Posted on 04/11/2005 6:40:58 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Mr. Smith came to Washington again Monday, as an alias for a Central Intelligence Agency officer who works covertly. Senators, however, may have blown his cover.
During questioning on John R. Bolton's nomination to be President Bush's ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton and members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee referred to "Mr. Smith" as one official among several who were involved in a dispute over what Democrats asserted was Bolton's inappropriate treatment of an intelligence analyst who disagreed with him.
"We referred to this other analyst at the CIA, whom I'll try and call Mr. Smith here, I hope I can keep that straight," Bolton said at one point.
Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., both mentioned a name, Fulton Armstrong, that had not previously come up in public accounts of the intelligence flap.
It is not clear whether Armstrong is the undercover officer, but an exchange between Kerry and Bolton suggests that he may be.
In questioning Bolton, Kerry read from a transcript of closed-door interviews that committee staffers conducted with State Department officials prior to Monday's hearing.
"Did Otto Reich share his belief that Fulton Armstrong should be removed from his position? The answer is yes," Kerry said, characterizing one interview. "Did John Bolton share that view?" Kerry said, and then said the answer again was yes.
"As I said, I had lost confidence in Mr. Smith, and I conveyed that," Bolton replied evenly. "I thought that was the honest thing to do."
If true, both Lugar and Kerry should be removed from office and face federal charges. Tar and feathers would also be appropriate.
Proof that the AP reads FR.
When I read about this earlier today I thought...naaaaahhh...this has to be an error in reporting. But if the AP is being forced to report it...hhmmm...popcorn anyone?
AP picking up on the Armstrong Fulton story.
oops, I mean Fulton Armstrong
heh!
Oy vey! Isn't it at least plausible that more than one person noticed that mistake?
Did Kerry Out a Federal Agent During Bolton Hearing?
Posted by hipaatwo
On News/Activism 04/11/2005 2:34:47 PM PDT · 82 replies · 2,322+ views
NRO Beltway Buzz ^ | April 11, 2005
John Kerry Outs Undercover Intelligence Agent in Bolton Hearing
Posted by The Old Hoosier
On News/Activism 04/11/2005 12:34:14 PM PDT · 127 replies · 9,872+ views
C-Span
Look at the way they wrote it - doing everything they can NOT to mention that it was Kerry who mentioned his name. It almost reads like Bolton outed him!
Well, well, well, AP reporting it now---I was one of the first to mention this on the Bolton hearing thread, along with kabar---we prolly both posted the exact same time-
I didn't notice that Lugar mentioned it until tonight when I started watching the replay---Lugar just mentioned the name Armstong in his introduction and listing of who all had been interviewed for these hearings---
Will this get the attention of the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson thing---heck no!
"But if the AP is being forced to report it"
John Kerry will take the fall to clear a path for Hillary in 08.
Did you hear Lugar mention the name???
Hmmmmm? Actually .. I think they got it from the NRO - who posted A FREE REPUBLIC STATEMENT about the outing of the intel officer. And .. Biden didn't say the guy's name - at least not that I heard.
But JOHN KERRY DID OPENLY AND RECORDED IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD STATE THE NAME OF AN UNDERCOVER INTEL OPPERATIVE.
Punishment: $50,000 fine and up to 10 years in jail!!
If only that could happen.
No.. that certainly isn't possible. Everyone knows that everyone reads and accepts the free republic point of view.
That's why we don't have liberals anymore.
A google search indicates that this individual is an employee of said agency, though not undercover.
Yes! That's when I first read about this- it seemed implausible- til I read that Kerry was speaking. Not good for Armstrong...but an object lesson for the BIG MOUTHS in Congress.
Yeah... that's what I thought.
Did you hear Lugar mention the name???I do not LISTEN; I FReep. :o)
See also, however, from www.armscontrolwonk.com:
"Mr. Smith" is Fulton ArmstrongThe anonymous “Mr. Smith” from the Bolton hearings, if I understand Senators Kerry and Lugar correctly, is Fulton Armstrong, National Intelligence Officer for Latin America since June 2000.
Here is Armstrong’s bio from an archived copy of the NIC website (as of December 2003):
Fulton Armstrong
National Intelligence Officer for Latin America
Fulton T. Armstrong was appointed National Intelligence Officer for Latin America on 1 June 2000. Previously Mr. Armstrong served as Chief of Staff of the DCI Crime and Narcotics Center (CNC). Prior to that, he served two terms as a Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council (1995-97 and 1998-99) and as Deputy NIO for Latin America (1997-98).
Mr. Armstrong began his government career in 1980 as Legislative Assistant and Press Secretary to US Representative Jim Leach. In 1984-95, he served as analyst, political-economic officer, and manager specializing in Latin America in the both the intelligence and policy communities.
Prior to joining government, Mr. Armstrong worked four years as a reporter, editor, and translator in Taiwan. He earned his B.S. in Linguistics and Spanish at Georgetown University in 1976. He is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Insight on the News reported at the time that Armstrong was coordinating Bolton’s talking points for the speech in question—so I don’t understand why we are using a pseudonym.
The Insight... story is interesting because it suggests that Bolton was pushing for a very, very hawkish assessment on Cuba:
In his gagged statement, a copy of which was obtained by Insight, Bolton expresses “frustration” at the apparent unwillingness of U.S. intelligence agencies to disclose information about Cuba’s biological weapons which could include anthrax, smallpox and variants of encephalitis such as West Nile virus. Recent outbreaks of West Nile virus that have killed more than 30 Americans and infected another 675 have been traced to birds that may have been infected at Cuban bioweapons labs, according to defecting scientists who report Fidel Castro’s experiments using animals as carriers of weaponized germ agents.
Wow. Does that really imply that Bolton wanted to pin West Nile on Castro? Or, is Insight... just engaging in the old tactic of placing statements next to one another to imply a relationship?
Late Update: Let me be clear about this: Senators Kerry and Lugar said nothing new by mentioning Armstrong’s name.
- The Washington Times-owned Insight on the News identified Armstrong as the NIO who was “coordinating” Bolton’s speech in September 2002.
- The New York Times published a story about efforts by Otto Reich to pressure Armstrong in January 2003.
- A Wall Street Journal opinion piece accused Armstrong of a “lackadaisical approach to a mounting body of disturbing evidence” about threats to the United States from Cuba and Venezuela in March 2003.
- Salon mentioned Armstrong, again by name, as an analyst who had been smeared as ” somehow under the influence of the Cuban government” in January 2004.
Senator Lugar—according to my transcript—opened the hearing by announcing:
Now, staff has in fact interviewed Mr. Westerman; Carl Ford, who will be appearing before the committee, as I understand, tomorrow morning at our hearing at 9:30; Mr. Fred Flights (ph), the Bolton special assistant who might know something about this; Tom Fingar, the INR principal deputy assistant secretary at the time; Fulton Armstrong, national intelligence officer for Latin America at the NIC at the time; Stuart Cohen, Mr. Armstrong’s supervisor at the NIC at that time.
Later, Chris Dodd suggested there was something untoward about mentioning Armstrong’s name and everyone played along with the ridiculous “Mr. Smith” charade until Kerry read Armstrong’s name in a transcript.
Even later update: Anne Gearan, AP Diplomatic Writer, should be ashamed of this paragraph:
Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., both mentioned a name, Fulton Armstrong, that had not previously come up in public accounts of the intelligence flap.
Other than the four that I cited, she means.
· Posted by Jeffrey Lewis · 11 April 05
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.