DNC: The White House Stonewall Continues To Crumble
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
Published February 3, 2007 at Buzzflash.com
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/articles/alerts/164 (http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/articles/alerts/164)
Washington, DC â€" Developments in the trial of former Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby revealed a number of startling revelations surrounding the outing of a covert CIA agent during a time of war and the inner workings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG). News accounts today indicate that Karl Rove, the President's top advisor, "told a reporter that an administration critic's wife worked at the CIA" and "Libby then confirmed Valerie Plame's CIA status a day later during an 'off-the-record' conversation." [USA Today, 2/1/07] And, it was also reported that "copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys ... would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case," according to http://truthout.org/ (http://truthout.org/) [1].
It is now clear that despite previous denials by the White House, numerous Bush Administration officials were part of a larger effort not only to leak classified information but also to prepare and execute a massive PR campaign to sell the Iraq War to a skeptical American public. Seven witnesses have now contradicted Libby's claim that he did not leak information about Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent. We also know that Karl Rove was deeply involved in this scandal, despite the fact that he is no longer under investigation. Furthermore, reports are that Vice President Cheney was far more involved and directing the actions of the White House Iraq Group than was previously known.
"Recent revelations confirm that the White House was intimately involved in this leak as well as engaging in a PR campaign designed to discredit critics of the Iraq War," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "The testimony given so far in this trial raises a number of outstanding questions about the Bush White House's actions, most importantly, what did the President know and when did he know it?"
Key Questions That Have Not Been Answered About The CIA Leak Scandal:
• Who was ordering Libby and Rove and others to smear Wilson and his wife?
• Why hasn't the President fired Karl Rove for leaking the classified information like he promised?
• What was the involvement of Vice President Cheney in this scandal?
• Who ordered Libby to look into declassifying the information on Wilson to retaliate against him?
• How involved were other members of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) in the leak? What activities did the group engage in?
• Did Alberto Gonzales know about the leak and what if any activities were he involved in?
What We Now Know â€" A Startling Level Of Involvement At The Highest Levels
Fleischer Was Told By Libby About Wilson And Plame. "Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer testified yesterday that I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby divulged Valerie Plame's identity to him in July 2003, three days earlier than Libby has told investigators he first learned of the undercover CIA officer." [Washington Post, 1/30/07]
Bartlett Also Knew About Wilson And Plame. "Fleischer testified that, later on the day of his lunch with Libby, he and other top aides left with President Bush on a five-day trip to several African nations. He said that while he was on Air Force One between South Africa and Uganda, he overheard Dan Bartlett, at the time Bush's communications director and now counselor to the president, 'vent' about news accounts that Cheney had requested Wilson's mission." [Washington Post, 1/30/07]
Libby Asked Cheney’s Counsel, David Addington, About Declassifying Information On Wilson. "Cheney's current chief of staff, David S. Addington, took the witness stand, testifying that Libby had, early in the summer of 2003, asked him whether the president had authority to declassify government secrets and whether the CIA kept paperwork documenting its work. Addington said he replied yes to both. He testified that Libby did not tell him why he was asking. But Addington said he surmised that the reason might have been Wilson's criticism of the president and the war." [Washington Post, 1/30/07]
Libby’s Attorney: Gonzales Might Be Involved In The Scandal. On Tuesday, Libby’s attorney Theodore Wells “suggested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was counsel to the president in 2003, may have been involved†in the efforts of “White House officials†who were “sacrificing Libby to protect President Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove.†Former New York Times reporter Judy Miller also testified that Libby told her about Plame. [AP, 1/31/07]
The Bush White House Denied Involvement â€" Said Leaker Would Be Fired
September 29, 2003: McClellan Said Leaker Would Be Fired. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said: "If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." [White House Press Briefing, 9/29/03]
September 30, 2003: Bush Said That If There Was A Leak In His Administration They Would Be "Taken Care Of." President Bush reiterated stern treatment for the culprit, saying, "if there was a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of...And so I welcome the investigation...I have told our administration people in my administration to be fully cooperative. I want to know the truth." [White House, Bush Travel Pool, 9/30/03]
October 10, 2003: McClellan Said Rove And Libby Never Told Reporters that Plame Worked for CIA. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked whether Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams or Lewis Libby told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. McClellan responded by denying that Rove or the others had leaked any classified information. "Those individuals - I talked - I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands." [WH Briefing, 10/10/03]
White House Initiated Detailed Plan To Sell The Iraq War - Formed White House Iraq Group (WHIG)
White House Iraq Group Formed To Formulate Strategy To Sell Iraq War to American People - Included Libby And Rove. "Systematic coordination began in August, when Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. formed the White House Iraq Group, or WHIG, to set strategy for each stage of the confrontation with Baghdad. A senior official who participated in its work called it "an internal working group, like many formed for priority issues, to make sure each part of the White House was fulfilling its responsibilities." The group met weekly in the Situation Room. Among the regular participants were Karl Rove, the president's senior political adviser; communications strategists Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin and James R. Wilkinson; legislative liaison Nicholas E. Calio; and policy advisers led by Rice and her deputy, Stephen J. Hadley, along with I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff." [Washington Post, 8/10/03]
Group Of Bush Aides Described As Having A Disdain for CIA Views On Intelligence Matters. "When the disclosure of Wilson's CIA mission to Niger put the White House on the defensive, one administration official said it reminded a tight knit group of Bush neoconservatives of their longtime battles with the agency and underlined their determination to fight. Many of those officials also were members of the White House Iraq Group, established to coordinate and promote administration policy. It included the most influential players who would represent two elements of the current scandal: a hardball approach to political critics and long-standing disdain for CIA views on intelligence matters. The group consisted of Rove, Libby, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley, and Mary Matalin, Cheney's media advisor... Before the war, this Iraq group promoted the view that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was seeking more." [Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05]
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
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Links:
[1] http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107Z.shtml (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107Z.shtml)