Karl Rove - Clinton word mincing part 2

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:17 am

Vander wrote:Who told Miller?

My guess is Plame. You have to assume some reporter was smart enough to try and verify that Plame really did help send her husband to Niger....what did that reporter learn from that conversation? What might that reporter have shared with another reporter? They do compare notes from time to time.

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:34 pm

I'm really impressed by this whole thing. Mostly by the aggression with which certain people are pursuing Rove, even though it's pretty clear nothing is going to come of it, because the evidence simply isn't there. If Rove was the individual leak, the reporters sure are doing him a favor by clamming up.

Some things to note:

1) according to one of Plame's earlier supervisors, Fred Rustmann, all of Plame's neighbors and friends knew she worked for the CIA. Not exactly "covert" there...

2) Stories are coming out that the only info the reporters got from Rove was confirmation -- they asked about Joe Wilson's CIA-employed wife, and he said things like "yeah, that's what I heard."

3) Joe Wilson admitted on CNN that his wife wasn't covert when she was outed.

My best guess is that some reporter knew Plame was a CIA agent, because it was common knowledge, and followed up on that. Once the story broke, Joe Wilson saw it as a personal attack, and he struck out at the white house because he figured they were responsible. But it seems like it all started with some reporter, and it may have been Plame or Wilson who leaked the info in the first place.

I'm content to let it all shake out, and then laugh at the people on the left who didn't learn from the right's mistake jumping to conclusions on WMD.

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:42 pm

bash wrote:Wilson himself is now acknowledging his wife was no longer in a clandestine profile when Novak identified her.

Lothar wrote:3) Joe Wilson admitted on CNN that his wife wasn't covert when she was outed.

From Lothar's CNN link:

WILSON: My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity.

BLITZER: But she hadn't been a clandestine officer for some time before that?

WILSON: That's not anything that I can talk about. And, indeed, I'll go back to what I said earlier, the CIA believed that a possible crime had been committed, and that's why they referred it to the Justice Department.

Reading this as an admission by Wilson that his wife was not covert before Novak blew her is to be willfully obtuse or carelessly ignorant. He plainly states he can't talk about her covert status before Novak blew her.

Heh.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:09 am

Vander wrote:Reading this as an admission by Wilson that his wife was not covert before Novak blew her is to be willfully obtuse or carelessly ignorant. He plainly states he can't talk about her covert status before Novak blew her.

Heh.

I think what's in dispute is whether or not that is true. It has been reported that she wasn't an overseas covert operator since 1996 or there about. If she wasn't he could say so but it might show him to be a liar when he had said his wifes life was endangered by the revealing her name etc. etc.
It would really blow the smoke screen away revaeling no fire at the heart of this story.

The truth is the only indication that the CIA even thought the law might have been broken is the fact that they refered the case to the justice department.
Well, I think that whoever it was in the CIA that sent this up to justice might not know any more about how that law would apply in the Plame case than the person in the CIA who made the determination that WMD's being found in Saddams arsenal was a 'slam dunk'!

dissent · Post by **dissent** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:01 pm

Will Robinson wrote: ... he could say so but it might show him to be a liar ...

X2, Will. Yeah, it seems this may be the heart of the matter. This looks to be the most overblown "scandal" of the last few years. Ya s'pose that Moore is makin' a "documentary" about this one yet?

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:17 pm

At this point I don't think Rove did anything really nasty (maybe a little cruel, but such is politics), but I hope the witch hunt continues and is successful ;p

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:47 pm

I agree, Brian.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 6:14 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/18/how.dumb/

Heh.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:17 pm

Here's a thought I had today... little bizzaro world humor:
What if Rove is found guilty and Bush is impeached...then Cheney becomes president and pardons both Bush and Rove...then nominates Bush to replace Renquist on the supreme court and names Rove as vice president...then Rove runs as the republican incumbant!!!

Gooberman · Post by **Gooberman** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:07 pm

You have a sick mind.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:19 pm

holy ★■◆● will.

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:04 am

I think Birdseye just **** his pants after reading that.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:23 pm

Nah, there really wouldn't be a whole lot of difference.