Preview of Murray Waas Book on Plame/CIA Leak Case

Investigative reporter Murray Waas broke several key stories on the Plame/CIA leak affair for the National Journal, and now his book on the case will appear June 5 -- the day Lewis “Scooter” Libby is sentenced to prison.

The book, “The United States v. I. Lewis Libby,” is published by Union Square Press/Sterling Publishing. Waas edited it and provided new reporting. E&P received an advance copy of the 584-page volume today.

Libby was convicted on four felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice, in a federal trial that grew out of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.

The book includes an edited trial transcript, commentary by Waas on each witness – including Walter Pincus, Bob Woodward, Tim Russert and other well-known journalists -- 35 invaluable trial exhibits, and a detailed timeline, plus a lengthy introduction by Waas.

In the intro, Waas vividly sketches the roles played by everyone from Vice President Cheney to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. He takes a special look at what he calls "that fateful flight from Norfolk to D.C." taken by Cheney on July 12, 2003. Cheney mainly sat alone with Libby on the flight -- six days after former Ambassador Joe Wilson's critical op-ed appeared The New York Times.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588193

It's paperback - so it's affordable too! From Amazon.com

Review

“Murray Waas is our Woodward now...publishing the biggest story in town.”—Jay Rosen, PressThink.Org
“Slowly but surely…Murray Waas has been putting together a compelling narrative about how President Bush and his top aides contrived their bogus case for war in Iraq.”—Dan Froomkin, WashingtonPost.com
“Murray Waas is pretty impressive….he just keeps whaling away with discrete fact after discrete fact until, finally, he sinks the sucker.“—Steve Lovelady, Columbia Journalism Review
“ suggests a plausible motive for both Scooter Libby and Karl Rove to have misled the grand jury about Plame.”—Greg Sargent, The American Prospect
“Murray Waas is getting his day in the sun…The freelance investigative reporter has racked up a series of scoops. He’s been cited by New York Times columnists Frank Rich and Paul Krugman.”—Howard Kurtz, Media Notes, Washington Post columnist

Book Description

Washington scandals come and go, but the one surrounding the investigation into the leaking of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity—now in its fourth year—has had unprecedented staying power. In October 2005, when I. Lewis Libby was indicted on five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI, perjury, and obstruction of justice, his trial became the latest chapter in the saga.
Murray Waas, one of today’s finest investigative journalists, has edited and assembled this instant book that covers the trial from start to finish. He combines the trial transcript, pivotal testimony from key witnesses, and his own original, incisive reporting and an over-arching introductory essay. The subject is certainly one with which Waas is intimately familiar: he’s done groundbreaking work for the National Journal covering the Plame investigation, as well as the Bush Administration’s use (and misuse) of pre-war intelligence. No one is better qualified, or has done more, to inform the public of these shrouded events than Waas.
Like the published reports from the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group, this definitive study is sure to become one of the most significant political documents of this Bush era.

For Mr. Waas and his wonderful journalism.