Novak confirms Rove was Plame source

[one...two...tree 2,762]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060712/ap_on_...a_leak_novak_16

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Now that Karl Rove won't be indicted, now that the president won't fire him, now that it really doesn't matter anymore, more details of the

Valerie Plame leak investigation trickle out.

In his latest syndicated column, released Wednesday, columnist Robert Novak revealed his side of the story in the Plame affair, saying Rove was a confirming source for Novak's story outing the

CIA officer, underscoring Rove's role in a leak that

President Bush once promised to punish.

As Rove's legal problems grew a year ago, the president qualified his earlier pledge to fire anyone involved in the Plame leak, saying it would apply to "someone who committed a crime."

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060712/ap_on_...a_leak_novak_16

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Now that Karl Rove won't be indicted, now that the president won't fire him, now that it really doesn't matter anymore, more details of the

Valerie Plame leak investigation trickle out.

In his latest syndicated column, released Wednesday, columnist Robert Novak revealed his side of the story in the Plame affair, saying Rove was a confirming source for Novak's story outing the

CIA officer, underscoring Rove's role in a leak that

President Bush once promised to punish.

As Rove's legal problems grew a year ago, the president qualified his earlier pledge to fire anyone involved in the Plame leak, saying it would apply to "someone who committed a crime."

What's really sad about this is now that the principal people involved aren't around anymore, what should be a national scandal now becomes a mere footnote. It was true - the guy broke the law, the government pulled the strings to see that he didn't get prosecuted - so now there's no accountability. Nice.

And let's not forget, this issue is directly tied to an key aspect of the government's justification for war with Iraq.

You would think this would make more people see the importance of exercising their democratic right to vote, but ultimately I think it will confirm to a lot of people that politics is full of crooks and that whomever they vote for it will make little difference.

This is downright dirty. In anyone's book.

[Ban Hammer 13,633]

What's really sad about this is now that the principal people involved aren't around anymore, what should be a national scandal now becomes a mere footnote. It was true - the guy broke the law, the government pulled the strings to see that he didn't get prosecuted - so now there's no accountability. Nice.

And let's not forget, this issue is directly tied to an key aspect of the government's justification for war with Iraq.

You would think this would make more people see the importance of exercising their democratic right to vote, but ultimately I think it will confirm to a lot of people that politics is full of crooks and that whomever they vote for it will make little difference.

This is downright dirty. In anyone's book.

i'll agree to that fishdude. he should be in jail. another example of how politicians can get away with leaking classified and get away with it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

i'll agree to that fishdude. he should be in jail. another example of how politicians can get away with leaking classified and get away with it.

Yes he should.

It seems to be typical of this government that if you publicly criticise policy, you end up getting smeared, discredited and your career left in ruins.

The name was leaked as a direct retaliation for the woman's husband, senior diplomat Joseph Wilson, who undermined part of the governments case for war, by publicly repudiating as factually false, claims that Saddam Hussein had try to buy yellowcake Uranium from Nigeria.

[Ban Hammer 13,633]

i'll agree to that fishdude. he should be in jail. another example of how politicians can get away with leaking classified and get away with it.

Yes he should.

It seems to be typical of this government that if you publicly criticise policy, you end up getting smeared, discredited and your career left in ruins.

The name was leaked as a direct retaliation for the woman's husband, senior diplomat Joseph Wilson, who undermined part of the governments case for war, by publicly repudiating as factually false, claims that Saddam Hussein had try to buy yellowcake Uranium from Nigeria.

what irks me is that should anyone in the military or any other low grade government employee i.e. anyone not in the es paygrades do something so stupid as to leak classified, they'd be tarred, feathered, and run outta town on a rail straight to the appropriate jail. in essence we have a double standard: those who depend on it remaining protected for their own safety, along with those who must have access to it to perform their jobs, being held to a higher standard than senior government officials who can use it for political gain.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

i'll agree to that fishdude. he should be in jail. another example of how politicians can get away with leaking classified and get away with it.

Yes he should.

It seems to be typical of this government that if you publicly criticise policy, you end up getting smeared, discredited and your career left in ruins.

The name was leaked as a direct retaliation for the woman's husband, senior diplomat Joseph Wilson, who undermined part of the governments case for war, by publicly repudiating as factually false, claims that Saddam Hussein had try to buy yellowcake Uranium from Nigeria.

what irks me is that should anyone in the military or any other low grade government employee i.e. anyone not in the es paygrades do something so stupid as to leak classified, they'd be tarred, feathered, and run outta town on a rail straight to the appropriate jail. in essence we have a double standard: those who depend on it remaining protected for their own safety, along with those who must have access to it to perform their jobs, being held to a higher standard than senior government officials who can use it for political gain.

What's even more ironic is that Plame, by all accounts, worked for a branch of the CIA that was specifically tasked with investigating the proliferation of WMD.

So not only was the disclosure of her identity treasonous in an of itself, but it represented a direct threat to national security.

[Lewis 0]

Hopefully, as the next elections come around more Americans will get more involved, especially the youth, in order to put the country in a more balanced direction. As for myself, I am contemplating changing political parties as a result of my unhappiness with the current political situation. It is very difficult for me to see much difference between the 2 parties at this point besides the traditional partisan issues. The elitism and favoritism exhibited by both parties has never decreased in my lifetime. It would be amazing to see some fresh candidates with the people's interests in mind instead of our traditional posturing Democrats and Republicans. So far, the options being suggested for the next presidential election do not appear to be very encouraging. I would like to see both sides finally live up to their promises in dealing with the social security mess, the health insurance problem, education etc.........in other words, get back to focusing on making the US competitive once again in education, business, innovation and technology.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hopefully, as the next elections come around more Americans will get more involved, especially the youth, in order to put the country in a more balanced direction. As for myself, I am contemplating changing political parties as a result of my unhappiness with the current political situation. It is very difficult for me to see much difference between the 2 parties at this point besides the traditional partisan issues. The elitism and favoritism exhibited by both parties has never decreased in my lifetime. It would be amazing to see some fresh candidates with the people's interests in mind instead of our traditional posturing Democrats and Republicans. So far, the options being suggested for the next presidential election do not appear to be very encouraging. I would like to see both sides finally live up to their promises in dealing with the social security mess, the health insurance problem, education etc.........in other words, get back to focusing on making the US competitive once again in education, business, innovation and technology.

$200bn would have paid for a lot of that.

[Lewis 0]

Hopefully, as the next elections come around more Americans will get more involved, especially the youth, in order to put the country in a more balanced direction. As for myself, I am contemplating changing political parties as a result of my unhappiness with the current political situation. It is very difficult for me to see much difference between the 2 parties at this point besides the traditional partisan issues. The elitism and favoritism exhibited by both parties has never decreased in my lifetime. It would be amazing to see some fresh candidates with the people's interests in mind instead of our traditional posturing Democrats and Republicans. So far, the options being suggested for the next presidential election do not appear to be very encouraging. I would like to see both sides finally live up to their promises in dealing with the social security mess, the health insurance problem, education etc.........in other words, get back to focusing on making the US competitive once again in education, business, innovation and technology.

$200bn would have paid for a lot of that.

Valid point, sorry if I got off topic in off topic. That figure will be increasing as long as we stay over there.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Hopefully, as the next elections come around more Americans will get more involved, especially the youth, in order to put the country in a more balanced direction. As for myself, I am contemplating changing political parties as a result of my unhappiness with the current political situation. It is very difficult for me to see much difference between the 2 parties at this point besides the traditional partisan issues. The elitism and favoritism exhibited by both parties has never decreased in my lifetime. It would be amazing to see some fresh candidates with the people's interests in mind instead of our traditional posturing Democrats and Republicans. So far, the options being suggested for the next presidential election do not appear to be very encouraging. I would like to see both sides finally live up to their promises in dealing with the social security mess, the health insurance problem, education etc.........in other words, get back to focusing on making the US competitive once again in education, business, innovation and technology.

$200bn would have paid for a lot of that.

Valid point, sorry if I got off topic in off topic. That figure will be increasing as long as we stay over there.

No you're not off-topic at all. Its just ironic that in a time when you can be jailed for wearing a protest T-shirt, that a government official can reveal the identity of a CIA operative working on WMD proliferation and he faces no jail time!? Crazy.

[Lewis 0]

Really, just jailed for a tshirt? Which one, where can I get it?

It is pitiful, that some individuals can break the law in dealing with very serious crimes and get away with it, also including professional athletes, entertainers and other individuals in "power" positions.

I just don't know what party to join, Independent, Libertarian........ I can't identify with solutions being offered by the 2 biggies.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Really, just jailed for a tshirt? Which one, where can I get it?

It is pitiful, that some individuals can break the law in dealing with very serious crimes and get away with it, also including professional athletes, entertainers and other individuals in "power" positions.

I just don't know what party to join, Independent, Libertarian........ I can't identify with solutions being offered by the 2 biggies.

Cindy Sheehan was jailed for wearing an 'inappropriate' T-Shirt at I think, Bush's SOTU address.

What bother me most of all is that Joe Wilson was right. They lied! This simple fact is getting lost. And people still maintain that the government was unknowingly 'misled' by inaccurate intelligence...

For someone who's been 'misled' they seem to be remarkably proactive at silencing any dissenting voices, by any means necessary - even if it mean't, as it did in this case, breaking the law and breaching national security. What should have, at the very least raised some extremely serious questions was "hushed up" because the ultimate decision had already been made.

Edited July 15, 2006 by erekose

[Luvinmybaby 0]

I think you need to check your facts a little closer. First of all, I saw the interview with Novak. He clearly stated that Rove was NOT the original source. Novak said that he only confirmed it. And even there is some dispute over that. Novak said that when he asked Rove about Plame Novak stated that Rove said "Oh' you know that to?" Rove states that he said "Oh, heard that to?" Very small difference but the bottom line is Rove didn't leak the name. Second point, Fitzgerald said that no one was charged with leaking Plame's name because SHE WASN'T COVERT AT THE TIME!!!!!! There wasn't a crime, thats why no one was charged!! Even the woman (I can't think of her name right now) that wrote the law about outing covert operators said that she wasn't covert. Jees guys! Get your facts right. You want Bush and all his cronies in jail so bad you make things up just to make yourselfs feel better!!!

[Luvinmybaby 0]

And another thing, If Plame was so worried about her "covert" status why in the world would she have her name in Who's Who? That is the original place that Novak said he got her name. Her and her husband are just anti-bush hacks that were doing their best to bash Bush. She is the one that sent her husband on that "fact finding" mission. The CIA didn't even authorize it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think you need to check your facts a little closer. First of all, I saw the interview with Novak. He clearly stated that Rove was NOT the original source. Novak said that he only confirmed it. And even there is some dispute over that. Novak said that when he asked Rove about Plame Novak stated that Rove said "Oh' you know that to?" Rove states that he said "Oh, heard that to?" Very small difference but the bottom line is Rove didn't leak the name. Second point, Fitzgerald said that no one was charged with leaking Plame's name because SHE WASN'T COVERT AT THE TIME!!!!!! There wasn't a crime, thats why no one was charged!! Even the woman (I can't think of her name right now) that wrote the law about outing covert operators said that she wasn't covert. Jees guys! Get your facts right. You want Bush and all his cronies in jail so bad you make things up just to make yourselfs feel better!!!

You're right, he didn't leak it - but he was one of the primary 'confirming sources'. That's pretty crucial - because it provides legitimacy to the original claim.

Similarly why do you think it is that Scooter Libby is currently in jail awaiting trial for perjury and obtruction of justice. Obstructing, I might add the investigation that was to determine whether or not a crime (and breach of national security had taken place). If there was no crime, nothing to hide - there would be no reason to perjure himself.

The argument that she was not 'covert' is little different to trial lawyers (of which the govt has many) twisting definitions and legalities to fit their interpretation of events. Fact was she did work for the CIA, she did have a classified 'non-official cover' status. That is not in doubt. The only question that has arisen is to what extent she was entitled to legal protection and secrecy.

Let me ask you this why do you think her name was leaked? Do you think it had nothing whatsoever to do with Joseph Wilson's trip to Nigeria and his informing the press that based on his investigation (and other reports) claims that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase raw uranium in 1999 were totally unsubstantiated?

And another thing, If Plame was so worried about her "covert" status why in the world would she have her name in Who's Who? That is the original place that Novak said he got her name. Her and her husband are just anti-bush hacks that were doing their best to bash Bush. She is the one that sent her husband on that "fact finding" mission. The CIA didn't even authorize it.

If you say so. I disagree. They certainly didn't sanction his going to the press - which is how this whole affair started.

Edited July 15, 2006 by erekose