# Bush Administration caught revealing spy's indentity to smear him over Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462 "2003-09-29T13:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/21 "2003-09-30T14:33:44Z")
Nope multiple phone calls to numerous media sources were made- there is no putting this cat back in the bag: > [@](#): > > Senior intelligence officials said yesterday that the CIA filed what they termed a “crime report” with the Justice Department in late July, shortly after syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, citing two unnamed administration sources, identified Wilson’s wife by name. The CIA report pointed to a “possible violation of federal criminal law involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” > > Three weeks ago, intelligence officials said, the CIA returned to the Justice Department a standard 11-question form detailing the potential damage done by the release of the information. Officials said it may have been the first such report ever filed on the unauthorized disclosure of an operative’s name. Word of the Justice probe emerged over the weekend after the CIA briefed lawmakers on it last week. > > Another journalist yesterday confirmed receiving a call from an administration official providing the same information about Wilson’s wife before the Novak column appeared on July 14 in The Post and other newspapers. > > The journalist, who asked not to be identified because of possible legal ramifications, said that the information was provided as part of an effort to discredit Wilson, but that the CIA information was not treated as especially sensitive. “The official I spoke with thought this was a part of Wilson’s story that wasn’t known and cast doubt on his whole mission,” the person said, declining to identify the official he spoke with. “They thought Wilson was having a good ride and this was part of Wilson’s story.” > > In addition to Novak’s column, an administration official told The Washington Post on Saturday that two White House officials leaked the information to several journalists in an effort to discredit Wilson. > > An article that appeared on the Time magazine Web site the same week Novak’s column was published said that “some government officials have noted to Time in interviews . . . that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” The same article quoted from an interview with I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, saying that Cheney did not know about Wilson’s mission “until this year when it became public in the last month or so.” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21389-2003Sep30.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21389-2003Sep30.html) And additionally: > [@](#): > > Wilson said a producer from another network told him about the same time, “The White House is saying things about you and your wife that are so off the wall that we won’t use them.” Wilson said the series of similar calls he received, which included four journalists from three networks, stopped on July 22, after he appeared on NBC’s “Today” show and said the disclosure of his wife’s maiden name could jeopardize the “entire network that she may have established.” > > NBC anchor Tom Brokaw reported last night that correspondent Andrea Mitchell had such a discussion after the Novak column appeared. It does look like Novak is trying to back pedal as he has come off as a stooge of the adminstration on this one: > [@](#): > > Novak, on CNN’s “Crossfire,” declared that “nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this.” He said the information came up while he was interviewing a senior administration official – a second one confirmed it – and that the CIA provided confirmation. The CIA “asked me not to use her name but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else,” Novak said, because a CIA source had told him Plame was an analyst, not a covert operative. “So what’s the fuss about? Pure Bush-bashing?” (Wilson told CNN last night that his wife was on the clandestine side of the agency.) Pure Bush bashing? Two federal laws were violated you dipshit. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21300-2003Sep30.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21300-2003Sep30.html) Others who got the same call Novak did but had more integrity: > [@](#): > > NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, one of the journalists who received the CIA information from an administration official, told Don Imus yesterday why she didn’t use it: “I didn’t think it was related and we never broadcast information about covert operatives unless there is an overriding journalist reason to do so.” > > Can you imagine what conservative commentators would have said about such a Clinton White House leak? But most are pooh-poohing it, such as Rush Limbaugh: “This Wilson non-story looks like it’s going to be another one of those times when the Democrats open the door right into their nose again.” and a quote of a [Slate.com](http://Slate.com) article on how many people were called: > [@](#): > > "Any of the six journalists who were offered the Plame story and declined to run with it could have gotten some sort of career-enhancing bump out of it. That they ignored the calculated leak, and the story ended up with an opinion journalist who used it to make his political point, indicates a level of discipline I didn’t know existed in the press corps. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21300-2003Sep30.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21300-2003Sep30.html) An interesting story on why this wont go away anytime soon- sorry Pubbies: > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. Our “take charge” President at work: > [@](#): > > The president refused to answer questions about the controversy. But White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he had spoken to Rove and was reassured that the allegation was “simply not true.” > “He wasn’t involved,” McClellan said. “The president knows he wasn’t involved.” > Asked whether Bush should fire any official found to have leaked the information, McClellan said: “They should be pursued to the fullest extent by the Department of Justice. The president expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct.” > McClellan said White House officials would turn over telephone logs if the Justice Department asked them to do so. But he said Bush had no plans to ask staff members whether they were involved. The Republican version of “Don’t ask Don’t tell”! > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. So where’s Ken Starr these days. . . ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/22 "2003-09-30T15:14:32Z")
**A development!** [Miami Herald](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6892561.htm) > [@](#): > > **WASHINGTON** - The Justice Department launched a full-blown criminal investigation into who leaked the name of a CIA officer, and President Bush directed his White House staff on Tuesday to cooperate fully. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/23 "2003-09-30T15:16:17Z")
Waaaaaait a second here…Tommy Chong is behind bars??? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/24 "2003-09-30T15:41:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > \*\*Waaaaaait a second here…Tommy Chong is behind bars??? \*\* Yep, [Busted for selling bongs](http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030912/CHONG12/TPTechnology/) over the internet. Well, he’s not actually in jail yet, but that’s just because the feds haven’t decided where to put him. Once they do, he’s looking at 9 months hard time. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/25 "2003-09-30T15:44:01Z")
Well, this story is all over the blogosphere, but a lot remains unclear. A good place to start is [http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/000769.html](http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/000769.html) which corrects or at least modifies some of the information cited by elf6c. Among them: a. Andrea Mitchell was apparently called \* after \* Novak broke the story in order to discuss it. She was not, apparently, one of the journalists leaked to. b. There’s at least one claim that Plame’s role as a CIA analyst was well-known in Washington circles, sufficiently so that it was mentioned as a side-bar to trash-talking Wilson. (In other words, not a deliberate “outing” so much as an “as you know”.) This still may not excuse the retelling of classified information, but it may diminish it as an act of pure malice. c. There’s the claim that Plame was an \* analyst \* for the CIA, not an operative, agent, or agent-handler. Someone who wouldn’t go out of their way to advertise their connection with the CIA, but not someone who would endanger others if they were outed. d. Wilson has backpedaled significantly on his claim that Rove was directly involved, not indicating that he was using the term metaphorically to refer to the White House administration. On the other hand, an (unnamed) administration official did claim this weekend that this was a deliberate smear job. And the CIA has asked the Justice Dept. to get involved. So opinion in the blogging world is divided between “tempest in a teacup” and “maybe there’s something there”. In my view, there’re still too many unnamed sources and unidentifed journalists for the story to be completely credible. Finally, Elucidator, I believe the word you were looking for is generally spelled “bupkiss”. “Butkus” is best known as a former player for the Chicago Bears; I have no idea if Rove knows him or not. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/26 "2003-09-30T17:10:56Z")
**Finagle** , Have you _seen_ the Bears this year? A mere association with that team is insult enough! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/27 "2003-09-30T17:16:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > \*\ ***Finagle** , Have you _seen_ the Bears this year? A mere association with that team is insult enough! \*\* Nope. I know Butkus about sports. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/28 "2003-09-30T22:05:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > \*\ ***Finagle** , Have you _seen_ the Bears this year? A mere association with that team is insult enough! \*\* Alls I know is Ahman Green sure didn’t. Ha! Zing! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/29 "2003-09-30T23:24:19Z")
An oddity to note. Novak says big Admin honchos told him The Leak. That’s in July. Shortly thereafter CIA offhandedly remarks to DOJ that maybe something might be amiss. Information that, apparently, DOJ did not have, since nobody there reads Robert Novak. Right. Got it. So then, today, almost October, DOJ requests the WH to due diligence, yadda blah yadda blah. Don’t shred any documents, guys. _Today_ this happens. A rattlesnake bites the Brontosaurus’ tail, and six weeks from now the news gets to the brainstem. And nobody, _nobody_ ever mentioned it to the WH. Because, if they had, that memo would have already gone out, would it not? PS: **Finagle** is of course, correct. “Bupkiss”, quite so. I guess thinking about Bob Novak, “butt kiss” leaped to mind. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/30 "2003-10-01T00:29:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _From AP:_ > > Democrats demanded the appointment of a special outside counsel but Bush resisted. “I’m absolutely confident that the Justice Department can do a good job,” he said on a re-election fund-raising stop in Chicago. Uh, yeah right. I bet you are. One thing that might become interesting is that Ashcroft has been recently insisting that all persons breaking federal law receive the maximum sentence allowable, (something even many conservative judges are opposed to). If this turns out to have been leaked by someone high up in the administraton, I wonder if Ashcroft will stick to that belief. I certainly hope so. I found this quote humorous today… > [@](#): > > The focus on Rove brought an odd twist to Bush’s travels. When the president boarded Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, he walked up the steps and waved — and not a single camera followed. He looked perplexed. All lenses were trained on Rove at the bottom of the steps. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/31 "2003-10-01T01:02:21Z")
A question…Rove is not actually part of the administration is he? Isn’t he just an advisor? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/32 "2003-10-01T01:05:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally quoted by musicguy_ > When the president boarded Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, he walked up the steps and waved — and not a single camera followed. He looked perplexed. I thought one of the first rules of journalism was to eliminate redundancies in your writing. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/33 "2003-10-01T03:18:05Z")
[Guardian’s Julian Borger](http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/28650) says journalists name Rove, but only off the record. (link to MetaFilter thread with link to RealAudio clip) [Undercover? White House letter says so.](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/GoodMorningAmerica/cialeak030930_notice.html) > [@](#): > > PLEASE READ: Important Message From Counsel’s Office > > We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee. [Drudge has a story](http://www.drudgereport.com/matt.htm) about Larry Johnson, former CIA counter-terrorism official, claiming that Plame was undercover, and was not a “CIA analyst”. Includes link to audio of PBS interview. From the interview: > [@](#): > > This not an alleged abuse. This is a confirmed abuse. I worked with this woman. She started training with me. She has been under cover for three decades. She is not as Bob Novak suggested a “CIA analyst.” … The fact that she was under cover for three decades and that has been divulged is outrageous. [An article at truthout says:](http://truthout.org/docs_03/093003A.shtml) > [@](#): > > Ray McGovern, who was for 27-years a senior analyst for the CIA, further confirms the status of Plame within the CIA. “I know Joseph Wilson well enough to know,” said McGovern in a telephone conversation we had today, “that his wife was in fact a deep cover operative running a network of informants on what is supposedly this administration’s first-priority issue: Weapons of mass destruction.” ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/34 "2003-10-01T03:28:36Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Finagle \* > \*\* c. There’s the claim that Plame was an \* analyst \* for the CIA, not an operative, agent, or agent-handler. Someone who wouldn’t go out of their way to advertise their connection with the CIA, but not someone who would endanger others if they were outed._\* According to a guest on the PBS News Hour tonight: “LARRY JOHNSON: Let’s be very clear about what happened. This is not an alleged abuse. This is a confirmed abuse. I worked with this woman. She started training with me. She has been undercover for three decades, she is not as Bob Novak suggested a CIA analyst. But given that, I was a CIA analyst for four years. I was undercover. I could not divulge to my family outside of my wife that I worked for the Central Intelligence Agency until I left the agency on September 30, 1989. At that point I could admit it.” [Link.](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec03/leaks_09-30.html) > [@](#): > > _Reeder:_ A question…Rove is not actually part of the administration is he? Isn’t he just an advisor? Rove’s title is “Senior Advisor to the President.” Hence, part of the White House, and the Administration. See for example, [here.](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/radioday.html) _My_ favorite conspiracy theory so far is that George Tenet is out to pin the leak on Condi Rice, for making Tenet take the hit on clearing the 16 words that found their way into the State of the Union. Never fuck with a CIA Director… ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/35 "2003-10-01T03:44:22Z")
If this has already been asked then please forgive. Why isn’t Novak being charged for disclosing this information? ---
**Author:** ![Tejota](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tejota](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tejota)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/36 "2003-10-01T06:44:18Z")
> [@](#): > > If this has already been asked then please forgive. Why isn’t Novak being charged for disclosing this information? Because it isn’t a crime to disclose information that you don’t have a security clearence to have in the first place. To commit a crime you have to have legitimate access, and disclose deliberately. So the criminal here was the person in the White House who had clearance, and told someone who didn’t have clearence. Novak clearly doesn’t have clearence. The person who he talked to may or may not have, but somewhere along the chain of communication, there was an illegal act. And, given how few have access to secrets, the criminal is almost certainly a high official, or even Bush himself. What I want to know is - Does Rove even have clearence? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/37 "2003-10-01T07:08:39Z")
> [@](#): > > If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of. –[George W. Bush](http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/30/wilson.cia/index.html#) That’s kind of an ambiguous statement, right there. What are we talking about here, a foot-bath and a massage? :dubious: Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/38 "2003-10-01T12:07:24Z")
If you are interested in what Novak has to say on the subject, [have a look.](http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20031001.shtml) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/39 "2003-10-01T12:16:00Z")
Well, that certainly settles that! I mean, if you can’t trust an utterly non-partisan site like [TownHall.com](http://TownHall.com), I mean, who can you trust? Of course, if someone like Rush Limbaugh, who’s name is synonymous with total candor, were to weigh in on this, that could only make it more clear. And look! an opportunity to purchase Laura Ingrown’s latest book! My little heart goes pitter-pat! Nothing to see here, you looky-loos, move along now. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462/40 "2003-10-01T12:25:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*Well, that certainly settles that! I mean, if you can’t trust an utterly non-partisan site like [TownHall.com](http://TownHall.com), I mean, who can you trust? \*\* I’m not sure what you’re saying here. Do you think that [Townhall.com](http://Townhall.com) has altered or fabricated a column by Novak? Or do you think that Novak himself is lying? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-administration-caught-revealing-spys-indentity-to-smear-him-over-iraq/204462.md?page=3)