I just learned that Karl Rove was implicated in the outing of the CIA operative Valerie Plame. You know, the agent that had her cover blown because the White House was pissed at her husband (Joseph Wilson) for telling the public that his investigations ordered by the CIA showed that Iraq had no plans to buy uranium from Nigeria. This "plan" was cited as a reason for going to war with Iraq by GW and his Homlies. So in classic Republican form, Rove leaked Wilson's wife's name in a round about manner to the press (Matt Cooper w/Time) in order to ruin her career and discredit Wilson. Their claim was that Wilson couldn't be trusted because he had his wife (who was an operative in the CIA working on WMD intelligence) give him clearance to investigate in Iraq. They implied that he had his own agenda and used his connections to carry it out.
But Karl Rove had denied involvement in the leak. Bush had announce that he would fire anyone in his staff that was shown to be involved 1 in such an outrageous disregard for our public servant's personal safety and the whole information gathering system that our country relies on for protection, as well as outright compromising national security. Bush is pretty quiet on this whole thing right now. I wonder if he's waiting until Friday to give Rovie the pink slip and the boot in the ass...right. They are scrambling right now to twist and spin it into some liberal media headhunt. They are looking for a way to pull Rove out smelling like a rose and possibly getting a bonus liberal scapegoat as the coup de grace. Booyah!
They already have a story coming out of the WH saying that Karl told Matt Cooper about Wilson's wife to keep Time from publishing false information, not to retaliate against Wilson. 2 I call BULLSHIT! They wanted Wilson out of the way so they could have their war and they would do it by any means necessary as far I am concerned. They lied to the entire country to get their war, affecting all of our lives and more specifically the thousands of people that were sent over to "protect" our country against the Boogeyman. What's one or two more people on top of all of that?
Karl thinks that he has an out, since he didn't actually say her name. He named her as Wilson's wife. Well, how many fucking wives does Wilson have anyway?! It was only a matter of simple cross-referencing to figure the rest out. What a weasel! He knew exactly what he was doing and he knew that what he was doing was not only wrong but illegal and did it anyway. He's a serious security threat to this country and needs to be punished for this. But as Bush likes to say, over and over, "I look out for my friends." Yes, indeedy. Too bad the rest of us aren't on your buddy list, Bush.
Sweaty Karl letting us all know how he really feels.Go here to listen to Scott McClellan (WH press secretary) talk to the press for 15 minute about why he will not talk to anyone.
Go here for Cookie Christine's excellent reaction to these outrageous shennanigans.
Go here for a very well written explanation by Canuk as to why we should all be very c
Id not read anything about that.Thats quite something.
July 12, 2005 4:26 PM
I hope he takes a few others down with him!
July 12, 2005 7:28 PM
Did anyone notice how the so-called liberal media member went to prison to protect her source...karl rove! This fact should completely dismiss the "elite liberal media" accusation as the bullshit it is.
July 12, 2005 7:59 PM
I am no fan of the current administration, but from everything I have read, Rove did not break the law. He did not give out her name or the fact that she was a covert operative. But he is still a slimeball.
July 12, 2005 10:05 PM
June- Oh, yeah! as the Kool-Aid man says.
SSB- That damn liberal media!!
OldRoses- If he knew that she was a covert operator and then went about laying obvious clues to blow her cover, well, that just might be against the law. (I mean, what if he had shown her picture, but didn't mention her name?) Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part though. I don't know if they can prove that he knew her position in the CIA. You would think that it at least has to mortally wound his career- or is it just a little more guilding on his resume?
July 12, 2005 11:38 PM
It's interesting, they were showing old clips of Rove saying "I did not reveal her name, I did not know her name." He just told them that Wilson's wife was a CIA agent, but NO NAME! Hmmmm, seems to me I remember the right going ape-shit over Clinton's parsing of words. Now, not so much. I guess it only counts if you're trying to cover up oral sex. Of course if Jeff Gannon ever talks.......
July 13, 2005 1:18 AM
Dr.Max- Exactly! Whenever something like this gets dug up all the conservatives point to Clinton's little escapade, but really, what did that have to do with the rest of us? It was seriously between him and his wife and Monica. THIS has to do with ALL of us!!
Oh, and that last line is so inflammalicious!!
July 13, 2005 8:18 AM
Yeah, that woman really does believe in her duty to protect her sources, even if that source is Karl Rove. For taht, Judith Miller has far more integrity than I. Hell, I'd probably turn over my first born child if I thought it might implicate Karl in something...
Excellent captioning, Sylvana!
July 13, 2005 10:45 AM
Thanks ORF. I was pretty proud of it and you were the only one to mention it. You win a gold star!!
July 13, 2005 4:01 PM
I looked up the Intelligence Identities Act of 1982 and you know what, I was right. There is no "Name" loophole. It specifically says: "Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."
It goes on to say that if the person doesn't have access to the information but rats them out they can get 5 years.
If a person stumbles upon the info themselves and rats out the agent then they can get 3 years.
There is no mention of "disclosure"="giving a name". The only thing that they need to prove, from what I can see, is that Rove knew her identity was being protected.
July 14, 2005 3:24 PM
Even if he wants to use the "I didn't use her name" defense, I would think he would be hard-pressed to get out of this rule in the Non-Disclosure Agreement he signed:
Before … confirming the accuracy of what appears in the public source, the signer of the SF 312 must confirm through an authorized official that the information has, in fact, been declassified. If it has not, … confirmation of its accuracy is also an unauthorized disclosure. It seems to me he did exactly that when corresponding with Cooper.
July 17, 2005 1:45 PM
Canuk- I am so glad that you added that. I suspected that people working for the White House would have to sign something like that. I had to sign something along those lines for a medical manufacturing company that I worked for and found it hard to believe that that company would have better security over its information than the frickin WHITE HOUSE!
You rock!
July 17, 2005 2:07 PM