lily
06-03-2008, 11:47 PM
Looks like it to me, but then I've thought that all along. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/06/03/BL2008060301890.html?nav=hcmodule)
Did Cheney Tell Libby to Do It?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, June 3, 2008; 1:55 PM
Former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby told the
FBI that it was "possible" that Vice President Cheney instructed him to
disseminate information about CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press,
according to a redacted FBI report recently examined by Congressional
investigators.
In part as a result of that revelation, the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee today reiterated its request for more Plame investigation
documents -- including reports on the interviews investigators conducted
with Cheney and President Bush.
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Committee Chairman Henry
Waxman also writes that "new revelations by former White House Press
Secretary Scott McClellan raise additional questions about the actions of
the President and the Vice President. Mr. McClellan has stated that 'the
President and Vice President directed me to go out there and exonerate
Scooter Libby.' He has also asserted that 'the top White House officials who
knew the truth -- including [Karl] Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President
Cheney -- allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie.' It would be a
major breach of trust if the Vice President personally directed Mr.
McClellan to mislead the public."
Back in December, I wrote about how special prosecutor Patrick J.
Fitzgerald had agreed to give congressional investigators key documents from
his investigation into the leak -- until the White House intervened. Waxman
then asked the newly-installed attorney general to show some independence
from his White House masters and release the documents. Committee
investigators were eventually allowed to read redacted versions of the
reports on interviews with senior administration officials, including Libby
and Rove, but not Cheney or Bush.
Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice last year after
repeatedly denying that he had told reporters about Plame's identity.
Prosecutors presented evidence that he had done precisely that, as part of a
coordinated White House campaign to discredit Plame's husband Joe Wilson, an
administration critic. Fitzgerald even indicated that he had been hot on
Cheney's trail until that line of investigation was cut off by Libby's
repeated lies.
As I wrote in a February 2007 column, an FBI agent testified at the trial
that Libby said he and Cheney may have discussed in July 2003 "whether to
report to the press that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA."
That Libby also told the FBI it was possible that Cheney actually instructed
him to do so would seem to go beyond what we already knew. It was in phone
calls placed immediately after the conversation in question that Libby
mentioned Valerie Plame for a third time to Judith Miller, then of the New
York Times, and spoke with Matt Cooper, then of Time Magazine. According to
Cooper, it was during that phone call that Libby confirmed that Plame had
been involved in her husband's trip -- an allegation Cooper had first heard
from Karl Rove.
Waxman writes to Mukasey today: "The Committee is conducting an important
investigation to answer questions that Mr. Fitzgerald's criminal inquiry did
not address."
Waxman also complains about the redactions in the reports that investigators
have been allowed to see and requests unredacted versions: "In his FBI
interview, Mr. McClellan told the FBI about discussions he had with the
President and the Vice President. These passages, however, were redacted
from the copies made available to the Committee. Similar passages were also
redacted from other interviews.
"There are no sound reasons for you to withhold the interviews with the
President and the Vice President from the Committee or to redact passages
like Mr. McClellan's discussions with the President and the Vice President.
Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation is closed and he has indicated that it would
be appropriate to share these records with the Committee. There has been no
assertion of executive privilege."
Did Cheney Tell Libby to Do It?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, June 3, 2008; 1:55 PM
Former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby told the
FBI that it was "possible" that Vice President Cheney instructed him to
disseminate information about CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press,
according to a redacted FBI report recently examined by Congressional
investigators.
In part as a result of that revelation, the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee today reiterated its request for more Plame investigation
documents -- including reports on the interviews investigators conducted
with Cheney and President Bush.
In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Committee Chairman Henry
Waxman also writes that "new revelations by former White House Press
Secretary Scott McClellan raise additional questions about the actions of
the President and the Vice President. Mr. McClellan has stated that 'the
President and Vice President directed me to go out there and exonerate
Scooter Libby.' He has also asserted that 'the top White House officials who
knew the truth -- including [Karl] Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President
Cheney -- allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie.' It would be a
major breach of trust if the Vice President personally directed Mr.
McClellan to mislead the public."
Back in December, I wrote about how special prosecutor Patrick J.
Fitzgerald had agreed to give congressional investigators key documents from
his investigation into the leak -- until the White House intervened. Waxman
then asked the newly-installed attorney general to show some independence
from his White House masters and release the documents. Committee
investigators were eventually allowed to read redacted versions of the
reports on interviews with senior administration officials, including Libby
and Rove, but not Cheney or Bush.
Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice last year after
repeatedly denying that he had told reporters about Plame's identity.
Prosecutors presented evidence that he had done precisely that, as part of a
coordinated White House campaign to discredit Plame's husband Joe Wilson, an
administration critic. Fitzgerald even indicated that he had been hot on
Cheney's trail until that line of investigation was cut off by Libby's
repeated lies.
As I wrote in a February 2007 column, an FBI agent testified at the trial
that Libby said he and Cheney may have discussed in July 2003 "whether to
report to the press that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA."
That Libby also told the FBI it was possible that Cheney actually instructed
him to do so would seem to go beyond what we already knew. It was in phone
calls placed immediately after the conversation in question that Libby
mentioned Valerie Plame for a third time to Judith Miller, then of the New
York Times, and spoke with Matt Cooper, then of Time Magazine. According to
Cooper, it was during that phone call that Libby confirmed that Plame had
been involved in her husband's trip -- an allegation Cooper had first heard
from Karl Rove.
Waxman writes to Mukasey today: "The Committee is conducting an important
investigation to answer questions that Mr. Fitzgerald's criminal inquiry did
not address."
Waxman also complains about the redactions in the reports that investigators
have been allowed to see and requests unredacted versions: "In his FBI
interview, Mr. McClellan told the FBI about discussions he had with the
President and the Vice President. These passages, however, were redacted
from the copies made available to the Committee. Similar passages were also
redacted from other interviews.
"There are no sound reasons for you to withhold the interviews with the
President and the Vice President from the Committee or to redact passages
like Mr. McClellan's discussions with the President and the Vice President.
Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation is closed and he has indicated that it would
be appropriate to share these records with the Committee. There has been no
assertion of executive privilege."