the Senate Intel report panned Wilson in July 2004 he was furious and felt (somewhat understandably) that the memo undercut his claim that his wife had no involvement in his Niger trip.

and from the TM wayback machine on Plames hearing

And certainly, Plame then knew that her husband's "behesting" tale was a fable.

Absolutely true, even with the tale Jeff wove.

Posted by: MayBee | March 17, 2007 at 01:19 AM

And certainly, Plame then knew that her husband's "behesting" tale was a fable.

She went home and told him about the phone call that upset her assistant and the 'crazy report'. Joe, being important and all, put 2 and 2 together and the rest, as they say, is history.

Posted by: Sue | March 17, 2007 at 01:20 AM

She knew the Kristof article was false. She knew the Pincus article was false. She knew that Wilson's op-ed was false. She knew Wilson was calling all over Washington complaining about being, boo-hoo, low level....Posted by: Sue

She is a strange bird.

[Rick Ballard]

"Why would the CIA deny her protection if she was unfairly "outed"?"

Alien abduction was the only identifiable threat involved, according to the CIA risk analysis. They sent her a case of Reynolds Wrap, what more does she want?

[Topsecretk9]

Sue -- the tax business? Sounds like Plame was a subject of a counter-intelligence investigation if you ask me, and the whole episode - outing ect. etc. - was to create a big giant cloud to get out that.

[Sue]

Rick,

::grin:: I was thinking if they didn't provide her protection they weren't too concerned with the outing, which is how they treated it until Tenet got involved. Payback by Tenet against Cheney? That is my guess.

Top,

I can't imagine what those 2 were up to. With their connections to Scary and others of his ilk, anything is possible.

[Rick Ballard]

Tops,

$100 says no "audit" was involved. The IRS is getting better and better at sending NHI dunning letters claiming taxes due for simple errors. If you want to avoid them - do your taxes in crayon. At least an actual human being will read them.

[Sue]

Maybe the IRS wanted to see if Mr. Wilson claimed those expenses to Niger that the CIA supposedly reimbursed him for.

[glasater]

"She is a strange bird"

....and a liar--but that doesn't seem to mean anything any longer.

[kim]

I believe Joe tried to cozy up to Richardson, but ended up signing up with Hillary. Surely there must be someone from the Kerry campaign around, to remember the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. That was one honorable thing Kerry did; of course I believe he was so prescient because he'd been at the early May Senate Democratic Policy Committee meeting of much interest and secrecy.

If the 'Bush Lied, People Died' meme weren't both so necessary and so powerful, the Joe and Val Show would have gone poof years ago. But the meme is false, the Iraqi War was just and is now nearly won. Surely these two will get their comeuppance.
============================

[kim]

We use the term 'strange' because despite all we know, and the perspicacity of the viewers, we still don't know much about what she or he did, and what motivated them.

I'm still expecting her to leave him and run off with Larry.
=======================

[Sue]

I'm still expecting her to leave him and run off with Larry.

A genuine laugh out loud! However, I have expected Joe to leave her and run off with Larry.

[PeterUK]

"My husband has good relations with the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity."

Why wasn't "Counterproliferation Woman" able to do this? After all she had that huge network of agents at her beck and call.

Perhaps the book should stare,"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.Once upon a time there was a beautiful young blonde princess who was the last bastion of Western civilisation..."

[MayBee]

So she is going with version 2.0 of walking by guy? The upset colleague in the office after the mysterious person from the VP office called brings the attention of walking by guy?
Or did she go with version 1.0, where only walking by guy exists?

[MayBee]

ps. At Firedoglake, it was Sidney Blumenthal that introduced the Wilsons to the book salon today.
Mrs. Wilson also mentions that they hosted Marcy, Jane, et al at their house for dinner during the trial.
I wish Jerry was here, so we could talk about independence of bloggers again.

[Sligobob]

Tom, Tom, Tom:

Enough with Plame!

I want to know what you think of this "Albus is gay" business.

[PMII]

So, what's the best color crayon to use when doing your return?

[Appalled Moderate]

Anyone:

A matter of curiosity. Are there any interesting nuggets in the Plame book at all? Everything I see suggests a production remarkably free of content, except the book continues the unfortunate tren of the hearings of making the woman sound like an utter dim bulb.

[MayBee]

AM-
I haven't read the book and I certainly won't pay for it. I know the WaPo said it was obviously not ghost written, and suffered from that.

Tom Maguire-
Jeff was gamely asking Valerie questions like this at FDL:

Just to be precise, Fitzgerald determined you were a “covert agent” according to the IIPA, meaning you had done covert work overseas in the five years prior to having your cover blown by the Bush administration. So that is not in doubt. What I am curious about is whether the CIA, for their pension calculations or whatever, properly counted your work overseas in that period as part of “overseas service” according to their definition.

But she didn't answer that or any of his (somewhat challenging) questions.

[RichatUF]

And speaking of Plame, it seems my rather pathatic attempt at live blogging the 60 Minutes piece wasn't necessary. CBS has a transcript up

[PeterUK]

"Just to be precise, Fitzgerald determined you were a “covert agent” according to the IIPA, meaning you had done covert work overseas in the five years prior to having your cover blown by the Bush administration."

It is my understanding that Mr Fitzgerald did no such thing,nor did he charge anyone with a violation of the IIPA.

[RichatUF]

...At Firedoglake, it was Sidney Blumenthal that introduced the Wilsons to the book salon today...

I suppose that is what one gets when you drag a hundred dollar bill around Chinatown.

Why am I not surprised that Sid Vicious is stalking the edges of this...

[Topsecretk9]

She said this at FDL -

"And I did sit in one meeting - timeframe unclear to me - with Mr. Libby. I was just a “backbencher” though, with no speaking role. How ironic, huh?"

---

Time frame unlcear?

Come ON! Miss brilliant can't pinpoint a meeting?

But Scooter Libby is supposed to remember every second of every waking day years ago?

This get even more stupid by the minute.

[clarice]

Sid was circling Isikoff and Hamsher at the trial.

[hit and run]

Apologies for cross-posting -- but I am putting the below in this thread for futre reference... and because it fits here any way.

I have no idea of the editorial selection process, but if approved, the below should show up in UrbanDictionary.com (just submitted today):

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

covertiness

1. the state in which a person claims to be covered by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act as a covert agent while behaving in a manner so as to remove that status or to expose it as false. Such behavior may manifest itself in acts such as: 1) telling a boyfriend on your third or fourth date that you are a CIA agent during a heavy make out session; 2) driving to CIA headquarters without fear of exposure; 3) recommending your spouse for a CIA trip 4) attending inter-agency meetings communicating your relationship with the CIA to persons without a need to know; 5) allowing your spouse to write an Op-ed in the New York Times about that CIA trip; 6) after finding out that a journalist has discovered your identity, calling your boss just to let him know as if it's a minor inconvenience; 7) posing for pictures in a magazine without regard for the safety of colleagues who may be compromised by your exposure.

2. the possession of a relationship to an intelligence agency that is not general knowledge, but is easily ascertainable with minimum research.

Her covertiness was quickly exposed by behaviors that no actual covert person would possibly contemplate.

Would love to stay and chat, but must hit and run, if you will...

Jane and Elliott, thanks for the debate liveblogging in the other thread...you are my hero and my heroin.

Wait, is there supposed to be an 'e' on that last word?

Nah...

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Katie showed a little of the trademark spunk at times:

"Did you ever talk to him, weigh the pros and cons of going public with this?" Couric asks.

"No, he had thought long and hard about doing this before writing this piece, this op-ed piece," Plame Wilson says. "It had nothing whatsoever to do with me."

"You never for a moment thought this could potentially jeopardize my career?" Couric asks.

"It's called living your cover. This had nothing to do with what I was doing," Plame Wilson says.

"But admit it. It comes awfully close to what you were doing, even covertly. I mean, you were trying to ascertain if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He's writing an article saying it's really not valid, this one assertion. I mean, can't you see how those two things might collide in a very dangerous way?" Couric asks.

"Listen, he had information that was firsthand information that was in stark contrast to the lie, the 16 words that appeared in the president's State of the Union address. He wasn't supposed to say anything?" Plame Wilson replies.

Not if he possessed classified info, he wasn't.

[PeterUK]

"It's called living your cover. This had nothing to do with what I was doing," Plame Wilson says"

"Living Your Cover", the Hit Song from the New Musical "OUT!!"

This is going to leave,"Paint Your Wagon and "Climb Every Mountain" in the shade.
There is a come back for Britney in this.

[MayBee]

How is "living your cover" an answer to whether Joe Wilson outing himself as a CIA-affiliated person working in nuclear weapons and married to Valerie Plame Wilson seemed potentiallly career-threatening.

It seems to me "living your cover" would be Bob Novak calling and asking if Val worked for the CIA, and Joe saying "NO".

These two....

PUK- I believe Jeff was referring to information Fitzgerald filed in the sentencing phase, in which he mentions Plame being covered by the IIPA.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Maybe Katie should have Chris Matthews job, she's more of a man than he, here:

"You know, you're a covert CIA agent for X number of years and suddenly, you know, you're in this Greta Garbo pose in your husband's Jaguar," Couric remarks, referring to a photo that ran with the Vanity Fair article.

"It was more trouble than it was worth. And it was, I was not interviewed for the article. I was not identifiable. The damage had already been done," Plame Wilson says.

Asked if she regrets the photo, Plame Wilson says, "You have my answer."

Her boss, Plame Wilson says, reacted "poorly" to the photo. "As he had every right to do so. He was caught unawares. And he gave me a really good chewing out. As I deserved to be."

"Can you understand how people just were turned off by that whole thing? They felt, 'Gee maybe she's enjoying her celebrity a little too much,'" Couric remarks.

"Uh-huh," Plame Wilson admits. "Well, again, you have to ask 'Who are these people and what is their agenda?' 'Why are they asking that?'"

"What about those who think you and Joe have become too partisan?" Couric asks.

"Again, that's how it's how the 'right' has chosen to frame us," Plame Wilson says.

"You have become very partisan though. Would you agree with that?" Couric asks.

"After what we've been through and how I've seen this administration react, not
just on this issue, but on others, yes," Plame Wilson says.

And with this too:

Joe Wilson says that's no excuse.

"It was a mafia-like tactic. And the idea of going after your family, even in Washington, was an outrage. Nobody went after Karl Rove's family. Nobody went after Scooter Libby's family. They went after my family," Wilson says.

"But in all fairness, Karl Rove's wife doesn't work for the CIA," Couric remarks.

"How do you know?" Wilson says.

"Scooter Libby's wife doesn't work for the CIA," Couric says.

"How do you know? How do you know?" Wilson asks.

"I don't know for sure. But I think it's a safe assumption," Couric replies.

[PeterUK]

Featuring the Smash Hit Love Song.

"Once I Was a Covert Spy"

"Once I was a covert spy
Who lived her cover totally
All too soon my secret self
Became impatient to be free.

So I told a diplomat
The way that schemers often do
Just how wonderful I am
And why I am so in love with me.

Now I shout it from the highest hills
Because even we have got to pay the bills

At last my heart's an open door
And my covertness's no secret anymore.

[Topsecretk9]

"Listen, he had information that was firsthand information that was in stark contrast to the lie, the 16 words that appeared in the president's State of the Union address. He wasn't supposed to say anything?" Plame Wilson replies.

un-beliable.

[PeterUK]

"PUK- I believe Jeff was referring to information Fitzgerald filed in the sentencing phase, in which he mentions Plame being covered by the IIPA."

Fitzgerald was often very lax with terminological inexactitudes.

[MayBee]

At Firedoglake, Valerie also did not answer Jeff's questions about the timing of the call from the OVP to the distraught underling.

You know, I really would love to see Jeff get a chance to interview the Wilsons. He would do a decent job of it.

[RichatUF]

clarice-

Sid was circling Isikoff and Hamsher at the trial...

I re-remember it like it was yesterday. Sid does have vulture like tendencies

[MayBee]

I remember that too, clarice.

Apparently, all that hanging around Hamsher hasn't helped Blumenthal get the facts straight. Here's what he posted at FDL:

One abiding mystery unaddressed in Plame’s book remains the role of former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who corroborated Novak’s story (Rove being his main source) and leaking Plame’s name to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward for potential use in a book to be published later (not for a current newspaper article). .. Nor do we know the full contents of his grand jury testimony, though it may be unlikely that his exact motives were subject to interrogation by the special prosecutor. Sources in the intelligence community tell me that Armitage wished to be appointed CIA director in Bush’s second term. Armitage also had a long relationship with Rove. Moreover, Armitage had never before deigned to speak with or even return a phone call from Novak. Yet he called Novak himself to confirm Plame’s identity. It seems inconceivable that Armitage did this completely at his own initiative. Pointing to Armitage as a leaker settles nothing. Libby, Rove and Fleischer, meanwhile, were all leaking furiously. And Armitage has yet to explain.

what a clown

[RichatUF]

Patrick R. Sullivan-

from the 60 Minutes Transcript...

"It was more trouble than it was worth. And it was, I was not interviewed for the article. I was not identifiable. The damage had already been done," Plame Wilson says.

I link you decide.

Ridiculous. I'm still stunned by this story.

[Topsecretk9]

Maybee

anyone who needs a "What a clown Blumathal is" refresher course, look here:

Page 303: A senior White House official told Smith that Bill had been "seriously considering leveling with the American people" right after the Lewinsky scandal broke. So, what happened? Sidney Blumenthal, convinced of the president's innocence, advised him to hang tough.

The only thing I DON'T beleive about this passage is Blumenthal really was unaware Bill was a known horn dog as Bill was WANTING to "level" - but leave it to Blumenthal- Lewinsky slimer extroidinaire - to urge Bill to lie

http://www.slate.com/id/2176094/

[PeterUK]

"Sid was circling Isikoff and Hamsher at the trial...

I re-remember it like it was yesterday. Sid does have vulture like tendencies"

More like a blow fly.

[Other Tom]

If it's true, as some say, that Larry is a repressed homosexual, then I doubt she'll be running off with him.