Transcript of Newshour discussion re: Novak Named Names >

Transcript is finally available - very interesting. "It has been reported" that Novak testified. WHO reported it? Where? Or is this some of that hush-hush-just-between-us-inside-the- beltway-don't-tell-the-little-people BS we've come to expect from our so called "journalists" in Washington? Are they all in on this secret and withholding it from us? If so they are complicit to treason.


___________________________




JIM LEHRER: Now there's some new stuff on that, is there not, or at least around the edges?

TERENCE SMITH: There appears to be. For the record, neither Robert Novak, the columnist, or Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, has said whether he has come in and testified as to his source. Neither one will talk about it.

JIM LEHRER: And he is not, of course -- it's important to make the point here: He has not been cited for contempt or in any -- no action has been taken against him in any way whatsoever; don't even know whether or not he has, in fact, testified. But the new development --

TERENCE SMITH: But the new development is that it has been reported that he has testified, at least gone in and talked with a prosecutor-- that his source has been identified.

JIM LEHRER: That he named the source?

TERENCE SMITH: That is the report.

And that columnist Novak, who won't confirm this publicly, has suggested moreover that his source did not knowingly disclose her identity in the sense that he did not know -- and the law requires this -- when he told Novak of her covert assignment, whether or not she had operated undercover abroad within the last five years. That's what the law says you have to do, and you have to know that, for this to become a crime.

It's possible therefore that a crime was not committed here.

However, the special prosecutor is pressing other reporters, i.e., Miller and Cooper, apparently in an effort to see if he can establish a pattern among officials -- an official or officials -- of leaking this sort of sensitive information. If he could, conceivably that's a crime.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june05/mediawatch_02-24.html

___________________________

seems "Bulldog Fitz" was corrupted long ago (2 years now for this investigation?) and is just going after the others to fulfill his committment to the Justice Department's Asscroft?

I feel sad that Joe Wilson put his trust in this jerk. But, it could all be lies out there. Who can even trust NPR anymore, and Novak is even less trustworthy. Still....it's been too long. Fitz's investigation is starting to look like Ken Starr going after Clinton...much ado with nothing coming out of it. :shrug:

I think there has been very little ado considering it's such a traitorous and serious crime. Joe Wilson has given no indication that he is dissatisfied with the course of the investigation. I think the new info just posted above is devastating. Two WH officials NAMED? Another of those "open secrets" in Washington where everyone knows the culprit but no one is talking publicly. It will be out soon enough. Just let the first blogger get a hold of it. There are no more secrets.

do it knowingly. If they can't get them for the act, then maybe conspiracy charges could take them down.

or if it is even a crime to have named Plame. From the NYTimes editorial Saturday:

"...Meanwhile, an even more basic issue has been raised in recent articles in The Washington Post and elsewhere: the real possibility that the disclosure of Ms. Plame's identity, while an abuse of power, may not have violated any law...." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/opinion/26sat2.html?pagewanted=print&position=

I am resigned that this whole thing is amounting to nothing.

what Fitzgeraldis investigating. He is investigating who in the White House leaked Plame's identity. Each time it was leaked was a crime. The fact that Novak published her name does not make the leak to him any more or any less of a crime than leaking it to Miller, etc.

If so, how does this reporter know? If "it has been reported" - then by whom, to whom, where?

This is something that has been hinted at since late last fall. It has been discussed at various times on the infamous Plame Threads.

The important thing is what you ask -- why is it being "reported" now? The forces within the White House that are engaged in the disinformation campaign have, since day one, taken the stance that Plame's identity was "well known." Thus, when the two officials called six or seven journalists, they were "unaware" that they were violating any law. This is, of course, a total lie.

To begin with, her identity was known only to her husband within her family. That's a real clue to how secret it was. None of her friends knew she was CIA. None of her neighbors knew. There's two more clues. Her personal attorney did not know. Thus, we can say with absolute certainty that Valerie Plame's status as a secret CIA operative was in no way "well known."

Next, look at the people who have said it was well-known. They include primarily those White House offcials who were involved in the "work up" on Wilson that was started on 3-8-03, in VP Cheney's office, with the goal of discrediting Wilson if he exposed the yellow cake lie. In all, there may have been a dozen people involved in that effort between March and july, 2003. If those 12 knew her status, that does not mean it was "well known." It only means those people were involved in activities that may include criminal conspiracies. The only other people who say it was "well known" are a few journalists repeating the White House lie.

When people say that Novak is convinced that the two WH officials that told him about Plame didn't think they were breaking the law, it does not have the ring of truth. What are the chances that these fellows said, "Now, Bob, we don't think we're breaking the law, but Valerie Plame works for the CIA," ? Rather, that sounds like something that may have occured in a later conversation, if at all; a later conversation sounds a lot like an attempted cover-up. The fact that Novak called the CIA for confirmation that Plame was an operative, and that the CIA told Bob NOT to print her name or job, seems to indicate that the idea the WH officials didn't know what they were doing is a lie.

How the heck do you gossip, maliciously, about CIA agents without checking/knowing if there are security issues?

Since when in this post twin towers nation of ours has there been a presumption of innocence by this administration in matters of national security?

Is the defense for this official really going to be that he was a clueless ****?

Or is having a high security clearance really just about access to titillating "dish" that one can share?

I'm constantly having my nose rubbed in the hypocritical disappearance of even a shred of the level of accountability that was demanded when Clinton was in office.

We need some grim reapers to start appearing for our side on TV. We need to make our demands for accountability with a scowling demeanor.

This isn't "tit for tat", we were never remotely this power mad or scornful of a reasoned opposition or calling for accountability.

That question isn't even on the table imo.

Treason notwithstanding, he is pretty boring. Does he really bring anything to the table? Or is he there, like Gannon, to spout something at the appropriate time when asked?

that if they fire him he would raise holy hell for the network. If they do get rid of Crossfire & Cap Gang, he'll be left without a forum, aside from his "inside Politics" pontifications. This could be a way of easing him out "naturally". Hope springs eternal.

from Crossfire or Capitol Gang.

(among other things) is the perversion of the concept of truth. Now we have partial truths, 1/9 truths, 1/10 truths, spin truth and so on. Today someone said to me that there are always two sides to a story, and I said, no, there isn't always. Sometimes there is truth and, untruth, and the two are not equivocal. That was what bothered me about the swift liar thing, that the truth and the untruth were given equal value by self described journalists. And here again in Plame, we have truth and untruth vying for the number 1 position. Only someone who had access to classified documents would have known about V. Plame, and they would have known that to squeal is a crime. This is not the first time these liars have served in government positions. They have been doing this for decades, these boys know the rules of the game(s). They are not, wide-eyed interns who have been given a wonderful chance to work at the big house. And I doubt any of them missed it when 41 said to betray an agent was treason. There isn't anything that has gone on in DC for the last 25 years that they haven't known about.

Its fitting that Karma comes in the form of Novak!!!

Novak is evil.



Video in Real Media format (7 minutes)

Clenis! As usual, everytime they (the WH crew) have a botch up - they have to lay it on Clinton. It's the Clenis' fault that he got in the press room, they just 'inherited' the guidelines.

snip/
Well, it turns out the guidelines, which Scott McClellan makes a point of saying they inherited from the Clinton administration, are very vague.
----

I still think Novak was a willing, eager & active participant in outing Plame, so wouldn't that also make him complicit in any crimes that are charged resultant from this investigation? Even if he named names, I don't feel that absolves him of being an active accomplice. Wanting to see him pull some jail time for his part in trying to suppress Wilson via Plame makes me cringe. Normally I wouldn't like to see journalists pursued by the 'law' - but I really dislike him getting off w/no recrimination for aiding & abetting those arses in the WH.

a combination of common sense and common decency and didn't think they needed to spell out that active prostitutes with money problems (back tazes owed) and with NO press experience, who work exclusively for a PARTISAN organization should not be admitted to the White House press corps.

Our bad.

and we'll NEVER let you hear the end of it until you are dealt with permanently! :grr:

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Producer:
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
2700 South Quincy Street #250
Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 998-2138

Web site:
pbs.org/newshour/
Editorial material from the weeknightly broadcasts of The NewsHour, including transcripts, essays and background briefings.

E-mail:
newshour@pbs.org

I'll submit a question to the ombudsman.