Leak probe may expand beyond White House

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Leak probe may expand beyond White House
By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's name is likely to expand to other Bush administration agencies such as the State and Defense departments, officials said Thursday.

A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said those agencies, and possibly others, could get letters urging officials to preserve documents such as phone logs and not to delete e-mails. Similar letters have already gone to the White House and CIA.

Defense Department officials confirmed Thursday they were told to expect such a letter.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Thursday that the White House had not received any subpoenas in the investigation and that, to his knowledge, no staffers had been interviewed by the FBI.

more...

This is the first time I heard the Defense Department?

:bounce:

Preventing loss of evidence is a key piece of the early stage of the FBI's investigation, which is focused at the outset on narrowing the list of government officials who may have known the CIA officer's identity.

and the Bushies have ticked off some of the very people who can do the most damage (like the CIA and FBI).

Anyone for popcorn?

:bounce:

has begun in earnest.

I doubt the DOJ will pursue this with any real vigor. They'll just go through the motions. There are too many obvious conflicts of interest with the DOJ and the WH.

is 1 (800) 839 - 5276 - or 1 (800) 648 - 3516. They'll switch you, for free, to any Senator or Congressperson's office you name.

Also try www.congress.org - whose directory will give you phone numbers for all the local and Washington offices, plus fax numbers and email and snail mail addresses.

I would STRONGLY suggest making sure to include at least one rethug's office, so they hear from other people than just their own little "choir." They, especially, need to hear that there are legions (what was it - 70 percent polled, or so, who say we need an independent counsel?) of patriotic Americans who see a conflict of interest here and want this pursued in a completely immaculate fashion. Call a Dem, of course. They need the calcium supplements for their backbones. But it's probably more important to nag the rethugs. Don't let THEM get away with presuming nobody gives a damn!!!

That's how you keep this story alive, also. By applying pressure.

And remember, we all feared the FCC would have the last word on further deregulating the broadcasting giants, and that Miguel Estrada would be able to outlast the filibuster. And both those sets of fears turned out to be unfounded. And how come? BECAUSE THE PEOPLE SPOKE UP AND WOULD NOT GO AWAY!!!!

So if you don't want this to go away, then you shouldn't, either!

on edit - spelling

there's a quote from Janet Reno froma few years ago where she said it's almost impossible to track down a leaker. I think the WH is banking on that.

and they have proof! We really don't need an investigation we just need a conviction! I think the evidence is there now the cover up begins :bounce:

Since the leak was spread to more than just Novak. And a secret shared does not remain a secret. I really think the facade is starting to crack. Someone will sell-out for a book deal.

but I don't trust the DOJ to conduct this investigation at all.

And, to use another metaphor, once the rake hits the muck, a lot of stink gets raised!

...and who orchestrated the leaks.

The fact that the CIA went public tells me that they know quite a bit more than they've said so far.

Stand by...

And who authorized it. They're smart folks. They saw all this garbage coming a mile away (they've seen the Bushees in action for years now), and you can be sure they're holding a straight flush. They won't be beat on this one, because they took their time and made sure they had it all lined up.
Don't even worry....just give it time.
The only thing you should be worried about is that the Bushees will try to "negotiate" behind the scenes with the CIA to avoid the worst. But I think the Agency's so pissed at this point they're just going to tear it all down.
That's seriously what they're going to do. The CIA is going to rip the Bush Administration apart. People were saying it during the Uraniumgate thing, but I doubt anyone realized how right they really were.

knew about this and did nothing :bounce:

Cheney is in his Bunker. :-)

Spread buckshot all over the place to diffuse and dispel the WH's criminal activity.

This is BAD news.

We know Rove made follow-up "got get 'em" calls to the media. We know that. Start there. Take down everyone from there.

This is bad, bad news.

The Congress should get an independent counsel. Period.

How would the Defense Department get in on this :bounce:

I would HATE to work for these people!

:bounce:

Faun Hall!

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/LEO305C.html

http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/22/dreyfuss-r.html

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030512fa_fact

They don't care much for civilian authorities.

:tinfoilhat:

They'll just keep saying they need to interview more and more people without ever really getting to the bottom of it.

is right around the corner.

Non-point-source sources! "Sorry, we uncovered thousands of suspects. Impossible to pursue. Game over."

"Wait 'til their judgment day comes ... YEAH."

Just felt the need to quote Sabbath here, sorry...

Wow if thats true then there is way more going on here :bounce:

And it's OK if the investigation takes a long time -- so long as it stays newsworthy, and explodes just before November 2004.

can ya put a couple paragraphs on the NYT for me I'm not registered thank you! :bounce:

They are getting even for the neo-cons having messed with them with OSPs and the like.
But don't have illusions this is a settling of scores among right-
wingers: pragmatists vs. neo-cons.
The end result could well be the sock puppet being manipulated by
a more "benign" hand. That would bring back some rationality to world
affairs, but on the homefront you would still be screwed...

I can see Poppy some days ago, back in Russia:
- So, Vlad, I need to bail out Junior, what do you want for your
abstention in the Security Council?
And Vlad says:
- Can you get rid of the PNAC loonies?
- Piece of Cake, Vlad, but don't you try again to double cross us
with the Saudis, right?

Is better than continuing this status quo.

This will have serious political repercussions, all to our favor.

The investigation will have to turn out right, after all, since you may be sure the C.I.A. already knows who did it.

A pleasure to see about the forum, Captain, by the way!

Remember that Wilson in an interview talked about a general who was with his wife when they brought the information to the WH or was it Wilson and the General

thats where they are looking at the General I bet too! :bounce:

and the neocons in general. Tenet had to take the fall for the "16 words" which he NEVER authorized. That was put in there by Cheney/Libby to sell the war.

I'm sure any document has been destroyed, but if Tenet did his preparations correctly - there are many copies of incriminating evidence.}(

He truely confuses me with contradictory statements.

Wouldn't Rove be surprised at that one!

:bounce:

And work up from there, leaving no stone unturned. By the year 2050 they should have worked their way up to mid-management at the park stores at the Grand Canyon...

Might take a little longer before they can get to interviewing Rove, or the reporters he tried to leak to.

If someone approaches you and wants to be your source, do you still feel obligated to keep their identity secret? Especially if they approach you and you don't want what they tell you? Just wondering if these other reporters would be willing to spend time in jail to protect a leaker they didn't want.

Is the FBI have leaks! They better investigate themselves

:bounce:

Because of this the real truth may be exposed!!!
Ashcroft,
Bring on the real 911 investigation while your at it and
tell all these thugs "No more free cash until it is over"!!

and Bush may not be out now but he will be out!

Bottomline the whole crew of them are incompetents

:bounce:

Don't forget the "top administration official" who was talking to the Washington Post last weekend. He/she doesn't have to protect sources. I imagine that person isn't going to let it go away. Could we be looking at another John Dean? I do hope so.

Spreading this investigation to other agencies will take the focus off the White House.

You're brilliant bvar22!!!

:tinfoilhat:

that is the translation for those of us who forgot our :tinfoilhat:

We haven't said for sure that all branches of the Bush* administration will be investigated, but we expect it could happen. So, rather than send a damning memo out, or be a stupid Pig-Boy like Rush I won't email to say Gentlemen, shred your documents!.

They are using the media to spread the shread now message.

I am waiting for the phoney catastrophy to show up.
They will try to distract the people as much as possible!!

I am sure as in all Dept.s there are those whom are
loyalist and those whom are righteous.

We'll see how the truth works its way through!!!

Go "Good guys"!!!!!

:bounce:

...and some people think it was Perle who leaked to Cliff May.

....this could be bad. This could be an attempt by Ashcroft to access documents from State and from the Pentagon, for reasons having nothing to do with the leak.

Yikes.

Think about it. Immediately after Wilson's op-ed appeared in the Times, he was said to have been sent to Niger to investigate on the behalf of the Vice President. Who, then, would Novak have called first?

Scooter Libbly, Cheney's Chief-of-Staff, or a staffer immediately under Scooter. (Novak was, as he claimed, interested to know how a Clinton appointee had been sent by the administration to undertake such an investigation.) So he naturally calls Scooter (at the time of the editorial, Wilson was said to have been sent by the Vice President's Office. Remember?), and Scooter was ready for him.

They talked about Wilson's editorial, why the State-of-the-Union Speech referred to Nigerian yellow-cake uranium and why Powell didn't mention it at the UN, and how Cheney had never heard of Wilson. Then Scooter explains, telling Novak that Cheney, the previous summer, had asked the CIA to look into the reports of uranium sales to Iraq from Niger and that it was the CIA who had sent Wilson. Then Scooter lets it drop, "Well, you know Wilson's wife? Valerie Plame? She was the CIA agent who had him sent." Novak's ears perk up (all he hears is "nepotism," missing the real insinuation: that Wilson put his wife up to having him sent because he had an anti-War agenda or because he was anti-administration and wanted to put the breaks on the rising crescendo of war rhetoric that fall). Novak checks spelling ("P-L-A-M-E"), thanks Scooter, hangs up. Checks second source, etc.

It's important to realize the purpose was to discredit Wilson as a maverick-with-an-agenda, getting his wife to send him on a mission the results of which would undercut Bush's bellicose rhetoric or make Bush pull back from his decision to invade Iraq.

Given the circumstance of the following summer (2003) when everyone was questioning the existence of WMD and then to have a key item in the President's State of the Union Speech undercut in a NY Times editorial-length letter, Scooter's plant was artful and effective, despite Novak's dull-witted interpretation (nepotism). I was clever without crushing anyone (Libby is more circumspect and pragmatic than Rove). The purpose was not primarily to inflict revenge upon Wilson, nor was it necessarily a warning to others who might take similar public stands, but to undercut an opponent who had momentarily risen in their midst. Bloodlessly, swiftly.


Coda: Wistful Thinking

I'm guessing Scooter Libby is spending the day with lawyers and staff, figuring out how to minimize legal and politial damage. Tomorrow he'll resign.

Pat Buchanan and Bill Press mentioned Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney as being behind the leak.

:kick: