What Promise did President Bush Make About Wilson? (Vanity)

Free Republic ^ | July 11, 2005 | Self

[Piranha]

When allegations were made that someone in the White House had "leaked" the information that Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent, President Bush agreed to launch an investigation into the alleged leak. He also made comments about what he would do with any leaker who was found.

On Fox News this evening, Brit Hume showed a clip in which President Bush vowed that if anyone in the White House had "broken the law", that person would be taken care of.

This is extremely significant, since it appears that Karl Rove may have shared with Time correspondent Matt Cooper the information that Plame worked for the CIA, but that he may have done so only in order to steer Cooper away from Joe Wilson's bogus and inflammatory allegations.

If President Bush said that he would fire anyone who was involved in the leak, then he may have to fire Karl Rove in order to keep his reputation as someone who says what he means and means what he says.

On the other hand, if the President's vow was only that he would fire the "leaker" if that person person broke the law, then it may be that President Bush would not have to fire Karl Rove under that standard, since it appears likely that Karl Rove's comments did not break any laws.

Does anyone have any links to President's comments at the time, regarding his vow as to how he would address the possibility that someone in his administration had leaked information about Valerie Plame?

[markedman]

I don't think Karl Rove is guilty of anything but trying to set the record straight of a CIA that appears to have blatantly engaged in trying to bring down the President of The United States of America.

What I simply meant in my post is that the Criminal Left demanded a circus and the President gave it to them; just like they ordered. Unfortunately it appears that the only criminal was the NY Times, and the CIA.

I think the President Bush has known all along the Rove spoke to reporters as Newsweek points out in an effort to do nothing more than prevent the press from making fools of themselves as they did over the CIA leaked documents to the UN right before the election.

What _TRULY_ amazes me is that there has been no call for a special prosecutor to investigate how it is that Plame was able to get her husband appointed for the job, which ostensibly was a state secret, and then how Wilson was able to write all about that secret on the Op-Ed pages of the NY Times.

When I wrote the Karl Rove rides again, I meant that quite literally in that he has once again ridden circles around the intellectually challenged Demoncrats intent on bringing down the government at all costs. Just by out maneuvering them with truth, justice and the American Way, Rove makes them look foolish - and will continue to do so.

[Osage Orange]

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of."

It will never happen...but I'd die laughing if President Bush just said with a straight face..."Ya all know, it just depends on the meaning of "it"...."

[bpjam]

When somebody can actually credibly point to an actual crime then W's words will be put into effect. As of this point, there is not even the allegation of a crime by anybody but the kook fringe. Even the special prosecutor isn't alleging a crime by anybody. At what point do we just say, where's the beef?

The only person who we know to have lied at this point is Joe Wilson!

[Echo Talon]

* January 2004 Magazine Vanity Fair publishes "Double Exposure," an article about Wilson and Plame.

* January 22, 2004: Justice Department subpoenas phone records from Air Force One.

* 11 February 2004 George W. Bush insists, "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. I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job. I want to know the truth...Leaks of classified information are bad things."

here

[Mo1]

I hope that President Bush never made such a rash vow.

Some in the press are changing his words .. which is not the first time

The President said if any laws were broken then that person would no longer be working for his administration

Remember back to what Novak said .. his source was a FORMER official that worked for the WH

One it rules out Rove and Second .. that could be anyone in the WH, the State Department, The CIA, the FBI ..etc.

And I'll say it again .. Matthew Cooper would not go to jail to cover for Karl Rove .. he would have outted Rove a long time ago

[pepperhead]

What _TRULY_ amazes me is that there has been no call for a special prosecutor to investigate how it is that Plame was able to get her husband appointed for the job, which ostensibly was a state secret, and then how Wilson was able to write all about that secret on the Op-Ed pages of the NY Times.

Anyone remember how Starr got to expand his investigations to other issues. Was it a judge that gave him the ok? Couldn't Fitzgerald do the same?

[markedman]

"The only person who we know to have lied at this point is Joe Wilson!"

Well, you left out Mata Hari Plame and who ever her boss was and The New York Times.

Don't you find it interesting that Novak has not had any problems?

This was a circus pure and simple which did not work out exactly how the Seditious Left intended. They could not have worked any harder at looking stupid and that's how the Newsweek article reads to me.

[Cougar66]

Cooper has never said that Rove 'outed' her. I have yet to see one news org say this. Only Larry O'Doodle. If they cant produce that fact they need to lay off the story making it as if Rove gave Cooper the name.

[pepperhead]

And I'll say it again .. Matthew Cooper would not go to jail to cover for Karl Rove .. he would have outted Rove a long time ago

Right if Rove done what the left said he did Cooper would have burned him a long time ago.

[markedman]

"Was it a judge that gave him the ok? Couldn't Fitzgerald do the same?"

I sure hope so, because apart from Novak's column every other story written about Wilson's intellectually ill-equipped safari to Africa makes it appear that it was The White House that sancioned it.

[Mo1]

If they cant produce that fact they need to lay off the story making it as if Rove gave Cooper the name

They won't back off and they will continue to have a melt down

IMO .. some in the media are trying to side step this story and cover for Cooper's "Super Duper Top Secret Source" and more

[pieces of time]

If Rove was the leaker, as all of the Rats and MSM are claiming, why hasn't he been indicted by the Grand Jury? Novak spoke to the Grand Jury, so has Rove. If they did not commit perjury, and I'm positive they didn't, the actual leaker is not Rove. The Cooper memo is a red herring. Cooper got less information from Rove than was Washington elite dinner party knowledge at the time.

[pieces of time]

Didn't Wilson first claim he was sent by Cheney?

[markedman]

"Didn't Wilson first claim he was sent by Cheney?"

That is my recollection.

[markedman]

I think you may be reading this curcus wrong. Valerie Plame was quite a woman about town in Washinton. I have no doubt that Rove had no idea she was undercover as apparently Plame and Wilson didn't either.

I think based only on the INNOCENT "background information" that Novak was able to put the story together because Novak knows Washington like Rove does not. Novak knows everybody. So does Cooper and Miller. I think the real reason that their publications did not run with the story is that it would have naturally outed Mata Hari Plame and made her ne'er do well husband look like even more of a rube than he is - and lets face it, that's not very supportive of the MSM attempts to make Bush et al look incompetent.

Sometimes the greatest lies are told in silence.

[Mo1]

Didn't Wilson first claim he was sent by Cheney?

I believe he said the VP's or his office

And has been proven to be a lie

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39834-2004Jul9.html

Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission
Report Disputes Wilson's Claims on Trip, Wife's Role

[sarasotarepublican]

Cooper, an ultra lib would not go to jail to cover for Karl Rove

How right you are. This is another setup to tarnish the Bush administration. The democrats are cornered rats. They'll do anything to smear Bush and gain back the White House and Congress.

[Dr.Hilarious]

It was pretty funny watching the tube tonight.

Matthews and the smirking puppethead Gregory think this is Watergate.

G.Gordon Liddy and Hanity got Colmes and the silly Bill Press all worked up.

Then I saw the first few minutes of O'Reilly on the rerun, and in five minutes Newt Gingrich impersonated the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with the Dems and Media (same thing) being the black knight who gets his limbs hacked off.

Gingrich pointed out how Wilson lied. Then the reporter called Rove. Then Rove said "He was lying about Cheney sending him to Niger, that was his wife, who works for the CIA." Which she does, and not undercover--she'd been removed from undercover work years ago. She even had her photo taken at White House events--not something an undercover operative does.

I don't always agree with Gingrich, but if the RNC were smart they'd distribute copies of that interview. Game, set and match.

[desertconserv]

Well the libs are trumpeting a G8 press conference from last year http://tinyurl.com/aek5b (State Department site - it figures!!!) where the President is asked if he would "stand by [his] pledge to fire anyone found to [have leaked the agent's name]" And he answers yes. Now a couple of things, first he doesn't actually state in so many words that he would fire that person. I think his answer of yes is really related to a finding of illegality since he immediately follows with a reference to the US attorney's investigation. I also think it depends on how you define "leak" but I'm not a lawyer. I really wish he had been more careful with how he responded but in any event I think it can be argued that it's not a definitive statement.

[Piranha]

I'm not troubled by that exchange, which the NY Times included in its article today. The key to me is that they asked whether he would "stand by [his] pledge". Since President Bush's pledge apparently was only to take care of anyone who had violated the law, I don't think that this exchange can be read fairly to go beyond that. I do think, though, that he probably was inartful in accepting the question without insisting on precision.