No, it's not Ken Starr making news, silly! We're talkin' about Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor assigned to investigate the Bush White House leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame in retaliation for comments made by her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson, after a fact-finding mission to Africa which ultimately disputed White House claims on Iraq. The Washington Post has reported that two White House officials had leaked Plame's identity to six different reporters. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040306/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_9
On Friday the White House confirmed that three subpoenas have been issused:
-Phone records from Air Force One
-Records from the "White House Iraq Group"
-The guest list for a White House reception for Gerald Ford
It appears this investigation is rapidly picking up. Bush has made comments that he wants to get to the bottom of the matter, but you wouldn't know it by his actions. An editorial in The Hill, a non-partisan journal on Washington politics, cuts to the chase:
"Enough already. Enough excuse-making...We know that two senior members of the Bush administration intentionally blew the cover of an undercover CIA officer whose job is combating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation. And their motivation was pure politics...According to one highly-respected retired CIA officer who I spoke to Monday, revealing the identity of a 'NOC' like Plame could literally put the lives of those who cooperated with her at risk. To reveal her identity, he told me, was 'grossly irresponsible.'...The president should find out who they are, reprimand them or, preferably, fire them. But instead of being outraged, he doesn’t even seem to care." http://www.hillnews.com/marshall/073003.aspx
Speaking of "He doesn't seem to care," let's let the White House speak for themselves:
On finding Osama Bin Laden:
"We're going to hunt them down one at a time...it doesn't matter where they hide, as we work with our friends we will find them and bring them to justice." -Bush, 11/22/02
On finding Saddam Hussein in the Mideast:
"We are continuing the pursuit and it's a matter of time before [Saddam] is found and brought to justice." -White House spokesman McClellan, 9/17/03
On finding the leaker in the close confines of the White House:
"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. I don't have any idea." Bush, 10/7/03
And this is someone inclined to define himself as a man of "character?"
[ March 07, 2004, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: TC ]
On Friday the White House confirmed that three subpoenas have been issused:
-Phone records from Air Force One
-Records from the "White House Iraq Group"
-The guest list for a White House reception for Gerald Ford
It appears this investigation is rapidly picking up. Bush has made comments that he wants to get to the bottom of the matter, but you wouldn't know it by his actions. An editorial in The Hill, a non-partisan journal on Washington politics, cuts to the chase:
"Enough already. Enough excuse-making...We know that two senior members of the Bush administration intentionally blew the cover of an undercover CIA officer whose job is combating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation. And their motivation was pure politics...According to one highly-respected retired CIA officer who I spoke to Monday, revealing the identity of a 'NOC' like Plame could literally put the lives of those who cooperated with her at risk. To reveal her identity, he told me, was 'grossly irresponsible.'...The president should find out who they are, reprimand them or, preferably, fire them. But instead of being outraged, he doesn’t even seem to care." http://www.hillnews.com/marshall/073003.aspx
Speaking of "He doesn't seem to care," let's let the White House speak for themselves:
On finding Osama Bin Laden:
"We're going to hunt them down one at a time...it doesn't matter where they hide, as we work with our friends we will find them and bring them to justice." -Bush, 11/22/02
On finding Saddam Hussein in the Mideast:
"We are continuing the pursuit and it's a matter of time before [Saddam] is found and brought to justice." -White House spokesman McClellan, 9/17/03
On finding the leaker in the close confines of the White House:
"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. I don't have any idea." Bush, 10/7/03
And this is someone inclined to define himself as a man of "character?"
[ March 07, 2004, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: TC ]
