Kevin Miller's in Good Company

The other day, I called into KDKA to try to convince Kevin Miller (who was sitting in for Fred Honsberger at the time) that he was wrong about Valerie Plame.

He said she was not a covert agent.

I amassed actual factual information to show him his obvious error. But as you well know, "facts" and "reality" have little sway on our nation's right wing pundits (and more than a few trolls here at 2PJ for that matter).

Well, Mr Miller's in good company. Wesley Pruden, writing in the moonie-owned Washington Times, said roughly the same thing (h/t to Mediamatters.org):

If anyone compromised "national security" by "outing" Valerie Plame as Mata Hari, it was not Scooter Libby. The special prosecutor knew all along that it was Richard L. Armitage, another government functionary, who had "outed" Valerie at the CIA, except that she was not really a covert agent, anyway, and even if she had been the law protecting covert agents did not actually apply to her.

Let's review.

According to this document filed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald:

The assertion that the collective facts known at an early point in the investigation warranted a summary termination of the investigation does not stand up to close scrutiny. First, it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute (Title 50, United States Code, Section 421) as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press.

I noticed this from the conclusion:

Mr. Libby, a high-ranking public official and experienced lawyer, lied repeatedly and blatantly about matters at the heart of a criminal investigation concerning the disclosure of a covert intelligence officer’s identity. He has shown no regret for his actions, which significantly impeded the investigation. [emphasis added]

And that, my friends, is what he was convited for - lying and obstruction of justice. Perjury is illegal and Scooter was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of committing it.

That Valerie Plame was covert is a point written into a sentencing memorandum filed by a US Attorney in a federal court. If that "fact" is incorrect, then why isn't Fitzgerald being hauled into court for perjury?

Simple. Plame was covert and anyone saying otherwise is lying.

Can you say "Hypocrites"

Mr. Law & Order, Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson

NOW:
"I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President's decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."

THEN:
In 1999 when Thonpson was a Senator, he voted "guilty" on article 2, the obstruction of justice article during the Clinton impeachment.

Mr. Tough On Crime, Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani

NOW:
"After evaluating the facts, the president came to a reasonable decision and I believe the decision was correct."

THEN:
(Giuliani in 1987) The United States Attorney in Manhattan, Rudolph W. Giuliani, declared yesterday that the one-year prison sentence that a Queens judge received for perjury was ''somewhat shocking.''

''A sentence of one year seemed to me to be very lenient,'' Mr. Giuliani said, when asked to comment on the sentence imposed Wednesday on Justice Francis X. Smith, the former Queens administrative judge.

The Man Who Promised to Bring Back "Honor and Integrity" to the White House, Republican President George W. Bush

NOW:
"I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

Bush will also not rule out a pardon down the road.

THEN:
"I don't believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own." [From Bush's autobiography, "A Charge To Keep," 11/99]

"I will swear to uphold the laws of the land. But I will also swear to uphold the honor and the integrity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God," said then-Governor George Bush [CNN, “Inside Politics,” 8/11/00]

"Americans are tired of investigations and scandal, and the best way to get rid of them is to elect a new president who will bring a new administration, who will restore honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN’s “Burden of Proof,” 9/15/00]

"Americans want to be assured that the next administration will bring honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN’s “Capital Gang,” 8/13/00]

"A reformer with results. He will restore integrity and values to the White House." [2000 Bush Campaign Ad aired on CNN’s “Crossfire,” 2/17/00]

"Please thank the personnel of your departments and agencies for their commitment to maintain the highest standards of integrity in Government as we serve the American people." [Memo from President Bush to Executive Officials, 1/20/01

"The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." [White House Briefing, 9/29/03]

"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." [Bush Remarks: Chicago, Illinois, 9/30/03]

When the White House was asked specifically whether Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams or Lewis Libby told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "Those individuals -- I talked -- I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands." [White House Briefing, 10/10/03]

Asked in June 2004 if he'd stand by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked, Bush replied "yes." [Bush Press Conference: Savannah, GA, 6/10/04]

The Dark Lord, Republican Vice President Dick Cheney

Oh, hell, c'mon, who cares what he has to say about this! Scooter is perjuring and obstructing justice for Dick Cheney!

Hey, MSM, here's a question to ask Bush:

"Is it fair that Scooter Libby will serve less jail time than Paris Hilton?"

.

Kevin Miller is Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

I was just on KDKA. Kevin Miller (he's filling in for Fred today) had been saying about Valerie Plame that she was NOT covert. Therefore the whole Libby trial was somehow a sham.

He also said that Bush was right in commuting the prison sentence because (and I am NOT joking here) "rank has its privileges." So Kevin Miller, patriotic American, thinks that that the same laws that you and I have to abide by, the powerful don't have to.

Nice going, Kevin.

I had to call in and spank him. I just had to.

I pointed out that he was absolutely wrong about Valerie Plame. Congressman Henry Waxman opened a Congressional Hearing with a statement that he and his staff cleared with the CIA and Michael Hayden, head of the CIA where he said:

This hearing is being conducted in open session. This is appropriate, but it is also challenging. Ms. Wilson was a covert employee of the CIA. We cannot discuss all of the details of her CIA employment in open session.

I have met, personally, with General Hayden, the head of the CIA, to discuss what I can and cannot say about Ms. Wilson's service. And I want to thank him for his cooperation and help in guiding us along these lines.

My staff has also worked with the agency to ensure these remarks do not contain classified information.

I have been advised by the CIA and that even now, after all that has happened, I cannot disclose the full nature, scope and character of Ms. Wilson's service to our nation without causing serious damage to our national security interests.

But General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing.

During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover. Her employment status with the CIA was classified information, prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958. [emphasis added]

Patrick Fitzgerald filed papers saying that Valerie Plame was covert - MSNBC covered it here. The complete document is here.

Right now he's mixing in President Clinton's impeachment in order to muddy the waters.

He raised the question in regards to Libby, "What was the underlying crime?" Implying, I guess, that since no one was charged with an underlying crime, the real crime of perjury (for which Libby was convicted) should be ignored.

Of course when a caller brought up exactly the same argument about the Clinton impeachment ("What was the underlying crime in the Clinton impeachment?"), Kevin Miller dutifully pointed out that Clinton lied to the grand jury.

Since Kevin Miller is on NewsRadio1020, don't you think he should actually maybe you know read the news?

Pardon?

To pardon or not to pardon, that is the question...

On the one hand (and with juxtaposing metaphors) with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Marty Kaplan over at the Huffingtonpost says:

I want Bush to pardon Libby.

Yes, you read that correctly. Kaplan wrote that at the HUFFINGTONPOST. But you gotta see his reasons.

I want every Republican candidate running for President and Congress to be forced to applaud Libby's pardon and to inscribe their names alongside Scooter's other distinguished defenders, from Rumsfeld to Bolton.

I want American history to possess forever a crystalline illustration of Cheney's whack-ball theory of the unitary executive exempt from the rule of law.

I want the persistent presidential nullification of the Constitution to be perpetually exemplified by an unambiguous act of unmistakable arrogance.

I want Scooter Libby's fate to be be ironically and irrevocably linked to Paris Hilton.

I want Alberto Gonzales and Orrin Hatch to have their credibility fatally and eternally compromised by their fealty to an Administration which equates savage loyalty with justice.

I want every wingnut in the blogosphere to be forced to undermine their own credibility from here to eternity by endlessly recycling their lies about Valerie Plame not being covert, and by contending -- falsley, relentlessly and deliciously self-destructively -- that a pardon does not presume guilt.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see him do time. But even more than that, I'd love a Bush pardon to provide an incontestable X-ray of this crowd's sclerotic soul.

Ok, then.

By the way, the National Review's editorial spouts the same old same old deflections: No underlying crime (Nevermind that Libby was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice - which are crimes), Plame was not covert according to the IIPA (Which is, of course, irrelevant as Libby was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice) and so on. Of course The NR wants a pardon. Now.

But there's a problem. While the Constitution places few limits on the President's pardon powers (the case must be Federal and a pardon can't be used "in Cases of Impeachment"), according to Newsweek dubya was saying only last month on Fox "News" that there's a procedure in place at the DoJ to keep the pardon process "rational."

If that's the case, and he adheres to the rational process, Newsweek says, Libby can't be a candidate for pardon - not yet. Among the Standards outlined is this:

In general, a pardon is granted on the basis of the petitioner's demonstrated good conduct for a substantial period of time after conviction and service of sentence. The Department's regulations require a petitioner to wait a period of at least five years after conviction or release from confinement (whichever is later) before filing a pardon application (28 C.F.R. § 1.2). [emphasis added]

After that it has to be shown that the petitioner has accepted responsibility for the crime. I can't see Scooter doing that - indeed, his defense is that there was no crime committed at all!

Of course, dubya can pardon whomever he wants, but if he does he'd contradicting himself.

And gosh golly, that's never happened with this President, has it?

John Dean has another wrinkle.

If Watergate had any lesson, it was that when someone connected to the White House is heading for prison, it is dangerous for the president or those close to him to even think about - not to mention talk about - clemency.

After all, the March 1, 1974 indictment of Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Chuck Colson (who pled guilty, rather than risk a trial) charged each of them with a conspiracy to obstruct justice by offering to provide clemency to those involved in the Watergate break-in. In addition, as Nixon's tapes showed, the president discussed pardons on several occasions, and this abuse of power was included in the

bill of impeachment against him that was pending when he resigned.
If Libby had been acting on his own behalf, a pardon would present no problem; Bush and Cheney could feel it was the humanitarian thing to do, given his long service to the government. However, no one I know believes Libby was acting simply for himself, nor does the evidence suggest it.

Though he doubts that Cheney and Libby ever had a conversation about a pardon.

And as a pre-emptive strike, I'll quote (though I shouldn't need to) Fitzgerald's position about Plame's covert status and the illegality of exposing her identity. This is from the Government's Sentencing Memorandum (page 12):

The assertion that the collective facts known at an early point in the investigation warranted a summary termination of the investigation does not stand up to close scrutiny.

First, it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute (Title 50, United States Code, Section 421) as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press.

Here's the relevant statute. Go read it.

An Open Letter to the P-G

Dear Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;

Now that you have a new "co-publisher" I was wondering if you were planning on getting your former "National Security" Correnspondent Jack Kelly to issue a correction for some errors in his columns.

For example on June 17, 2006 he wrote:

Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed to determine whether the Intelligence Identities Protection Act had been violated. The answer was no, because the law applies only to those who are working under cover overseas, or who have done so in the five years preceding disclosure, and Ms. Plame had been manning a desk at CIA headquarters for longer than that.

And on July 17, 2005 he wrote:

The law defines a "covert agent" as someone working undercover overseas, or who has done so in the last five years. Plame had operated under non-official cover, but was outed by CIA traitor Aldrich Ames, and has been manning a desk at CIA headquarters since 1997.

Never mind that Fitzgerald's investigation was not limited to the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. In a letter to Congressman John Conyers dated January 30, 2004 X wrote:

By letter dated 30 July 2003, the CIA reported to the Criminal Division of the DoJ a possibile violation of criminal law concerning the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

It's Kelly's description of Valerie Plame's employment, published in your paper, that's at issue here.

It's wrong.

According to this recently released unclassified document, filed in a U.S. District Court:

On 1 January, 2002 Valerie Wilson was working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an operations officer in the Directorate of Operations (DO). She was assigned to the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) at CIA Headquarters, where she served as chief of a CPD component with responsibility for weapons proliferation issues related to Iraq.

While assigned to CPD, Ms. Wilson engaged in temporary duty (TDY) travel overseas on official business. She traveled at least seven times to more than ten countries. When travelling overseas, Ms. Wilson always travelled under a cover identity--sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias--but always using cover--whether official or non-official cover (NOC)--with no ostensible relationship to the CIA.

At the time of the initial unauthorized disclosure in the media of Ms. Wilson's employment relationship with the CIA on 14 July 2003, Ms. Wilson was a covert CIA employee for whom the CIA was taking affirmative measures to conceal her intelligence relationship to the United States.

So she had traveled overseas and the CIA had considered her covert - and all of this was considered classified by the CIA. The violation of the law was the unauthorized release of classified information. So Mr Kelly mischaracterized both the investigation and the facts pertaining to that investigation.

As he was writing as your "National Security Correspondent" at the time, had he not done his homework and checked this out? Or did he at the time have no contacts in the "National Security" community who could have told him what the facts were? Did he know all this to be true but decided to spread misinformation anyway?

And finally,

Can we expect a correction from him anytime soon?

More Proof Plame Was COVERT

Saw this in the news yesterday (or "yesstiddy" as we'd say in New England).

It should, though I know it won't, finally end the ruckus about Valerie Plame's CIA status. Turns out she was COVERT. The Reality-Based Community already knew that, but it's nice to see it in court documents filed by a US Attorney.

An unclassified summary of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency, disclosed for the first time today in a court filing by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates that Plame was "covert" when her name became public in July 2003.

Ok raise your hands, how many of you on the right are now blushing red out of embarrassment? How many made the charge in the news or on your radio shows that Plame wasn't covert because you could call her desk at the CIA? How many claimed she was just a soccer mom?

Plame worked as an operations officer in the Directorate of Operations and was assigned to the Counterproliferation Division (CPD) in January 2002 at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The employment history indicates that while she was assigned to CPD, Plame, "engaged in temporary duty travel overseas on official business." The report says, "she traveled at least seven times to more than ten times." When overseas Plame traveled undercover, "sometimes in true name and sometimes in alias -- but always using cover -- whether official or non-official (NOC) -- with no ostensible relationship to the CIA."

You can read the court document here. Again, show of hands. How many right wingers out there based at least part of their incorrect assertion that Plame was not covert on the "fact" that she hadn't travelled overseas? That "fact" isn't a fact at all is it?

Will you be apologising for your error? Will you at least be pointing out that you were in error?

We're waiting...

More on Valerie Plame's Status

I see that someone calling himself "Honzman" has wished the Other Political Junkie a Happy Birthday.

Let's hope that it IS Fred "The Honzman" Honsberger who's checking out the blog - if he sticks around long enough, maybe he'll learn something. Hahahaha!

Fred, if it is you, you need to take a look at the transcript from The House Commmittee on Oversight and Government Reform Hearing on CIA Identity Leak on Friday the 16th. Henry Waxman opened said this:

This hearing is being conducted in open session. This is appropriate, but it is also challenging. Ms. Wilson was a covert employee of the CIA. We cannot discuss all of the details of her CIA employment in open session.

I have met, personally, with General Hayden, the head of the CIA, to discuss what I can and cannot say about Ms. Wilson's service. And I want to thank him for his cooperation and help in guiding us along these lines.

My staff has also worked with the agency to ensure these remarks do not contain classified information.

I have been advised by the CIA and that even now, after all that has happened, I cannot disclose the full nature, scope and character of Ms. Wilson's service to our nation without causing serious damage to our national security interests.

But General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing.

During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover. Her employment status with the CIA was classified information, prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958.

At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert. This was classified information.

Ms. Wilson served in senior management positions at the CIA, in which she oversaw the work for other CIA employees and she attained the level of GS-14, Step 6, under the federal pay scale.

Ms. Wilson worked on some of the most sensitive and highly secretive matters handled by the CIA.

Ms. Wilson served at various times overseas for the CIA.[emphasis added]

Here we have the chairman of a powerful House committee declaring, in statements cleared by the CIA and the head of the CIA (and Pittsburgh native, by the way) Michael Hayden, that Valerie Plame was "undercover" her employment status was "covert" and that that information was "classified."

Finally, releasing that information was a violation of Executive Order 12958.

Fred, will you be stating anytime soon how wrong you've been for these last few years when you repeatedly said in no uncertain terms that Valerie Plame was not covert?

I mean, the frickin head of the CIA just said she was. What that means to you is, you're just plain wrong whenever you said she wasn't.

Aren't you?