February 06, 2004

John Hannah and Lewis "Scooter" Libby Named In Plame Probe I always thought that the Valerie Plame leak came from Dick Cheney and not Karl Rove. Boy Genius hasn't slipped up yet. Cheney has been messing up from the Energy Commission to the Iraq war. According to these sources, John Hannah and Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were the two Cheney employees. "We believe that Hannah was the major player in this," one federal law-enforcement officer said. Calls to the vice president's office were not returned, nor did Hannah and Libby return calls. None of this matters since Glenn Reynolds officially declared the Plame leak bogus.
posted by Sullivan 20 years ago
  • Not fully on topic here, but who is Glenn Reynolds. I mean, I suppose, is he famous because of his site, or is his site famous because of him?
  • To answer your question Dng; he's famous for his site and being Glenn Reynolds. The two go hand in hand. I was just having a little fun because Reynolds is a law professor and he makes such a silly statement about a legal matter. I find it humorous that he believes that he can "officially" declare the Plame leak bogus. On a personal level he seems like a nice guy. Some things I agree with him on. Others I don't. His site is a good place to find links. Think of it as Google News and if you don't like his opinions you can just tune him out.
  • Thanks, Sullivan.
  • seems like a nice guy Lower than a snake's arsehole.
  • Can someone please explain to me why Robert Novak can't be forced to give his source? I mean, as the article says, he did break the law.
  • Can someone please explain to me why Robert Novak can't be forced to give his source? Don't Americans have a right to silence?
  • dng, you're right that Americans have a right to remain silent. But as far as I can tell, he has yet to be charged with any crime. That fact is what bothers me, I suppose. Outrage at the Bush admin. for a possible connection to what happened (which I feel) is odd when nobody seems to be calling for Novak to face the law. Perhaps we on the left are weary of doing so, lest we be seen to approve of the free-speech-violating law that he broke?
  • Novak can be given a subpoena and prosecuted. He may have already talked. That might be why the Justice Department have a strong case against them. Lower than a snake's arsehole. I think it's safe to say that Wolof hasn't been donating any money to InstaPundit's pay pal account on his blog.
  • O'Donnell confirms on The Huffington Post the recent flurry of speculation about the Plame source:
    I revealed in yesterday's taping of the McLaughlin Group that Time magazine's emails will reveal that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source. I have known this for months but didn't want to say it at a time that would risk me getting dragged into the grand jury.
    I remain skeptical however. In a post Rathergate world, all single-sourced news bombshells are suspect. Especially if it seems to spell doom for the Republicans with no obvious downside for the Democrats.
  • Rove did it. /blogRot Who wants to take odds that his pudgy, pasty ass never touches a prison bunk?
  • I apologize for the "pudgy, pasty" cheap shot. Right now I'm just pissed. Unsurprised, but pissed.
  • Don't be sorry, mct. I once called Rove a "fat fucking Jabba the Hutt piece of shit," and it still sounds about right.
  • Can you prove he isn't a fat fucking Jabba the Hutt piece of shit? Exactly.
  • middleclasstool - the only acceptable reason for you to be right is because his pasty ass is so sore he has to sleep face-down.
  • Now your comment doesn't seem so bad, does it?
  • Wow, MSNBC quotes Newsweek. *yawn* Only when Rove is safely behind bars for the rest of his life will I be willing to say that maybe this case is going somewhere. Until then, I've got sharks to fend off.
  • The state of the game, for those not keeping score: Rove has been revealed as Matt Cooper's source, mentioning to him that Plame was undercover at 11:07 am on July 11, three days before Novak published his piece exposing that Plame was an undercover CIA agent. It is still unclear if Rove's mention occurs before Novak's article was distributed in the wires on July 11. Additionally, it is claimed that Rove's intention was not to out Plame, but rather to cast her husband's appointment to Niger in a negative light. While unlikely to excuse any criminal culpability, this might be fashioned by the noise machine to vindicate him in the court of public opinion, which might make his oncoming pardon easier to digest. Plenty of speculation obviously abounds that even if Rove were to be indicted, Bush will simply pardon him. Will that hurt the Republicans, particularly their presidential nominee, in 2008? Signs point to 'no'. (See also: public apathy, short memory, corporate media, Democratic blandness and incompetence, Diebold.) The alternative is, of course, for Bush's Republican successor to pardon Rove in 2009, but Rove might have already endured some time in prison by that point, depending on how speedily the wheels of justice turn. A betting person should expect these wheels to get seriously gummed up soon. Seasoned political cynics continue to maintain that Rove has a trick or two up his sleeve that will allow him (and the Bush administration) to simply escape -- with either no harm, or complete victory over their opponents. (Cf. Rathergate.) No doubt in some smoke-filled back room partisan junkies are busily combing through the prosecutor's personal and professional history, looking for some way to discredit the entire investigation. Are his bona fides unimpeachable? At the moment, though, the right-wing talking points appear to be wearing thin. Perhaps the time for the anti-Rovians to celebrate is now, before the tides turn. Meanwhile, Islamic terrorists conspire with liberal white-girl-murdering sharks to cause hurricanes in Aruba.
  • One other point to mention is that there is, if memory serves, at least one other source from within the administration who has not been named, both of whom I believe spoke to Novak. The little tinfoil hat that lives within my heart wonders if Rove did not strategically offer himself up to distract us to source number two, who might be even meatier.
  • While I can certainly see (and probably agree with) the idea that if Rove is ever prosecuted, he will be pardoned, there's also the possibility that the administration (which doesn't really need him anymore - his main use has been electoral, according to most info I've seen - except possibly to keep him quiet) could cut him loose, disavow him, and let him go to jail, to shield people higher than him. All it would take to get him to play along is a heartfelt promise that, no really, he'll be gotten out of this eventually... a promise that would be revoked once he was safely ensconced in a cell. This is something that I could easily see Bush & Co doing... actually, something they're notorious for, in a way. GWB is known to mock and ostracize advisors who dare to disagree with him, and Rove could find himself in this position if it were politically expedient.
  • the wapo has this:
    Rove apparently told Cooper that it was "Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip,"
    i'm not certain i understand. does this mean that rove admits that he identified wilson's wife as an agent, but he's arguing that he didn't know she was a secret agent and therefore is not culpable in blowing her cover?
  • Apparently means he didn't identify Valerie Plane by name, according to Rove's lawyer. Just heard this on the radio. /plumbing the depths of perfidity
  • Bush will not let go of Rove willingly. He will have to be coerced, which will require his base of supporters to call for Rove's end. This can perhaps be arranged in theory--say Rove's wardrobe slips up and exposes a boob on TV--but is exceedingly unlikely. Keen students of history will point out that even such a slimy bastard as Richard Nixon was eventually forced to cut off his right hand--Spiro Agnew--to save himself. After Bush's 2004 victory, these long viewed people consoled the Democrats that they should look to the Nixon presidency for solace; after all, Nixon won in a landslide, getting 49 out of 50 states, whereas Bush barely managed half of the popular vote. Surely if Ozymandias can fall, so can a lesser king! Yet, any such solace must be tempered with the note that Nixon lived in an era where the news media still had all their teeth; the Bush administration today keeps the media's dentures under lock and key, and has them trained to relish the few morsels of liquid chow the Bush administration happens to scatter in their path.
  • Apparently means he didn't identify Valerie Plane by name
    sheesh. this administration can get away with anything, it seems.
  • WH press corps actually shows up. In related news, the monkey that just flew out of my butt is doing fine, thanks for asking.
  • tensor, you support your cynical view and predictions very well, sad to say. I would have loved to see Rove at least squirm a bit.
  • Have they found that girl in Aruba yet? I hate Aruba.
  • From the does-this-surprise-anyone dept: Why does Count Novakula seem to be untouchable in this brouhaha? Wonder no more — he spilled the beans. Mark, however, that Josh Marshal advices caution in believing whatever you read or hear from Novak and/or on the interweb-type network.
  • Further development in the Novak angle: the NYTimes prints that Bob Novak may have told Rove that Plame was a covert CIA operative.
  • Here's what the right-wing thinks of recent revelations[1]. Redstate.org sees confirmation of an earlier claim that this is a hit on Karl Rove arranged by the media. Don't say "wha?!" -- it's really very simple. Step 1. the media collectively decide that something needs to be done about Karl Rove. Step 2. The heavens part and impart in the minds of every journalist doing the White House beat that Plame is the key to Rove's downfall. Step 3. Novak leads a vanguard of phone-wielding journalists who call Rove and tell him, nay, pound into his brain with the force of a thousand vengeances, that Plame is a CIA operative. Step 4. dazed at the onslaught, and clearly not legally in possession of his wits, Rove calls up a bunch of other people (including Matt Cooper) and reveals his new knowledge. Step 5. A year and change later, the trap springs, and poor old Rove is caught like a squealing mouse, as was pre-ordained in the unholy tryst all the way back in step 1. QED. So utterly obvious, no wonder no one has caught on. Eugene Volokh, the genius of the bunch, sees an infinite loop in the making. A bit o' the old Baron Munchausen swallowing his own tale... no wait... Polipundit says words. Someone needs to tell him to stop saying words. Meanwhile, down at the townhall, they discover that the latest Democratic shenanigans (OMG WTF new amendment!) is conclusive proof that Rove is un-guilty. "Is there any better evidence that he is innocent?" No, of course not. This is the best evidence. Always witty Mickey Kaus asks the question that's on the tip of all our minds -- "How could Wilson not have expected his wife's job to become the buzz of Washington in fairly short order?" One might almost think that Wilson wanted to out his wife. Do I smell marital trouble? The rest of the right-wing rat pack appear to be sleeping. Even Powerline -- esteemed blog of the year -- hasn't commented yet. But do not miss their beach volleyball special. [1] The left-wing's opinions are the usual predictable stuff.
  • Karl Rove Drinking Game typical drunken lefties. *hic*
  • Ah, well, he's no Brownie, then.
  • Tim Russert told me about Valerie Plame, said Libby. No I didn't, said Russert. Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, told FBI investigators and a grand jury he first learned Wilson's identity from Russert during a conversation on July 10, 2003. He later recanted, saying a note he found had jogged his memory, and that he initially heard the name from Cheney about a month before. Story Highlights • NEW: In taped testimony, Libby says Cheney gave him agent's name Ruh-roh Rhaggy!
  • Are we nearly there yet?
  • Surely *this* will... ...ah, never mind.
  • Predictions: 1. Appeal. 2. Spin emphasis on the Court's "opinion". 3. Scooter Who?
  • > 3. Scooter Who? He worked for the Clinton administration, didn't he?
  • If a cumstained dress we don't see, the defendant should be set free.
  • Oh -- yup. Appeal. And the classic plastered-smile for the cameras. Forgot that one. (Is it a perp walk after you've been found guilty? Or is that only for after arrest?)
  • Prediction: Presidential pardon issued in December 2008.
  • Everything else aside, this, from the NYT story, does not give me the greatest confidence in our national jury pool: "Right up to the final stages of the deliberations, there were hints of some confusion on the jury as to just what Mr. Libby was accused of doing. This morning, for instance, Judge Walton was asked if Mr. Libby was accused of making a false statement to a reporter from Time magazine. No, the judge said; he was not."
  • . . as part of the overall strategy by the Bush administration to propagandize an illegal, ill-conceived, and brutal war which has cost thousands of lives and billions of tax dollars. Hey wait, that part wasn't IN THE NEWS ARTICLE.
  • does not give me the greatest confidence in our national jury pool Pffft. You don't actually expect them to pay attention during these proceedings, do you? NEWS FLASH: They're boring! *puts on glasses with eyes painted on them, snoozes*
  • Although I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to make it illegal to lie to journalists. Sure would make my job more interesting... *imagines half my rolodex frog-marched off to Sing-Sing*
  • "Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who has led the leak investigation, said no additional charges would be filed. That means nobody will be charged with the leak and Libby, who was not the source for the original column outing Plame, will be the only one to face trial." Well that sucks.
  • Isn't there still a "sealed v sealed" indictment yet to be revealed?
  • I'd like to hear reference to an overall strategy to deceive the public for invading Iraq. The reporting about it is so abstract - as if Libby got caught leaving the toilet seat up. As in, "So? What does it matter?" As if the 18 minute gap in Nixon's tapes was just covering up him whistling and shining his shoes. Nothing to see here . . .
  • Oh, come on, pete, that kind of reporting would be treason. Certainly the Dems would be harping on that angle if there were something to it!
  • *poke* *poke*
  • The Libby Pardon Pool. I'm not a gambling man, but my tenner would ride on sometime in December, too.
  • December next year, that is.
  • Looking at the calendar... December 26th. Close enough to be buried by the holiidays, and also on a Friday news cycle. And it can't be labelled a Christmas Gift since that's already passed...
  • Stop the Press! Fox News reports Libby found Not Guilty! Sometimes I get the sneaky feeling that Fox News isn't very objective.
  • "Brit Hume." That's gotta be a made-up name. Like a newscaster on The Simpsons.
  • You've got to -- ac-cent-tu-ate the positive / e-lim-in-nate the negative..!
  • Let this be a lesson to all future administrations that if they ever commit treasonable crimes then maybe three years thence some underling with a funny name will face trial for some legalistic jargon no one even understands. The system works!
  • Bastard should have been charfed with attempted murder, or at least depraved indifference to human life.. It wouldn't have stuck, but it would have been a nice gesture. Blown covers have been known to lead to death.
  • /spends rest of afternoon mooning over Law & Order's Jack McCoy
  • Damn, but I'm tired of this gummint trying to re-write their slimy history.
  • No. 28301-016 cannot delay his 2 ½-year prison term in the CIA leak case, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled Monday.
  • Bush commutes Libby's sentence. Well, that was a quick jaunt in the big house, wasn't it! Pfffft....
  • See, Democracy does work.
  • That sound you're hearing is my utter lack of shock.
  • I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive Where "concluded" is obviously "decree". Filth.
  • Yep, color me unsurprised.
  • Isn't there still an appeals process to determine if a sentence is correct in law or not, or are you not even bothering with the charade of stacked-courts anymore? Whatever. The only surprise in all this is finding out what cushy job Libby will end up with when all is said and done.
  • Oh -- before we go -- my final prediction is that he won't pay a dime, and wind up pardoned in Bush's final days, citing some bullshit 'service to the country'. It's simply too early to pardon him right now.
  • He'll do 10 or 20 $25K-a-pop appearances per year and have a $200K position with the Heritage Foundation on the side, studying things like the genetic predisposition of Mexicans to help terrorists and the immorality of helping poor people. He'll be a regular on the cable TV news programs, providing a fair and balanced counterweight to the overwhelming far-left bias of the mainstream media. He and Oliver North will team to write a children's book entitled Curious Abdul Gets Into Trouble, about 21st century counterinsurgency tactics. His daughter will be ashamed of her father, and resist taking boys home to meet the family as a result. His son, on the other hand, will use his old man's infamy to get people to buy him free drinks. His wife will start drinking even earlier in the day. Cocktail of choice: Manhattans.
  • Fred Thompson: "I am very happy for Scooter Libby." I guess he's not as much of a fan of Law & Order when it's applied in the real world.
  • DUN DUN
  • Given that this so-called investigation by Fitzgerald managed to snare nought but the lowliest of the flunkies, I can barely muster any outrage. The final scene of this drama was written when Fitz refused to charge anyone important (Rove or Cheney); the actors are now just going through the motions.
  • Well, the rest of us have fucking concluded that every fucking thing you do is fucking excessive, Mr. Fucking Bush. Pardon my French, er, I mean Freedom.
  • Mitt Romney: "I believe that the circumstances of this case, where the prosecutor knew that there had not been a crime committed, created a setting where a decision of this nature was reasonable." Umm, there was a crime committed. He was found guilty of that crime. Thus, the whole going-to-jail thing. Ladies and Gentlemen, both a Mormon and a Moron...
  • Yes indeed, the Republicans are Toast.
  • Oh -- I don't believe that for a second. They'll be back in. No worries.
  • grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
  • Aah, here we go -- the Coming Attractions: Bush not ruling out Libby pardon.
  • An interesting point from the comments in h-dogg's link: What is most amazing is that Bush never found any of the death sentences in Texas to be too harsh.
  • Hmmmm.... Yes, that is a very good point.
  • Maybe Bush is simply returning the karmic favour of when his drug conviction was 'commuted'... (*cough*) It's all about Compassionate Conservatism. Be compassionate to conservatives.
  • Oh -- I don't believe that for a second. Cap, I'll bet you 2-to-1, the Dems win the next presidential election.
  • I'll take those odds, sure. I'll be glad to lose -- don't get me wrong -- but I'd even bet my grandmother's left eye on this.
  • Ok, it's a deal then. If the Republicans win, I'll give you two of your grandmother's left eyes.
  • ...no but seriously, do you think the Republicans will win because of weak Democrats or because of strong basic Republican support?
  • Yes.
  • I think it'll be a replay of the last one -- only more so. There's strong base support for the GOP, yes, but so have the Democrats. The difference is that the right has always had the ability to unite around a candidate, No Questions Asked, while the left cannibalises itself all the more it desperately wants power. The Republicans have had four more years to entrench itself in thousands of tiny but crucial positions around the country -- electoral officers, prosecutors, the judiciary... Just as no-one saw Ohio being 'delivered' to Bush the last time, or Florida the time before, that scenario is even more likely in 2008. But fundamentally, Democratic candidates are afraid. They're afraid to be liberal, or even seen as liberal. As a result, they court the conservative vote and go duck-hunting and stuff, and come across as phoneys. If they could stand up and be true to their base, the one that is otherwise holding their noses, they might actually do better. We saw this in the Democratic debate last week -- only one guy, Kucinich, had the audacity to say that they should cut military spending by 15% and put it towards education, or even simply stopping the war. One guy wanted to stop the war. The entire party wants to stop the war, but where are the candidates? Tweaking the edges of the other guys' policy. Finally, and most importantly, Fear. Fear of what they've been told to be afraid of, fear of the unknown, fear of things just a little too different from themselves. They won't vote for a woman or an African-American -- they'll go for the guy they're comfortable with, who seems like a nice guy, but is still tough when he needs to be. It'll come down to 'yes, they've made mistakes, but they were just looking out for us, and they've promised to do better.' President Fred Thompson. He has the exposure. He has recognition. He has this mix of Reagan's oratory, and Ford's down-homedness. It's been said that the Democrats' base support is about 39% -- that they could run a potted plant and count on 39% of the vote. The GOP stands at 30%. So, the Dems have to make up 11% (or slightly less), and the GOP 20%. But here's the thing -- those are precisely the people who haven't been paying attention. They decide. And if they haven't been convinced by now -- by simple facts -- they can be convinced by anything, by the most spurious of arguments or images. And in that, I cannot underestimate the GOP's ability to win those people over. But I could be wrong. I hope I am.
  • OK, maybe not Fred. But it's not McCain, Rudy, or Romney. So barring someone else, it's Fred. And I can't see the Dems going for someone other than Hilary, which pretty much seals the deal. OK, enough for me. I'm going to bed.
  • Capt, you've got it all wrong. We will not see a new Republican take office. I'm willing to wager that BushCo will stay in power - an American political "coup d'état" of sorts. Extraordinary Executive privelages will be invoked at a time of "dire" urgency. Perhaps well-timed with a terrorist attack of sorts on American soil; there will be no direct challenge to the new American dictatorship. Iraq will continue... Iran will proceed... And the oil will continue to bleed... Ok, someone please stop me...
  • Kung Fu Monkey: L33T Justice
  • I'm holding out for Gore. I don't care what anyone says. So there.
  • That Kung Fu Monkey post is a great read. Thanks for linking, homunculus.
  • God, why should anything change. The party with sufficient electoral support to convince business to cough up dough will win, and that's not likely to be the Republicans in 2008 (unless someone in power figures a way to suspend the presidential elections next year, which seems too weird). It'll be whichever Democrat sucks hardest at the tit of those in power that'll get the nod, and then serve his or her masters while the rest of us pay the bill. Business as usual.
  • Nicely expressed, Capt'n. I agree with you that the Dems have a big problem with coming across as phonies. They haven't figured out that a choice between a phony and someone who at least has some identifiable set of beliefs is no choice at all. Maybe it runs deeper than that though...maybe the Dems are mistaking platforms for character.
  • Fear is indeed the mind-killer.
  • Good find, h-dogg. Much has been made about the Bush family's loyalty to those who serve them. Maybe they are indeed loyal, but I'm inclined to think it's much more base than that, that they don't want to alienate those who know where the bodies are buried. Keep them close and happy, and they won't squeal. IMHO, anyway.
  • Gee, I hope pete come back soon -- I can't keep this up by myself...
  • That's what that hideous carrion smell is coming from Washington. Bodies incompletely buried. Some of those f****rs have totally rotted ethics. I can't believe BusshCo did this. I can't believe the American people are letting him get away with it. And saddest of all, I haven't a clue how to protest it. Nothing, NOTHING seems to make in impact on the corruption of this regime. WE WANT PETE. WE WANT PETE. WE WANT PETE. WE WANT PETE. WE WANT PETE. with or without pants. Where is our Pete, anyway? I miss him.
  • Has anyone checked the man-sized safe?
  • And speaking of Al Gore... At least it was a Prius...
  • Can I just say I am in LOVE with the phrase, "the creatures of his ambition?"
  • Tell you what -- if Bush pardons Genarlow Wilson, so he doesn't have to spend ten years in prison for a consensual blow-job, I'll call it even.