Times Online

Cheney drawn into CIA spy leak investigation

Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:56

64.140.159.193

 

October 25, 200
Cheney drawn into CIA spy leak investigation
By Times Online

A senior White House aide at the centre of a CIA leak investigation learnt the identity of an undercover agent from his boss, Dick Cheney, it was claimed today.


Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the Vice-President's chief of staff, gave evidence to a grand jury that he first heard the name of covert agent Valerie Wilson, nee Plame, from journalists at around the time that her name was printed in a newspaper column.

But according to The New York Times today, lawyers involved in the case say that notes in Mr Libby's own handwriting show that in fact he first heard of Mrs Wilson from Mr Cheney.

Patrick Fitzgerald, a special prosecutor who is leading the investigation, has heard allegations that Mrs Wilson's name was leaked to the press by the White House as revenge against her husband, a retired diplomat, for a scathing article he wrote about the lack of evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

There is nothing illegal in Mr Cheney and his chief of staff, discussing a CIA agent. Publicising the name of a covert CIA agent is a criminal offence only if the person who reveals it knows that that the spy is an undercover agent.

Lawyers close to the case, who described the notes to The New York Times, say that there is nothing to show that either Mr Cheney or Mr Libby knew that she was an undercover agent or that her identity was classified.

But the appearance of the Vice President's name in the leak inquiry is likely to increase the pressure on the Bush Administration, which is trailing in the opinion polls.

The role of both Mr Libby and of Karl Rove, President Bush's senior policy adviser, in possibly revealing Mrs Wilson's name during conversations with journalists has come under scrutiny.

The notes suggest that it was George Tenet, the head of the CIA, who told Mr Cheney about Mrs Wilson. Her name appears to have cropped up because of her alleged role in sending her husband to Niger on a mission to investigate White House claims that Saddam Hussein tried to buy raw uranium for a nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Wilson concluded that there was no evidence, and annoyed the White House by writing a newspaper article saying so.

Both Mr Tenet and Mr Cheney gave evidence privately on oath to the special prosecutor last year, and have not appeared before the grand jury.

Mr Libby's notes have been given to Mr Fitzgerald as part of his inquiry. He is expected to decide by Friday, the day that the grand jury's remit expires, whether to bring charges against anyone in the White House.

The White House has refused to comment, as has Mr Libby's lawyer, according to The New York Times.

Mr Libby and Mr Rove attended a Cabinet meeting with President Bush yesterday, as the White House sought to portray the impression of business as usual. It is likely however that any aide who is indicted by Mr Fitzgerald will have to quit their job.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1841797,00.html

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Rosebud" DID IT! Vice President Cheney's code
Sun Jul 24, 2005 00:29
64.140.158.104

Last update: July 23, 2005 at 7:25 PM
Garrison Keillor:
This plot calls for big-name cast of characters
July 24, 2005
SOURCE:

I feel it's time for me to step forward and tell what I know about Karl Rove's conversation with columnist Robert Novak in which Mr. Novak reportedly told Mr. Rove that CIA operative Valerie Plame had been responsible for her husband Joseph Wilson going to Niger to debunk the White House's claim that Saddam Hussein was shopping for uranium in Africa to make nuclear weapons and that's why we invaded Iraq, and Mr. Rove said, "Yes, I've heard that, too." Mr. Rove has been accused of revealing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. This simply isn't true.

I happened to be in Mr. Rove's office when the phone rang. I was there on behalf of my publisher, to see if Mr. Rove knows enough to make him worth a $6 million advance on his memoirs. (Answer: Not really.) He picked up the phone and the voice at the other end sounded like a rat trapped in a coffee can. "Novak," whispered Mr. Rove and he pretended to stick a finger down his throat. He listened for several minutes. "Yes, I've heard that, too," he said.

As he spoke to Novak, Mr. Rove wrote on a notepad, "Rosebud knows" -- "Rosebud" being Vice President Cheney's code name -- and winked at me.

This raised a question in my mind: Did Rove know Ms. Plame had taken the identity of Mr. Cheney during an arrhythmia episode at Walter Reed and that a heavily sedated vice president had been flown by the CIA to Riyadh as Ms. Plame donned a latex-padded suit and took his place? She quickly discovered that the uranium was stored at the Whitewater property once owned by the Clintons and then deeded to Kofi Annan and used as a supply depot for black helicopters. She tried to warn Mr. Clinton and the next day he had that mysterious "bypass" operation after which he suddenly got chummy with ex-CIA chief George H.W. Bush and the two flew off to Southeast Asia like in an old Crosby/Hope "Road" picture.

New York Times columnist William Safire was the first to spot the womanly tenderness in the vice president's eyes, and he called Mrs. Cheney to ask if Rosebud had been infiltrated. She denied everything. She also said she had "never been happier."

Safire's discovery of the Cheney gambit made it necessary for the CIA to "retire" him from the Times. But not before he passed the word to me. I called Sen. Kerry to alert him and he said he had heard that, too, and then switched over to French and said, "My wife is a suitcase," or words to that effect.

Could Teresa Heinz Kerry be carrying uranium in a suitcase? Ms. Plame mentioned the possibility to the president and found Mr. Bush oddly detached. "Yes, I heard that," he said, vaguely. The radio receiver was still on his back but the earpiece had fallen out. As a young man, under cover of the National Guard, Mr. Bush had masterminded a clandestine CIA operation that infiltrated a ring of draft-dodgers and gathered important information about them, such as which bars they frequented and how much they drank. He is comfortable in an undercover role. He has cut many trails through the brush at his Crawford ranch and can slip undetected over the Mexican border while his double, an El Paso Realtor named Craig Selin, stands in for him at press conferences and other ceremonial events.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor knew that the vice president's gender wasn't right and so did Laura Bush. Mrs. Bush has read Dostoevsky and isn't easily fooled. They told Rove, who said, "Yes, I've heard that, too." But did he know? I doubt it.

He was as surprised as the others when Vice President Cheney returned to Washington in a small civilian aircraft, which was intercepted by F-16s as it entered restricted air space and was forced to land at Andrews Air Force Base where Rosebud was recognized and became vice president again and Ms. Plame was sent to an undisclosed location. That night, Karl Rove spoke on the phone with columnist Dave Barry who told him that the uranium was actually urine samples, and Mr. Rove said, "That's old news, Dave. We've moved on." A typical Rove gambit.

But that is neither here nor there. The question is: Did Karl Rove reveal Valerie Plame's identity? He did not. His "I've heard that, too" was an attempt to seem cool and informed whereas he was as bewildered as anybody else.

The urine samples turned up, not in Iraq but at Plymouth Rock, the urine of a white male between 50 and 65 with thinning hair and a cherubic smile. Don't ask me how I know -- wild horses couldn't drag that out of me.

Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" can be heard Saturday nights on public radio stations across the country.
-----------------------------

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun Jul 24, 2005 00:29
64.140.158.104

Last update: July 23, 2005 at 7:25 PM
Garrison Keillor:
This plot calls for big-name cast of characters
July 24, 2005
SOURCE:

I feel it's time for me to step forward and tell what I know about Karl Rove's conversation with columnist Robert Novak in which Mr. Novak reportedly told Mr. Rove that CIA operative Valerie Plame had been responsible for her husband Joseph Wilson going to Niger to debunk the White House's claim that Saddam Hussein was shopping for uranium in Africa to make nuclear weapons and that's why we invaded Iraq, and Mr. Rove said, "Yes, I've heard that, too." Mr. Rove has been accused of revealing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. This simply isn't true.

I happened to be in Mr. Rove's office when the phone rang. I was there on behalf of my publisher, to see if Mr. Rove knows enough to make him worth a $6 million advance on his memoirs. (Answer: Not really.) He picked up the phone and the voice at the other end sounded like a rat trapped in a coffee can. "Novak," whispered Mr. Rove and he pretended to stick a finger down his throat. He listened for several minutes. "Yes, I've heard that, too," he said.

As he spoke to Novak, Mr. Rove wrote on a notepad, "Rosebud knows" -- "Rosebud" being Vice President Cheney's code name -- and winked at me.

This raised a question in my mind: Did Rove know Ms. Plame had taken the identity of Mr. Cheney during an arrhythmia episode at Walter Reed and that a heavily sedated vice president had been flown by the CIA to Riyadh as Ms. Plame donned a latex-padded suit and took his place? She quickly discovered that the uranium was stored at the Whitewater property once owned by the Clintons and then deeded to Kofi Annan and used as a supply depot for black helicopters. She tried to warn Mr. Clinton and the next day he had that mysterious "bypass" operation after which he suddenly got chummy with ex-CIA chief George H.W. Bush and the two flew off to Southeast Asia like in an old Crosby/Hope "Road" picture.

New York Times columnist William Safire was the first to spot the womanly tenderness in the vice president's eyes, and he called Mrs. Cheney to ask if Rosebud had been infiltrated. She denied everything. She also said she had "never been happier."

Safire's discovery of the Cheney gambit made it necessary for the CIA to "retire" him from the Times. But not before he passed the word to me. I called Sen. Kerry to alert him and he said he had heard that, too, and then switched over to French and said, "My wife is a suitcase," or words to that effect.

Could Teresa Heinz Kerry be carrying uranium in a suitcase? Ms. Plame mentioned the possibility to the president and found Mr. Bush oddly detached. "Yes, I heard that," he said, vaguely. The radio receiver was still on his back but the earpiece had fallen out. As a young man, under cover of the National Guard, Mr. Bush had masterminded a clandestine CIA operation that infiltrated a ring of draft-dodgers and gathered important information about them, such as which bars they frequented and how much they drank. He is comfortable in an undercover role. He has cut many trails through the brush at his Crawford ranch and can slip undetected over the Mexican border while his double, an El Paso Realtor named Craig Selin, stands in for him at press conferences and other ceremonial events.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor knew that the vice president's gender wasn't right and so did Laura Bush. Mrs. Bush has read Dostoevsky and isn't easily fooled. They told Rove, who said, "Yes, I've heard that, too." But did he know? I doubt it.

He was as surprised as the others when Vice President Cheney returned to Washington in a small civilian aircraft, which was intercepted by F-16s as it entered restricted air space and was forced to land at Andrews Air Force Base where Rosebud was recognized and became vice president again and Ms. Plame was sent to an undisclosed location. That night, Karl Rove spoke on the phone with columnist Dave Barry who told him that the uranium was actually urine samples, and Mr. Rove said, "That's old news, Dave. We've moved on." A typical Rove gambit.

But that is neither here nor there. The question is: Did Karl Rove reveal Valerie Plame's identity? He did not. His "I've heard that, too" was an attempt to seem cool and informed whereas he was as bewildered as anybody else.

The urine samples turned up, not in Iraq but at Plymouth Rock, the urine of a white male between 50 and 65 with thinning hair and a cherubic smile. Don't ask me how I know -- wild horses couldn't drag that out of me.

Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" can be heard Saturday nights on public radio stations across the country.
-----------------------------

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Voice of America - 7 hours ago
By VOA News. A former US intelligence agent has criticized President Bush's response to a White House advisor's involvement in leaking ...
MORE:>>

Karl Rove: the real story - Editorials & Commentary ...
... and he called Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife, to ask if Rosebud ...
He was as surprised as the others when Vice President Cheney returned to ...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/20/opinion/edkiellor.php

MIRED IN CRUDE: The end of oil - NI 335 - Greasing the machine
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Descripti