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This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event February 28, 2006: Conservative Libby Defender Fails to Disclose Family Ties to Libby Defense Fund. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.
Mary Matalin. [Source: Slate (.com)]Mary Matalin, Vice President Dick Cheney's communications director, warns Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, about former ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson has recently published a column debunking the White House's claim that Iraq had attempted to purchase enriched uranium from Niger, and accusing the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to create an overblown case for attacking Iraq (see July 6, 2003). Matalin tells Libby that Wilson is a "snake," and that his "story has legs." According to prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg, who will present Matalin's conversation during Libby's perjury trial (see October 28, 2005), Matalin says: "We need to address the Wilson motivation. We need to be able to get the cable out. Declassified. The president should wave his wand." By "the cable," Matalin is referring to the CIA's debriefing of Wilson after his trip to Niger (see March 4-5, 2002). Matalin also advises Libby to call NBC bureau chief Tim Russert and complain about MSNBC host Chris Matthews's coverage of the Niger story. And she advises Libby to get a New York Times reporter such as David Sanger "or someone… to expose [the] Wilson story." Two days later, Cheney will authorize Libby to declassify portions of the debriefing report (see July 12, 2003), telling him that President Bush has waved his wand, and Libby will again divulge Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA identity to Times reporter Judith Miller (see Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). [US Department of Justice, 3/5/2004 ; US Department of Justice, 2/2007 ; National Journal, 2/15/2007]
Entity Tags: Judith Miller, David Sanger, Chris Matthews, Bush administration (43), Joseph C. Wilson, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Mary Matalin, Tim Russert, Peter Zeidenberg, Valerie Plame Wilson, Richard ("Dick") Cheney
Timeline Tags: Niger Uranium and Plame Outing
According to anonymous current and former intelligence officials, the CIA has carried out an in-house investigation of the damage done to the agency by the exposure of covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 13, 2003, June 23, 2003, July 7, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, July 8, 2003, 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, 8:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003, 1:26 p.m. July 12, 2003, July 12, 2003, and July 14, 2003). That damage is described by the officials as "severe" and potentially far more damaging than has been previously reported, particularly to the agency's ability to monitor Iran's nuclear program (see February 13, 2006). The officials say that while CIA Director Porter Goss has not submitted a formal assessment of the damage caused by Plame Wilson's exposure to Congressional oversight committees, the CIA's Directorate of Operations did conduct a serious and aggressive investigation. That investigation, a "counter intelligence assessment to agency operations," was ordered by the agency's then-Deputy Director of the Directorate of Operations, James Pavitt. Former CIA counterintelligence officer Larry Johnson says that such an assessment would have had to have been carried out: "An exposure like that required an immediate operational and counter intelligence damage assessment. That was done. The results were written up but not in a form for submission to anyone outside of CIA." A former counterintelligence officer says that the CIA's reason for not submitting a report to Congress is that its top officials "made a conscious decision not to do a formal inquiry because they knew it might become public. They referred it [to the Justice Department] instead because they believed a criminal investigation was needed" (see September 16, 2003). According to that official, the assessment found the exposure of Plame Wilson caused "significant damage to operational equities." Another counterintelligence official explains that "operational equities" includes both people and agency operations that involve the "cover mechanism," "front companies," and other CIA officers and assets. The assessment also shows that other CIA non-official cover (NOC) officers (see Fall 1992 - 1996) were compromised by Plame Wilson's exposure. The officials will not say if American or foreign casualties were incurred as a result of her exposure. Several intelligence officials say it will take up to "10 years" for the agency to recover from the damage done by Plame Wilson's exposure, and to recover its capability to adequately monitor nuclear proliferation on the level it had achieved prior to the White House's leak of her identity. [Raw Story, 2/13/2006]
Entity Tags: Directorate of Operations, Central Intelligence Agency, Valerie Plame Wilson, James Pavitt, Porter J. Goss
The leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a CIA officer by conservative columnist Robert Novak (see July 14, 2003) has resulted in the exposure of a CIA front company, potentially causing widespread damage to overseas intelligence gathering. Yesterday, Novak revealed the name of the firm in another column (see October 2, 2003). The fictitious Boston firm, Brewster Jennings & Associates, appears in Federal Election Commission records on a 1999 form filled out by Plame Wilson when she donated $1,000 to the presidential campaign of Al Gore (D-TN). Once the Novak column was published, CIA officials admitted that it is a front. Brewster Jennings is listed as Plame Wilson's employer on her 1999 tax forms, though she was working as an undercover CIA officer at the time. A former diplomat says that since Brewster Jennings and Plame Wilson have been exposed, every foreign intelligence service is running the names through their own databases to determine whether she ever visited their countries and what kinds of contacts she made there. "That's why the agency is so sensitive about just publishing her name," the former diplomat says. [Washington Post, 10/4/2003] Plame's NOC Status, 'Legend' - As one of a very small, select number of "nonofficial cover" officers, Plame Wilson would have enjoyed little or no government protection had her cover been blown while she was overseas. Training officers such as her cost millions of dollars and require elaborate constructions of fictional background, called "legends," including the creation of CIA front companies such as Brewster Jennings. The amount of damage caused by the outing of Plame Wilson and Brewster Jennings is incalculable. Former CIA counterterrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro says many other CIA agents and foreign assets are now endangered, and future attempts to convince foreign citizens to share information with US intelligence agencies will be hampered. Former CIA and State Department official Larry Johnson, who trained with Plame Wilson in 1985, says that when the damage is fully assessed, "at the end of the day, [the harm] will be huge and some people potentially may have lost their lives." Johnson describes himself as "furious, absolutely furious" at the breach. "We feel like the peasants with torches and pitchforks," he says. "The robber barons aren't going to be allowed to get away with this." Former CIA officer Jim Marcinkowski, who also trained with Plame Wilson, agrees: "This is not just another leak. This is an unprecedented exposing of an agent's identity." While the CIA continues to keep details of Plame Wilson's career secret, it is known that she was attached to a US embassy in Europe in 1990 and 1991 (more information on her overseas postings will later be revealed—see Fall 1985, Fall 1989, Fall 1992 - 1996, and April 2001 and After). It is known that when Novak blew her cover, she was a senior case officer for the CIA's counterproliferation division, working with intelligence about hostile countries and WMD. "All the people who had innocent lunches with her overseas or went shopping or played tennis with her, I'm sure they are having heart attacks right now," says one former colleague who was also in covert operations. "I would be in hiding now if I were them." [Washington Post, 10/8/2003; Knight Ridder, 10/11/2003] Brewster Jennings Just One of Plame Wilson's Cover Firms - Former intelligence officials confirm that Brewster Jennings was just one of several cover affiliations that Plame Wilson used when she was operating overseas. "All it was was a telephone and a post office box," says one former intelligence officer. "When she was abroad she had a more viable cover." [Boston Globe, 10/10/2003] Cannistraro will later add that when Plame Wilson was operating undercover outside the US, she would have had a real job with a more legitimate company. The Boston company "is not an indicator of what she did overseas." Now, those firms are themselves in jeopardy of exposure for working with US intelligence. [Wilson, 2007, pp. 343-344] In 2007, former CIA and National Security Council official Bruce Riedel will say: "I have looked at the part of her CV that is in the open domain. The agency spent an awful lot of effort building a really good cover for this person. A lot of effort. People who say this was not a covert operative don't understand what they're saying. This was intended to be a nonofficial cover person who would have the credentials to be a very serious operative. The damage done to the mission of the organization by exposing her, and how cover is built, is pretty serious." [Wilson, 2007, pp. 343]
Entity Tags: Valerie Plame Wilson, Robert Novak, Vincent Cannistraro, Jim Marcinkowski, Central Intelligence Agency, Brewster Jennings, Counterproliferation Division, Albert Arnold ("Al") Gore, Jr., Federal Election Commission, Larry C. Johnson, Bruce Riedel
Knight Ridder reporter Warren Strobel publishes an analysis of the potential damage the Plame Wilson identity leak (see Fall 1992 - 1996 and July 14, 2003) has caused to the CIA and to US national security. According to current and former CIA officials interviewed by Strobel, revealing Plame Wilson's identity "may have damaged US national security to a much greater extent than generally realized." Former CIA and State Department official Larry Johnson says flatly, "At the end of the day, [the harm] will be huge and some people potentially may have lost their lives." Strobel notes that Plame Wilson's training cost the US "millions of dollars and requires the time-consuming establishment of elaborate fictions, called 'legends,' including in this case the creation of a CIA front company that helped lend plausibility to her trips overseas." Conservative columnist Robert Novak not only outed Plame Wilson, but her front company, Brewster Jennings (see October 2, 2003), a revelation that former CIA counterterrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro says puts other CIA officers at risk as well (see October 3, 2003). Plame Wilson's career, as a specialist in Iraqi WMD, is now over, costing the agency her expertise, knowledge, and, perhaps most irreplaceably, the network of operatives and sources she has built up over the years. Former CIA agent Jim Marcinkowski, now a prosecutor in Michigan, says: "This is not just another leak. This is an unprecedented exposing of an agent's identity." Johnson calls himself "furious, absolutely furious" at the security breach. [Knight Ridder, 10/11/2003] According to anonymous intelligence officials, the CIA performed an "aggressive," in-house assessment of the damage done by her exposure, and found it to have been "severe" (see Before September 16, 2003). It is unlikely that Strobel is aware of this assessment.
Entity Tags: Warren Strobel, Robert Novak, Larry C. Johnson, Valerie Plame Wilson, Central Intelligence Agency, Brewster Jennings, Vincent Cannistraro, Jim Marcinkowski
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the chief of staff for Vice President Cheney, is interviewed by the FBI concerning the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). [Office of the Vice President, 10/14/2003 ; US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/30/2006 ; MSNBC, 2/21/2007] Libby tells investigators that in his conversations with reporters Judith Miller (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003) and Matthew Cooper (see 2:24 p.m. July 12, 2003) he was careful to tell them that the information about Plame Wilson was merely "unsubtianted gossip" and not necessarily reliable. He also claims that, before he spoke to either Miller or Cooper, he learned of Plame Wilson's CIA status from another journalist, NBC's Tim Russert (see July 10 or 11, 2003). Libby is lying in both instances (see August 7, 2004). [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; National Journal, 6/8/2006; US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/30/2006 ]
Entity Tags: Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Judith Miller, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Valerie Plame Wilson, Matthew Cooper, Tim Russert
Jim Marcinkowski (left) and Larry Johnson. [Source: CNN]Former CIA case officer Jim Marcinkowski, a former classmate of outed CIA case officer Valerie Plame Wilson (see Fall 1985), is outraged by the revelation of Plame Wilson's CIA status and the allegations that the leak of her identity is not a crime (see July 14, 2003 and September 29, 2003). Another former classmate of Plame Wilson's, former CIA agent Larry Johnson, says: "[W]hat I keep seeing in the newspaper is the spin and leak that this is no big deal. And that's got to stop.… The problem with this is a lot of the damage that has occurred is not going to be seen. It can't be photographed. We can't bring the bodies out because in some cases it's going to involve protecting sources and methods. And it's important to keep this before the American people. This was a betrayal of national security." Marcinkowski concurs: "This is an unprecedented act. This has never been done by the United States government before. The exposure of an undercover intelligence officer by the US government is unprecedented. It's not the usual leak from Washington. The leak a week scenario is not at play here. This is a very, very serious event." Plame Wilson was an NOC, or nonofficial cover officer (see Fall 1992 - 1996). "It was the most dangerous assignment you could take. It takes a special sort of person," says Marcinkowski, who is now a prosecutor in Michigan. Former CIA official Kenneth Pollack agrees, describing an NOC's identity as the "holiest of holies." Many believe that the outrage among the rank and file of CIA agents and officials at Plame Wilson's outing was so strong that CIA Director George Tenet had little choice but to recommend that the Justice Department investigate the leak (see September 16, 2003). Marcinkowski says: "In this particular case, it was so far over the line, I think myself and a lot of us were truly outraged that the government would do this.… I mean, we kept our mouths closed since 1985, when we joined." Johnson, noting that both he and Marcinkowski are registered Republicans, says: "As a Republican, I think we need to be consistent on this. It doesn't matter who did it, it didn't matter which party was involved. This isn't about partisan politics. This is about protecting national security and national security assets and in this case there has been a betrayal, not only of the CIA officers there, but really a betrayal of those of us who have kept the secrets over the years on this point." [Guardian, 10/22/2003; CNN, 10/24/2003]
Entity Tags: Jim Marcinkowski, Central Intelligence Agency, George J. Tenet, Valerie Plame Wilson, Larry C. Johnson, US Department of Justice, Kenneth Pollack
Three former CIA agents, Brent Cavan, Jim Marcinkowski, and Larry Johnson, and one current CIA official who declines to be identified, prepare a joint statement for the Senate Intelligence Committee. Because of problems with travel arrangements, Marcinkowski appears alone. 'You Are a Traitor and You Are Our Enemy' - In a closed session, Marcinkowski delivers their statement, which reads in part: "We acknowledge our obligation to protect each other and the intelligence community and the information we used to do our jobs. We are speaking out because someone in the Bush administration seemingly does not understand this, although they signed the same oaths of allegiance and confidentiality that we did. Many of us have moved on into the private sector, where this agency aspect of our lives means little, but we have not forgotten our initial oaths to support the Constitution, our government, and to protect the secrets we learned and to protect each other. We still have friends who serve. We protect them literally by keeping our mouths shut unless we are speaking amongst ourselves. We understand what this bond or the lack of it means. Clearly some in the Bush administration do not understand the requirement to protect and shield national security assets. Based on published information we can only conclude that partisan politics by people in the Bush administration overrode the moral and legal obligations to protect clandestine officers and security assets. Beyond supporting Mrs. Wilson with our moral support and prayers we want to send a clear message to the political operatives responsible for this. You are a traitor and you are our enemy. You should lose your job and probably should go to jail for blowing the cover of a clandestine intelligence officer. You have set a sickening precedent. You have warned all US intelligence officers that you may be compromised if you are providing information the White House does not like.… Politicians must not politicize the intelligence community. President Bush has been a decisive leader in the war on terrorism, at least initially. What about decisiveness now? Where is the accountability he promised us in the wake of Clinton administration scandals? We find it hard to believe the president lacks the wherewithal to get to bottom of this travesty. It is up to the president to restore the bonds of trust with the intelligence community that have been shattered by this tawdry incident." Questions from Senators - One committee member, Chuck Hagel (R-NE), asks Marcinkowski if he believes the White House can investigate itself, a reference to the White House's promise to conduct a thorough internal investigation (see March 16, 2007). Marcinkowski replies that if the attorney general is trying to intimidate federal judges, it is unlikely that he can be trusted to conduct such an investigation. Another senator, Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-MO), challenges Marcinkowski, demanding that he cease attacking "my friend" Attorney General John Ashcroft. According to Marcinkowski's later recollection, "A total food fight ensued," with committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) accusing Bond of trying to intimidate a witness. Immediate Classification - A few minutes after the hearing concludes, Marcinkowski learns that the entire hearing has been declared secret by committee chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS). Marcinkowski, who is scheduled to testify again before a Democrats-only hearing the next day, is incensed. He believes that Roberts deliberately scheduled the full committee hearing to come before the Democratic hearing, so he can classify Marcinkowski's testimony and prevent him from testifying publicly in support of Plame Wilson. Marcinkowski decides to appear before the Democratic hearing anyway. He calls a Democratic staffer and says, "You call Roberts's office and you tell him I said that he can go straight to hell." Marcinkowski anticipates being arrested as soon as his testimony before the Democratic committee members, not knowing that Roberts has no authority to classify anything. Democratic Hearing - Marcinkowski, joined by Johnson and former CIA counterterrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro, testifies before the committee's Democrats. The last question is from Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who has this question whispered to him by ranking member John D. Rockefeller (D-WV). Rockefeller says: "I would like to ask Mr. Marcinkowski, who is an attorney, one more question. Do you think the White House can investigate itself?" After the hearing, Rockefeller grabs Marcinkowski's hand and asks, "What did you think of the food fight yesterday?" [No Quarter, 7/18/2005; Wilson, 2007, pp. 382-386]
Entity Tags: George W. Bush, Chuck Hagel, Christopher ("Kit") Bond, Central Intelligence Agency, Bush administration (43), Brent Cavan, Dianne Feinstein, Vincent Cannistraro, Senate Intelligence Committee, Clinton administration, Larry C. Johnson, John D. Rockefeller, John Ashcroft, Tom Daschle, Jim Marcinkowski, Pat Roberts, Valerie Plame Wilson
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, is interviewed for a second time (see October 14, 2003) by the FBI concerning the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). [MSNBC, 2/21/2007] During one or both interviews, Libby insists that he learned of Plame Wilson's identity from journalists (see July 10 or 11, 2003), a lie that will play a large part in his upcoming indictment (see October 28, 2005). Investigators are compiling evidence that he learned of Plame Wilson's CIA status from Cheney and other senior government officials (see (June 12, 2003)). Some investigators will come to believe that Libby is lying, and continues to lie, to protect Cheney's involvement in attempting to discredit Plame Wilson's husband, war critic Joseph Wilson (see October 1, 2003). [National Journal, 2/2/2006]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Valerie Plame Wilson, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richard ("Dick") Cheney
Mary Matalin, the former press secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney (see July 10, 2003), testifies before the federal grand jury investigating the Plame Wilson identity leak. Sources involved in the investigation will say that Matalin, who is not suspected of leaking Plame Wilson's identity to the press, is asked about White House public relations strategies. [Washington Post, 2/10/2004] Other sources later state that Matalin testified on January 21. [Think Progress, 10/17/2005]
Entity Tags: Bush administration (43), Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Mary Matalin
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, testifies under oath before the grand jury investigating the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity (see December 30, 2003 and January 2004). According to the indictment that will later be issued against Libby (see October 28, 2005), he commits perjury during his testimony. [US Department of Justice, 3/5/2004 ; MSNBC, 2/21/2007; Washington Post, 7/3/2007] Libby is questioned by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who is aided by deputy special counsels Ron Roos, Peter Zeidenberg, and Kathleen Kedian. At the beginning of the questioning, Fitzgerald ensures that Libby understands the circumstances that constitute perjury. Denies Being Source for Columnist - Fitzgerald asks Libby about his involvement as a source for columnist Robert Novak, who revealed Plame Wilson's secret CIA status in a column (see July 14, 2003). Libby denies being a source for Novak. Admits Learning about Plame Wilson's CIA Status from Cheney - He admits that Cheney told him that Joseph Wilson's wife was a CIA officer: while discussing Wilson's trip to Niger (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002), Libby says of Cheney: "And in the course of describing this he also said to me in sort of an off-hand manner, as a curiosity, that his wife worked at the CIA, the person who—whoever this person was. There were no names at that stage so I didn't know Ambassador Wilson's name at that point, or the wife's name." Libby also admits that he knew Plame Wilson worked at the "functional office" of the CIA that handled the Iraq WMD issue. Libby 'Forgot' He Already Knew about Plame Wilson - Later in the interview, Fitzgerald asks again if it is "fair to say that [Cheney] had told you back in June, June 12 or before… that his wife worked in the functional office of counterproliferation of the CIA (see (June 12, 2003)). Correct?" Libby answers, "Yes, sir." Fitzgerald then asks: "So when you say, that after we learned that his wife worked at the agency, that became a question. Isn't it fair to say that you already knew it from June 12 or earlier?" Libby then answers: "I believe by, by this week I no longer remembered that. I had forgotten it. And I believe that because when it was told to me on July 10, a few days after this article, it seemed to me as if I was learning it for the first time. When I heard it, I did not think I knew it when I heard." Libby is referring to his claim that he originally learned of Plame Wilson's identity from NBC reporter Tim Russert (see July 10 or 11, 2003), a claim that Russert will strongly deny (see February 7-8, 2007). [US Department of Justice, 3/5/2004 ] Claims Not to Have Discussed Plame Wilson until after Novak's Column Published - Fitzgerald asks Libby if he recalls the question of whether the possibility that Plame Wilson sent her "husband on a junket" (see July 7, 2003 or Shortly After), and whether he discussed it with Cheney. Libby replies: "I don't recall the conversation until after the Novak piece. I don't recall it during the week of July 6. I recall it after the Novak… after the Novak article appeared." Fitzgerald, obviously unconvinced by Libby's claim, asks, "And are you telling us under oath that from July 6 to July 14 you never discussed with Vice President Cheney whether Mr. Wilson's wife worked at the CIA?" Libby responds: "No, no, I'm not saying that. On July 10 or 11 I learned, I thought anew, that the wife—that the reporters were telling us that the wife worked at the CIA. And I may have had a conversation with the vice president either late on the 11th or on the 12th in which I relayed that reporters were saying that." Libby is lying by claiming he never discussed Plame Wilson with Cheney or other White House officials between July 6 and July 14 (see July 7, 2003 or Shortly After, July 7-8, 2003, July 8, 2003, 12:00 p.m. July 7, 2003, and July 10 or 11, 2003). [US Department of Justice, 3/5/2004 ; National Journal, 1/12/2007] Denies Learning of State Department Memo until Late September 2003 - Libby also denies learning of the State Department's interest in the Wilson trip and in Wilson's wife until after the investigation into Plame Wilson's identity became public on September 28, 2003, "a couple days after that," he says. "I don't have any recollection of an INR [Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the State Department's intelligence bureau] document prior to that date." Libby is lying; he learned about the State Department's inquiry into the Wilson trip, and Plame Wilson's CIA status, much earlier (see 12:00 p.m. June 11, 2003). He also denies asking the State Department's Marc Grossman for information on Wilson's Niger trip, which is most likely another lie (see May 29, 2003). And he claims not to remember if he learned from Grossman that Plame Wilson was a CIA official. Denies Talking to CIA Official - Libby also claims not to remember discussing Plame Wilson with Robert Grenier, the CIA's Iraq mission manager. "I don't think I discussed Wilson's wife's employment with, with Mr. Grenier," he testifies. "I think if I discussed something it was what they knew about the request about Mr., about Mr. Wilson. I don't recall the content of the discussion." Asked "if there was an urgency to the conversation" with Grenier, Libby replies, "I recall that I was reaching Mr. Grenier—I was trying to reach Mr. McLaughlin [John McLaughlin, then the CIA's deputy director, who spoke to Cheney the day before about Plame Wilson—see 12:00 p.m. June 11, 2003) and couldn't, and spoke instead to Mr. Grenier. And so if I did that instead of just waiting for Mr. McLaughlin, it was probably something that was urgent in the sense that my boss, the vice president, wanted, wanted to find something out. Not, not necessarily in the real world, but he wanted an answer and usually we try and get him the answer when we can." Libby did indeed meet with Grenier, and quizzed him about Plame Wilson (see 2:00 p.m. June 11, 2003). Denies Leaking Name to Post Reporter - Libby claims not to be sure if he was a source for a June 2003 article by Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus (see June 12, 2003), but says he is sure he did not divulge Plame Wilson's identity to him. "I have no recollection of having discussed it with Mr. Pincus and I don't think I did," Libby testifies. He acknowledges that his own notes, entered into evidence by Fitzgerald, show that he discussed the Pincus article with Cheney before it was published. Libby also denies revealing Plame Wilson's identity to two New York Times reporters, David Sanger and James Risen. Challenges Wilson's Characterization of Iraq-Niger Claims - Using language similar to that he and other members of Cheney's staff have used in press conferences and to individual reporters, Libby says that Joseph Wilson's questioning of the Iraq-Niger claims were ill-informed, and that Wilson was wrong to speculate that Cheney had deliberately ignored the evidence that those claims were false to insist that Iraq had an active nuclear weapons program and therefore constituted a danger to the US (see March 24, 2002, August 2002, March 16, 2003, and July 6-10, 2003). Libby says of Wilson's op-ed in the New York Times (see July 6, 2003), "It's a, it's a bad article." He admits to being angry over the article, then changes it to being "concerned because it didn't seem to me an accurate portrayal of the facts.… Upset's a fair word, I guess." He admits to discussing the Wilson op-ed with Cheney shortly after its publication, though he is unsure of the exact date of that discussion (see July 6-10, 2003, July 7-8, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). Libby acknowledges that notations on a copy of the Wilson op-ed are in Cheney's handwriting (see July 7, 2003 or Shortly After). [US Department of Justice, 3/5/2004 ]
Entity Tags: Robert Grenier, Robert Novak, Walter Pincus, Valerie Plame Wilson, US Department of State, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Ron Roos, Peter Zeidenberg, Tim Russert, Marc Grossman, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, David Sanger, John E. McLaughlin, James Risen, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Kathleen Kedian, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Joseph C. Wilson
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, testifies under oath a second time (see March 5, 2004) before the grand jury investigating the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity (see December 30, 2003 and January 2004). According to his later indictment (see October 28, 2005), Libby commits perjury during his testimony. [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; MSNBC, 2/21/2007; Washington Post, 7/3/2007] There is a certain amount of overlap in the subjects discussed in the two interviews. Claims to Have Learned Identity from Reporter - Libby tells the jury that he learned of Plame Wilson's CIA status from NBC reporter Tim Russert (see July 10 or 11, 2003). According to prosecutors' later filings, Libby says: "Russert asked Libby if Libby was aware that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. Libby responded to Russert that he did not know that, and Russert replied that all the reporters knew it." Russert will deny that he ever said anything of the kind to Libby (see February 7-8, 2007). [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; Vanity Fair, 4/2006] Libby testifies about a conversation he had with Cheney in the fall of 2003, when he complained that the White House was not making public statements exonerating him of responsibility for the leak (see Late September or Early October, 2003). Asked by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald if he had told Cheney about speaking to reporters regarding Plame Wilson, Libby responds: "I think I did. Let me bring you back to that period. I think I did in that there was a conversation I had with the vice president when all this started coming out and it was this issue as to, you now, who spoke to [columnist Robert] Novak (see July 14, 2003). I told the vice—you know, there was—the president said anybody who knows anything should come forward or something like that.… I went to the vice president and said, you know, 'I was not the person who talked to Novak.' And he [said] something like, 'I know that.' And I said, you know, 'I learned this from Tim Russert.' And he sort of tilted his head to the side a little bit and then I may have in that conversation said, 'I talked to other—I talked to people about it on the weekend.'" Libby is most likely referring to his conversations with reporters Matthew Cooper (see 2:24 p.m. July 12, 2003) and Judith Miller (see 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003 and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). Fitzgerald asks of the conversation with Cheney, "What did you understand from his gesture or reaction in tilting his head?" Libby replies: "That the Tim Russert part caught his attention. You know, that he—he reacted as if he didn't know about the Tim Russert thing or he was rehearing it, or reconsidering it, or something like that.… New, new sort of information. Not something he had been thinking about." Fitzgerald asks: "And did he at any time tell you, 'Well, you didn't learn it from Tim Russert, you learned it from me? Back in June you and I talked about the wife working at the CIA?'" Libby responds, "No." Cheney confirmed Plame Wilson's CIA status to Libby in June 2003 (see (June 12, 2003)). Fitzgerald asks, "Did he indicate any concern that you had done anything wrong by telling reporters what you had learned?" and Libby again responds, "No." Libby tells Fitzgerald that he isn't sure if he mentioned the Cooper and Miller leaks to Cheney. "I did tell him, of course, that we had spoken to the people who he had told us to speak to on the weekend. I think at some point I told him that." [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; National Journal, 2/19/2007] Fails to Disclose Leak to Reporter - In neither appearance before the grand jury does Libby disclose that he discussed Plame Wilson's identity with New York Times reporter Judith Miller (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). Instead, he testifies that he told Miller that he knew Plame Wilson had had some involvement in sending her husband to Niger (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002), but did not reveal her as a CIA agent because he was not aware of her CIA status. Libby is lying (see 12:00 p.m. June 11, 2003 and August 6, 2005). Libby also failed to disclose the conversations he had with Miller when he was twice interviewed by FBI agents working on the leak, in October and November 2003. Fitzgerald will not learn of Libby's failure to disclose the conversations until late 2005, after Miller's testimony before the court (see October 7, 2005). [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; National Journal, 10/11/2005; National Journal, 10/18/2005] Libby 'Authorized' to Disclose Classified Information by Bush, Cheney - Libby also tells the grand jury that he had been "authorized" by President Bush, Cheney, and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq. According to Libby's testimony, Cheney authorized him to release classified information, including details of the October 2, 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE—see October 1, 2002), to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war; Libby tells the jury that he had received "approval from the president through the vice president" to divulge material from the NIE. He testifies that one portion of the NIE he was authorized to divulge concerned Iraq's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Libby says that authorization from the president and vice president was "unique in his recollection." According to court papers filed in regards to his indictment, Libby tells the jury "that he was specifically authorized in advance… to disclose the key judgments of the classified NIE to Miller" because Cheney believed it to be "very important" to do so. Libby adds "that he at first advised the vice president that he could not have this conversation with reporter Miller because of the classified nature of the NIE." It was then, he says, that Cheney advised him that Bush authorized the disclosure. Cheney told Libby that he, and not Cheney's press spokeswoman Cathie Martin, should leak the classified information to the press. At the time of the disclosure, Libby says, he knew that only himself, Bush, and Cheney knew that portions of the NIE had been declassified; other senior Cabinet-level officials were not informed of the decision. Libby adds that an administration lawyer, David Addington, told him that Bush, by authorizing the disclosure of classified information, had in effect declassified that information. Many legal experts will disagree with that assessment. Libby considers Addington an expert on national security law. [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; National Journal, 2/6/2006; National Journal, 4/6/2006] Libby's Testimony Met with Disbelief - The prosecutors interrogating Libby are incredulous and disbelieving of many of Libby's claims. They do not believe his contention that he and Cheney never discussed Plame Wilson between July 6 and July 14—the dates of Wilson's op-ed (see July 6, 2003) and Novak's outing of Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003), respectively. (Libby did indeed discuss Plame Wilson with Cheney and other White House officials during that time period—see July 7, 2003 or Shortly After, July 7-8, 2003, 12:00 p.m. July 7, 2003, July 8, 2003, and July 10 or 11, 2003). They do not believe Libby's claim that he had "forgotten" about knowing Plame Wilson was a CIA official as early as June 2003 (see 12:00 p.m. June 11, 2003, 2:00 p.m. June 11, 2003, and (June 12, 2003)). And they do not believe Libby's claim that he had merely passed to Cheney a rumor he had heard from reporter Tim Russert about Plame Wilson's CIA status (see July 10 or 11, 2003). [United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 3/24/2004 ; National Journal, 1/12/2007] Drastic Change in Behavior - Steven Aftergood, a senior analyst with the Federation of American Scientists and an expert on government secrecy and classification issues, says that in disclosing the classified information, Libby "presents himself in this instance and others as being very scrupulous in adhering to the rules. He is not someone carried on by the rush of events. If you take his account before the grand jury on face value, he is cautious and deliberative in his behavior. That is almost the exact opposite as to how he behaves when it comes to disclosing Plame [Wilson]'s identity. All of a sudden he doesn't play within the rules. He doesn't seek authorization. If you believe his account, he almost acts capriciously. You have to ask yourself why his behavior changes so dramatically, if he is telling the truth that this was not authorized and that he did not talk to higher-ups." [National Journal, 6/14/2006]
Entity Tags: Catherine ("Cathie") Martin, David S. Addington, George W. Bush, Valerie Plame Wilson, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Steven Aftergood, Matthew Cooper, Tim Russert, Judith Miller, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Screen graphic from CNN's coverage of Lewis Libby's indictment. [Source: CNN / Flickr]Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Libby is accused of "outing" Valerie Plame Wilson, an undercover CIA agent, to the press (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003, and 2:24 p.m. July 12, 2003), and then lying about it to the FBI and to a grand jury empaneled by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald (see December 30, 2003, March 5, 2004, and March 24, 2004). Libby immediately resigns his position as Cheney's chief of staff. [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; CNN, 5/14/2006; MSNBC, 2/21/2007; Washington Post, 7/3/2007] Five Counts of Obstruction, Two Counts of Perjury - Libby is indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of perjury. [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; MSNBC, 2/21/2007] Though the original investigation was of the Plame Wilson leak, Fitzgerald says it is important to understand that Libby's crimes, though not the prime focus of the initial investigation, should be prosecuted as well. "Investigators do not set out to investigate the statute, they set out to gather the facts," he says. The indictment does not charge Libby with knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert agent. [New York Times, 10/28/2005] Confirms that CIA Agent's Status Classified; Important to National Security - Fitzgerald confirms that the fact of Plame Wilson's employment at the CIA was in and of itself classified information, and not to be shared to the media or the public. He says: "The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well known, for her protection or for the benefit of all us. It's important that a CIA officer's identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation's security.… [T]he damage wasn't to one person. It wasn't just Valerie Wilson. It was done to all of us" (see Before September 16, 2003, October 3, 2003, October 11, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, October 23-24, 2003, and February 13, 2006). [New York Times, 10/28/2005; Nation, 3/16/2007] Libby Lied about Knowledge of Plame Wilson's Status, Indictment Charges - The indictment charges that Libby lied when he claimed that he learned of Plame Wilson's CIA status from NBC reporter Tim Russert (see November 24, 2003, March 5, 2004, March 24, 2004, and August 7, 2004). Instead, the indictment charges, Libby learned about Plame Wilson and her possible role in sending her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger to investigate claims of Iraqi attempts to buy uranium (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002) from a number of people, including an undersecretary of state (see June 10, 2003), a CIA officer who regularly briefed him on national security issues (see 2:00 p.m. June 11, 2003), an unidentified "senior CIA officer," and from his superior, Cheney (see (June 12, 2003)). In his turn, Libby shared that information with several officials in the Office of the Vice President, including Cheney's senior counsel David Addington (see July 8, 2003), Cheney's national security adviser John Hannah (see May 29, 2003), and Cheney's press secretary at the time, Cathie Martin (who may have actually informed Libby—see 5:27 p.m. June 11, 2003). "In fact, Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie Wilson" (see June 23, 2003), Fitzgerald says. "[T]o be frank, Mr. Libby gave the FBI a compelling story," he adds. "It would be a compelling story that will lead the FBI to go away if only it were true. It is not true, according to the indictment." [New York Times, 10/28/2005; US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; National Journal, 10/30/2005] (The unidentified "senior CIA officer" is later revealed to be Frederick Fleitz, who served both as a senior officer at the Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control (WINPAC) desk and as Undersecretary of State John Bolton's chief of staff—see (June 11, 2003).) [Raw Story, 11/2/2005] Jeralyn Merritt, a criminal defense attorney who writes for the progressive blog TalkLeft, notes that according to the indictment, the phrases used by Libby in his denials to the grand jury were nearly verbatim echoes of Cheney's own denials as told to NBC's Tim Russert in September 2003 (see September 14, 2003). [Jeralyn Merritt, 10/31/2005] Sought Information on Plame Wilson's CIA Status - The indictment also charges that Libby sought information from the CIA and the State Department about Plame Wilson's CIA status, and tried to determine whether she had been responsible for sending her husband to Niger. According to the indictment, Libby asked David Addington, the chief counsel to Cheney, "in sum and substance, what paperwork there would be at the CIA if an employee's spouse undertook an overseas trip." The court papers do not say what action, if any, Addington may have taken in response to Libby's request. [New York Times, 10/28/2005; US District Court for the District of Columbia, 10/28/2005 ; National Journal, 12/16/2005] Discussed with Multiple Officials before Leaking to Reporters - In a press conference, Fitzgerald walks reporters and listeners through the indictment: from Libby's learning of Plame Wilson's identity from State Department and CIA sources and from Cheney, through his discussing it with at least three White House officials, all before the supposed "disclosure" from Russert. Libby subsequently lied to the FBI and to Fitzgerald's grand jury about those discussions with government officials and again with Miller and Time reporter Matthew Cooper. "[H]e lied about it afterwards," Fitzgerald says, "under oath and repeatedly.… [A]nyone who would go into a grand jury and lie, obstruct, and impede the investigation has committed a serious crime." [New York Times, 10/28/2005] Leak Seriously Jeopardized National Security - Fitzgerald tells reporters that the leaking of a CIA officer's identity is a serious breach of national security. "This is a very serious matter and compromising national security information is a very serious matter," he says. "But the need to get to the bottom of what happened and whether national security was compromised by inadvertence, by recklessness, by maliciousness is extremely important." Fitzgerald continues: "At a time when we need our spy agencies to have people work there, I think just the notion that someone's identity could be compromised lightly… [discourages] our ability to recruit people and say, 'Come work for us… come be trained… come work anonymously here or wherever else, go do jobs for the benefit of the country for which people will not thank you." Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says: "Revealing the identity of a covert agent is the type of leak that gets people killed. Not only does it end the person's career… it puts that person in grave personal danger as well as their colleagues and all the people they have had contact with." [New York Times, 10/28/2005; National Journal, 10/30/2005] Charges Are Serious, Not 'Technicalities' - Responding to a question about Republican charges that Libby is being charged as a "technicality," and Fitzgerald "overreached" his authority in filing the indictment, Fitzgerald says: "That talking point won't fly. If you're doing a national security investigation, if you're trying to find out who compromised the identity of a CIA officer and you go before a grand jury and if the charges are proven… that the chief of staff to the vice president went before a federal grand jury and lied under oath repeatedly and fabricated a story about how he learned this information, how he passed it on, and we prove obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements to the FBI, that is a very, very serious matter.… [T]he truth is the engine of our judicial system. And if you compromise the truth, the whole process is lost.… Any notion that anyone might have that there's a different standard for a high official, that this is somehow singling out obstruction of justice and perjury, is upside down.… If these facts are true, if we were to walk away from this and not charge obstruction of justice and perjury, we might as well just hand in our jobs. Because our jobs, the criminal justice system, is to make sure people tell us the truth. And when it's a high-level official and a very sensitive investigation, it is a very, very serious matter that no one should take lightly." [New York Times, 10/28/2005] Explanation for Delay in Filing Indicitment - Fitzgerald gives one reason for the delay in filing the indictment against Libby. When asked why he went to such lengths to compel the testimony of reporters such as Miller (see September 30, 2005) and Cooper (see July 13, 2005), Fitzgerald replies that the rights of the accused are paramount in his mind. The testimony of Miller, Cooper, and other journalists could bolster the case against Libby, or could help exonerate him. The possibility that he might charge someone, only to learn later that one of the journalists who had declined to testify had information to clear the person, was something that "frightens me," Fitzgerald says. "I think the only way you can do an investigation like this is to hear all eyewitnesses." [New York Times, 10/28/2005; National Journal, 11/12/2005] No Charges against Cheney - Asked whether the investigation found evidence of criminal acts by Cheney, Fitzgerald answers: "We make no allegation that the vice president committed any criminal act. We make no allegation that any other people who provided or discussed with Mr. Libby committed any criminal act. But as to any person you asked me a question about other than Mr. Libby, I'm not going to comment on anything." Fitzgerald refuses to comment on whether White House political strategist Karl Rove or anyone else will be named as co-conspirators, charged, or even named in court. [New York Times, 10/28/2005]
Entity Tags: John Hannah, Judith Miller, John D. Rockefeller, John R. Bolton, Karl C. Rove, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Joseph C. Wilson, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Jeralyn Merritt, Frederick Fleitz, Central Intelligence Agency, David S. Addington, Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control, Valerie Plame Wilson, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of State, Catherine ("Cathie") Martin, Tim Russert, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Matthew Cooper
After former White House official Lewis Libby's indictment (see October 28, 2005), he retains the services of three of Washington's most powerful attorneys: Theodore Wells, William Jeffress, and John Cline. [Boston Globe, 2/26/2006] (Cline will not officially join the defense team until mid-November.) [San Francisco Chronicle, 11/22/2005] Wells, who has successfully defended other government officials from criminal charges, is "an excellent choice," according to criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt. Jeffress is a partner at Baker Botts, the law firm headed by former Secretary of State James Baker. [Jeralyn Merritt, 11/3/2005] Cline is an expert on classified government documents; according to former CIA case officer Valerie Plame Wilson, he is "presumably hired to help the defense figure out how to 'graymail' the government, that is, force the government to choose between prosecuting an employee for serious crimes or preserving national security secrets." Stanford University criminal law expert Robert Weisberg says of Cline's addition to the team: "This is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the government. This suggests they are going to use a very concerted and aggressive strategy." Legal Defense Fund Headed by GOP Fundraiser - Shortly after the indictment, Libby's legal defense fund is created, headed by former GOP finance chief Melvin Sembler, a Florida real estate tycoon. Sembler is a highly successful fundraiser for Republican candidates, and is a close friend of Vice President Dick Cheney. Lobbyist and former Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock, a close friend of Libby's, recruited Sembler to head the fund. According to Comstock, Sembler "holds Scooter [Libby] in high esteem as many members of the committee have. We're confident that Scooter will be exonerated. He has declared he's innocent." [Tampa Tribune, 11/24/2005] In her 2007 book Fair Game, Plame Wilson will note, "Sembler, ironically enough, was President George W. Bush's ambassador to Italy when the embassy in Rome first received the forged yellowcake documents, whose contents precipitated [Joseph Wilson]'s trip to Niger and Libby's legal odyssey." [Wilson, 2007, pp. 289-290] The first contribution to the defense fund comes from Richard Carlson, a former US ambassador, the former president of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, and the father of conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. "He spent years in government service," Carlson will later say of Libby, whom Carlson calls a friend. He "hasn't made a lot of dough." The fund will soon raise over $2 million, in part through a Web site, scooterlibby.com (see February 21, 2006). Comstock and former Cheney communications director Mary Matalin (see July 10, 2003 and January 23, 2004) are deeply involved in the fund. The fund's board of directors and advisers is studded with prominent Republicans, including former Republican presidential candidates Steve Forbes and Jack Kemp; former senator, lobbyist, and actor Fred Thompson; former senator Alan Simpson; former Education Secretary William Bennett; Princeton professor Bernard Lewis, one of the driving intellectual forces behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq; former UN ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick; former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham; former Clinton Middle East envoy Dennis Ross; and former CIA Director James Woolsey, another neoconservative ally of Libby's. [New York Times, 11/18/2005; San Francisco Chronicle, 11/22/2005; Boston Globe, 2/26/2006] Howard Leach and Wayne Berman, two top fundraisers for the 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, are also part of the defense fund. Comstock tells a New York Times reporter that because both Ross and Woolsey served in the Clinton administration, the Libby defense fund is a bipartisan entity. She adds that the amount of money raised by the fund will not be disclosed: "It's a private trust fund for a private individual and we haven't disclosed that." [New York Times, 11/18/2005; Tampa Tribune, 11/24/2005] Plame Wilson Disappointed in Woolsey's Involvement - Plame Wilson will write of her disappointment that a former CIA director (Woolsey) could come to the defense of someone accused of outing a covert CIA agent. [Wilson, 2007, pp. 289-290]
Entity Tags: Dennis Ross, Tucker Carlson, Theodore Wells, Steve Forbes, Barbara Comstock, Wayne Berman, William J. Bennett, William Jeffress, Alan Simpson, Baker Botts, Bernard Lewis, Spencer Abraham, Robert Weisberg, Valerie Plame Wilson, Mel Sembler, Fred Thompson, Howard Leach, Jack Kemp, James Woolsey, Jeane Kirkpatrick, James A. Baker, John Cline, Jeralyn Merritt, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Mary Matalin, Richard Carlson, Joseph C. Wilson
Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward testifies under oath in a sworn deposition to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald concerning his knowledge of the identity of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see December 30, 2003), and how he came upon that knowledge. Woodward testifies that he spoke "with three current or former Bush administration officials" in regards to his book Plan of Attack. He testifies for two hours under an agreement that he will only discuss matters specifically relevant to Fitzgerald's investigation, and with written statements from each of the three administration officials waiving confidentiality "on the issues being investigated by Fitzgerald." Woodward's name came to Fitzgerald's attention after one of the three officials, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, told Fitzgerald that he had revealed Plame Wilson's identity to Woodward (see June 13, 2003 and After October 28, 2005). In his story for the Post about his testimony, Woodward does not reveal Armitage's identity, but it is soon disclosed by other sources (see March 14, 2006). Woodward spoke with a second administration official, whose identity he also does not disclose, and with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, but says he did not discuss Plame Wilson with either Libby or the other official (see June 23, 2003). He testifies that he did not discuss Plame Wilson with any other government officials (see June 20, 2003) before Robert Novak publicly outed her on July 14 (see July 14, 2003). Woodward notes, "It was the first time in 35 years as a reporter that I have been asked to provide information to a grand jury." [Washington Post, 11/16/2005; Washington Post, 11/16/2005; Washington Post, 7/3/2007] Investigative reporters for the progressive news Web site Raw Story identify National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley as Woodward's source for Plame Wilson's identity, a claim echoed by the Times of London. Hadley refuses to answer questions on the topic. [Raw Story, 11/16/2005; London Times, 11/20/2005] In 2006, the National Security Council will refuse to directly deny Hadley's involvement, and will request that Raw Story attribute denials to the White House and not to itself.) [Raw Story, 3/19/2006] Woodward Told Second Reporter about Plame Wilson - Woodward testifies that he told another reporter about Plame Wilson: "I told Walter Pincus, a reporter at the Post, without naming my source, that I understood Wilson's wife worked at the CIA as a WMD analyst." Pincus says he has no memory of Woodward telling him anything about Plame Wilson, and says he would certainly have remembered such a conversation, especially since he was writing about Plame Wilson's husband, war critic Joseph Wilson, at the time (see June 3, 2003, June 11, 2003, June 12, 2003, and (July 11, 2003)). "Are you kidding?" Pincus says. "I certainly would have remembered that." Pincus believes Woodward is confused about the timing and the nature of their conversations; he remembers Woodward making a vague allusion to Plame Wilson in October 2003. That month, Pincus had written a story explaining how an administration source had contacted him about Wilson. Pincus recalls Woodward telling him that he was not the only person who had been contacted. Libby Lawyer: Woodward's Testimony Undermines Case against Client - Lewis Libby's lawyer, William Jeffress, says Woodward's testimony undermines the case Fitzgerald is building against his client (see October 28, 2005). "If what Woodward says is so, will Mr. Fitzgerald now say he was wrong to say on TV that Scooter Libby was the first official to give this information to a reporter?" Jeffress says. "The second question I would have is: Why did Mr. Fitzgerald indict Mr. Libby before fully investigating what other reporters knew about Wilson's wife?" [Washington Post, 11/16/2005] Plame Wilson 'Deeply Disappointed' in Woodward - In 2007, Plame Wilson will write, "I was deeply disappointed that [Woodward] had chosen to react as a journalist first and a responsible citizen only when his source 'outed' him to the special prosecutor." [Wilson, 2007, pp. 238]
Entity Tags: Valerie Plame Wilson, Walter Pincus, Robert Novak, Richard Armitage, Raw Story, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, National Security Council, Bob Woodward, Bush administration (43), Joseph C. Wilson, William Jeffress, London Times, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Stephen J. Hadley
Conservative columnist Tucker Carlson, writing for MSNBC, claims that the exposure of Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA identity did not harm US national security, and offers $100 "to the first person who can prove otherwise" (see Before September 16, 2003, October 3, 2003, October 11, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, October 23-24, 2003, October 29, 2005, and February 13, 2006). Carlson goes on to note that former White House official Lewis Libby was not the first person to leak Plame Wilson's identity to the press, as recent revelations from the Washington Post's Bob Woodward show that Woodward knew of Plame Wilson's CIA status well before Libby leaked it to New York Times reporter Judith Miller (see November 14, 2005). Carlson says in light of these two facts that Libby never should have been charged with anything (see October 14, 2003, November 26, 2003, March 5, 2004, and March 24, 2004), and special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald should apologize to Libby. Moreover, Carlson writes, Fitzgerald is "the enemy" of journalists and the public's right to know; because of Fitzgerald's subpoenas to reporters, both reporters and government sources are "spooked.… Thanks to Fitzgerald, there will be fewer leaks from the executive branch in years to come. Fewer leaks mean less information, and therefore a less informed public. We all lose." [MSNBC, 11/17/2005] Carlson does not inform his readers of his family's close ties to the Libby defense fund (see February 28, 2006).
Entity Tags: MSNBC, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Valerie Plame Wilson, Tucker Carlson, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Neoconservative John Podhoretz adds his voice to the recent demands from conservatives for special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to drop his prosecution of former White House official Lewis Libby (see November 10, 2005, November 17, 2005, November 17, 2005, and November 17, 2005). Podhoretz calls Fitzgerald's investigation an "inquisition," and, like many of his fellow commentators, points to the recent revelation that reporter Bob Woodward received leaked information about Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA status before Libby leaked it to a different reporter (see November 14, 2005). In his indictment of Libby (see October 28, 2005), Fitzgerald said that Libby was "the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter" when he told former New York Times reporter Judith Miller about Plame Wilson (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). Fitzgerald did not know then that another, as-yet-unnamed government official (later revealed to be former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage—see June 13, 2003) had "outed" Plame Wilson before Libby. Therefore, Podhoretz concludes, there is no evidence that Libby knowingly lied to the FBI (see October 14, 2003 and November 26, 2003) and to Fitzgerald's grand jury (see March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004) in denying his leaks of Plame Wilson's identity. "How can it be fair to convict Libby when even the prosecutor himself can't get the story straight?" Podhoretz asks. [New York Post, 11/18/2005]
Entity Tags: Valerie Plame Wilson, Bob Woodward, John Podhoretz, Judith Miller, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Richard Armitage, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Timeline Tags: Neoconservative Influence, Domestic Propaganda, Niger Uranium and Plame Outing
The New York Sun exhorts its readers to contribute to the Lewis Libby defense fund (see After October 28, 2005). The Sun, in an op-ed, calls the Libby Legal Defense Fund "a distinguished, bipartisan group" formed to help pay the legal expenses for Libby, whom the Sun says "is the target of a witch hunt by a special counsel," Patrick Fitzgerald. The government should be paying for Libby's legal expenses, the editorial states: "After all, he is being prosecuted for carrying out his official duties, defending the president's agenda on the war in Iraq against an effort to undermine it by the president's political and ideological rivals. There is no suggestion whatsoever by the prosecutor that Mr. Libby sought to use his political office for private gain." The editorial goes on to call the case against Libby "frivolous," and says Americans of all political stripes should consider donating to Libby's defense, whether they be "a neoconservative who believes that the Iraq war spread freedom… a defender of the freedom of the press who believes that government officials in America should be free to talk to the press without fear of being thrown in prison by a prosecutor… a Clinton loyalist who remembers how special prosecutors were used against the previous administration… a believer in a strong presidency who thinks the whole idea of criminalizing policy differences has a tendency to sap the boldness of the president [, or] a believer in the underdog and want Mr. Libby to have a fair fight against the special prosecutor." [New York Sun, 12/8/2005]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, New York Sun, Libby Legal Defense Fund
Timeline Tags: Domestic Propaganda, Niger Uranium and Plame Outing
Author and columnist David Corn, who was the first member of the media to speculate that Valerie Plame Wilson's exposure as a CIA official may have been a crime (see July 16, 2003), now speculates that the Lewis Libby defense team may resort to "graymail" to derail Libby's criminal prosecution (see After October 28, 2005 and January 31, 2006). Corn writes: "[Y]ears ago defense attorneys representing clients connected to the national security establishment—say, a former CIA employee gone bad—figured out a way to squeeze the government in order to win the case: Claim you need access to loads of classified information in order to mount a defense—more than might truly be necessary. Of course, the government is going to put up a fight. It may release some information—but not everything a thorough defense attorney will say is needed. The goal is to get the government to say no to the informant. Then the defense attorney can attempt to convince the judge that without access to this material he or she cannot put up an adequate defense. If the lawyer succeeds, it's case dismissed. In such situations, the defendant is essentially saying, 'Prosecute me and I'll blow whatever government secrets I can.'" Corn notes the defense's requests for 10 months of highly classified Presidential Daily Briefings (PDBs), a request that may yet be granted (see February 24, 2006) and as such, will set up a battle with the Bush White House, which is almost certain to refuse to release any PDBs. Corn also notes defense requests for information surrounding Plame Wilson's covert CIA status (see Fall 1992 - 1996 and April 2001 and After), another request that, if granted, will likely be refused by the CIA. Both scenarios are openings for the defense to ask for the dismissal of all charges against their client. And Libby's team may ask for further classified information, from the State Department, the National Security Council, and the Office of the President. [Nation, 2/6/2006]
Entity Tags: Valerie Plame Wilson, Bush administration (43), Central Intelligence Agency, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, David Corn
The online news site Raw Story publishes an article claiming that the exposure of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 13, 2003, June 23, 2003, July 7, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, July 8, 2003, 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, 8:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003, 1:26 p.m. July 12, 2003, July 12, 2003, and July 14, 2003) caused more damage to US national security than has previously been admitted, particularly in the area of containing foreign nuclear proliferation. Editor and reporter Larisa Alexandrovna sources the story from a number of anonymous current and former intelligence officials. Plame Wilson, the officials say, was an integral part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran. Alexandrovna writes, "Their [the officials'] accounts suggest that Plame [Wilson]'s outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for US national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program." The officials say that while previous reports indicate Plame Wilson may have been involved in monitoring nuclear "black market" activities, particularly those involving Abdul Qadeer Khan (see Late February 1999), her real focus was Iran, though her team would have come into contact with Khan's black market network during the course of its work on Iran's nuclear program. Khan's network is believed to have been the primary source of Iran's nuclear weapons efforts. The officials refuse to identify the specifics of Plame Wilson's work, but do say that her exposure resulted in "severe" damage to her team and significantly hampered the CIA's ability to monitor nuclear proliferation. [Raw Story, 2/13/2006] The officials also say that the CIA conducted an "aggressive" in-house assessment of the damage caused by Plame Wilson's exposure shortly after the White House leaked her identity to the press, and found the damage done by the leak "severe" (see Before September 16, 2003).
Entity Tags: Larisa Alexandrovna, Central Intelligence Agency, Raw Story, Valerie Plame Wilson, Abdul Qadeer Khan
Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald makes a filing to the court in opposition to the Lewis Libby defense team's requests for highly classified information (see December 14, 2005, January 9, 2006, January 23, 2006, January 31, 2006, and February 21, 2006), requests that some have characterized as an attempt to "graymail" the government (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, and February 6, 2006) by threatening to reveal national security secrets. In his brief, Fitzgerald calls the defense request for almost 11 months of Presidential Daily Briefings (PDBs) "breathtaking" and unnecessary for a perjury defense. "The defendant's effort to make history in this case by seeking 277 PDBs in discovery—for the sole purpose of showing that he was 'preoccupied' with other matters when he gave testimony to the grand jury—is a transparent effort at 'greymail.'" [Nation, 2/17/2006]
Entity Tags: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby
Web site header graphic for the Libby Legal Defense Trust's site, reduced in size. [Source: Libby Legal Defense Trust] (click image to enlarge)Conservative media outlets such as the Web site Human Events announce the launch of scooterlibby.com, a Web site that coordinates and markets the fundraising efforts of the Lewis Libby defense fund (see After October 28, 2005). (The site also operates under the URL scooterlibby.org.) The chairman of the Libby Legal Defense Trust, Republican fundraiser and former ambassador Mel Sembler, writes on the front page of the site: "Since September 11, 2001, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby has been one of the unsung heroes in fighting the war on terror, working diligently and making countless contributions on some of the most critical life and death issues that our country has faced. For the past five years, Scooter Libby served selflessly as an assistant to President Bush and as the chief of staff and national security adviser to Vice President Cheney. But Scooter's great service to our country has now been cut short, and his good name attacked. A distinguished group of friends, business leaders, and former government officials have joined the Libby Legal Defense Trust to help Scooter defray his legal costs from the recent charges. We hope you will join us in supporting this effort." The site features an endorsement from Dick Cheney calling Libby "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known." [Human Events, 2/21/2006; Jeralyn Merritt, 2/21/2006; Libby Legal Defense Trust, 2/21/2006] Sembler says the group wants to raise $5 million for Libby's defense. The group, staffed with veteran fundraisers who worked for the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign and other high-profile Republican campaigns, is believed to have raised almost half of that amount already. [Washington Post, 2/22/2006] In upcoming days, Slate editor John Dickerson will publish an analysis of the site's efforts, calling it an attempt to "humanize" Libby and portray him as a selfless, innocent victim of government persecution (see February 27, 2006).
Entity Tags: Libby Legal Defense Trust, Mel Sembler, Human Events, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, John Dickerson
The New York Sun prints an editorial supporting the motion by Lewis Libby to dismiss all charges against him (see February 23, 2006). The Sun agrees with the defense lawyers' argument that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed illictly by the Department of Justice, and calls him "an illegal, extra-constitutional prosecutor." The Sun cites a statement made by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, and a letter written by Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, opposing the power of the executive branch to appoint officials without Congressional approval. Fitzgerald operates "unchecked," the Sun states, and entirely outside the law. The Sun also renews its call (see December 8, 2005) for its readers to donate to the Libby defense fund (see February 21, 2006). [New York Sun, 2/24/2006]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, US Department of Justice, New York Sun
Slate editor John Dickerson, who played a small role in the Valerie Plame Wilson identity leak (see February 7, 2006), writes about the recently launched Lewis Libby defense fund's Web site created to help raise money for Libby's defense (see After October 28, 2005 and February 21, 2006). Far from looking like the Web site of an indicted criminal, Dickerson writes, the site's design makes it seem as if Libby is running for elected office. He is shown with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, while "[o]ther snapshots portray him in soft focus and at oblique angles, the kinds of images candidates use to make themselves look more huggable. Fortunately, Libby's Web designers didn't stoop to showing him with dogs and children." The 'Soft Sell' - Dickerson says the site is attempting to portray Libby to the American people as a likeable, honest person whose years of public service have left him open to unfair and unwarranted criminal charges. The site claims that Libby has virtually no money with which to fight those charges, and is basically relying on the generosity of the public to help him fight the government. The site does not focus as strongly on the array of powerful Washington Republicans lined up to help Libby raise money, particularly the large number of star fundraisers who raised large amounts of money for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaigns. However, the site notes, the Libby defense fund will not publicly release the names of donors to the fund. The site does focus on what Dickerson calls "the soft Scooter sell." It intends to "clean… up his image for the public, the press, and potential jurors. The Web site offers a page titled 'What You Aren't Hearing,' with testimonials lined up like movie blurbs." Possible Defense Strategy - And, Dickerson writes, the site offers hints as to what Libby's defense strategy might be. If the site is accurate, the defense team intends to portray Libby as "a good guy" who, as former Republican congressman Vin Weber says in a testimonial, "is a tough, honorable, honest guy." He has spent his adult life in "selfless," and apparently almost penniless, service to his country, fighting for the American people and battling terrorism and other national security threats with every waking breath. He is a "perfectionist," says former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Libby just forgot about his knowledge of Plame Wilson's CIA status, the site emphasizes, because he was too busy serving his country (see January 31, 2006). Former Bush Legislative Affairs Director Nick Calio is quoted as saying: "There are a lot of things that I don't remember. I go through notes sometimes now and say I don't even remember being in the meeting, let alone, you know, having said what I said." Former Bush Solicitor General Theodore Olson adds, "From personal experience as a former public official who has been investigated by a special prosecutor, I know how easy it is not to be able to remember details of seemingly insignificant conversations." Dickerson notes that the two arguments are somewhat contradictory. He writes, "Libby's site has a hard time, because it simultaneously is trying to argue that a) he was likely to forget the Plame episodes and b) he was hypercompetent." The site also spends a large amount of time and bandwidth attacking special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Seven of the 19 perspectives on Libby are criticisms of Fitzgerald, such as a statement by former Deputy Attorney General Victoria Toensing (see November 3, 2005) that the special counsel "has been investigating a very simple factual scenario and he's missed this crucial fact." [Slate, 2/27/2006] Toensing will engage in further criticism of Fitzgerald and the criminal case against Libby in op-eds (see February 18, 2007, February 18, 2007, and March 16, 2007).
Entity Tags: Theodore ("Ted") Olson, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, John Dickerson, Bush administration (43), Nicholas E. Calio, Paul Wolfowitz, Vin Weber, Victoria Toensing, Valerie Plame Wilson, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
According to progressive columnist and blogger Arianna Huffington, conservative MSNBC pundit Tucker Carlson is failing to inform his viewers and readers of his family's connections to the Lewis Libby defense fund, even as he regularly defends Libby and criticizes his prosecution on his television show and on his blog. Carlson's father, former Corporation for Public Broadcasting head Richard Carlson, is a heavy donor to the Libby defense fund and a member of the fund's advisory committee (see After October 28, 2005). Tucker Carlson's criticisms of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald (see November 17, 2005) are prominently displayed on the defense fund's Web site (see February 21, 2006). [Huffington Post, 2/28/2006]
Entity Tags: Libby Legal Defense Fund, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Richard Carlson, Arianna Huffington, Tucker Carlson
Judge Reggie Walton holds a hearing to discuss numerous issues surrounding the upcoming Lewis Libby trial. One of the key areas of discussion is the involvement and expected testimony of White House political strategist Karl Rove (see July 8, 2003, July 8 or 9, 2003, 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, October 8, 2003, October 15, 2004, October 14, 2005, and April 26, 2006). The Libby defense team wants to compel the disclosure of a raft of classified White House and CIA documents concerning Rove's actions in the Valerie Plame Wilson identity leak, but special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, saying he does not intend to call Rove as a witness, is refusing to ask the White House for those documents (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, and (February 16, 2006)). Fitzgerald admits to being legally compelled to turn over any material he has on witnesses he intends to call, but will not agree to go after material regarding witnesses he does not intend to call, especially when that material may prove to be to the defense's benefit. For Libby, lawyer Theodore Wells says he intends to call Rove as a witness, and he wants Fitzgerald to battle with the White House for documents pertaining to Rove's involvement in the leak. Fitzgerald retorts, as he has before, that the material Wells and his team are asking for is not germane to a perjury defense. In the process, Wells falsely claims that a legal precedent exists for forcing a government prosecution to seek evidence the defense wants, and Walton is briefly taken in by his deception before learning that Wells is misrepresenting the case law. Fitzgerald says flatly: "I'm responsible for the government's case… and turning over my obligations. I am not responsible for preparing the defense case. And the case law, and Your Honor cited it. It is material defined by the indictment and the government's case in chief. You just can't say I'm going to call 20 witnesses so give me everything about them. We then would have effectively open-file discovery or beyond that and I don't agree with that reading of the law." The conversation, especially on Fitzgerald's part, is circumspect, with all parties well aware that the hearing is being held in open court. However, Walton is somewhat testy with Wells during one exchange. Referring to Wells's stated intention to introduce former ambassador Joseph Wilson's classified CIA report on the Iraq-Niger uranium claims (see March 4-5, 2002), Walton says, "I don't see how this is relevant to the case." Any focus on Wilson's report would turn the trial into an inquiry on "statements the president made in the State of the Union (see Mid-January 2003 and 9:01 pm January 28, 2003). You want to try the legitimacy of us going to war." [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 5/5/2006 ; Bloomberg, 5/5/2006; Marcy Wheeler, 6/15/2006] Defense: Libby Small Part of Larger White House Operation - Wells makes a statement that indicates he and his fellow attorneys intend to try to prove that Libby was indeed a small part of a much larger White House operation. He says: "It wasn't just him [Libby]. He was involved in what was a multi-agency response. It was [sic] Office of the Vice President. It was the Office of the President." Former prosecutor Christy Hardin Smith calls Wells's statement a "'Hello, Karl' moment," and notes that Wells is trying to go in at least two different directions: Libby's memory is demonstrably faulty (see January 31, 2006) and he is being made into a White House scapegoat. Smith observes, "Team Libby is going to have a very tough time indeed if they are going to play such substantially adverse ends of the spectrum against each other at trial in order to raise reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds." [Christy Hardin Smith, 5/12/2006] Author: Defense May Not Intend to Call Rove, Maneuvering for Materials Instead? - Author and blogger Marcy Wheeler, who is closely following the case, will later write that she is not at all sure that Libby's lawyers really intend to call Rove as a defense witness. "But they seem awfully interested in getting all the materials relating, presumably, to Rove's conversation with [columnist Robert] Novak (see July 14, 2003). They sure seem interested in knowing what Rove said, and whether they can make certain arguments without Rove refuting those arguments." [Marcy Wheeler, 6/15/2006]
Entity Tags: Karl C. Rove, Christy Hardin Smith, Bush administration (43), Joseph C. Wilson, Theodore Wells, Reggie B. Walton, Marcy Wheeler, Executive Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Judge Reggie Walton issues an order on the use of classified evidence in the Lewis Libby perjury and obstruction trial (see December 14, 2005, January 9, 2006, January 23, 2006, January 31, 2006, (February 16, 2006), February 21, 2006, February 24, 2006, February 27, 2006, March 1, 2006, March 2-7, 2006, March 10, 2006, March 17, 2006, April 5, 2006, May 12, 2006, May 19, 2006, June 2, 2006, and August 18, 2006). The order is largely procedural, acknowledging the deep divisions between the prosecution and the defense on the issue, and concluding "that the Federal Rules of Evidence and the restrictions they impose control whether information subject to CIPA [Classified Information Procedures Act] proceedings is admissible during a trial." The order indicates that Walton is inclined to find at least somewhat in favor of the defense and may order many of the classified materials requested by the Libby defense team to be presented as evidence, leading the Associated Press to report "a victory to the defense" in the ruling. Walton also reminds prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that if his concerns about a possible breach of national security are that strong, he is free to stop the disclosure of classified information by dropping the charges against Libby (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, (February 16, 2006), and September 27, 2006). [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 9/21/2006 ; MSNBC, 9/21/2006; Associated Press, 9/21/2006]
Entity Tags: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Reggie B. Walton
Judge Reggie Walton holds a hearing with prosecutors for special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald and representatives from Lewis Libby's defense team on the issue of "graymail," which Fitzgerald has alleged is a tactic being employed by Libby's team (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, and (February 16, 2006)). "Graymail" is the attempt by one side in a court proceeding to derail the proceeding by insisting on the use of classified materials as evidence, and demanding mistrials or dropped charges if and when those classified materials are disallowed. Libby's lawyers have privately and publicly implied that they will reveal national security secrets if the case actually goes to trial. The hearing, which is delayed because of a bomb threat, is the first of several hearings to be held on the subject. Fitzgerald wants to curtail the introduction of classified documents during the trial, while Libby's lawyers want to introduce reams of classified documents into evidence (see May 10, 2006). Fitzgerald has argued repeatedly that many of the classified documents requested by Libby are irrelevant to the case at hand. Libby wants to introduce a number of highly classified presidential briefings to show his heavy and varied workload, as support for his defense that he was too overworked to testify accurately before the FBI (see October 14, 2003 and November 26, 2003) and Fitzgerald's grand jury (see March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004). Walton has already reminded Fitzgerald that he can dismiss the charges against Libby if he feels the upcoming trial will expose national security secrets. [MSNBC, 9/26/2006; Christy Hardin Smith, 9/27/2006]
Entity Tags: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Reggie B. Walton, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby
Judge Reggie Walton rules that the substitutions and summaries of classified materials special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has proposed to be provided to the Lewis Libby defense team are inadequate. Libby has asked for a raft of classified materials (see December 14, 2005, January 9, 2006, January 20, 2006, January 23, 2006, January 23, 2006, January 31, 2006, (February 16, 2006), February 21, 2006, February 24, 2006, February 27, 2006, March 1, 2006, March 2-7, 2006, March 10, 2006, March 17, 2006, April 5, 2006, May 3, 2006, May 12, 2006, May 19, 2006, June 2, 2006, August 18, 2006, September 21, 2006, and September 22, 2006) to support his contention that he was so overwhelmed by work at the White House that his lies about his conversations with reporters concerning CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, 2:24 p.m. July 12, 2003, Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003, and July 10 or 11, 2003) were "inadvertent and not the product of willful disinformation." Observers are terming this Libby's "memory defense" (see January 31, 2006). However, Walton rules that Libby will not have "free reign" to use whatever classified documents he or his lawyers see fit: his ruling "does not give the defendant 'free reign' over his testimony." Walton writes, "He is alleging both that the volume of his work would have impacted his memory and that some of the information presented to him as the vice president's national security adviser was so potentially catastrophic to the well-being of the country that the focus he had to devote to this information also impacted his memory." Many observers, including Fitzgerald, believe Libby may be attempting to derail the prosecution by threatening to reveal sensitive national security details during his trial, a practice called "graymail" (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, and (February 16, 2006)). [MSNBC, 11/13/2006]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Reggie B. Walton, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
After ruling that the prosecution's proposed summations and substitutions for classified documents requested by the defense are inadequate (see November 13, 2006), Judge Reggie Walton issues an order detailing how much classified evidence the Lewis Libby defense team may have access to in its preparations to defend its client against perjury and obstruction charges. It is up to the prosecution and defense lawyers to decide how much, or how little, of the classified materials to redact before presenting them in the trial. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has accused the Libby defense team of engaging in "graymail," an attempt to derail the prosecution by threatening to reveal national security secrets (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, and (February 16, 2006)). Walton's ruling is sealed, so it is unclear what will and will not be made available to Libby. [Associated Press, 11/15/2006] The public may learn of some of Walton's ruling in December, when intelligence and national security agencies report back to him as to the status of the classified materials sought by Libby. Walton acknowledges that he has had to keep some information out of the public view, writing, "While this court has strived to make the proceedings in this action as transparent as possible, because the defendant seeks to introduce at trial evidence that is currently classified, this court has been required to close to the public may proceedings and seal a substantial number of pleadings." [MSNBC, 11/16/2006] Walton will release his ruling, in redacted form (see December 1, 2006).
Entity Tags: Reggie B. Walton, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Judge Reggie Walton releases a heavily redacted, 38-page document containing his November 15, 2006 opinion about the release of classified documents on behalf of the Libby defense team (see November 15, 2006 and November 22, 2006). Material pertaining to the classified documents themselves is redacted from the document. According to Walton's ruling, Lewis Libby wants to use 129 classified documents to bolster his contention that his systemic and widespread memory failures led him to misinform investigators about his role in exposing CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson (see January 31, 2006). According to the Associated Press, if Walton decides to bar the use of some or all of those classified documents, Libby's lawyers could then ask for a dismissal of the case. "If the case goes forward and the evidence is allowed," the AP writes, "the trial could offer a behind-the-scenes look at the White House in the early months of the war in Iraq." Walton has said he has tried to balance national security concerns with Libby's right to a fair trial (see November 15, 2006 and November 22, 2006). He has said that pre-approving classified evidence "requires a court to play the role of Johnny Carson's character Carnac the Magnificent by requiring it to render rulings before knowing the exact context of how those rulings will coincide with other evidence that has actually been developed at trial." Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has characterized Libby's threat to reveal classified information during the trial "graymail" (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, and (February 16, 2006)). Libby's defense will argue that Libby was absorbed by several major national security areas of concern during the time Plame Wilson was exposed: threats from Islamist terror groups, working with Homeland Security to bolster US defenses, countering the nuclear threat posed by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan (see Late February 1999) and North Korea, the Iranian threat, developing security in Iraq after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, Israeli-Palestinian relations, incidents between Iraq and Turkey, and the unrest in Liberia as it threatened the safety of the US Embassy in Monrovia. [US District Court of the District of Columbia, 12/1/2006 ; Associated Press, 12/1/2006; MSNBC, 12/4/2006]
Entity Tags: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Associated Press, Reggie B. Walton, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby
Judge Reggie Walton rules that former White House aide Lewis Libby's lawyers will be restricted in how they present classified information during Libby's perjury and obstruction trial. Prosecutors, led by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, have complained that Libby's lawyers have made unreasonable demands for huge amounts of classified White House and other government documents, many of which are irrelevant, and have attempted to "graymail" the prosecution into dropping the charges against Libby for fear that the trial will reveal national security secrets (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, (February 16, 2006), and September 27, 2006). Libby says that his work with security issues such as terrorist threats and foreign nuclear programs caused him to inadvertently lie to the FBI (see October 14, 2003 and November 26, 2003) and to Fitzgerald's grand jury (see March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004), and he wants to present classified information during his trial to prove the extent of his workload. Walton rules that the substitutions and summaries Fitzgerald has provided to the Libby lawyers will allow Libby "substantially the same ability to make his defense as would disclosure of the specific classified information." NBC News producer Joel Seidman, writing for MSNBC, reports that Walton's ruling may spell the end of Libby's attempts to derail the trial by the use of "graymail" (see After October 28, 2005, January 31, 2006, February 6, 2006, (February 16, 2006), and September 27, 2006). [Associated Press, 12/11/2006; MSNBC, 12/11/2006]
Entity Tags: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Joel Seidman, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Reggie B. Walton
Scott Shane. [Source: Charlie Rose (.com)]As the perjury and obstruction trial of former White House aide Lewis Libby gets underway (see January 16-23, 2007), the New York Times publishes a profile of Libby that paints him as a relatively nonpartisan figure with a keen intellect, a literary bent, and a driving interest in upholding the nation's security. Most of the quotes used in the profile are from members of the Libby Legal Defense Trust (see After October 28, 2005 and February 21, 2006). The profile, written by Times reporter Scott Shane, emphasizes Libby's complex nature, calling him "paradox[ical]" and contrasting his literary aspirations and buttoned-down demeanor with a fondness for tequila shooters and his use of his childhood nickname, "Scooter." Shane lines up quotes from Libby's friends and supporters who express their dismay at the charges he faces, and their disbelief that anyone could conceive of his involvement in any sort of criminal enterprise. "I don't often use the word 'incomprehensible,' but this is incomprehensible to me," says Dennis Ross, a foreign policy expert and the only Democrat on the Defense Trust board. "He's a lawyer who's as professional and competent as anyone I know. He's a friend, and when he says he's innocent, I believe him. I just can't account for this case." Shane writes that Libby's friends and former colleagues consider the charges, and the conduct of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in prosecuting the case, both "unjust [and] a terrible irony." Vice President Dick Cheney's former communications adviser, Mary Matalin, says of Libby, "He's going to be the poster boy for the criminalization of politics, and he's not even political." Matalin notes that Libby was often described as "Cheney's Cheney," an "absolutely salient translator" of the ideas and policy initiatives of Cheney, his former boss. But neoconservative Francis Fukuyama, who once worked with Libby in the State Department, says regardless of Libby's closeness to Cheney, he is not a conservative ideologue. "He never struck me, even knowing him as I do, as an ideologue," Fukuyama says. "I wouldn't say I have a particularly good handle on his worldview." In many ways, Shane notes, Libby was one of the driving forces behind the Iraq war. "Libby didn't plan the war," says historian John Prados, one of the few people quoted in the profile who are not close friends or political allies of the former White House aide. "But he did enable the administration to set out on that course. He was the facilitator." Famed Washington attorney Leonard Garment, who headed a law firm Libby once worked for, calls Libby "reliable, immensely hard working, and guarded." Garment once represented Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation (see August 28, 1974). Libby's friend Jackson Hogen, who describes himself as a liberal Democrat, says that Libby's wife Harriet is also a Democrat. "She probably cancels his vote every four years," Hogan says. "It's a credit to Scooter that he can maintain a friend like me and a wife like her all these years." Libby's driving passion, say Matalin and other close friends and colleagues, is the security of the nation. "What animates him is security," Matalin says. "On 9/12 [the day after the 9/11 attacks], there were but a handful of people who had the strategic grasp of terrorism that he did." As a person, Hogen says that while Libby "puts up a tough front… there's a kind human being in there who's really gotten beat up in this affair." Shane winds up his profile with a quote from liberal columnist Paul Andersen, who lunched with Libby last summer while Libby was vacationing in Colorado. "I got a feeling for him as a family man, a guy who likes the mountains," Andersen recalls. "Later, it seemed like he was nursing some serious pain. It seemed a dreadful shame that circumstances can sometimes ruin lives." [New York Times, 1/17/2007] Author and progressive blogger Marcy Wheeler is contemptuous of the Shane article, writing that it is almost obsequious in its regard for Libby, and notes that Shane's "profile" of Libby is restricted to those who support him and raise money for his defense fund, including Ross, Fukuyama, and Matalin. Wheeler advises Shane, "[I]f you're going to do a profile, base it on neutral observers." Wheeler also speculates that Shane may even be trying to echo the defense's talking points, observing that at the beginning of a trial that hinges on Libby's divulging of a CIA official's covert identity, Shane quotes several people who note how "reserved" Libby is, even quoting one as saying Libby is silent as "a tomb" on security matters. Shane, Wheeler notes, also hits on Libby's "memory defense" (see January 31, 2006) by quoting several of his friends on his propensity for hard, intense work. [Marcy Wheeler, 1/17/2007]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Jackson Hogen, Harriet Libby, Francis Fukuyama, Dennis Ross, Leonard Garment, Scott Shane, New York Times, Paul Andersen, Mary Matalin, Marcy Wheeler, Libby Legal Defense Trust, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, John Prados, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
The Washington Post publishes a speculative article about the possible reactions that will ensue if Lewis Libby is acquitted. An acquittal, the article states, would be severely damaging to the reputation of prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who has for years been lambasted for trying a case that some believe should never have been brought to court. Attorney Robert Mintz says, "The stakes are enormously high." If Fitzgerald loses this case, he says, "some will say he lost his way in his search for truth, just another case of a prosecutor who sets off and thinks they can't come back unless they have a prosecution, no matter how trivial." Fitzgerald's reputation as a non-partisan prosecutor will be tarnished, Mintz notes. Other lawyers say Fitzgerald had a duty to bring the case to trial. Former Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) says that no matter what the verdict, Fitzgerald will be judged as a prosecutor run amok who chased petty political crimes "to the ends of the Earth.… He had to realize early on that the matter he was appointed to investigate was not a crime. He should have put his little papers in his briefcase and gone back to Chicago." Thompson sits on the board of the Libby Legal Defense Fund (see After October 28, 2005). [Washington Post, 2/22/2007]
Entity Tags: Washington Post, Fred Thompson, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Robert Mintz, Libby Legal Defense Fund
Patrick Fitzgerald, who successfully prosecuted former Bush administraton official Lewis Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements (see March 6, 2007), recommends 30 to 37 months in prison for Libby's jail sentence. In a court filing with Judge Reggie Walton, Fitzgerald notes that the Libby defense called Libby's prosecution "unwarranted, unjust, and motivated by politics," and Libby's supporters (see February 21, 2006) continue to do so. Libby Chose to Lie - To address this charge, Fitzgerald goes back through the investigation and notes that Libby, a lawyer himself, fully understood his obligations as a government witness. "He, of course, could have told the truth, even if, as was the case for many other witnesses, doing so risked the possibility of criminal prosecution, or personal or political embarrassment," Fitzgerald writes. "He also could have declined to speak to the FBI agents, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before the grand jury, or challenged any lines of inquiry he believed improper. And the evidence at trial showed that Mr. Libby had access to counsel and had adequate time to review relevant documents and contemplate his conduct before he testified. Regrettably, Mr. Libby chose the one option that the law prohibited: he lied. He lied repeatedly to FBI agents and in sworn grand jury testimony, and he lied about multiple facts central to an assessment of his role in the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's CIA employment. He lied about when he learned of [Valerie Plame Wilson's] CIA employment, about how he learned of her CIA employment, about who he told of her CIA employment, and about what he said when he disclosed it. In short, Mr. Libby lied about nearly everything that mattered." Libby's choice to lie, Fitzgerald goes on to note, made it impossible to discover "the role that Mr. Libby and those with whom he worked played in the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's information regarding CIA employment and about the motivations for their actions.… Mr. Libby's lies corrupted a truth-seeking process with respect to an important investigation, and on behalf of which many others subordinated important public, professional, and personal interests. To minimize the seriousness of Mr. Libby's conduct would deprecate the value that the judicial system places on the truthfulness of witnesses, and tempt future witnesses who face similar obligations to tell the truth to question the wisdom and necessity of doing so." Fitzgerald notes that Libby "has expressed no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, and no recognition that there is anything he should have done differently—either with respect to his false statements and testimony, or his role in providing reporters with classified information about Ms. Wilson's affiliation with the CIA." Justifies Libby's Prosecution when Other Leakers Not Prosecuted - Fitzgerald counters the arguments that because only Libby, and not all three proven leakers (see October 2, 2003 and February 2004), was prosecuted, his prosecution was somehow invalid. The other leakers, Richard Armitage and Karl Rove, eventually admitted to leaking Plame Wilson's name to the press. Libby consistently lied about his leaks. "To accept the argument that Mr. Libby's prosecution is the inappropriate product of an investigation that should have been closed at an early stage," Fitzgerald writes, "one must accept the proposition that the investigation should have been closed after at least three high-ranking government officials were identified as having disclosed to reporters classified information about covert agent Valerie Wilson, where the account of one of them was directly contradicted by other witnesses, where there was reason to believe that some of the relevant activity may have been coordinated, and where there was an indication from Mr. Libby himself that his disclosures to the press may have been personally sanctioned by the vice president. To state this claim is to refute it. Peremptorily closing this investigation in the face of the information available at its early stages would have been a dereliction of duty, and would have afforded Mr. Libby and others preferential treatment not accorded to ordinary persons implicated in criminal investigations." States that Prosecution Knew Plame Wilson Was Covert from Outset - Fitzgerald also says what he was unable to say directly in the trial, that "it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute… as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press." Fitzgerald explains that he chose not to charge Libby with outing a covert intelligence agent in part because Libby's lies, and presumably the obfuscatory and contradictory statements of other Bush administration officials, made it difficult to prove beyond doubt that Libby knew Plame Wilson was a covert agent when he exposed her as a CIA official. "On the other hand, there was clear proof of perjury and obstruction of justice which could be prosecuted in a relatively straightforward trial." No Justification for Leniency - "In light of the foregoing," Fitzgerald writes, "the assertions offered in mitigation are consistent with an effort by Mr. Libby's supporters to shift blame away from Mr. Libby for his illegal conduct and onto those who investigated and prosecuted Mr. Libby for unexplained 'political' reasons (see March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, March 9, 2007, and March 11, 2007). The assertions provide no basis for Mr. Libby to receive a reduced sentence.… While the disappointment of Mr. Libby's friends and supporters is understandable, it is inappropriate to deride the judicial process as 'politics at its worst' on behalf of a defendant who, the evidence has established beyond a reasonable doubt, showed contempt for the judicial process when he obstructed justice by repeatedly lying under oath about material matters in a serious criminal investigation.… Mr. Libby's prosecution was based not upon politics but upon his own conduct, as well as upon a principle fundamental to preserving our judicial system's independence from politics: that any witness, whatever his political affiliation, whatever his views on any policy or national issue, whether he works in the White House or drives a truck to earn a living, must tell the truth when he raises his hand and takes an oath in a judicial proceeding or gives a statement to federal law enforcement officers. The judicial system has not corruptly mistreated Mr. Libby; Mr. Libby has been found by a jury of his peers to have corrupted the judicial system." [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 5/30/2007] Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison - Libby will be sentenced to 30 months in prison (see June 5, 2007), but will have his sentence commuted before he serves any time (see July 2, 2007).
Entity Tags: Karl C. Rove, Reggie B. Walton, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Valerie Plame Wilson, Richard Armitage, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Friends of convicted felon Lewis Libby fear that when Judge Reggie Walton sentences Libby (see June 5, 2007), Libby will be sent directly to jail. A member of the Libby Legal Defense Trust (see February 21, 2006) says, "I think that he will get some jail time and probably be sent away that day." [US News and World Report, 5/30/2007]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Reggie B. Walton
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, described by observers as a moderate liberal, castigates US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the government lawyers who successfully prosecuted former White House senior aide Lewis ("Scooter") Libby (see October 28, 2005 and March 6, 2007). Unlike some of his more conservative colleagues (see October 29, 2005, October 31, 2005, November 4, 2005, November 17, 2005, November 18, 2005, December 8, 2005, April 9, 2006, April 17, 2006, July 12, 2006, Late August-Early September, 2006, September 2-5, 2006, September 5, 2006, September 5, 2006, September 7, 2006, October 16, 2006, January 17, 2007, February 16, 2007, February 16, 2007, February 27, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, March 9, 2007, and March 11, 2007), Cohen does not plainly state that Libby is innocent of any crime. Rather, Cohen accuses Fitzgerald of doing the work of the "liberal press (especially the New York Times)" and "opponents of the Iraq war" in "mak[ing] a mountain out of a molehill." The outing of clandestine CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003 and July 12, 2006) was nothing more than a "run-of-the-mill leak," he writes. Moreover, he writes, Fitzgerald "wound up prosecuting not the leaker—Richard Armitage of the State Department (see June 13, 2003)—but Libby, convicted in the end of lying. Cohen justifies his claim by writing: "This is not an entirely trivial matter since government officials should not lie to grand juries, but neither should they be called to account for practicing the dark art of politics. As with sex or real estate, it is often best to keep the lights off." Cohen goes on to call the Libby investigation "a train wreck—mile after mile of shame, infamy, embarrassment, and occasional farce." He accuses Fitzgerald of using the power of his office to unjustly compel journalists to testify to their own knowledge and complicity in Libby's leak. The Iraq war opponents "cheered" Fitzgerald on, Cohen writes, and goes on to say that those opponents "thought—if 'thought' can be used in this context—that if the thread was pulled on who had leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to Robert D. Novak, the effort to snooker an entire nation into war would unravel and this would show… who knows? Something. For some odd reason, the same people who were so appalled about government snooping, the USA Patriot Act, and other such threats to civil liberties cheered as the special prosecutor weed-whacked the press, jailed a reporter, and now will send a previously obscure government official to prison for 30 months." Had the Iraq war only claimed 300 American lives and ended with a clear victory, Cohen writes, no one would have called for any such investigation. As it stands, he continues, the anti-war left and the "liberal press" demanded "scalps" and was given Libby's. "Accountability is one thing," Cohen writes. "By all means, let Congress investigate and conduct oversight hearings with relish and abandon. But a prosecution is a different matter. It entails the government at its most coercive—a power so immense and sometimes so secretive that it poses much more of a threat to civil liberties, including freedom of the press, than anything in the interstices of the scary Patriot Act." He concludes by calling on President Bush to commute Libby's sentence. [Washington Post, 6/19/2007; Salon, 6/19/2007] Cohen has previously asked that the prosecution of Libby be terminated (see October 13, 2005),
called Libby's prosecution "silly," and misrepresented the facts behind the prosecution (see January 30, 2007). Author, columnist, and former civil liberties lawyer Glenn Greenwald, writing a response to Cohen's column for his blog in the Internet news publication Salon, savages Cohen by mockingly "praising" Cohen's column as perfectly "capturing the essence of our Beltway media." Cohen's exhortation to allow politics to be practiced with "the lights off" is, Greenwald asserts, "the central belief of our Beltway press.… If that isn't the perfect motto for our bold, intrepid, hard-nosed political press, then nothing is." Greenwald notes what he calls the "multiple falsehoods" of Cohen's argument—the appointment of Fitzgerald to investigate the leak that outed Plame Wilson was not a result of pressure from the "liberal press" or what Cohen calls the "sanctimon[ious]" anti-war left, unless the CIA and the Justice Department are left-wing organizations (see July 30, 2003, Before September 16, 2003 and December 30, 2003). Greenwald writes that the core of Cohen's apparent horror and indignation at the pursuit of the Plame Wilson leak is that his colleagues in the media were investigated and in one instance jailed (see July 6, 2005). "As any prosecutor knows—and Martha Stewart can attest—white-collar types tend to have a morbid fear of jail," Greenwald quotes Cohen as writing. Greenwald responds: "Indeed, it is so terribly unfair to investigate powerful government officials because, as 'white-collar types,' they have a 'morbid fear of jail'—in contrast, of course, to blue-collar types, and darker ones still, who really do not mind prison at all. Why would they? It's their natural habitat, where they belong. That is what prison is for. That has been the real point here all along. The real injustice is that prison is simply not the place for the most powerful and entrenched members of the Beltway royal court, no matter how many crimes they commit. There is a grave indignity to watching our brave Republican elite be dragged before such lowly venues as a criminal court and be threatened with prison, as though they are common criminals or something. How disruptive and disrespectful and demeaning it all is." Greenwald says that the "most valuable lesson of Cohen's column… is that the overriding allegiance of our permanent Beltway ruling class is to the royal court which accords them their status and prestige. That overarching allegiance overrides, easily, any supposed partisan, ideological or other allegiances which, in their assigned roles, they are ostensibly defending." Were the Beltway press to actually investigate and pursue stories instead of "snuggling" with their "friends" in government, it would expose corruption and foster justice, instead of encouraging corruption and fostering injustice. Greenwald concludes: "Our media stars have not merely stood idly by while our highest government officials engage in endless deceit and corruption. They actively defend it, enable it, justify it, and participate in it. Keeping the lights off is their principal function, one which—with rare and noble exceptions—they perform quite eagerly." [Salon, 6/19/2007]
Entity Tags: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Richard Armitage, New York Times, Richard Cohen, Glenn Greenwald, Valerie Plame Wilson, Robert Novak, Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Reactions to President Bush's commutation of Lewis Libby's prison sentence (see July 2, 2007) are mixed, and split largely along partisan divides. Democrats: Commutation 'Disgraceful,' 'Tramples' on Principle of Equal Justice - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) calls the decision "disgraceful" and says history will judge Bush "harshly" for it. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), a 2008 presidential contender, says, "This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people's faith in a government that puts the country's progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years." Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), another presidential candidate, says Bush's decision shows that "cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice." Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC), another presidential contender, says, "Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today." Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), another presidential hopeful, states, "I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law." Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) says: "As Independence Day nears, we're reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says Bush has "abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice.… The president's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people." House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) says that "until now, it appeared that the president merely turned a blind eye to a high ranking administration official leaking classified information. The president's action today makes it clear that he condones such activity." Republicans: Commutation 'the Right Thing' but Political Damage May Be Severe - While most Republican lawmakers do not issue public comments, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) says: "President Bush did the right thing today in commuting the prison term for Scooter Libby. The prison sentence was overly harsh, and the punishment did not fit the crime." Former Senator Fred Thompson, also a 2008 presidential hopeful and a long-time supporter of Libby's (see After October 28, 2005 and March 7, 2007), says Bush should issue a full pardon for Libby, adding, "This will allow a good American who has done a lot for his country to resume his life." Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani calls the commutation a "reasonable" and "correct" decision. [Bush commutes Libby prison sentence, 7/2/2007; CNN, 7/2/2007; Washington Post, 7/3/2007] But other Republicans are not so sanguine. "The dirty little secret is that in his own way, Bush has shown as much contempt for the law as [former President Bill] Clinton did," says Curt Smith, a speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush. An unidentified Washington Republican says, "We have now witnessed the evisceration of the Bush presidency by its own hand." A senior Republican operative observes: "Thirty months in jail was absolutely excessive, but zero is offensive to the average American. Commuting to 60 days in jail would have made this a lot more palatable to the average person." [New York Daily News, 7/8/2007] Wilson: Libby a 'Traitor' Who 'Endangered ... Country's National Security' - Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador and vehement war critic whose wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was exposed as a covert CIA agent by Libby, says both he and his wife are "deeply disappointed" by Bush's decision. "The president's actions send the message that leaking classified information for political purposes is acceptable," Wilson says. "Mr. Libby not only endangered Valerie and our family, but also our country's national security." Asked if he has anything to say to Libby, Wilson says with apparent anger: "I have nothing to say to Scooter Libby. I don't owe this administration. They owe my wife and my family an apology for having betrayed her. Scooter Libby is a traitor." Law Professor Calls Commutation 'Hypocritical and Appalling' - Law professor Douglas Berman says the commutation is "hypocritical and appalling from a president whose Justice Department is always fighting" attempts by judges and lawmakers to lower the punishment called for under federal sentencing guidelines. Berman says Bush's message amounted to "My friend Scooter shouldn't have to serve 30 months in prison because I don't want him to." Most polls show overwhelming public support for Libby's jailing. [Politico, 7/2/2007; CNN, 7/2/2007; Washington Post, 7/3/2007]
Entity Tags: Fred Thompson, Curt Smith, Valerie Plame Wilson, Douglas Berman, Charles Schumer, Barack Obama, Roy Blunt, Nancy Pelosi, Rudolph ("Rudy") Giuliani, Joseph C. Wilson, Hillary Clinton, John Conyers, Harry Reid, Joseph Biden, George W. Bush, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, John Edwards
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