Treasury to Probe O'Neill Documents (CNBC)

CNBC | 1/12/2004 | CNBC

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

....and even more juicy stuff. This could get fun.

[kcvl]

O'Neill is the only one who spoke on the record, but Suskind says that someone high up in the administration – Donald Rumsfeld - warned O’Neill not to do this book.

Was it a warning, or a threat?

“I don't think so. I think it was the White House concerned,” says Suskind. “Understandably, because O'Neill has spent extraordinary amounts of time with the president. They said, ‘This could really be the one moment where things are revealed.’"

---

Not only did O'Neill give Suskind his time, he gave him 19,000 internal documents.

“Everything's there: Memoranda to the President, handwritten "thank you" notes, 100-page documents. Stuff that's sensitive,” says Suskind, adding that in some cases, it included transcripts of private, high-level National Security Council meetings. “You don’t get higher than that.”

SNIP


He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. “There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, ‘Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,’" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001.

SNIP


He obtained one Pentagon document, dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts," which includes a map of potential areas for exploration.

“It talks about contractors around the world from, you know, 30-40 countries. And which ones have what intentions,” says Suskind. “On oil in Iraq.”

SNIP

Twice during stock market meltdowns, O'Neill was not available to the president: He was out of the country - one time on a trip to Africa with the Irish rock star Bono.

“Africa made an enormous splash. It was like a road show,” says Suskind. “He comes back and the president says to him at a meeting, ‘You know, you're getting quite a cult following.’ And it clearly was not a joke. And it was not said in jest.”

[mewzilla]

I heard on FOX that one of the documents was classified "secret" and O'Neill gave a copy of it to Suskind. This is not a good move on O'Neill's part.

Not a smooth move on Suskind's part, either.

[Peach]

This is going to get quite interesting.

[Frank_Discussion]

I think this might be a special case of "Just Damn".

[Howlin]

HA! This is way too cool!

[Timesink]

Ah, but did O'Neill really keep all those docs? Or were some supplied to/for him? Inquiring minds want to know :)

It's purely a guess on my part, but: The Treasury Secretary has a VERY high clearance level, and plays a crucial role in a lot of national security matters that a lot of people don't realize has anything to do with his job. So he almost certainly had access to all sorts of top secret documents. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he kept copies of every single one of them. He didn't need someone else to feed him stuff.

[Howlin]

FYI.

[EllaMinnow]

Thanks, sis!

PINGAROONI, cyn!

[EllaMinnow]

Thanks, sis!

PINGAROONI, cyn!

[Bernard Marx]

LOL... I wonder how deep the probe will go... tonsil check, Mr. O'Neill?

Yeah but they'll be looking at his tonsils through another part of his anatomy, bottom up.

[gov_bean_ counter]

I'm playing dot to dot and putting on the Alcoa hat as I type. NSC leaks a plenty for a long time. O'Neill gone. No more NSC leakes. Classified docs hit the presses... HMMMMM.

[mewzilla]

He didn't need someone else to feed him stuff.

Possibly not. But I'd rather know for certain, one way or the other :)

[Rutles4Ever]

TRIVIA TIME!

Who recently said the following?

'I'm an old guy and I'm rich. There's nothing they can do to hurt me.'

Any takers?

[Shermy]

If the document marked "secret" was the ones Mylorie was talking about...IMO the big question is how someone supposedly talented like O'Neill thinks it has anything to do with starting a war, or is anything that is much secret at all.

[mewzilla]

The whole NSC angle could get purty darn interesting....

[Quilla]

"O'Neill was sworn in as Treasury secretary on Jan. 20, 2001, the same day as Bush. The economy was seen as sluggish during most of O'Neill's tenure, though presidential insiders were said not to blame him for the problems.

He continued to make occasionally controversial statements until he tendered his resignation in December 2002 as the U.S. economy continued to struggle."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/profile_oneill.html

[Howlin]

From this thread:

To: Dog Gone

Sometimes, O'Neill says, they had to float an idea in the press just to scare a reaction out of him.

Any questions?

46 posted on 01/12/2004 1:40:00 PM EST by Howlin

[Howlin]

Sometimes, O'Neill says, they had to float an idea in the press just to scare a reaction out of him.

[Kay]

Who is Rich Lowry?

[over3Owithabrain]

"Alcoa hat"

Heh heh heh - someone had to come up with it - congratulations! We may have to make that a permanent phrase!