Posted on 07/14/2005 5:41:16 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
WASHINGTON -- Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson called on President Bush Thursday to fire deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, saying Bush's top-level aide engaged in an "abuse of power" by discussing Wilson's wife's job with a reporter.
Wilson decried what he called a White House "stonewall" in the wake of revelations that Rove, a longtime Bush confidant, was involved in the leak to the news media that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA officer.
Bush said Wednesday that he would not comment on discussions that blew her cover because it is the subject of an ongoing investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, however, the president still has confidence in Rove.
Wilson, in an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC's "Today" show, said he thinks the White House's posture in this controversy represents a continuing "cover-up of the web of lies that underpin the justification for going to war in Iraq."
Wilson was asked about statements by Rove's defenders noting that an e-mail describing Rove's conversation with Time reporter Matthew Cooper indicated that Rove did not specifically mention Valerie Plame by name.
"My wife's name is Mrs. Joseph Wilson," he replied. "It is Mrs. Valerie Wilson. He named her. He identified her," Wilson said. "So that argument doesn't stand the smell test ... What I do know is that Mr. Rove is talking to the press and he is saying things like my wife is fair game. That's an outrage. That's an abuse of power."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I got it.
Yeah, whatever. A thousand other reporters are asking those same questions. But is anybody in the lamestream press showing the slightest curiosity about, for instance, how Wilson "knows" that Cheney selected him for the Niger trip, how he "knows" that Cheney read his report or debrief, both things for which there is no evidence, and which have been denied not just by V.P. Cheney but also by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee?
Has any reporter badgered Wilson (as they've badgered entirely peripheral figures connected with the Bush administration) about how he can continue to deny his wife put him up for the assignment when the Senate Intelligence Committee quoted a memo in which she did so, and also direct testimony from those present that she did likewise in a meeting?
The incuriousity of the press about certain questions is amazing.
Gangel: What do you think of Karl Rove?
Wilson: Oh, I think he's— I'm really very saddened by all of this.
Hmmm....this is Valerie Plame's e-mail address (or was):
jvwilsoniv@cs.com
Actually, that looks like Joseph Wilson's e-mail.....
Does anyone have a transcript of Victoria Toesning(sp) this a.m. on Fox & Friends...she was great! Said that Plume had not worked as an operative since late 1990s and that Wilson should NOT be talking about all of this -- confidentiality agreement..etc. I was just waking up so would like to see others comment if you saw this...
The ultimate come-uppance for Wilson-the-fraud would be for the Special Prosecutor (Fitzpatrick) to file charges against Wilson and his wife for:
(1)conspiracy to file fraudulent reports (on WMD's in Africa) in order to cause political damage to a Presidential Administration.
(2)Neoptism, without the consent of the CIA Director (Tenent).
(3)Perjury, for stating that his wife did not recommend he be appointed special envoy to Africa.
(4)violating the no leak rules due to the fact that he (Wilson) and his wife volunteered information to ??Vanity Fair Magazine confirming she was a CIA employee.
(5)I'm sure there are more.....
"My wife's name is Mrs. Joseph Wilson," he replied. "It is Mrs. Valerie Wilson.
SEXIST PIG! Shouldn't it be Mrs. Joseph Wilson-Plame? Or Mrs. Joseph Plame-Wilson?
It's all so confusing!
What gets me about this whole thing is you'd think she was some super secret agent (James Bond in pantyhose) if all you read about it was from the MSM. She had absolutly nothing to do with the D.O.
For anyone but the liberal media, this story is an easy one. It's about Wilsons hate, not Rove's truth.
Oh, no, Wilson doesn't even have the decency to slink away or merely ignore his lies. For instance he is, apparently, still claiming that Cheney sent him to Niger! (At least his lawyer recently said it was defamatory for anyone to contradict Saint Joe on this point.)
A buck will get you ten that Valerie Plame was the source of much of the NYTimes' Judith Miller's substantial reporting on Iraqi WMD. The irony of all this, and something that has not been emphasized, is how badly the CIA screwed up on the Iraqi WMD business. That Plame would use her husband to further screw-up the works is not surprising. What is surprising is that she apparently still works at the CIA. That Miller may be the only one charged with a crime by the Grand Jury would not be surprising at all.
No .. But I'll se what I can find
Hey Wilson .. You are No Bill Clinton
Joe Wilson saying, "I'm really very saddened by all of this."
This has intrigued me. If he lied to a Senate committee he may have committed a crime. Perhaps it is time to send the FBI to have a little chat with him. Or, challenge him to sign a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury as to the facts of the case and to what he is alleging. And, if he lies, and it is proven, he can go to a Government country club for a couple of years.
He is if he says he is. Wilson had a secret appointment by Dick Cheney...
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