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HavenWorks.com/people/a-z/l/libby-irve-lewis-jr - Libby, Irve Lewis, Jr. |
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LEWIS LIBBY News:
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"Neoconservatism dies in Gaza: he recent Israeli offensive has put the final nail in the coffin of the [Republican President] Bush administration's Middle East fantasy." ... "The Gaza War of 2009 is a final and eloquent testimony to the complete failure of the neoconservative movement in United States foreign policy. For over a decade, the leading figures in this school of thought saw the violent overthrow of [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein and the institution of a parliamentary regime in Iraq as the magic solution to all the problems in the Middle East. They envisioned, in the wake of the fall of Baghdad [Iraq's capital], the moderation of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the overthrow of the Baath Party in Syria and the Khomeinist regime in Iran, the deepening of the alliance with Turkey, the marginalization of Saudi Arabia, a new era of cheap petroleum, and a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on terms favorable to Israel. After eight years in which they strode the globe like colossi, they have left behind a devastated moonscape reminiscent of some post-apocalyptic B movie. As their chief enabler prepares to exit the White House, the only nation they have strengthened is Iran; the only alliance they have deepened is that between Iran and two militant Islamist entities to Israel's north and south, Hezbollah and Hamas." ... "The neoconservatives first laid out their manifesto in a 1996 paper, "A Clean Break," written for an obscure think tank in Jerusalem [Israel's capital] and intended for the eyes of far right-wing Israeli politician Binyamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, who had just been elected prime minister. They advised Israel to renounce the Oslo [Norway's capital] peace process and reject the principle of trading land for peace, instead dealing with the Palestinians with an iron fist. They urged Israel to uphold the right of hot pursuit of Palestinian guerrillas and to find alternatives to Yasser Arafat's Fatah for the Palestinian leadership. They called forth Israeli airstrikes on targets in Syria and rejection of negotiations with Damascus [Syria's capital]. They foresaw strengthened ties between Israel and its two regional friends, Turkey and Jordan." ... "They advocated "removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq," in part as a way of "rolling back" Syria. In place of the secular, republican tyrant, they fantasized about the restoration of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, and thought that a Sunni king might help moderate the Shiite Hezbollah in south Lebanon. (Yes.) They barely mentioned Iran, though it appears that their program of expelling Syria from Lebanon and weakening its regime was in part aimed at depriving Iran of its main Arab ally. In a 1999 book called "Tyranny's Ally: America's Failure to Defeat Saddam Hussein," David Wurmser argued that it was false to fear that installing the Iraqi Shiites in power in Baghdad would strengthen Iran regionally." ... "The signatories to this fantasy of using brute military power to reshape all of West Asia included some figures who would go on to fill key positions in the Bush administration. Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense under Reagan, became chairman of the influential Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, a civilian oversight body for the Pentagon. Douglas J. Feith became the undersecretary of defense for planning. David Wurmser first served in Feith's propaganda shop, the Office of Special Plans, which manufactured the case for an American war on Iraq, and then went on to serve with "Scooter" Libby in the office of [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney." ... "The neoconservatives used their well-funded think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP, an organ of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and the Hudson Institute, among others, to promote this agenda of the conquest of Iraq as a solution of all ills." ... "The biggest danger facing the United States is that there will be no true "Clean Break" -- that the neoconservatives will somehow find a way to survive the Bush administration, and continue to influence American foreign policy." (1, 2) -By Juan Cole -Salon
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Lewis Libby News Sources: 
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"Scooter" Libby
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Fred
Thompson
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Rudy
Giuliani
- Political
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Intelligence
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Law
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Tennessee
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New
York
- 2008
Election - "Bush
Commutes Libby's Prison Term in CIA Leak Case (Update5)."
... "[Republican] President George W. Bush spared Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby
from prison in the CIA leak case, saying his 2 1/2-year term was ``excessive.''"
... "Bush acted after a U.S. appellate court today refused to let Libby,
56, stay free during his appeal. Libby, former chief of staff to [Republican]
Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying to investigators probing
the 2003 leak of Central Intelligence Agency official Valerie Plame's identity."
... "Republicans approved of Bush's decision." ... "``I am very happy for
Scooter Libby,'' said former Tennessee [Republican] Senator Fred Thompson,
a potential Republican presidential candidate who had urged a pardon."
... "Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani [2008 election Republican Presidential
candidate] said that Bush ``came to a reasonable decision and I believe
the decision was correct.''" ... "Melanie Sloan, a lawyer who represents
Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, in a civil suit against Libby and
Cheney over the leak, said Bush's administration ``believes leaking classified
information for political ends is justified and that the law is what applies
to other people.''" -By Edwin Chen
-Bloomberg
Dick
Cheney
- Lewis
"Scooter" Libby
- Iraq
- US
- 
Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Law
- 2008
Election - 
Illinois
- John
Edwards
- New
York
- "Libby
commutation: Washington responds." ... "Following
are reactions to [Republican] President Bush’s announcement Monday that
he has commuted the sentence of former vice presidential [Republican Dick
Cheney] chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby:" ... "Sen. Barack Obama,
D-Illinois, [Democratic Senator, 2008 election] and presidential candidate:“This
decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national
security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics
of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its
ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change
so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that
puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent
years.”" ... "Former Sen. John Edwards, [Democratic Senator, 2008 election]
presidential candidate: “Only a president clinically incapable of understanding
that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President
Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world.
In George Bush’s America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence
for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush
and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with
the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious
blow today.”" ... "Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, [Democratic Senator,
2008 election] presidential candidate: "Today’s decision is yet another
example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law.
This case arose from the Administration’s politicization of national security
intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its
policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with
the consequences of this White House’s efforts to quell dissent. This commutation
sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology
trump competence and justice.”" -CNN
I
Lewis Libby Jr
- Dick
Cheney
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Bush
Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term." ... "[Republican]
President Bush said today that he had used his power of clemency to commute
the 30-month sentence for I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former top aide to [Republican]
Vice President Dick Cheney, who was convicted of perjury in March and was
due to begin serving his time within weeks." ... "Like a pardon, a commutation
is a form of clemency, granted to the president by the Constitution. But
a pardon is an official act of forgiveness, whereas a commutation simply
reduces the penalty, without making an official judgment of forgiveness."
... "In June, Mr. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a $250,000
fine after he was convicted in March of obstructing justice and lying to
a grand jury and F.B.I. agents who were investigating the disclosure of
the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency operative, Valerie Wilson."
-By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
-NYTimes
I
"Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Law
- Intelligence
- "Joe
Wilson ‘outraged’ about commutation." ... "Commuting
the prison sentence of I. “Scooter” Libby raises questions of whether [Republican]
President Bush is now an active participant in obstructing justice, former
Ambassador Joe Wilson told The New Mexican on Monday." ... "“I’m outraged,”
Wilson — whose wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA agent by Bush administration
figures — said in a telephone interview. “The question for President Bush
is if, in commuting this sentence, are you not an accessory or participant
in the obstruction of justice in ensuring that Libby will never be forced
to tell the truth?”" ... "President Bush on Monday commuted the 2 1/2-year
prison sentence of Libby, former chief of staff of [Republican] Vice President
Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and
lying to investigators in the Plame case." ... "“Congress ought to conduct
an investigation of whether or not the president is himself a participant
in the obstruction of justice,” Wilson said." -By
Steve Terrell -SantaFeNewMexican.com
Lewis
Libby
- Law
- "The
Commutation's Odd Timing." ... "One of the odd aspects
of the [Lewis Libby] commutation is its timing. Normally, commutations
or even pardons are not granted until after a sentence and judgment are
final, meaning any appeals have been exhausted, according to Dan Farber,
a professor at the University of California's Boalt Hall School of Law.
"In a sense, then, the President [Republican Bush] is freezing something
that was previously fluid," Farber said."
-TIME.com
I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Law
- History
- Prison
- "Bush
commutes Libby's prison sentence." ... "[Republican]
President Bush commuted Monday the prison term of former White House aide
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court
convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators."
... "A commutation is distinct from a pardon, which is a complete eradication
of a conviction record and makes it the same as if the person has never
been convicted." ... "The commutation does nothing to prevent Libby from
appealing his conviction. And if the appeal fails or is still in process
at the end of Bush's term, there is nothing to prevent the president from
granting Libby a full pardon before he leaves office." ... "Libby's conviction
is linked to the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie
Plame's identity." ... "An outraged Joe Wilson, Plame's husband, spoke
to CNN shortly after the ruling. Wilson had gone public with allegations
that the Bush administration had "twisted" the evidence used to justify
the invasion of Iraq, and prosecutors argued that Libby disclosed her employment
as part of an effort to discredit him." ... ""I have nothing to say to
Scooter Libby," Wilson said. "I don't owe this administration. They owe
my wife and my family an apology for having betrayed her. Scooter Libby
is a traitor."" ... "Plame had worked in the CIA's counter-proliferation
division before the March 2003 invasion. She told a congressional committee
in March that her exposure effectively ended her career and endangered
"entire networks" of agents overseas." ... "Libby, the former chief of
staff to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney, is the highest-ranking
White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair."
-CNN
Dick
Cheney
- I
Lewis Libby Jr
- Secrets
- Intelligence
- Government
- Archives
- Law
- 
Enforcement
- Politics
- Leandro
Aragoncillo
- 
Philippines
- 
California
- "Cheney
in Dispute on Oversight of His Office." ... "For
four years, [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney has resisted routine
oversight of his office’s handling of classified information, and when
the office in charge of overseeing classification in the executive branch
objected, the vice president’s office suggested that the oversight office
be shut down, according to documents released today by a Democratic congressman."
... "The oversight office, a unit of the National Archives, appealed the
issue to the Justice Department, which has not yet ruled on the matter."
... "The archives’ division that oversees classification and declassification,
the Information Security Oversight Office, is an obscure part of the federal
bureaucracy." ... "[California Democratic Representative Henry] Mr. Waxman
asserted both in his letter and the interview that Mr. Cheney’s office
should take the efforts of the National Archives especially seriously because
it has had problems protecting secrets." ... "He noted that the vice president’s
former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., was convicted of perjury and
obstruction of justice for lying to a grand jury and the F.B.I. [Federal
Bureau of Investigation] during an investigation of the leak of classified
information — the secret status of Valerie Wilson, the wife of a [Republican
President] Bush administration critic, as an undercover Central Intelligence
Agency officer." ... "He added that in May 2006 a former aide in Mr. Cheney’s
office, Leandro Aragoncillo, pleaded guilty to passing classified information
to plotters trying to overthrown the president of the Philippines." ...
"“Your office may have the worst record in the executive branch for safeguarding
classified information,” Mr. Waxman wrote to Mr. Cheney." (1, 2)
-By Scott Shane -NYTimes
Lewis
"Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Libby
Must Go to Prison During Appeal, Judge Rules (Update2)."
... "Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, an ex-aide to [Republican] Vice President
Dick Cheney, must go to prison while appealing his conviction for obstructing
a CIA leak probe, a judge ruled." ... "Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years
in prison by Walton last week following his March 6 conviction of lying
to investigators probing the 2003 leak of Central Intelligence Agency official
Valerie Plame's identity. Libby was convicted of obstructing justice, perjury
and making false statements. He resigned as Cheney's chief of staff upon
being indicted in 2005." ... "``The evidence of guilt was overwhelming''
and arguments by Libby's lawyers today for release were ``not close,''
Walton said before ruling from the bench. The judge didn't specify when
Libby must report to prison, though he said it may take six to eight weeks
for the Bureau of Prisons to be prepared to take him." ... "Libby was convicted
of lying to investigators probing whether the Bush administration deliberately
leaked Plame's identity to retaliate against her husband, Joseph Wilson,
who accused the government of twisting intelligence to justify the 2003
invasion of Iraq." -By Robert Schmidt and Nadine Elsibai
-Bloomberg
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Police
- 
Massachusetts
- 
Kid
- Cheney
- I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Intelligence
- Politics
- 2008
Election - Mitt
Romney
- "Gov.
Romney held fast against pardons." ... "Iraq war
veteran Anthony Circosta seemed like an ideal candidate for a pardon from
then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney [Republican 2008 Presidential candidate]
for his boyhood conviction for a BB gun shooting. Romney said no — twice
—despite the recommendation of the state's Board of Pardons." ... "At age
13, Circosta was convicted of assault for shooting another boy in the arm
with a BB gun, a shot that didn't break the skin. Circosta worked his way
through college, joined the Army National Guard and led a platoon of 20
soldiers in Iraq's deadly Sunni triangle." ... "In 2005, as he was serving
in Iraq, he sought a pardon to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer."
... ""I've done everything I can to give back to my state and my community
and my country and to get brushed aside is very frustrating," said Circosta,
29, of Agawam, Mass. "I'm not some shlub off the street."" ... "Asked in
last week's debate if he would consider pardoning [Republican] Vice President
Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted
of lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation, Romney said: "It's
worth looking at that. I will study it very closely if I'm lucky enough
to be president. And I'd keep that option open."" -By
Steve LeBlanc -AP
via -Yahoo
I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Fitzgerald
wants Libby imprisoned now: Urges judge not to delay
former White House aide's prison sentence." ... "Special Counsel Patrick
Fitzgerald, in a 43-page response to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's argument
to the judge to remain free on bond pending the appeal of his conviction,
said, "The government respectfully requests that this Court deny defendant's
motion for release pending appeal."" ... "Fitzgerald writes that Libby
has only a remote chance for reversal of his conviction, "the chance of
reversal by the Court of Appeals is, at best, remote — certainly not "substantial.""
... "Judge Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in prison for lying to authorities
and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of [undercover] CIA
operative Valerie Plame's identity, has said he sees no reason to grant
Libby's request." -By Joel Seidman
-AP -MSNBC
I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- US
- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Law
- "Libby
Gets 30 Months in Prison in C.I.A. Leak Case." ...
"I. Lewis Libby Jr., once one of the most powerful men in government as
[Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was sentenced
today to two and a half years in prison for lying to a grand jury and F.B.I.
agents who were investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative, Valerie
Wilson, during a fierce debate over the war in Iraq." ... "Mr. Libby’s
chief lawyer, Theodore V. Wells Jr., asked Judge Walton to place his client
on probation, or at least place him under home confinement or in a halfway
house, rather than send him to prison." ... "But the prosecutor, Patrick
J. Fitzgerald, argued that the defendant had shown “absolutely no contrition,”
and that the court needed to send a message that lying in a criminal investigation
can never be excused." ... "“Truth matters,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “The
whole system depends on that.”" ... "Mr. Libby’s conduct was inexcusable,
the prosecutor said, because as a lawyer he is “educated and experienced
in these matters.”" ... "Nor was the defendant’s lying a spur-of-the-moment
decision, Mr. Fitzgerald went on. Rather, he said, Mr. Libby lied repeatedly
over a period of weeks, rejecting numerous opportunities to change his
account and avoid charges." ... "Mr. Fitzgerald argued that it does not
really matter than no one has been prosecuted for actually leaking the
C.I.A. affiliation of Ms. Wilson, also known by her maiden name, Valerie
Plame. The defendant knowingly impeded the inquiry, Mr. Fitzgerald said,
and made it difficult for investigators to determine “who’s telling the
truth in this house of mirrors he created.”" -By David
Stout -NYTimes
US
- Iraq
- I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Law
- History
- "Libby
sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison." ... "Former
White House aide [to Republican Vice President Dick Cheney] I. Lewis "Scooter"
Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing
the CIA leak investigation." ... "The highest-ranking White House official
convicted in a government scandal since the Iran-Contra affair [during
Republican President Reagan's administration], Libby has steadfastly maintained
his innocence." ... "The verdict came after a seven-week trial that focused
new attention on the [Republican President George] Bush administration's
much-criticized handling of intelligence reports about weapons of mass
destruction in the run-up to the Iraq war." ... "Their [the jurors] decisions
made Libby the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government
scandal since National Security Adviser John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra
affair two decades ago." ... "It was Cheney who first revealed Plame's
identity to Libby in June 2003 after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph
Wilson, began questioning the administration's prewar [Iraq] intelligence."
... "Libby's supporters criticized [Special Prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald
for pushing ahead with the investigation despite knowing the source of
the leak early on. Fitzgerald said he needed to know whether the leak was
authorized by senior government officials and spoke in court about "a cloud"
over Cheney." ... "In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Wilson said he
and his wife were sorry for Libby's family." ... ""That he would knowingly
lie, perjure himself and obstruct a legitimate criminal investigation is
incomprehensible," Wilson said. "It is our hope that he will now cooperate
with Special Counsel Fitzgerald in his efforts to get to the truth. As
Mr. Fitzgerald has said, a cloud remains over the vice president."" -By
Matt Apuzzo -AP
via -Yahoo
I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Karl
Rove
- US
- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- 
Media
- Politics
- "Libby
sentenced to 30 months in prison." ... "I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to [Republican] Vice President Dick
Cheney, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators
looking into the leak of a CIA operative's identity." ... "[Republican]
President Bush "has not intervened so far in this," [Deputy White House
Press Secretary Dana] Perino said." ... "The case involves statements Libby
made to the FBI and a grand jury during their probe into how the covert
identity of CIA operative [Valerie] Plame Wilson was leaked." ... "Plame
Wilson's name became public when Robert Novak named her in his column on
July 14, 2003. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had openly
questioned the Bush administration's basis for invading Iraq." ... "Former
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has admitted he disclosed the
information to a reporter. Novak pointed to another "senior administration
official" -- Bush political adviser Karl Rove -- as the second source for
his column." -Contributed to by Paul Courson, Brianna
Keilar, Jeffrey Toobin and Brian Todd -CNN
I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Libby
Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison, Fined $250K." ...
"I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to [Republican] Vice President
Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for
lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover
CIA officer." ... "The federal judge who presided over the case indicated
that he may not be sympathetic to allowing Libby to remain free pending
appeal, but scheduled a hearing on the matter for next week." ... ""Evidence
in this case overwhelmingly indicated Mr. Libby's culpability," U.S. District
Judge Reggie B. Walton said moments before he handed out the sentence.
The judge said he was sentencing Libby "with a sense of sadness. I have
the highest respect for people who take positions in our government and
appreciate tremendously efforts they bring to bear to protect this country.""
... "At the same time, Walton said, "I also think it is important we expect
and demand a lot from people who put themselves in those positions. Mr.
Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course."
... "The judge sentenced Libby three months after a federal jury found
Cheney's one-time top aide guilty of four felonies for failing to tell
the truth to a federal grand jury and the FBI about the disclosure of former
CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Libby was convicted of two counts of
perjury, one count of making false statements to FBI agents, and one count
of obstructing justice. He was acquitted of a fifth count." (1, 2,
3)
-By Amy Goldstein and Carol D. Leonnig
-WashingtonPost
Secret
- I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- 
Employee
- Free
Speech - Book
- Politics
- New
York - "Plame
Sues C.I.A. for Blocking Her Memoir." ... "Valerie
Wilson [nee Plame], the former intelligence operative at the heart of an
investigation that reached into the White House, sued the Central Intelligence
Agency in federal court in New York yesterday over its refusal to allow
her to publish a memoir that would discuss how long she had worked for
the agency." ... "Although that information is set out in an unclassified
letter to Ms. Wilson that has been published in the Congressional Record,
the C.I.A. contends that her dates of service remain classified and may
not be mentioned in “Fair Game,” the memoir Ms. Wilson hopes to publish
in October." ... "The letter [published in the Congressional Record] said
that Ms. Wilson had worked for the government since Nov. 9, 1985, for a
total of “20 years, 7 days,” including “six years, one month and 29 days
of overseas service.”" ... "The C.I.A. has been adamant in refusing to
confirm the dates or details of Ms. Wilson’s service before 2002. In July
2003, the syndicated columnist Robert Novak disclosed her identity as “an
agency operative on weapons of mass destruction.” Mr. Novak referred to
Ms. Wilson by her maiden name, Valerie Plame." ... "The investigation into
that disclosure led to the conviction of I. Lewis Libby Jr., formerly [Republican]
Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, on perjury and obstruction
of justice charges in March." ... "On Friday, the special prosecutor in
the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, submitted an unclassified summary of Ms.
Wilson’s “C.I.A. employment and cover history” to the judge who will sentence
Mr. Libby." ... "The summary said that Ms. Wilson was a covert C.I.A. employee
at the time of Mr. Novak’s disclosure. Between the beginning of 2002 and
Ms. Wilson’s resignation from the agency at the end of 2005, the summary
said, she traveled overseas “under a cover identity, sometimes in true
name and sometimes in alias” at least “seven times to more than 10 countries.”"
-By Adam Liptak -NYTimes
Dick
Cheney
- I
Lewis Libby
- Political
- Secrecy
- Media
- Government
- Intelligence
- Employment
- Law
- Opinion
- "Fitzgerald
Again Points to Cheney." ... "Special counsel Patrick
J. Fitzgerald has made it clearer than ever that he was hot on the trail
of a coordinated campaign to out CIA agent Valerie Plame until that line
of investigation was cut off by the repeated lies from [Republican] Vice
President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby." ...
"Libby was convicted in February [correction: March] of perjury and obstruction
of justice. Fitzgerald filed a memo on Friday asking U.S. District Judge
Reggie B. Walton, who will sentence Libby next week, to put him in prison
for at least two and a half years." ... "Despite all the public interest
in the case, Fitzgerald has repeatedly asserted that grand-jury secrecy
rules prohibit him from being more forthcoming about either the course
of his investigation or any findings beyond those he disclosed to make
the case against Libby. But when his motives have been attacked during
court proceedings, Fitzgerald has occasionally shown flashes of anger --
and has hinted that he and his investigative team suspected more malfeasance
at higher levels of government than they were able to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt." ... "In Friday's eminently readable court
filing [PDF], Fitzgerald quotes the Libby defense calling his prosecution
"unwarranted, unjust, and motivated by politics." In responding to that
charge, the special counsel evidently felt obliged to put Libby's crime
in context. And that context is Dick Cheney." ... "Libby's lies, Fitzgerald
wrote, "made impossible an accurate evaluation of the role that Mr. Libby
and those with whom he worked played in the disclosure of information regarding
Ms. Wilson's CIA employment and about the motivations for their actions.""
... "It was established at trial that it was Cheney himself who first told
Libby about Plame's identity as a CIA agent, in the course of complaining
about criticisms of the administration's run-up to war leveled by her husband,
former ambassador Joseph Wilson. And, as Fitzgerald notes: "The evidence
at trial further established that when the investigation began, Mr. Libby
kept the Vice President [Dick Cheney] apprised of his shifting accounts
of how he claimed to have learned about Ms. Wilson's CIA employment.""
... "The investigation, Fitzgerald writes, "was necessary to determine
whether there was concerted action by any combination of the officials
known to have disclosed the information about Ms. Plame to the media as
anonymous sources, and also whether any of those who were involved acted
at the direction of others. This was particularly important in light of
Mr. Libby's statement to the FBI that he may have discussed Ms. Wilson's
employment with reporters at the specific direction of the Vice President
[Dick
Cheney]." (My [Froomkin's]
italics.)" ... "Not clear on the concept yet? Fitzgerald adds: "To accept
the argument that Mr. Libby's prosecution is the inappropriate product
of an investigation that should have been closed at an early stage, one
must accept the proposition that the investigation should have been closed
after at least three high-ranking government officials were identified
as having disclosed to reporters classified information about covert agent
Valerie Wilson, where the account of one of them was directly contradicted
by other witnesses, where there was reason to believe that some of the
relevant activity may have been coordinated, and where there was an indication
from Mr. Libby himself that his disclosures to the press may have been
personally sanctioned by the Vice President [Dick Cheney]." (My [Froomkin's]
italics.)" (1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-By Dan
Froomkin -WashingtonPost
I
Lewis Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Political
- Media
- Secret
- Government
- Intelligence
- Employee
- Law
- "Plame
was ‘covert’ agent at time of name leak: Newly released
unclassified document details CIA employment." ... "An unclassified summary
of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency,
disclosed for the first time today in a court filing by Special Counsel
Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates that Plame was "covert" when her name became
public in July 2003." ... "The summary is part of an attachment to Fitzgerald's
memorandum to the court supporting his recommendation that I. Lewis "Scooter"
Libby, [Republican] Vice President Cheney's former top aide, spend 2-1/2
to 3 years in prison for obstructing the CIA leak investigation." ... "The
unclassified summary of Plame's employment with the CIA at the time that
syndicated columnist Robert Novak published her name on July 14, 2003 says,
"Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for who the CIA was taking affirmative
measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States.""
... "Plame worked as an operations officer in the Directorate of Operations
and was assigned to the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) in January
2002 at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia." ... "The employment history
indicates that while she was assigned to CPD, Plame, "engaged in temporary
duty travel overseas on official business." The report says, "she
traveled at least seven times to more than ten times." When overseas
Plame traveled undercover, "sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias
-- but always using cover -- whether official or non-official (NOC) --
with no ostensible relationship to the CIA."" -By
Joel Seidman -MSNBC
US- Iraq
- Military
- 
Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Douglas
Feith
- Cheney
- Libby
- 
Michigan
- "Pentagon
`Undercut' CIA on Pre-War Intelligence, Probe Finds."
... "Defense Department officials ``undercut'' the U.S. intelligence community
when making a case to White House officials that Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein had a close relationship with the al-Qaeda terror network, the
Pentagon inspector general said in a declassified report." ... "Analysts
reporting to former Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith told then-Deputy
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Lewis Libby, the vice president's
chief of staff, that there were ``fundamental problems with how the intelligence
community is assessing information,'' the report shows." ... "The report
concludes the Pentagon provided ``inappropriate'' analysis for its finding
of a strong link between Hussein and al- Qaeda -- a finding that [Republican]
Vice President Dick Cheney cited as a rationale for invading Iraq along
with the need to disarm the nation of weapons of mass destruction." ...
"[Acting Inspector General Thomas] Gimble told the committee that
the actions of Feith and his subordinates were authorized by then-Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz." ... "[Michigan
Democratic Senator Carl] Levin, in a statement today, said the analysis
from Feith's office ``was not supported by available intelligence and was
contrary to the consensus view of the intelligence community'' yet was
``used by the administration to support its public arguments in its case
for war.'' " ... "``The intelligence community never found an operational
relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda,'' Levin said. ``The report specifically
states that `the CIA and DIA disavowed any `mature, symbiotic' relationship
between Iraq and al-Qaeda.''" -By Tony Capaccio
-Bloomberg
Gonzales
- Kyle
Sampson
- 
Miers
- Cheney
- Libby
- US
Attorneys - Intelligence
- Politics
- "CIA
leak prosecutor’s job was threatened: Ex-Gonzales
aide says in testimony he suggested removing Fitzgerald." ... "D. Kyle
Sampson, the former top aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, said
in testimony before the
Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that he suggested removing prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald, who oversaw the CIA leak case involving White House
staff, from his post." ... "Sampson's statements on Thursday came amid
controversy over U.S. attorneys who were fired without warning. His testimony
for the first time put Gonzales at the heart of the firings amid ever-changing
Justice Department accounts of how they were planned." ... "He said that
he discussed removing Fitzgerald at a meeting last year with [President
Bush's former counsel Harriet] Miers and her deputy, William Kelley." ...
"Fitzgerald served as special counsel in the trial over who revealed the
identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, which ended in a perjury and obstruction
conviction for Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby." -By Joel Seidman
-MSNBC
Libby
- Cheney
- Secret
- US
- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Journalist
- Politics
- Law
- "Libby
Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case." ... "A federal jury
today convicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of lying about his role in the
leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, finding the vice president's
former chief of staff guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of making
false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, while acquitting
him of a single count of lying to the FBI." ... "Libby, 56, was the only
person charged in a three-year federal investigation that reached the highest
echelons of the Bush White House. The central question in the probe was
whether anyone in the administration illegally disclosed classified information
during the late spring and early summer of 2003, when they told several
journalists that an early critic [Joseph C. Wilson IV] of the Iraq war
was married to undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame." ... "No one was ever
charged with the leak, but the results of the investigation, led by Special
Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, ultimately tarnished both the administration
and the Washington press corps." ... "It [the trial] also portrayed Cheney
as more intimately involved in orchestrating the campaign to disparage
Wilson than was previously known." ... "Testimony and evidence revealed
that the vice president dictated precise talking points he wanted Libby
and other aides to use to rebut Wilson's accusations against the White
House, helped select which journalists would be contacted and worked with
Bush to declassify secret intelligence reports on Iraqi weapons that he
believed would contradict Wilson's claims." ... ""There is a cloud over
what the vice president did," Fitzgerald told jurors in the prosecution's
closing arguments. "That's not something we put there. That cloud is not
something you can pretend is not there."" (1, 2,
3)
-By Amy Goldstein and Carol D. Leonnig
-WashingtonPost
Secret
- Libby
- Cheney
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Media
- Politics
- Enforcement
- "The
Libby-Cheney Connection: Libby Testimony Raises More
Questions About Cheney's Role In The CIA Leak Case." ... "In the fall of
2003, as a federal criminal probe was just getting underway to determine
who leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to the media,
I.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the-then chief of staff to Vice President
Dick
Cheney, sought out Cheney to explain to his boss his side of the story."
... "The explanation that Libby offered Cheney that day was virtually identical
to one that Libby later told the FBI and testified to before a federal
grand jury: Libby said he had only passed along to reporters unsubstantiated
gossip about Plame that he had heard from NBC bureau chief Tim Russert."
... "The grand jury concluded that the account was a cover story to conceal
the role of Libby and other White House officials in leaking information
about Plame to the press, and indicted him on five felony counts of making
false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice." ... "At the time
that Libby offered his explanation to Cheney, the vice president already
had reason to know that Libby's account to him was untrue, according to
sources familiar with still-secret grand jury testimony and evidence in
the CIA leak probe, as well as testimony made public during Libby's trial
over the past three weeks in federal court." ... "Yet, according to Libby's
own grand jury testimony, which was made public during his trial in federal
court, Cheney did nothing to discourage Libby from telling that story to
the FBI and the federal grand jury. Moreover, Cheney encouraged then-White
House press secretary Scott McClellan to publicly defend Libby,
according to other testimony and evidence made public during Libby's trial."
... "If Libby is found guilty, investigators are likely to probe further
to determine if Libby devised what they consider a cover story in an effort
to shield Cheney. They want to know whether Cheney might have known about
the leaks ahead of time or had even encouraged Libby to provide information
to reporters about Plame's CIA status, the same sources said." -By
Murray
Waas -NationalJournal
Karl
Rove
- Political
- Reporter
- Intelligence
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - "Leak
Counsel Won't Charge Rove, Lawyer Announces." ...
"In a statement, [Karl Rove's lawyer] Mr. Luskin said, "On June 12, 2006,
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not
anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove."" ... "Mr. Fitzgerald's spokesman,
Randall Samborn, said he would not comment on Mr. Rove's status." ... "For
months Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation appeared to threaten Mr. Rove's standing
as Mr. Bush's closest political adviser as the prosecutor riveted his focus
on whether Mr. Rove tried to intentionally conceal a conversation he had
with a Time magazine reporter in the week before the name of intelligence
officer, Valerie Plame Wilson, became public." ... "As the case stands
now, Mr. Fitzgerald has brought only one indictment against Mr. Libby.
The prosecutor accused Mr. Libby of telling the grand jury that he learned
of Ms. Wilson from reporters, when in reality, the prosecutor said he was
told about her by Mr. Cheney and others in the government. Mr. Libby has
pleaded not guilty in the case, which is scheduled to begin trial early
next year." (1, 2)
-By David Johnston -NYTimes
Noteworthy
- Government
- Intelligence- Law
Enforcement - Politics
- Karl
Rove
- I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Journalism
- "What
Ashcroft Was Told." ... "Then-Attorney General John
Ashcroft continued to oversee the Valerie Plame-CIA leak probe
for more than two months in late 2003 after he learned in extensive briefings
that FBI agents suspected White House aides Karl Rove and I.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby of trying to mislead the FBI to conceal their
roles in the leak, according to government records and interviews. Despite
these briefings, which took place between October and December 2003, and
despite the fact that senior White House aides might become central to
the leak case, Ashcroft did not recuse himself from the matter until December
30, when he allowed the appointment of a special prosecutor, Patrick
Fitzgerald, to take over the investigation." ... "According to people
with firsthand knowledge of the briefings, senior Justice Department officials
told Ashcroft that the FBI had uncovered evidence that Libby, then chief
of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, had misled the bureau about
his role in the leaking of Plame's identity to the press." ... "By November,
investigators had obtained personal notes of Libby's that indicated he
had
first learned from Cheney that Plame was a CIA officer. But Libby was insisting
in FBI interviews that he had learned Plame's name and identity from journalists.
Libby was also telling investigators that when he told reporters that Plame
worked for the CIA, he was only passing along an unsubstantiated rumor."
... "Officials also told Ashcroft that investigators did not believe Libby's
account, according to sources knowledgeable about the briefings, and that
Libby might have lied to the FBI to defend other -- more senior -- administration
officials." ... "Ashcroft was told no later than November 2003 that investigators
also doubted the accounts that Rove, President
George W. Bush's
chief political adviser, had given the FBI as to how he, too, learned that
Plame was a CIA officer and how he came to disclose that information to
columnist Robert Novak." ... "It was Novak who, in a July 14, 2003,
syndicated column, outed Plame as a CIA employee, relying on Rove as one
of his sources." -By Murray
Waas -NationalJournal
Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Law
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- "Six in
Ten Americans Critical of Bush on Leaks: But Bush
job approval holds steady at 37%." ... "The latest USA Today/Gallup
poll finds more than 6 in 10 Americans critical of President George W.
Bush on the leak controversy. The more closely people are following the
issue, the more likely they are to say he did something illegal rather
than unethical. The poll also shows that 37% of Americans continue to approve
of Bush's job performance, unchanged from last month. While that is a low
rating -- and among the lowest of the Bush administration -- it represents
no change in four Gallup polls conducted since the end of February." ...
"The leak controversy erupted into the news last week, when a court filing
revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis
Libby, testified that he was authorized to leak classified information
by President Bush through Cheney. The president has long been critical
of administration officials who have leaked information, and there are
still questions as to how this revelation might relate to the leaking of
a former CIA operative's name. While most political and legal observers
acknowledge that Bush's actions in authorizing the release of classified
information were not illegal, there are political implications to the controversy."
-By David W. Moore -Gallup.com/Poll
US
- Iraq
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Government
- 
Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Media
- Politics-
"Iraq
Findings Leaked by Cheney's Aide Were Disputed."
... "President Bush's apparent order authorizing a senior White House official
to reveal to a reporter previously classified intelligence about Saddam
Hussein's efforts to obtain uranium came as the information was already
being discredited by several other officials in the administration, interviews
and documents from the time show." ... "The filing [in court by Central
Intelligence Agency leak prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald] revealed for
the first time testimony by Mr. Libby saying that Mr. Bush, through Mr.
Cheney, had authorized Mr. Libby to tell reporters that "a key judgment
of the N.I.E. [National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq] held that Iraq was
'vigorously trying to procure' uranium."" ... "In fact, that was not one
of the "key judgments" of the document." ... "In fact, the estimate's key
judgments, which were officially declassified 10 days after Mr. Libby's
meeting with [NYTimes journalist] Ms. Miller, say nothing about the uranium
allegations. The key judgments on Iraq's nuclear program — namely, that
Iraq was again trying to build a bomb — were based instead on other intelligence,
like the assertion that Iraq was seeking high-strength aluminum tubes for
nuclear centrifuges." ... "In an interview with The Times in 2004, a senior
intelligence official involved in drafting the estimate said the uranium
allegations were excluded from the key judgments because the drafters knew
there were serious doubts about their accuracy." (1, 2) -By
David E. Sanger and David Barstow -NYTimes
US
- Iraq
- 
Niger
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "A
'Concerted Effort' to Discredit Bush Critic: Prosecutor
Describes Cheney, Libby as Key Voices Pitching Iraq-Niger Story." ... "As
he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President
Cheney's former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the
first time described a "concerted action" by "multiple people in the White
House" -- using classified information -- to "discredit, punish or seek
revenge against" a critic of President Bush's war in Iraq." ... "Bluntly
and repeatedly, Fitzgerald placed Cheney at the center of that campaign.
Citing grand jury testimony from the vice president's former chief of staff,
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Fitzgerald fingered Cheney as the first to voice
a line of attack that at least three White House officials would soon deploy
against former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV." ... "Cheney, in a conversation
with Libby in early July 2003, was said to describe Wilson's CIA-sponsored
trip to Niger the previous year -- in which the envoy found no support
for charges that Iraq tried to buy uranium there -- as "a junket set up
by Mr. Wilson's wife," CIA case officer Valerie Plame." (1, 2)
-By Barton Gellman and Dafna Linzer with contributions
by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Government
- Political
- Secrets
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Telecom
- 
Privacy
- Military
- Prisons
- 
UN
- Media
- "Libby
testimony shows a White House pattern of intelligence leaks."
... "The revelation that President Bush authorized former White House aide
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to divulge classified information about Iraq fits
a pattern of selective leaks of secret intelligence to further the administration's
political agenda." ... "Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top
officials have reacted angrily at unauthorized leaks, such as the exposure
of a domestic wiretapping program and a network of secret CIA prisons,
both of which are now the subject of far-reaching investigations." ...
"But secret information that supports their policies, particularly about
the Iraq war, has surfaced everywhere from the U.N. Security Council to
major newspapers and magazines. Much of the information that the administration
leaked or declassified, however, has proved to be incomplete, exaggerated,
incorrect or fabricated." -By Warren P. Strobel and
Ron Hutcheson with contributions by James Kuhnhenn
-KnightRidder via -MercuryNews
US
- Iraq
- Niger
- Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- Secrets
- Politics
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- 
Kansas
- "Playing
Hardball With Secrets." ... "For more than two years,
Senate Republicans have dragged out an investigation into how the Bush
administration came to use bogus intelligence on Iraq to justify a war.
A year ago, [Kansas Republican] Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, called it "a monumental waste of time" to consider whether the
White House manipulated intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by
Saddam Hussein." ... "Meanwhile, the evidence has steadily mounted that
President Bush and his team not only did that before the war, but kept
right on doing it after the invasion. The most recent additions to this
pile came yesterday, in reports by The New York Sun, The National Journal
and other news organizations on documents from the case against Lewis Libby,
the former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney who is charged with
lying about the unmasking of Valerie Wilson, a covert C.I.A. agent." ...
"According to these papers, Mr. Libby testified that President Bush authorized
him to tell reporters about classified intelligence on Iraq as part of
an effort to discredit Mrs. Wilson's husband, Joseph Wilson, a retired
diplomat who had cast doubt on the claim that Iraq tried to acquire uranium
for nuclear bombs from Niger. The National Journal reported that Mr. Libby
has also said that Mr. Cheney authorized him to leak classified information
before the invasion to make the case for war."
-NYTimes
US
- Iraq
- Niger
- Government
- Military
- Nuclear
- Intelligence
- Secrets
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Media
- "Bush
Authorized Secrets' Release, Libby Testified: Prosecutor
Says Disclosures on Iraq Were Aimed at War Critic." ... "President Bush
authorized White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to disclose highly
sensitive intelligence information to the news media in an attempt to discredit
a CIA adviser whose views undermined the rationale for the invasion of
Iraq, according to a federal prosecutor's account of Libby's testimony
to a grand jury." ... "The court filing by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald
for the first time places Bush and Vice President Cheney at the heart of
what Libby testified was an exceptional and deliberate leak of material
designed to buttress the administration's claim that Iraq was trying to
obtain nuclear weapons. The information was contained in the National Intelligence
Estimate, one of the most closely held CIA analyses of whether Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction before the war." ... "Fitzgerald said Libby's
disclosure took place as the result of "a strong desire by many, including
multiple people in the White House, to repudiate" claims made in a July
2003 newspaper article by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was
hired by the CIA to evaluate whether Iraq sought nuclear material in Niger.
Wilson wrote that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons
program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."" ... "Bush has been
a major critic of leaks of classified information, and his aides have repeatedly
said they want to "get to the bottom" of who leaked the name of Wilson's
wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, to the media, which touched off
Fitzgerald's investigation . But in the past 33 months the White House
has never disclosed Bush's apparent involvement in the deliberate disclosure
of information meant to undermine Wilson." (1, 2,
3)
-By R. Jeffrey Smith with contributions by Dafna Linzer,
Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei and Lucy Shackelford
-WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Politics
- "Libby
Says Bush Authorized Leaks." ... "Vice President
Dick
Cheney's former chief of staff has testified that President Bush
authorized him to disclose the contents of a highly classified intelligence
assessment to the media to defend the Bush administration's decision to
go to war with Iraq, according to papers filed in federal court on Wednesday
by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the CIA leak
case." ... "I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified to a federal grand
jury that he had received "approval from the President through the Vice
President" to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate regarding
Saddam
Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to
the court papers. Libby was said to have testified that such presidential
authorization to disclose classified information was "unique in his recollection,"
the court papers further said." -By
Murray
Waas with contributions by Brian Beutler
-NationalJournal
US
- Iraq
- Government
- Nuclear
- Military
- Intelligence
- Law
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Karl
Rove
- Politics
- "Bush
Authorized Leak to Times, Libby Told Grand Jury."
... "A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak
probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information
from a closely-guarded "National Intelligence Estimate" on Iraq to a New
York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush,
according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case."
... "The court papers from the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, do not suggest
that Mr. Bush violated any law or rule. However, the new disclosure could
be awkward for the president because it places him, for the first time,
directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend
the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter."
... "Mr. Fitzgerald's inquiry initially focused on the alleged leak, which
occurred after a former ambassador who is Ms. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson,
wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times questioning the accuracy of
statements Mr. Bush made about Iraq's nuclear procurement efforts in Africa."
... "While prosecutors initially said Mr. Libby was the first government
official to disclose Ms. Plame's identity, it subsequently emerged that
a Washington Post reporter, Bob Woodward, learned earlier about her CIA
employment from another government official. Neither Mr. Woodward nor Ms.
Miller wrote about Ms. Plame at the time. Another journalist, Robert Novak,
first disclosed the employment of Mr. Wilson's wife in a syndicated column
released on July 14, 2003. The columnist based his story on interviews
with Mr. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and another official
who has not been officially identified." ... "Prosecutors argued that Mr.
Libby covered up his role in the disclosures because "he knew the White
House had publicly staked its credibility on there being no White House
involvement in the leaking of information about Ms. Wilson." They also
noted that Mr. Bush publicly declared he would fire anyone found to have
leaked classified information." -By Josh Gerstein
-http://NYSun.com
US
- Iraq
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Secret
- Military
- Political
- Intelligence
- "Libby:
White House 'Superiors' OK'd Leaks." ... "A former
top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that his
superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part
of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading
Iraq, according to court papers." ... "Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald
said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence
that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, disclosed
to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate
in the summer of 2003." ... "The NIE is a report prepared by the head of
the nation's intelligence operations for high-level government officials,
up to and including the president. Portions of NIEs are sometimes declassified
and made public. It is unclear whether that happened in this instance."
-By Toni Locy -AP
via -WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Niger
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney - Military
- Politics
- Law
- "Plame
Is Set to Leave the CIA." ... "[Valerie] Plame, 42,
worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her
clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative
in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak." ... "Plame
is married to Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador, who was sent by
the CIA to Africa in February 2002 to evaluate claims that Saddam Hussein
was trying to buy weapons-grade uranium in Niger. Wilson found the claims
unverifiable and publicly criticized the intelligence used by the administration
to justify the war against Iraq." ... "Administration officials began a
campaign to discredit Wilson and identified Plame in conversations with
several journalists, potentially violating a law against unmasking undercover
agents. A federal grand jury recently indicted former [Vice President Dick]
Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges that he repeatedly lied
to investigators." -By Richard B. Schmitt
-LAtimes
Government
- Intelligence
- Media
- Politics
- I
Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Dick
Cheney - "Post
reporter testifies in CIA leak probe." ... "Washington
Post editor Bob Woodward testified that a senior Bush administration official
told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame about a month before her identity
was publicly exposed, the Post acknowledged Wednesday." ... "Woodward told
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is investigating the leak of Plame's
identity, that the official talked to him about Plame in mid-June 2003,
the Post said. Woodward and editors at the Post refused to identify the
official other than to say it was not I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President
Dick Cheney's former chief of staff." -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Law
- Politics
- "Poll:
Libby indictment hits major nerve." ... "The recent
indictment of Vice President Cheney's top aide has struck a nerve with
the American public. Four in five, 79%, said the indictment of former Cheney
aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges is important
to the nation, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People
& the Press." ... "Pew noted that in September 1998, 65% said President
Clinton's lies under oath were important." -By Will
Lester -AP
via -USATODAY
Karl
Rove
- Dick
Cheney - Lewis
Libby
- Law
- "White
House staff begins ethics classes: 3,000 workers
to attend mandatory briefings in wake of CIA leak case." ... "President
Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was not among the first group,
although he was expected to attend an ethics class later this week." ...
"The ethics course comes after Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief
of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was indicted on five counts of obstructing
justice, perjury and lying in the two-year investigation into the leak
of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity." ... "If convicted, Libby,
who resigned from his post in the White House, faces a maximum sentence
of 30 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty."
-Reuters via -MSNBC
US
- Iraq
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Intelligence
- Politics
- 2006
Election - "Ex-Cheney
aide pleads not guilty in CIA leak case." ... "Vice
President Dick Cheney's former top aide [I. Lewis Libby Jr.] pleaded not
guilty Thursday to five criminal charges of lying to or impeding investigators
in the case of the leaked identity of a covert CIA agent whose husband
was a prominent critic of the Iraq war." ... "It was left unclear when
a trial - in which Cheney and other top officials might be called to testify
- would begin. But chances appeared considerable that it would unfold over
several weeks next year, which is a midterm election year in the United
States, giving Democrats a prime opening to assail the Bush administration's
handling of Iraq war intelligence." -By Brian Knowlton
-IHT.com
US
- Iraq
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Military
- Intelligence
- Nevada
- "Secret
Senate session keeps up pressure on Bush over Iraq war."
... "Democrats accuse rivals of colluding on WMD reports." ... "In an attempt
to keep pressure on the Bush administration that drew a furious reaction
from Republicans, the Democratic leader, Harry Reid [Nevada], said the
American people and US troops deserved to know the details of how the country
became engaged in the war, particularly in light of last week's indictment
for perjury of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to the vice-president,
Dick Cheney." ... ""They [Republican senators] have repeatedly chosen to
protect the Republican administration rather than get to the bottom of
what happened and why," Mr Reid said. He accused the chairman of the Senate
intelligence committee, Pat Roberts, of failing to follow through on a
promise to conduct a thorough inquiry into prewar intelligence, including
how the White House had used or misused it." ... ""The Libby indictment
provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration
manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq
and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions," Mr
Reid said before invoking Senate rules that led to the closed session."
-By Jamie Wilson -Guardian.co.uk
Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Political
- Secrecy
- "The
legal case against I. Lewis Libby: how strong? What
the judge allows the jury to hear will be critical to the outcome of the
case, say legal analysts." ... "When Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald
began his investigation in December 2003, his instructions were to identify
who leaked the name of a CIA agent to columnist Robert Novak and determine
whether that action violated any secrecy laws." ... "Nearly two years later,
the answer to that question appears to be that no secrecy laws were clearly
and intentionally violated. But along the way to attempting to discover
the truth about the original leak, Mr. Fitzgerald encountered a senior
White House official who he says attempted to obstruct his investigation."
... "Now, with the prospect of a long-drawn-out, and politically charged
trial in Washington, a new question emerges:" ... "Why would I. Lewis Libby,
who resigned Friday as Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, risk prison
to thwart a special counsel's investigation?" -By
Warren Richey -CSMonitor
US
- Iraq
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Cheney's
top aide indicted in leak case." ... "Lewis "Scooter"
Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and a key architect
of the Iraq war, was indicted Friday on felony charges of perjury, making
false statements and obstruction of justice for allegedly impeding the
grand jury investigating the CIA leak case." ... "The five-count indictment
alleges that Libby lied to FBI agents who interviewed him on two occasions,
perjured himself during two appearances before the grand jury, and obstructed
justice when he "knowingly and corruptly endeavored to influence, obstruct
and impede" the grand jury's efforts to find out who leaked Valerie Plame's
status as a covert agent to reporters during the spring of 2003." ... "Within
minutes of the indictment, Libby resigned his post." -By
Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
Global
- US
- Iraq
- Lewis
Libby
- Dick
Cheney
- Politics
- "Libby
was a driving force behind Iraq war: Cheney's aide
sought to justify pre-emptive strikes to prevent threats." ... "In high-level
policy meetings at the White House, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was often
in the background, a deputy listening to the views of principals such as
his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney." ... "But behind the scenes, those
who know Libby say he was a driving force in major decisions --including
the invasion of Iraq --and one of the key architects of what has become
known as the "Bush doctrine."" ... "He's a foreign policy hawk -- a "neocons'
neocon," as Salon magazine called him -- who was a founding member of the
Project for the New American Century, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank
created in 1997 that supports bigger defense budgets and promotes America's
dominant role in global affairs." -By Zachary Coile
-SFGate.com
US
- Iraq
- Nuclear
- Journalist
- Law
- Politics
- "Cheney
Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Lawyers Report." ...
"I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, first
learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation
in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public
in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday." ... "Notes of the previously
undisclosed conversation between Mr. Libby and Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003,
appear to differ from Mr. Libby's testimony to a federal grand jury that
he initially learned about the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, from journalists,
the lawyers said." ... "The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation,
for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White
House to learn about Ms. Wilson's husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was
questioning the administration's handling of intelligence about Iraq's
nuclear program to justify the war." (1, 2)
-By David Johnston, Richard W. Stevenson, and Douglas
Jehl -NYTimes
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- Politics
- "Cheney's
Office Is A Focus in Leak Case: Sources Cite Role
Of Feud With CIA." ... "As the investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's
name hurtles to an apparent conclusion, special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald
has zeroed in on the role of Vice President Cheney's office, according
to lawyers familiar with the case and government officials. The prosecutor
has assembled evidence that suggests Cheney's long-standing tensions with
the CIA contributed to the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame." ... "In
grand jury sessions, including with New York Times reporter Judith Miller,
Fitzgerald has pressed witnesses on what Cheney may have known about the
effort to push back against ex-diplomat and Iraq war critic Joseph C. Wilson
IV, including the leak of his wife's position at the CIA, Miller and others
said. But Fitzgerald has focused more on the role of Cheney's top aides,
including Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, lawyers involved in
the case said." (1, 2)
-By Jim VandeHei and Walter Pincus-WashingtonPost
US
- Iraq
- Karl
Rove
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Secrets
- "Cheney
May Be Entangled in CIA Leak Investigation, People Say."
... "A special counsel is focusing on whether Vice President Dick Cheney
played a role in leaking a covert CIA agent's name, according to people
familiar with the probe that already threatens top White House aides Karl
Rove and Lewis Libby." ... "The special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, has
questioned current and former officials of President George W. Bush's administration
about whether Cheney was involved in an effort to discredit the agent's
husband, Iraq war critic and former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, according
to the people." ... "Fitzgerald has questioned Cheney's communications
adviser Catherine Martin and former spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise and
ex-White House aide Jim Wilkinson about the vice president's knowledge
of the anti-Wilson campaign and his dealings on it with Libby, his chief
of staff, the people said. The information came from multiple sources,
who requested anonymity because of the secrecy and political sensitivity
of the investigation." -By Richard Keil
-Bloomberg
Media
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Secrets
- "Inaccurate
Info May Help CIA Leak Probe: Inaccurate Information
About CIA Operative in Reporter's Notes Could Lead to Source." ... "Information
attributed to Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff in New York Times
reporter Judith Miller's interview notes is incorrect, offering prosecutors
a potential lead to tracking the bad information to its original source."
... "Miller disclosed this weekend that her notes of a conversation she
had with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on July 8, 2003 stated Cheney's top aide
told her that the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson worked
for the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control
(WINPAC) unit." ... "Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, never worked for WINPAC,
an analysis unit in the overt side of the CIA, and instead worked in a
position in the CIA's secret side, known as the directorate of operations,
according to three people familiar with her work for the spy agency." (1,
2,
3)
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- Karl
Rove - Dick
Cheney -
-
-
- Secrets
- "Rove,
Libby Accounts in CIA Case Differ With Those of Reporters."
... "Two top White House aides have given accounts to a special prosecutor
about how reporters first told them the identity of a CIA agent that are
at odds with what the reporters have said, according to people familiar
with the case." ... "Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's
chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first
learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of Central Intelligence
Agency operative Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush
administration critic Joseph Wilson, one person said. Russert has testified
before a federal grand jury that he didn't tell Libby of Plame's identity,
the person said." ... "White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told
Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated
columnist Robert Novak, according a person familiar with the matter. Novak,
who was first to report Plame's name and connection to Wilson, has given
a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor, the person said."
-By Richard Keil -Bloomberg
-
- Karl
Rove - "Reporter
ties Cheney aide to CIA story: Time identifies chief
of staff as 2d source." ... " I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby, Vice President
Cheney's chief of staff, was a second source for a Time magazine article
that revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent, the magazine reported
yesterday, undercutting repeated White House denials." ... "For two years,
the Bush administration has said that neither top presidential adviser
Karl Rove nor Libby was involved in identifying Valerie Plame, the covert
CIA agent first named in a July 2003 article by syndicated columnist Robert
Novak." ... "Last week, Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff, was identified
as a confidential source of Time reporter Matthew Cooper and that disclosure
led to some Democrats calling for Rove's resignation while others pressed
for the revocation of his security clearance. The disclosure also resulted
in the White House no longer denying Rove's involvement and instead declining
to comment because the matter is under investigation." -By
Diedtra Henderson -Boston/Globe
