Hubris? Chutzpah!

David Corn, co-author of "Hubris", is evidently a master at typing with a straight face - here he is, commenting on the Armitage/Plame story at his blog:

White House defenders are chortling. For some reason, they believe that the news from HUBRIS that Richard Armitage was the original leaker means there was nothing to the CIA leak case.

On the National Review site, Byron York writes

Whatever Armitage's motives, the fact that he was the Novak leaker undermines--destroys, actually--the conspiracy theory of the CIA-leak case.

He notes that the Newsweek story based on HUBRIS says that Armitage had "no apparent intention of harming anyone" and comments:

It's an extraordinary admission coming from Isikoff's co-author Corn, one of the leading conspiracy theorists of the CIA-leak case. "The Plame leak in Novak's column has long been cited by Bush administration critics as a deliberate act of payback, orchestrated to punish and/or discredit Joe Wilson after he charged that the Bush administration had misled the American public about the prewar intelligence," Corn and Isikoff write. "The Armitage news does not fit neatly into that framework." [Note: Actually, I wrote those lines on my blog; they were not part of the Newsweek story.]

Conspiracy theorist--moi? Where have I proposed a conspiracy theory? I have noted from the first that the leak might be evidence of a White House crime.

"Where have I proposed a conspiracy theory?"  Where indeed?  Let's start with his July 16 2003 article that launched this scandal, with comic emphasis added:

Did senior Bush officials blow the cover of a US intelligence officer working covertly in a field of vital importance to national security--and break the law--in order to strike at a Bush administration critic and intimidate others?

It sure looks that way, if conservative journalist Bob Novak can be trusted.

...

Soon after Wilson disclosed his trip in the media and made the White House look bad. the payback came. Novak's July 14, 2003, column presented the back-story on Wilson's mission and contained the following sentences: "Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate" the allegation.

Wilson caused problems for the White House, and his wife was outed as an undercover CIA officer.  Wilson says, "I will not answer questions about my wife. This is not about me and less so about my wife. It has always been about the facts underpinning the President's statement in the state of the union speech."

So he will neither confirm nor deny that his wife--who is the mother of three-year-old twins--works for the CIA. But let's assume she does. That would seem to mean that the Bush administration has screwed one of its own top-secret operatives in order to punish Wilson or to send a message to others who might challenge it.

... "Stories like this," Wilson says, "are not intended to intimidate me, since I've already told my story. But it's pretty clear it is intended to intimidate others who might come forward. You need only look at the stories of intelligence analysts who say they have been pressured. They may have kids in college, they may be vulnerable to these types of smears."

The Wilson smear was a thuggish act. Bush and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case for war. Now there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang politics trumps national security.

Or then again, maybe it was just chit-chat.  Well, who ever could have guessed that in the heady days of 2003, when there were crimes and conspiracies to allege?

Mr. Corn's current insistence that he only alleged a possible crime is beside the point - a deliberate scheme to smear Wilson and intimidate critics could certainly be characterized as a "conspiracy" regardless of its technical criminality.

Let's close with the view of WaPo reporter Walter Pincus:

Pincus believes that the Bush administration acted obnoxiously when it leaked Valerie Plame’s identity, but he has never been convinced by the argument that the leaks violated the law. “I don’t think it was a crime,” he says. “I think it got turned into a crime by the press, by Joe” — Wilson — “by the Democrats. The New York Times kept running editorials saying that it’s got to be investigated — never thinking that it was going to turn around and bite them.” The entire Plame investigation, he says, has been a distraction from a more fundamental conversation about how the White House handled evidence before the war.

Hat tip and screen credit to Patrick Sullivan.

UPDATE:  Byron York is very funny on his attempt to discuss this with David Corn:

Corn mentioned that I had referred to him as a "conspiracy theorist" of the CIA-leak case. He didn't like that, but when I pointed to some of the stories he had written about the case — for example, his articles entitled "Rove Scandal: A Conspiracy Charge for the White House?" and "The Cheney Conspiracy?" — he declined to talk about that, too.

Although Corn and his publicist are clamming up, none dare call it a conspiracy of silence.

Comments

[topsecretk9]

Doesn't Corn sound alot like Nick Kristof did when he finally addressed the conservative "bloggers" a long while back?

[Semanticleo]

So if it was so clear to everyone involved that leaking Plame was no crime (non-NOC) why is the cloudy puddle still a muddle after all the fidgety efforts to prove she had no classified status? Add years of hindsight and brilliant Plausible Denialism to all the armchair theoreticians and it becomes even more puzzling that it was emiently clear three years ago, but not now.

and how, pray tell, does this somehow drive pure snow up Libby's ass?

It seems proper to ask, 'why did Libby lie?'

Rather than rankle the locals with my own
speculations, I'll let you all answer that question.

[topsecretk9]

AbuGonzales....

"...In particular, the bureaucracy at the State Department and the CIA appear to have used the indiscretion of Armitage to revenge themselves on the "neoconservatives" who had been advocating the removal of Saddam Hussein. Armitage identified himself to Colin Powell as Novak's source before the Fitzgerald inquiry had even been set on foot. The whole thing could—and should—have ended right there. But now read this and rub your eyes: William Howard Taft, the State Department's lawyer who had been told about Armitage (and who had passed on the name to the Justice Department)

also felt obligated to inform White House counsel Alberto Gonzales. But Powell and his aides feared the White House would then leak that Armitage had been Novak's source—possibly to embarrass State Department officials who had been unenthusiastic about Bush's Iraq policy. So Taft told Gonzales the bare minimum: that the State Department had passed some information about the case to Justice. He didn't mention Armitage. Taft asked if Gonzales wanted to know the details. The president's lawyer, playing the case by the book, said no, and Taft told him nothing more.

"[P]laying the case by the book" is, to phrase it mildly, not the way in which Isikoff and Corn customarily describe the conduct of the White House. In this instance, however, the evidence allows them no other choice.

[lurker]

LIbby did not lie, ali-cleown.

[Patton]

Semantic Leo: Its pretty clear that Libby was forced to lie by David Corn who had kidnapped his family in order to protect Richard Armitage.

See, we can make up conspiracy theories too.

[clarice]

To paraphrase CREW, just because Corn didn't kidnap Libby and force him to lie, doesn't mean he wasn;t planning to do so.

[Patton]

So the state Dept leaked the Plame info, then they hinted that the White House did it, then they kept quiet and let their friends in the press do the rest.

The lamestream media pursuing another rusty ambulance story.

[topsecretk9]

1x2x6

Is there any reason Joe Wilson was not the actual source for 1x2x6 and an "administration official" was used to confirm what Wilson said? Because when you read the passage the source familiar with the substance of the conversations to me, is Wilson...

Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had just revealed that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account touched off a political fracas over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.

Sources familiar with the conversations said the leakers were seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility. They alleged that Wilson, who was not a CIA employee, was selected for the Niger mission partly because his wife had recommended him. Wilson said in an interview yesterday that a reporter had told him that the leaker said, "The real issue is Wilson and his wife."

A source said reporters quoted a leaker as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game."

The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls.

It is confusing, but even though it says "senior administration said"...

"a senior administration official said ""Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak."

I wonder if Wilson is the actual source for this information and the "confirming" source is creatively worked in here...(this reminds me of Pincus's first piece too). I wonder if this is why the Post has backed of this 9-28 story. Anyways, that makes sense especially if the confirming sources was Grossman.

[jerry]

That Pincus quote Tom gave is pretty interesting.

[topsecretk9]

Oh..meant to say that the confirming source confirmed the revenge theory and so therefore Wilson purposing the actual 2 senior administration sources called at least 6 reporters was accepted by the Post...to mean the Admin. official was confirming the actual 1x2x6 info....

Hmmm. This is my new official belief. Wilson was the actual 1x2x6 person.

[Patton]

TS9,

Remeber the reporters take as confirming information the fact that someone had 'heard that to'

So if Wilson called some Bush adminstration official and told him that Bush people were leaking his wifes identity to punish him..and he called reporters as well.

Then the reporters called the official Wilson talked to and he only had to say "I HEARD THAT TOO" and that would be 'in their minds' CONFIRMATION from a senior adminstration official.

Wilson knows the way the press works and he manipluated them from the start. He knew by the time the press figured out he wasn't aware of the forgeries at the time, etc. he knew an investigation would be in full swing and everyone would clam up as the prosecutor requested and the "Wilsons line" (Pusnished for telling truth) would be frozen until the investigation finally finished.

[Patton]

Wilson didn't take into account the tenacity of the internet bloggers.

Its the only thing that has kept this from being a complete railroad.

[jerry]

"didn't take into account the tenacity of the internet bloggers"

Funny, I just thinkng the same thing about Ted Stevens (AK).

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Semanticleo -- Will you list for me how Libby lied, what he lied about, please. Maybe if I could figure that out, I'd understand what is going on in this case.

Please try to avoid using anything from the Fitz presser as there doesn't seem to be a word of truth in it, except that baseball pitchers sometimes throw beaners.

[topsecretk9]

Patton

Yep, "I heard that too" seems about right, especially since the Post downgraded some of that original EM-FAS-SIS

[owl]

Wilson knows the way the press works and he manipluated them from the start.

I disagree. The press does not need to be manipulated. They are active participants. Corn is the perfect example. He helped birth it. He promoted it. Now he makes money by keeping part of his original lie alive in a book. Joe's little plan was nothing until he received active help from the press that deliberately decided to be BLIND.

[hrtshpdbox]

"Joe's little plan was nothing until he received active help from the press that deliberately decided to be BLIND."
Hey, you can't blame the press; they had to guess that the CBS forgeries plan might not fly, so the VRWC angle must've seemed a good back-up - there was an election to contend with!

[Semanticleo]

"Will you list for me how Libby lied, what he lied about"

Libby was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements, court documents show.

Sara;

I forgot that you accept Libby's uber-protestestation; "I will be exonerated"
but the 'ham-sandwich' defense does not apply. Fitz has a sound case or it would be
'Auf Wiedersehen!'.

[hrtshpdbox]

"Fitz has a sound case or it would be
'Auf Wiedersehen!'."
Yeah, he really did sound pretty confident during the presser (of course, nearly everything he said there was unalloyed BS, but still...).

[PeterUK]

Semanticleo,you really need your own blog,how about calling it,"INSIPIDPUNDIT"?

[PeterUK]

"Libby was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements, court documents show."

You understand,do you not ,Septic,that indicted does not mean convicted?
In fact there has not even been a trial as yet,as the saying goes,"There's many a slip t'wixt cup and lip",so hold onto the drool a bit longer if you can old girl.

[lurker]

Fitz had to prove that Libby lied, ali-cleown.

Don't forget about Cowles.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

semanticleo, you cheated, I said not to use anything from the presser, which, of course, would include the indictment, which is what the presser was all about. Fitz starts off by telling us that Libby was "the first" to talk to reporters, the first leaker." He tells us that even though months earlier he knew that Armitage was the first and he threw Judy Miller in jail, even though he knew that she had talked to Armitage or someone before talking to Libby. Libby was telling the truth, Fitz knew it and charged him with lying anyway. Fitz needs to be prosecuted for lying and obstruction.

[fdcol63]

So ... has Joe Wilson stopped beating his wife yet?

LOL

[Sara (Squiggler)]

The way it stands right now, the Cooper testimony is gonesville, the Miller testimony is virtually out or more helpful to the defense, which leaves only Russert. Libby says he DID talk to Russert, Russert says he did not. Everything else Libby has said has turned out to be truthful, Russert is a known partisan snake, I will believe Libby or take the position that he has mixed up two conversations. In any event it is moot since Libby never contacted anyone to push forward some kind of Wilson/Plame smear and was not responsible for publicizing Plame's name. If this is any kind of plot, it is a State Dept. plot to discredit the WH, not the WH/OVP trying to smear Wilson. The WH/OVP didn't care about Plame, they cared about setting the record straight on WMD. Plame was incidental gossip propogated by the press and Old Blabbermouth Wilson himself.

[topsecretk9]

Poor Mr. Cowles.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

fdcol63, you've got it backwards, the question should be, has she stopped beating him (or yanking his chain).

[maryrose]

Cleo is promoting the same tired mantra of the left regarding Libby. This is their story since they couldn't get Rove or Cheney. They also say President Bush lied. I call these untruths projection on cleo and the left's part. They are the ones lying and they are projecting it on others. It's a form of psychosis which they are experiencing. They do not see or understand reality as it truly exists. Joe Wilson and Val are the masters of this kind of stinkin thinkin.

[Chants]

PUK said:

"Semanticleo,you really need your own blog,how about calling it,"INSIPIDPUNDIT"?"

That's a great name! How about "FACEPLANT -- Where every post is a mistake"

[vnjagvet]

I guess Jeff called SCLEO for a "spell".

Unfortunately, she has neither his institutional knowledge or persistence in this matter.

Strictly second string.

[GnuCarSmell]

If I understand this correctly, Fitzgerald knew from day one that:
a) there was no underlying crime
b) the "first leaker" was Armitage.
That means that the entire investigation was a fraud, no?

[JM Hanes]

tsk9

Well, the revenge meme sure sounds like Wilson speak, doesn't it? But then Jeff says the WaPo is absopostivelutely scrupulous & precise about its designation of unamed sources so.... BTW, meant to mention that Rove made the "fair game" comment to Matthews after Novak's column was in play (and IIRC Matthews immediately called Wilson to pass that info along). I think you were asking about the timing or some such on the previous thread?

[JM Hanes]

Patton:

"So the state Dept leaked the Plame info, then they hinted that the White House did it, then they kept quiet and let their friends in the press do the rest."

Deliberately casting false blame on the WH is the ultimate perfidy here, isn't it? If Grossman or anyone else did so knowing that Armitage had been "gossiping," he deserves to share the dais with Armitage & Powell. It's still execrable even absent info on Armitage; since the revenge theory is patently false, whoever floated it necessarily knew it was a lie. I, for one, certainly want to know who it was. Damned if I'll buy the book, though, on the off chance that Corn & Isikoff actually come that clean.

[topsecretk9]

--BTW, meant to mention that Rove made the "fair game" comment to Matthew's after Novak's column was in play (and IIRC Matthew's immediately called Wilson to pass that info along). I think you were asking about the timing or some such on the previous thread?--

No I was asking about the "CONTEXT", I knew it was after Novak's column. Whether or not Wilson is being honest about what Matthew's running to Wilson (like a child would!) said Rove said -- regardless, neither of the 2 have ever been pressed on the "context" of Rove's "fair game"..

I just find it hard to believe that Rove was calling reporters indiscriminately to inform them

"Oh, by the way, in case you are wondering Joe Wilson's wife is "fair game"

SO...what was the context Matthew's and WIlson conveniently left out....

Was Matthew's contentious in his questioning taking Wilson's side, admonishing Rove and the Administration for bringing up the origins of Wilson trip?

Did Matthew's ask sneaky questions that in the course elicited a "fair game" "response of the Admin"?

Was the answer just solely about Wilson's wife or in the context of the Administrations right to respond to a smarmy, arrogant lying crud ball?

Which segues nicely with my belief that Wilson parlayed that one telegraphed-- by Matthew's-- phrase "fair game" into a "smear campaign" that he in turn telegraphed to the WAPO into 1x2x6.

1x2x6 was Sept. 03 - when the media at large still thought Wilson was credible.

all roads lead back to....

[MayBee]

Corn:Conspiracy theorist--moi? Where have I proposed a conspiracy theory? I have noted from the first that the leak might be evidence of a White House crime.---

He comes from the Andrew Sullivan College of Only Airing the Possibility.

What next? An emailer telling him how great he is? Beagles?

[JM Hanes]

tops:

Matthews did talk about it at the time on Hardball. He was incensed, but as he described the conversation, I remember thinking that Rove's comment didn't strike me as all that outrageous. At the time, I was more surprised by the fact that Matthews had called up Wilson to tell him about it -- as opposed to just reporting on it as news on his show.

[JJ]

The best quote from Hitchens' article, TS9, is the one where he quotes Corn's conclusion in a July 16, 2003 blog:

Sez Corn:

"The Wilson smear was a thuggish act. Bush and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case for war. Now there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang politics trumps national security."

[topsecretk9]

--tops:

Matthew's did talk about it at the time on Hardball. He was incensed, but as he described the conversation, I remember thinking that Rove's comment didn't strike me as all that outrageous. At the time, I was more surprised by the fact that Matthew's had called up Wilson to tell him about it -- as opposed to just reporting on it as news on his show.--

Incensed. Called Wilson (like a high school cheerleader gossip , not a "reporter" or host of a pundit show)He has had his head so far up Wilson's ass he doesn't even see straight anymore. Sad.

I still want to know what his TRUE context was though.

[Gary Maxwell]

Pincus wants us to consider this all a distraction and get back to having a discussion about the war. Sounds like another case of Chutzpah to me. Someone remind me how Pincus was playing this in the heady "large conspiracy to get Val" days participated in to a large degree by his paper the Post.

[cathyf]

I agree about the context, TSK9. I wonder if Rove said that Wilson was fair game because he wrote a NYT op-ed?

But even if what Rove said was that Mr. Wilson had made Mrs. Wilson "fair game" then he was right. Once Wilson LIED about who sent him, then the TRUTH about who sent him became "fair game." Joe Wilson put his wife into play by lying about her. (<snark> Wilson claimed his wife was the Vice President of the US. Surprisingly enough, some folks noticed the difference between the sexy blonde and the balding old guy with the bum ticker. </snark>)

[Gary Maxwell]

sexy blonde

??? The skank that hangs around snake oil Joe? The homewrecker sleeping with a married man on her third date?

[MayBee]

If Valerie wasn't covert (or whatever) or they didn't know she was covert (or whatever), then her role absolutely was fair game. She was part of the story, I don't know why she should be protected from being "fair game", unless it's because she's pretty little nibbler.

[cathyf]

Sorry, Gary, I guess I shouldn't be speaking outside my area of expertise. I'll defer to the males on that subject.

I think Cheney is actually pretty sexy. Not as sexy as Rumsfeld, of course, but sexy. :-)

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Rummy is sexy, George Bush is SEXY, Ollie North is REALLY SEXY ... but Cheney, I don't know about that one Cathyf

[JM Hanes]

tops:

Cross posted this on the wrong durn other, other Armitage thread:

Yeah, I know what you mean about wanting the real story. I commented on Corn's blog that the book I'd pay to read would be called: What Reporters Knew and When They Knew It.

[JM Hanes]

Cheney? He'd have to have a pair of really hot ear muffs.

[cathyf]

but Cheney, I don't know about that one Cathyf

All right, all right, you guys. Cheney bears a rather strong resemblance to my dad. Somewhere inside is daddy's little girl who still thinks daddy is the most handsome, most brilliant, most wonderful man in the world...

[Sara (Squiggler)]

LOL, cathyf, then with that reasoning I will have to admit I used to have the same feelings when I saw Henry Hyde. Unfortunately, my Dad died at 49, and Rep. Hyde just kept aging, so I lost it somewhere about 15 years ago. LOL.

[topsecretk9]

--Cheney bears a rather strong resemblance to my dad. --

HEY...my dad does that lower lip stretch out/shift when he talks about something important, like Cheney - actually my dad has the same mouth as Cheney -- so maybe my interest is a little Freudian too!

[MayBee]

Cheney? He'd have to have a pair of really hot ear muffs.

Ha!

[Lew Clark]

Since I'm about as attractive as Dick Cheney, I perked up for a minute there. But then it deteriorated into "sexy like my dad", so I went back to playing canasta with the other old guys here at the home.

[clarice]

Lew, I can see thru the Board, and you're being too modest. Though I think the chartreuse chenille robe needs a good wash. Also the fluffy slippers.

[topsecretk9]

Lew...shsssh about the "canasta"...you almost had a chance ::grin::

[topsecretk9]

BTW...reposting but the best line from the WSJ editorial...

Remind us never to get in a foxhole with either Mr. Comey or the Powell crowd

Pretty much sums it up.

[JJ]

Interesting theory that 1X2X6 might have been Wilson.

This from a Newsweek article written by guess who on Oct. 8, 2003:

But more than 10 days after the story exploded, an alternative theory is emerging among those who are directly involved in the leak case: that the “senior administration official” quoted in the Washington Post piece simply got it wrong. There were indeed White House phone calls to reporters about Wilson’s wife. But most, if not all, of these phone calls, were made after the Novak column appeared, some government officials now believe. They were placed as part of a blundering effort to persuade journalists to concentrate on Wilson’s presumed lack of credentials as a critic of pre-Iraq war intelligence rather than the substance of his critique.

New evidence for this view emerged today from a surprising source: Wilson himself. The former ambassador, who originally called for Bush’s top political director Karl Rove to be “frog-marched” out of the White House, acknowledged to NEWSWEEK that he got no calls from any reporters asking about his wife until he heard from Novak. If he had, he said, he would have vividly remembered it. One reporter, he said, did call him and say “watch out, they’re coming after you”—but that journalist is uncertain whether any reference was made to Wilson’s wife’s employment at the CIA.

[topsecretk9]

--One reporter, he said, did call him and say “watch out, they’re coming after you”—but that journalist is uncertain whether any reference was made to Wilson’s wife’s employment at the CIA.--

OH, in his book he said this was Walter Pincus...anyhow...Wilson **was** the "1x2x6" source and it was at a time - September 2003 - when the the media still thought Wilson had some credibility.

Grossman - playing 4- square (playing lip service to various Admin - His boss Armitage, Libby, Wilson and the press and then to Fitz) confirmed for Wilson...just how did Armitage (see the new NYT's out - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30armitage.html-- Armitage finally comes clean ((well comes out)) learn Plame was covert?

OH he didn't from his deputy? Then why was Libby supposed to think she was covert?

Grossman most definitely wishes he wasn't a close friend of Wilson (like everyone else) right about now.

[sam]

Your vote at work in Iraq.

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Spc. Kenneth M. Cross, 21

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Joshua D. Jones, 24

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Darry Benson, 46

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. David J. Almazan, 27

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty: Lance Cpl. Donald E. Champlin, 28

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Seth A. Hildreth, 26

08/29/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Staff Sgt. Jeffrey J. Hansen, 31

08/29/06 MNF: MND-B Soldier killed by roadside bomb

08/29/06 MNF: Soldier Dies in Al Anbar

08/29/06 MNF: Two MNF-W deaths reported in Al Anbar

08/29/06 AFP: U.S. Soldier killed southwest of Baghdad

08/29/06 newsobserver: Brain injury budget faces cut

08/29/06 Sapa-AP: Grisly discovery made at Iraqi school: 24 tortured and shot

08/29/06 AFP: At least 74 killed in Iraq fuel pipeline fire

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill a bakery worker in Baiji

08/29/06 Reuters: Body found in Balad

08/29/06 Reuters: Clashes between Sunni tribe and Shi'ite militias wound 14

08/29/06 Reuters: Mortar rounds wound 5 civilians in Baghdad

08/29/06 Reuters: Iraqi soldier killed near Latifiya

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill 15 in Baquba, four bodies found

08/29/06 AP: Two Nebraska soldiers wounded in Humvee accident

08/29/06 ksl.com: Utah Soldier Killed in Iraq

08/29/06 AP: Army I-Ds contractor killed in Iraqi bomb blast

08/29/06 VOI: Iraqi kidnapped journalist found dead

08/29/06 ICSM: In Iraq, fewer killed, more are wounded

08/29/06 Centcom: 1/167 CALVARY SOLDEIR DIES OF INJURIES SUSTAINED IN HUMVEE

08/29/06 AP: Bullet-riddled bodies of 11 people found in Baghdad

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill former Army officer in Mosul

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill 2 in attack on an office of radical Shi'ite

08/29/06 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills policeman in Kirkuk

[topsecretk9]

August 29, 2006 -- Brooklyn
* Two people were shot in broad daylight yesterday on a Crown Heights street, authorities said.

The gunfire erupted shortly after 1 p.m. at 1579 Sterling Place, police and EMS officials said.

One of the victims was hit in the leg; it was unclear where the other was wounded.

A third person at the scene suffered chest pains, but police couldn't confirm that the problem was related to the shootings.

All three were taken to Kings County Hospital.

Manhattan

* Two teenagers were arrested after allegedly shooting a Harlem man in the hip, police said yesterday.

The 19-year-old victim, who was not identified, was with friends on 143rd Street near Seventh Avenue at 10:45 Saturday night when he got into a fight with the two young men.

One of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the hip, police said.

Cops arrested Kayshon Wayman, 18, and an unidentified 15-year-old friend Sunday.

The victim was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

Staten Island

* A West Brighton man was arrested for sexually abusing his young stepdaughter more than a dozen times over four years, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.

The 44 year-old-man, whose name is being withheld to protect the victim's identity, was arrested at his home on Sunday afternoon.

The victim, who is now 16 years old, told police that she would wake up in her bed and find her stepfather fondling her, sources said.

He first approached her on July 8, 2002, and abused her 15 times since then, the sources said.

The girl was initially too frightened to alert authorities because the predator was the family's primary breadwinner, police said.

The suspect was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and sexual abuse.

* A drunken driver plowed through several cones blocking the entrance to the lower level of the Verrazano Bridge and continued going, police said yesterday.

At 6:10 a.m. Sunday, Ozren Plenca, 42, allegedly drove his gray Jeep through the cones meant to close off the level, which was being repaired by construction crews.

But Plenca apparently never noticed and he kept driving until police caught up with him, sources said.

A cop who stopped Plenca noticed he was swerving his SUV and had bloodshot eyes, authorities said.

Plenca was arrested after he failed a Breathalyzer test and was charged with DWI, operating a motor vehicle on a closed bridge and failure to obey a traffic device.

Queens

* A 21-year-old Corona man was arrested after he and an accomplice robbed a man of his wallet and then tried to tear off his earring, authorities said.

Armando Mazarigeo and the second, unidentified suspect accosted Louis Hernandez as he walked along 103rd Street and 35th Avenue early Sunday morning.

The duo initially demanded his money and Mazarigeo then grabbed Hernandez's wallet from his pants, police said.

The other thug then began choking the victim, police said.

Before the crooks fled, Mazarigeo's cohort grabbed Hernandez's earring and tried to rip it off, leaving him with a bloody lobe, authorities said.

Cops later caught up with Mazarigeo. He was charged with robbery and assault. They are searching for the second suspect.

* A man was arrested at La Guardia Airport after he tried checking in two loaded guns with his luggage, sources said.

Karl Blair was checking his luggage at the Northwest Airlines counter at 10 a.m. Sunday when he told the agent about the guns he was carrying in a black bag, police said.

The agent then notified a police officer, who searched the bag and found a locked metal gun box with two loaded pistols.

Blair, who does not have a gun license in New York, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

* Cops arrested a St. Albans man who they caught smashing a car window and kicking one of its doors for no apparent reason, police said yesterday.

Christopher Barnet, 35, was spotted bashing the parked 2001 Kia Sophia on Linden Boulevard near 141st Street in Jamaica shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday, sources said.

Glass began flying in every direction and the noise aroused residents, who called 911.

When cops responded to the commotion, they discovered Barnet sitting in the driver's seat of the car and found a small bag of crack in his jacket pocket, they said.

He was charged with criminal mischief, grand larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The Bronx

* Two gunmen invaded a Melrose fast-food shop early yesterday morning and robbed the cashier of an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

The armed thugs walked into the Kennedy Fried Chicken on Westchester Avenue near Forest Avenue at 12:20 a.m., pulled out weapons and ordered the cashier to go to the back of the store, cops said.

The men then took money from the cash register and fled.

Cops are now searching for a black man, described as about 28 years old, 6-feet tall and 160 pounds, last seen wearing a yellow shirt.

The other suspect, also black, is 27 to 30 years old, 5-10 and 180 pounds. He was wearing a black shirt.

The employee was shaken up, but otherwise OK.

[SunnyDay]

Hahaha!! Poor sam.

[JM Hanes]

Time to redeploy! :)

[topsecretk9]

Not sure WHICH thread is active, but NYSUN opines...

Wouldn't you know, but the critics of the Bush administration were right. A Richard was indeed at the heart of the Valerie Plame episode. Only, it wasn't Richard Cheney. Instead, we now know it was Richard Armitage, Secretary of State Powell's right-hand man until they both left Foggy Bottom early in Mr. Bush's second term. The disclosure, which came after Mr. Armitage's official calendar from 2003 was released to the Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, answers one big question that has spurred incessant speculation since 2003. The news raises plenty of other questions, however. For example, where has Mr. Armitage been all this time?

Why didn't he speak up when the controversy over the leak first surfaced? Or when Patrick Fitzgerald launched his grand jury investigation? Or when Mr. Fitzgerald indicted Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in connection with the case? Or when Ms. Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, filed their civil suit against Messrs. Libby and Cheney and Karl Rove? The instinct for self-preservation is understandable, even enshrined in the Fifth Amendment, but Mr. Armitage's inaction is appalling in light of the trouble he could have spared so many people had he come forward sooner. Even though investigators appear to have known about his involvement as early as autumn 2003, Mr. Armitage stood silently by while the president's critics sullied the good names of Messrs. Cheney, Libby, and Rove.

At least now it will be possible to dispense with all the conspiracy theories, since Mr. Armitage is certainly not part of the neoconservative cabal at the White House that the left has blamed for retaliating against Mr. Plame after her husband took to the pages of the New York Times to oppose the war in Iraq. Rather, this leak is now exposed for what it was — idle Beltway chitchat about a factoid that Mr. Armitage thought a reporter might find relevant. What a shame Mr. Armitage himself didn't help the country to that conclusion sooner.

ONE thing Fitz can count on? That the NYT's will just not see fit to put this grave national security tid bit on it's OP ED page NOW...

http://www.nysun.com/article/38826

[clarice]

I'm so excited I can't sleep. I blogged advice for the President..Fire Fitz and dismiss the case and some goodies about those former officials who so ill served him.
Gee, if that happens, we'll have to find something else to work on. I can't live without all of you.It's like a grand salon or something.

[topsecretk9]

Clarice...don't get your hopes up...Bush to the lefts' chagrin WILL play this like the book...he won't pardon Libby, but HE MAY start making some inquiries about his employee Fitz...remember the left (commenter here at least) said in answer to Libby's motion to dismiss...if all was a foul why didn't Bush just fire Fitz since Fitz answered to him?

SO I think he should take their advice.

[clarice]

No, at this point he has cause to fire him and should. Time to end this.The left has no good reason to continue this--there is nothing to be gained; the press has noreason to continue this, the game is up. Comey and Fitz should join Powell and Armitage in the dock.

[topsecretk9]

Clarice did you happen to notice how Army confirmed via lawyers yet apparently on the Charlie Rose show June 13th he said he had never retained a lawyer for this (Ranger noted that DoS Tate obviously worked on his behalf - but)

So has he lawyered up? Or is he still counseled by Tate, if that is even possible?

If he lawyered up, why? And if he did, did Grossman feel the wheels of that bus grinding into his check?

[topsecretk9]

or was he **fibbing** about the lawyer thing...which he has shown a tendency to do

[clarice]

Surely he got a heads up about the book and decided he'd better get one.

Dug up this "old" piece, I'd almost forgotten about.

http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5322
Gonna try and get some sleep again. Niters, ts.

[Seixon]

Corn: "What, peddle conspiracy theories, moi? No, never! I never let Joe Wilson take me for a ride back in the summer of 2003. I never wrote an article that was basically me being a puppet for the Wilsons. Never!"

Yeah, whatever. As I and others have said, Corn set this whole thing in motion for the Wilsons back then and is now too much of a coward to admit it.

[Daddy]

I'm no lawyer and don't pretend to know what is proper legal etiquette concerning this case, but...
I would love for Scooter Libby's wife (if he has one) to start pulling a Cindy Sheehan, and publicly begin hounding the crap out of Fitz, out of Armitage, and out of Colin Powell. She ought to be on every media outlet she can get ahold of, castigating the complete craven gutlessness of that slimeball Armitage for destroying her and her husband's lives and reputations, simply because he didn't have the courage to do the honorable and decent thing at the time it should have been done. Then she and her children ought to pull a hunger strike on Fitz's courtroom doorstep til that useless A-hole publicly comes out and explains his own disgraceful behavior in this despicable travesty of justice. Then that pair of ignominious turds ought'a be flushed down the toilet of public life, and Corn and Joe Wilson oughta' have to clean up the skidmarks. If Libby's wife could get one 1/1000th of the media attention that lying Bangkok pervert just got, we might actually make a little headway in cleaning up the cesspool that infests the halls of media and government in this country. I for one am tired of yet another 'day late and a dollar short', tut-tutting, nuanced op-ed, and am instead dying for some vehement expressions of righteous anger from those who have been screwed by this fiasco.

[topsecretk9]

Maybee has been over at emptywheel...(let's just say they weren't trilled with the NYT's tonight it was "shitty")

Anyhoo one commenter parted with this

Lastly, where is Waas? His last story said Rove and Novak may have coordinated their gj testimony.

Think Waas got the big old hint at Yearly Kos that his big source, Wilson, had clearly been Jason Leopold's too for all this long, long time?

And Waas would like to continue having a bright future beyond affair Plame?

[MayBee]

Funny, Daddy!

Can I ask kind of a Plame 101 question?

How did Fitzgerald decide to talk to Cooper and Miller in the first place? Was it from calendars/emails/logs he collected, or from testimony from Rove and Libby?

[larwyn]

Clarice,
I double ditto what you wrote:
Gee, if that happens, we'll have to find something else to work on. I can't live without all of you.It's like a grand salon or something.

TOPS
THANKS THANKS THANKS for the email! Just read both articles
and wondered how are the authors
billed on the book?
In the WSJ they refered to the
Corn-Isokoff book.
Knowing that Isokoff has senior standing in the elite media and that even that same circle must see Corn for the flake he is, I
took that for an insult to Isokoff.
Showing him to have lowered himself
below Corn.
If, because Corn was the inside man on this story, Isokoff is 2nd
billing, then I just pull out my
Emily Littel and say "nevermind".

Powerline had a post on a Jonathan
Chait article questioning Chris
Matthews sanity. He is AWOL - not
in NO participating in the Katrina
bash the Admin fete. Must be in an undisclosed location, perhaps with cushy walls. Wish I had had a
TIVO for all those Hardball episodes - months and months of them. They are more LOL than
"Bringing Up Baby".

Armitage was not man enough and used his "mouthpiece". So I think
that Sir Dick the Cravenhearted Chicken**** is operative.

Hope both he and POWELL join some monastary in France! (do they still have them in secular Godless France? Perhaps a madrassah in Pakistan. We could trade them for
Centanni and Wiig's "get out of Islam free card)

Must stop my swig of Childrens liquid Benadryl until I am absolutely sure that I'm getting off internet for the night!

[MayBee]

(let's just say they weren't trilled with the NYT's tonight it was "shitty")

Yeah. I don't often agree with the posters there, but I definitely agree on that assessment!!

[topsecretk9]

MayBee

I believe that Cooper popped up in phone records and i think Miller was on Libby's calendar.

IIRC. But there was some speculation about Coopers phone call and and he may have called the main switchboard vs direct...IIRC he said he was grilled about this point and admitted he may have called the MS and particularly when he may have called specifically about Welfare Reform (earlier in the week)

Anyhoo...once Rove recollected via his lawyers discussion with VNov he never denied.

Also, this to me has all been speculation (the whens and whys)....why?

[larwyn]

Daddy,
You said it!
We really must use the SIR

It just adds to the ridicule.

Sir Dick the Cravenheart(ed Chicken****)

[MayBee]

I'm just wondering how the FBI/Fitzgerald found out about reporters that didn't write anything (Cooper, Miller), and how Bob Woodward was missed.

I'm kind of trying to figure out how early the investigation got focused on Rove and Libby, and how equally Armitage was investigated.

[topsecretk9]

Cooper...did write a story with M.Calbressi(sp) titled "War on Wilson" in Time that was published (i think) july 17th - 3 days after Novak's....and they sourced "2 admin officials"...Don't laugh at the ultimate title and Coopers "What i told the GJ" account...it is apparent Cooper and Calbressi(sp) were aware f the so-called war via Wilson before the WH was even.

Maybee

I think it was Judy Miller that inadvertently tipped Wilson off that the OVP was disputing his claim that Cheney sent him and hinted that she knew from OVP there was a bit Wilson lied/left out--ie MORE to the story.

I think now, that is why Wilson had an urgent need to pen his op-ed in his name - he was at a critical point of being eliminated as an worthy entity and needed to get it in **his** name - so the logical, factual and bandied response (we didn't send him, his wife did) would become a smear campaign...he liked his cable slots and I think Val said enough in those initials to get herself in hot water at work.

Larwyn...

Thanks for the crazy PowerLine Matthews tip. He needs to stop taking Wilson's calls.

[topsecretk9]

I don't know what my problem with hitting keys on my new lapper is! Ignore obvious grammatical and quirky wording.

[Bob]

This mornings http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008872>WSJ Editorial page

"Strangely, Mr. Armitage never seems to have told Mr. Fitzgerald that he'd talked to Mr. Woodward. And Mr. Fitzgerald never seems to have asked to see Mr. Armitage's appointment calendar, which would have showed his meeting with Mr. Novak. It's all enough to make us wonder if Mr. Fitzgerald didn't buy into the liberal "conspiracy" theory of this case from the start and target the White House while giving Mr. Armitage a pass."

[Rocco]

It appears that factions of the State Department, along with a rogue CIA, using the media as their accomplice, attempted to bring down a sitting president during war. I hope this doesn't go away. This propaganda enabled our enemy and divided our country! I say we "Follow the Yellowcake Road," Oh My!

"If you saw a baseball game and you saw a pitcher wind up and throw a fastball and hit a batter right smack in the head, and it really, really hurt them, you’d want to know why the pitcher did that. And you’d wonder whether or not the person just reared back and decided, I’ve got bad blood with this batter. He hit two home runs off me. I’m just going to hit him in the head as hard as I can."

Looks like Fitzgerald was the pitching coach!

[Jane]

We need a bumper sticker -

"Wilson lied and Fitz should be tried"

Or something less cryptic. Because this needs to be drilled into the public's mind.

[Larry Lib]

Your Lib vote at work in Detroit:

08/29/06 Reuters: Cop killed near Detroit

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill 15 in Dearborn, four bodies found

08/29/06 AP: Two Nebraska tourists wounded in Minivan accident in Detroit

08/29/06 ksl.com: Utah man Killed in Detroit

08/29/06 AP: Kitchen & Bath contractor killed in Dearborn bomb blast

08/29/06 VOI: Detroit News journalist found dead

08/29/06 ICSM: In Detroit's Nothern suburbs, fewer killed, more are wounded

08/29/06 Michigan.com: HORSE DIES OF INJURIES SUSTAINED IN DETROIT

08/29/06 AP: Bullet-riddled bodies of 11 people found in Downtown Detroit

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill former Crips officer in Detroit

08/29/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill 2 in attack on an Dearborn office of radical Shi'ite

08/29/06 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills policeman in Detroit

[Rocco]

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright.
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light.
And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout,

but there is no joy in Mudville --
mighty Fitzy has struck out.

[Patto]

The Wilson smear (by an Anti-Iraq war operative at the State Department) was a thuggish act. (Armitage) and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case (against) war. Now there is evidence the (Anti-liberation crowd) used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang of (anti-liberation leftists) politics trumps national security.

[Tom Maguire]

If I understand this correctly, Fitzgerald knew from day one that:
a) there was no underlying crime
b) the "first leaker" was Armitage.
That means that the entire investigation was a fraud, no?

Well, in my new-found role of Fitzgerald apologist, let me just say this - when he took over the case in Dec 2003, the investigators had already decided they didn't like Libby's "I forgot until Russert reminded me" story.

SO - although key elements of the Intel Identities Protection Act could not be applied to Armitage (he had a convincing story that it was an honest screw-up made in ignorance of her classified status), the same could not be said for Libby; the question of whether Libby knew Plame's status was, arguably, open, since by his own notes he had learned of her from Cheney (and who knew what Cheney knew?).

So it was not crazy to wonder whether Libby had invented the "Russert reminded me" story to conceal guilty knowledge.

Now, at some point Fiztgerald should have given it up - Cheney said he learned of Plame from Tenet, and Tenet didn't recall the conversation (gee, Cheney's lucky day!), so establishing that Cheney knew of Plame's classified status was not working.

Then again, as lefties had pointed out, there were folks in the White House with "CIA" in thier background, so that line of communication couldalso have provided the infothat Plame was classified to Cheney/Libby.

Apparently that also was a dead end - Libby has claimed that he was not aware Plame was classified and Fitzgerald has only rebutted that to the extent that Libby may have been warned *after* the Novak column broke.

Well. I agree with folks who think the Libby indictment was meant to spark confession/cooperation, and not go to trial. But as of Jan 2004, there certainly seemed to be things to investigate.

[Tom Maguire]

Yeah, I know what you mean about wanting the real story. I commented on Corn's blog that the book I'd pay to read would be called: What Reporters Knew and When They Knew It.

Hmm - you mean that is *not* what he means by the title, "Hubris"?

[PeterUK]

Has anyone condidered that Libby might be a Judas goat? All this seems to have been examined without taking into consideration the resources of the president,it could be that a lot of the leftist skullduggery was known but unprovable without revealing sources.The administration needed someone to be a target,Libby is ideal,a lawyer,not to high not too low in status,important to give the vultures some meat,but not too close to the president.
I would wager this will be dragged out to the last drop,the left will be screaming to end it by the time the election arrives.Who better to see it out than Fitz?

[MayBee]

Well. I agree with folks who think the Libby indictment was meant to spark confession/cooperation, and not go to trial.

Quite possibly, although I believe Fitzgerald's belief that there was more to confess to was based at least partially on his own faulty investigation.
I think he absolutely believed the chain started at Cheney, and Libby was the blabber spreading the word.
Unfortunately, he believed that so strongly he forgot to investigate other channels (Armitage and who knows who else). Surely he didn't look at him as strongly as he looked at Libby/Rove.

I can't defend that. Can you?

Did he request all of State's phone logs and emails? Did people at State sign waivers?

The lesson? If you've got something to hide, seem sooo sorry about the part you admit to, cooperate less, and have more loyal underlings (Grossman) that can make you seem harmless to the investigator.

[lurker]

Which election, PUK? November or 08?

Why is "classified" status just as important as "NOC" or "covert"?

From what I know about my government work and reading, "classified" is not as important as "NOC" or "covert".

Right or wrong?

[lurker]

Oh, BTW, PUK, Investor's Business predicts that Fitz will run something as a democrat.

I hope NOT!!

[clarice]

http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5809

[lurker]

If Fitz's investigation was faulty, so was CIA's. What about FBI? Didn't FBI take over the investigation from CIA before Fitz was appointed?

[boris]

Agree Clarice.

[MayBee]

Although actually I have to amend. I don't think the Libby charges were to try to get confession/cooperation. I think it was a last minute "my-grand-jury-is-about-to
expire-and-I-can't-not-charge-someone-
with-something".

I've always thought Fitz thought there was a Carville/Begalla/Gennifer Flowers situation, but never thought the higher ups would be directly involved.

[MayBee]

Bravo, Clarice!

[Pofarmer]

The conspiracy I want to know about is the one at the CIA that led to the whole Joe Wilson trip/op ed fiasco. Were there folks at State also involved in this? Nobody seems to be interested in digging where there might have been an actual conspiracy. Somebody needs to drop a bug bomb at State and DOJ.

[Cecil Turner]

SO - although key elements of the Intel Identities Protection Act could not be applied to Armitage (he had a convincing story that it was an honest screw-up made in ignorance of her classified status), the same could not be said for Libby; the question of whether Libby knew Plame's status was, arguably, open, since by his own notes he had learned of her from Cheney (and who knew what Cheney knew?).

Admittedly a much closer case. However, I think it also founders on two main points:

1. Plame was not "covert" under the meaning of the statute;
2. There's no suggestion VP Cheney ever told Libby she was (or even that her employment status was classified).

So it was not crazy to wonder whether Libby had invented the "Russert reminded me" story to conceal guilty knowledge.

Yes, but guilty knowledge doesn't make any sense unless there was some guilt. And there's no "there" there. It is looking more and more as if Fitz and his posse came to the case believing the "chilling a whistleblower" meme, and slotted his data into cubbyholes provided by his preconceptions. And Libby, trying to recall the sequence of a minor point in a complex issue, rambled stupidly.

[Bob]

Larry Lib... speaking of crimes !

What do you make of http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901412.html?nav=rss_world>this one ?

For an event that would turn a page in American history, former president Jimmy Carter has agreed in principle to host former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami for talks during his visit to the United States starting this week.

Carter's term as president was dominated by the rupture in relations after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days until the day he left office.

I think he should be brought up on treason charges... finally!

[boris]

he was not aware Plame was classified

When Joe went public with his factually challanged attack on the administration based on a "secret" mission set up by his wife, any "classification" she might have had was moot.

As long as "classified" people remain out of the limelight consideration of their administrative category is reasonable. When they splash their handywork all over the New Your Times and the Washington Post ... not so much.

[boris]

Libby, trying to recall the sequence of a minor point in a complex issue, rambled stupidly

Still the most likely. If he generally talks that way (I know people who do), reporters will tend to simplify what he tells them into a more coherent form, resulting in most of the differences in recollection. Fitz pulled one set of assertions from the bafflegab where a reporter might get a different one. Fitz took what he expected and wanted to hear.

My next favorite theory is an innocent man in the crosshairs of a frame up. One reason it works for me is that there really was a frame up going on. It is not logically valid to leave that facet out of the equation when attempting to make sense of the affair.