Posted on 07/27/2005 9:26:15 PM PDT by SolidSupplySide
In the same week in July 2003 in which Bush administration officials told a syndicated columnist and a Time magazine reporter that a C.I.A. officer had initiated her husband's mission to Niger, an administration official provided a Washington Post reporter with a similar account.
[ . . . ]
Mr. Pincus has not identified his source to the public. But a review of Mr. Pincus's own accounts and those of other people with detailed knowledge of the case strongly suggest that his source was neither Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, nor I. Lewis Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and was in fact a third administration official whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm betting it came from the Colin Powell Foggy Bottom brigades.
LOL.
Yes. For example, George Tenet was then an "administration offical." Consider that a hint.
About as specific, meaningful, and descriptive as "sources say"........... it means nearly nothing.
THere is a nice little press war going on between the NYTIMES and Washington Post, they have been picking apart each others stories for weeks.
I can't rule this out. But according to the Vanity Fair article, Novak apparently told Wilson that his original source was in the CIA.
"[Pincus] wrote in Nieman Reports that he did not believe the person who spoke to him was committing a criminal act, but only practicing damage control by trying to get him to write about Mr. Wilson."
Of course, Pink-us did not reveal to the reading public that he and his wife are in bed with the Wilsons and the whole campaign to damage the Bush administration, either. He claims he did not believe Valerie Plame had any role in sending her husband on the bogus trip to Niger, but did Pink-us ever show any minimal journalistic integrity and competence in revealing his own personal biases and relationships which color his reporting with the sewage of Democratic Party talking points???
Good call. "Administration official" could certainly include the State Dept. Specifically, Colin Powell would certainly qualify as an "administration official". So, likely, would other State Department officials. And the State Department could use a good housecleaning just like the CIA. Too many Foggy Bottom residents are willing to put US interests behind State Department interests.
But it is interesting that the NY Times admits that Fitzerald is looking at someone other than Rove or Libby. This is the first time the MSM has admitted this.
I also like how the NY Times is doing investigative reporting on the Washington Post. We've seen fissures in Big Labor. Now we see fissures in Big Media. That Karl Rove is a genious. :)
The suspense is killing me. This just has to be worse than all of the other Bush Administration non-scandals put together.
Richard Armitage may be a good candidate - he is known to have circulated the State Dept. memo about the Niger uranium matter that had the press all atwitter recently because it was said to have been seen on Air Force One. Powell, Armitage, and Tenet seem to be the best candidates, although there might be others we don't even know about. If the key source were Rove then Novack couldn't possibly have said it was "no partisan gunslinger" - I think that phrase was a clear indication that someone who was NOT a political adviser to Bush or Cheney was involved........
Fair enough. Pincus is certainly conflicted due to his dual roles as reporter and witness in this case. But I've got to assume that anything he said before the grand jury is truthful. His reporting may be suspect, but if we get information about his grand jury testimony, that may be a little more credible.
From Macsmind blog (note: "office" = CIA) -
"I was on the phone to the "office" today, thankfullly, there are still good people there who are willing to speak about this issue (Not everyone at the office was against the war). Suffice to say that there is more to come, and if I were Joe and Valerie, I'd put the champaign away for now."
http://macsmind.blogspot.com/2005/07/why-valerie-is-at-heart-of-plame-game.html
"I've always wondered does "administration official" conclusively mean someone who works in the White House?"
I always thought it meant anyone in the current Admin. Lately, especially knowing how the MSM spins things and doesn't always tell the full truth, I've been wondering if it could mean a previous Admin official - - if that's the case, there's a whole barrel-full that could have leaked.
???
The scumbag NY Times has ordered an employee to jail rather than let her exonerate Rove by revealing her source ("someone other than Rove or Libby") to the grand jury. I would say there was really nothing for the scumbag NY Times to admit except reality itself.
Pingy Dingy!
That was the point I was trying to make. "Administrative" could mean "Executive". Broadly defined, "administrative" could include anyone in the executive branch of government. Therefore, in the broadest sense, your National Park Ranger and IRS window clerk could be "administrative officials" since they work in the executive branch.
"Congressional officials" or "Judicial officials" would not be "Administration officials" since they are not in the executive branch and have different roles from "administering" or "executing" or "enforcing" the laws.
When I hear some lying scumbag from a Democrat Party organ like the Washington Post or the NY Times say "administration official", I wonder what administration they are talking about.
Unless he's trolling for snakes, I just don't see Fitzgerald leaking .. he's paranoid about leaks.
Ping
The quote from Robert Novak about his other source was that the source was not a "partisan gunslinger." That would eliminate Rove, Libby, and the other politicals.
That fits Powell, Armitage, and plenty of other people at State and CIA. State commissioned the INR report but CIA undoubtedyl had a copy of it. Remember that when this broke in July of 2003, the CIA was being asked by everyone where the WMD were, since the DOD was not finding them in Iraq. State was dumping on CIA so as to keep Powell's skirts clean, since he took the CIA stuff to the UN.
Hopefully, the rogue anti-Bush group in the CIA who pulled off the Wilson trip to Niger will be outed in this process. And if we're lucky, Pincus at WaPo with his State/CIA contacts will be exposed too.
Could "was in the CIA" and then moved into the State Dept. See - Larry Johnson.
What's the big secret if the SP already knows??
Yes, the State Department, long known as a nest for Soviet spies and other anti-American mice, cannot be left out of the equation. In fact, Wilson (at State) and Plame (at CIA) were a marriage made in heaven (no pun intended) for colluding to pull off the Wilson-to-Niger scheme to smear Bush and influence the 2004 Presidential election.
HEhehehe .... what doublespeak .. Professor Irwin Corey lives!
I don't think Larry Johnson held any position in the Bush Administration. He was a Clintonista.
Fitzgerald has not put a gag order on anyone, but he has "asked" principals in the case to keep quiet about their testimony and most have acceded to that request.
Yes, the State Department, long known as a nest for Soviet spies and other anti-American mice, cannot be left out of the equation. In fact, Wilson (at State) and Plame (at CIA)
I just meant that one could move over from the CIA to State.
There is one person whose name has rarely, if ever, been mentioned during the whole Plame/Wilson scandal - - Porter Goss. Goss is a loyal, conservative, take-no-prisoners Republican. I have no doubt that he has been digging around behind the scenes and even possibly communicating with former CIA Director George H. W. Bush.
This whole "scandal" smells to me like another masterstroke bait-and-switch set-up by Karl Rove.
Thanks for the info.
Pincus has zero credibility.
Post of the night!
ping
Is that the 5th Beatle or some dude in drag from an Austin Powers movie?
Actually, State was dumping on Powell, too. One of Wilson's buddies is former State employee Greg Thielman and he was slamming Powell left and right.
I don't expect more than 2-3 indictments at CIA. More than that number would seriously damage the sheeple's faith in the Agency. But Fitzgerald will have a list of 10-20 "unindicted co-conspirators" a housecleaning list for Porter Goss.
Indeed, if Fitzgerald isn't hip-deep in cleanup at the Agency, then Goss is being too quiet. But I think that quietness speaks volumes.
Yep- Larry came out at the time the mysterious T J Wilkinson did, and also Greg Thielman and Wilkie in Australia.
Posting a picture of Mandy Grunwald aka Mrs Matthew Cooper so close to bedtime, should have a mandatory Nightmare Alert !
Ed Klein described Mrs Cooper in " The Truth About Hillary " thusly :
Page 160
"... Mandy Grunwald, a formidable figure both politically and physically.
Mandy stood nearly six feet tall and had a booming voice and a thick head of black hair.
A bundle of nervous energy, she chain- smoked Marlboros.
Some of her Republican counterparts in the political consulting business joked that she looked like the Marlboro Man in drag."
I wonder if Matthew Cooper wasn't secretly hoping for some jail time.
Sleeping next to Bubba might be a welcome respite from sleeping next to Godzilla.
Thanks for the ping! :-)
Marrying the boss's daughter has its downside sometimes.
(Mandy's father ran Time mag--Cooper's employer.)
Maybe "someone in the administration" means someone who administers a newspaper.
If Rove did set this up, he does deserve the (evil) genius status they give him, but I have to doubt it. My guess is that Rove was as surprised as anybody that he was called on this, but I don't doubt that he and his team had a carefully crafted 'strategery' very quickly thereafter. Notice the silence...He's just giving them rope. I am sure they're working hard in the background and cooperating all they can to make sure this sticks to the people who deserve it.
Speaking of silence, and Goss...Goss is a smart, silent one too. Having the SP lets GJ do the heavy lifting without airing all the dirty laundry in the agency while still scaring some people straight. The CIA has a terribly important job. We don't want to know all the finger-pointing in the background. We need to have confidence in their integrity and capability. If the SP identifies a few bad eggs, as I suspect it will, PG won't see too much resistance in getting them out the door. We've already seen 3 resignations that very well may be related...He hasn't even had to open his mouth yet.
When the other shoe drop...Look out.
Now THAT is a great catch!
Couldn't agree more!!
Seems to me the whole Bush team is pretty good about security and leaks and "problems." They keep lengthening the rope and the Dems and media keep putting it around their neck.
I think Rove was talking off-the-record to his friendlies (at least not unfriendlies) and in the process of warning them about Wilson's lies he let the connection out of the bag to Novak and/or Cooper.
I think Goss was a master-stroke, as have been most appointments.
BTW, like your views. Well done.
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