TRUTHOUT Leak Probe: Several White House Officials Contacted Novak Tue Feb 10 21:58:52 2004 64.140.159.51 Leak Probe: Several White House Officials Contacted Novak http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104A.shtml Bush Aides Testify in Leak Probe By Mike Allen and Susan Schmidt The Washington Post Tuesday 10 February 2004 Grand Jury Called McClellan, Matalin A federal grand jury has questioned one current and two former aides to President Bush, and investigators have interviewed several others, in an effort to discover who revealed the name of an undercover CIA officer to a newspaper columnist, sources involved in the case said yesterday. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday that he talked to the grand jury on Friday. Mary Matalin, former counselor to Vice President Cheney, testified Jan. 23, the sources said. Adam Levine, a former White House press official, also testified Friday, the sources said. None is suspected by prosecutors of having exposed undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, but they were questioned about White House public relations strategy, the sources said. FBI agents have interviewed those and at least five other current and former Bush aides and have questioned them about thousands of e-mails that the White House surrendered in October, along with stacks of call logs and calendars, the sources said. The logs indicate that several White House officials talked to columnist Robert D. Novak shortly before July 14, when he published a column quoting "two senior administration officials" saying that Plame, "an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction," had suggested her husband for a mission to Niger to investigate whether Iraq tried to acquire uranium there as part of an effort to develop nuclear weapons. White House witnesses have been asked about cell phone calls and have been shown handwritten, diary-style notes from colleagues, as well as e-mails from reporters to administration officials. In at least a few cases, the FBI questioning was portrayed as very aggressive, with agents homing in on specific conversations with journalists. "Even witnesses that they describe as being potentially helpful are being treated as adversaries," a source close to the investigation said. Plame is married to Joseph C. Wilson IV, former U.S. ambassador to Gabon. He became a prominent critic of Bush's case for war after conducting the mission in 2002 and finding no proof that Iraq had tried to buy nuclear materials. The White House e-mails include criticism of Wilson, the sources said. Wilson is an unpaid foreign policy adviser to the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), and has made campaign stops for him in Iowa, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and Washington state. A parallel FBI investigation into the apparent forgery of documents suggesting that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger is "at a critical stage," according to a senior law enforcement official who declined to elaborate. That probe, conducted by FBI counterintelligence agents, was launched last spring after U.N. officials pronounced the documents crude forgeries. Several sources involved in the leak case said the questioning suggests prosecutors are preparing to seek testimony from Novak and perhaps other journalists. "There's a very good likelihood they're going to litigate against journalists," one source said. News organizations typically resist subpoenas or other methods of obtaining information about confidential sources. In the Plame case, prosecutors have tried to overcome that obstacle by asking several White House officials to sign waivers requesting "that no member of the news media assert any privilege or refuse to answer any questions from federal law enforcement authorities on my behalf or for my benefit." The sources said most officials declined to sign the form on the advice of their attorneys. "It would just be helping the government to put more pressure on journalists to reveal sources," one of the lawyers said. Legal experts said the request for waivers may be intended to show that the FBI has used all possible means to get the information, as Justice Department regulations require, before bringing reporters before the grand jury. The reporters' news-gathering privilege is limited, and "it's most vulnerable in the course of a criminal probe," said Washington defense lawyer Solomon Wisenberg. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act makes it a felony to disclose a covert agent's identity if the person making the disclosure knew the covert status of the employee and revealed it intentionally. Officials interviewed by the FBI include Karl Rove, Bush's senior adviser; McClellan; Matalin; Levine; White House communications director Dan Bartlett; former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer; I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff; and Cathie Martin, a Cheney aide, according to the sources. McClellan said at a briefing on Oct. 10 that Rove and Libby, the only interview subjects about whom he had been publicly questioned, "assured me they were not involved in this." McClellan told reporters on Air Force One yesterday that his appearance was a matter of "doing my part to cooperate, as the president directed all of us to do." Matalin, reached by telephone, said, "I can't comment." Wilson has said his CIA mission was undertaken in response to questions raised by the vice president. But administration officials have said Cheney knew nothing about Wilson or his trip. Officials said authorities are very interested in who had the security clearance to know about Plame's identity, and how that information might have come into the White House or have been spread once it did. The investigators have also studied how the White House reacted to Wilson's first public attack on Bush's case about Iraq. Eight days before Novak's column, Wilson was quoted in The Washington Post, published an opinion article in the New York Times and appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Go to Original 9/11 Panel Threatens to Issue Subpoena for Bush's Briefings By Philip Shenon The New York Times Tuesday 10 February 2004 WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — Members of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks warned the White House on Monday that it could face a politically damaging subpoena this week if it refused to turn over information from the highly classified Oval Office intelligence reports given to President Bush before 9/11. The panel's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, a Republican and the former governor of New Jersey, said through a spokesman that he was hopeful an agreement would be worked out before the commission's next meeting, on Tuesday. Commission officials said that negotiations continued throughout the day on Monday and into the evening with the office of Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel. But other members of the commission said that without an immediate resolution, they would call for a vote on Tuesday on issuing a subpoena to the White House for access to information in the documents. The papers are known as the President's Daily Brief, the intelligence summary prepared each morning for Mr. Bush by the Central Intelligence Agency. Responding to earlier threats of a subpoena, the White House agreed last year to allow three members of the 10-member commission and the panel's Republican staff director to review portions of the daily briefings from before the Sept. 11 attacks that referred to intelligence warnings about Al Qaeda and its plans for terrorist attacks. The commission has described the briefings as vital since they would show whether the White House had warnings of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The White House has acknowledged that one briefing Mr. Bush saw in August 2001 referred to the possibility of a Qaeda strike with commercial airplanes. In recent weeks, however, the White House has refused to give permission for the four members of the delegation to share their handwritten and computerized notes — which have been retained by the White House under the agreement — with the full commission. That has outraged Democrats and Republicans on the panel and prompted the renewed threat of a subpoena. "I'm determined to resolve this with a subpoena vote," said one of the Democrats, Timothy J. Roemer, a former congressman from Indiana. "We need to get access to the notes. There needs to be full information to all 10 commissioners. So far, the White House has vetoed that." Another Democrat on the panel, Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Watergate prosecutor, said he would be prepared to support the subpoena. "This thing has dragged on for months," Mr. Ben-Veniste said Monday, adding that he was not convinced by repeated statements from the White House that it intended to cooperate fully with the commission. "Saying that they have cooperated just doesn't get them over the finish line," he said. The delegation that has reviewed the briefing reports is made up of Mr. Kean; Lee H. Hamilton, another former Democratic congressman from Indiana and the commission's vice chairman; Jamie S. Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration; and Philip D. Zelikow, the executive director. The panel, known formally as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was created by Congress over the initial objections of Mr. Bush. It has made use of its subpoena authority three times: against the Defense Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of New York. A subpoena to the White House could be politically damaging to Mr. Bush, because it would allow his Democratic opponents to suggest he was stonewalling the panel, and because it would raise the prospect of an extended election-year court fight between the commission and the White House. A spokesman for the commission, Al Felzenberg, said that Mr. Kean was involved Monday in the negotiations and that there had been "some positive action." "It's fair to say that the governor is hopeful that things are going to move in a good direction," Mr. Felzenberg added, "that we will have access to everything we need." The subpoena threat comes a week after the White House reversed itself and agreed to support the commission's request to Congress for an additional two months to complete its work, extending the deadline for a final report until July. That is subject to approval by Congress, and spokesmen for the two crucial Senate authors of the bill creating the commission — John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut — said on Monday they were negotiating with the commission and victims' families over how much extra time the commission should get. ------- Claim vs. Fact: The President on Meet the Press http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104B.shtml 50 Die in Truck Bombing South of Baghdad http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104C.shtml Comparing Kerry-Bush Military Records http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104D.shtml Mike Ferner | Terror By Another Name http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104E.shtml Report Details Cheney-Halliburton Connection http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104F.shtml NRDC: Bush Budget Balloons America's Environmental Deficit http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104G.shtml Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104H.shtml Andrew Sullivan | Bush's Attention Deficit http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104I.shtml Will the Election Be Hacked? http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021104J.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 02.10 Bush, Blair "Insincere Salesmen" Charges UN Weapons Chief http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004A.shtml Gore Says Bush Betrayed the U.S., Bush Offers Shifting Rationale http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004B.shtml The White House: A New Fight Over Secret 9/11 Docs http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004C.shtml 7 Soldiers Meet Death in Iraq at 18 http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004D.shtml Peggy Noonan | Philosophy, Not Policy http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004E.shtml CNN Says It Overplayed Dean's Iowa Scream http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004F.shtml Pentagon Plans for Climate Collapse http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004G.shtml NATO on the Road to Iraq: Conditionally http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004H.shtml Jon Carroll | Thank Howard Dean http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004I.shtml Democrats See Unified Party for November http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/021004J.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 02.09 Records Contradict Bush's AWOL Denials http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904A.shtml Bush Family Values: War, Wealth, Oil http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904B.shtml Bomb Explosion in Iraqi Police Stations Kills Three Officers http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904C.shtml Poll: Bush Slip Began After Kay Report http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904D.shtml Are You On Uncle Sam's No Fly List? http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904E.shtml Grand Jury Investigating Anti-War Protesters http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904F.shtml Critics Say Forest Service Battles Too Many Fires http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904G.shtml Teheran Pushes its Pawns Forward in Basra http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904H.shtml Nicholas D. Kristof | Secret Obsessions at the Top http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904I.shtml Kerry Victorious by Wide Margins in 2 More States http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020904J.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 02.08 The New York Times | 'Iraq Intel Probe a Political Smoke Screen' http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804A.shtml Ray McGovern | Still Smoke and Mirrors http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804B.shtml Scott Ritter | Not Everyone Got it Wrong on Iraqi WMDs http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804C.shtml Co-Chair of Bush Panel Part of Far Right Network http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804D.shtml The Lie Factory http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804E.shtml Paul Krugman | Get Me Rewrite! http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804F.shtml Republicans Begin Effort to Rewrite Species Act http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804G.shtml Liberation | The Anti-Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804H.shtml Democrats Now Lead in the Presidential Race Against Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804I.shtml Germans Blame U.S. for Al-Qaeda Acquittal http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020804J.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 02.07 Cheney's Staff Focus of CIA Leak Probe http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704A.shtml Bush Will Pick McCain to Probe Case For War http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704B.shtml GOP Staffer Forced to Resign in Hill Spying Probe http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704C.shtml U.S. Plan to Transfer Power In Iraq May Shift Drastically http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704D.shtml Group Seeks Release of Jailed Journalists http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704E.shtml A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704F.shtml Bush's Bench Choice Irks Environmentalists http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/020704G.shtml Bush's WMD Misleading Continues To Escalate — WHTT, Tue Feb 10 22:30
Message Board by American Patriot Friends Network [APFN]
APFN MESSAGEBOARD ARCHIVES
