It's like, ...
"Ah Mr. Fitzgerald, just in case you're not looking in the right area....let us help you."
The LA Times today gives that little "push", by telling us that - get this, "Scooter Libby was doing his job!" Gasp!
"WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was so angry about the public statements of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a Bush administration critic married to an undercover CIA officer, that he monitored all of Wilson's television appearances and urged the White House to mount an aggressive public campaign against him, former aides say.
Those efforts by the chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, began shortly after Wilson went public with his criticisms in 2003. But they continued into last year — well after the Justice Department began an investigation in September 2003, into whether administration officials had illegally disclosed the CIA operative's identity, say former White House aides.
While other administration officials were maintaining a careful distance from Wilson in 2004, Libby ordered up a compendium of information that could be used to rebut Wilson's claims that the administration had "twisted" intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq before the U.S. invasion.
Libby pressed the administration to publicly counter Wilson, sparking a debate with other White House officials who thought the tactic would call more attention to the former diplomat and his criticisms. That debate ended after an April 2004 meeting in the office of White House Communications Director Daniel Bartlett, when staffers were told "don't engage" Wilson, according to notes taken during the meeting by one person present.
"Scooter had a plan to counter Wilson and a passionate desire to do so," said a second person, a former White House official familiar with the internal deliberations. Like other former White House staff, this person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing criminal investigation."
For those of us who have been asleep for th last year or so, let's review.
Ambassador Joe Wilson, John Kerry Supporter, got sent to Niger in 2002 to drink tea and 'investigate' the Niger/Iraq Yellowcake story. His wife, supporter of America Coming Together recommended him for the trip (as she did in 1999).
Joe comes back from Niger after talking with basically no body in command of nothing (because Amb. Owens-Fitzpatrick asked him not to speak with anyone in authority), and says, negative on the yellow cake story.
Ok, so back to the LA Times. Note the carefully crafted talking points:
"The case had its origins in early 2002, when Cheney asked the CIA for information on reports that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium yellowcake from the African nation of Niger.
In response to Cheney's queries, the CIA decided to send Wilson, who had served in the region and was familiar with the uranium trade, to investigate. Wilson's wife was working undercover for the CIA on weapons issues at the time.
On his trip to Niger, Wilson found little reason to believe the Iraqis had sought the uranium, and on his return reported his findings to CIA officials.
In January 2003, President Bush in his State of the Union address cited Iraq's interest in African uranium as a sign of President Saddam Hussein's interest in acquiring nuclear weapons. In July, Wilson penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times describing his findings and suggesting that the president had distorted intelligence to justify an invasion of Iraq."
Notice the things missing? Well, there the same things always missing from the script. 1) Wife recommended trip. 2) That pesky SSCI report.
Don't you know they hate that one. Why? Well, he proves Mr. Wilson was sent by his wife, that he lied about that. He proves that overstated (Ok, lied about) his findings, and more importantly he knew things about those Niger documents "Dates and names wrong" that were impossible for him to know EXCEPT that his wife (or other ops) told him.
It also told us that Mr. Wilson's findings didn't discret the yellow cake story, but rather boltered it.
But that aside, this article is ridiculous. As if when attacked by an administration critic, in essense a political operative, the adminstration is supposed to sit idly by and let it happen. In whose universe?
All of what Libby did according to this article is vindicated by the well proven fact that Wilson is a liar, a political hack and opportunist.
Good job Mr. Libby.
Filed under: judith miller valerie plame karl rove Valerie Plame PlameGate john hannah
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