Justice Department Ignores Democrats' Calls for Special Counsel

CNSNews.com ^ | 10/01/03 | Jeff Johnson

[kattracks]

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday that he will not appoint a special counsel to investigate the alleged White House "outing" of a CIA analyst married to a vocal critic of the Bush administration. Congressional Democrats continued to press for an "independent" investigation.

Ashcroft said the CIA requested an investigation last week.

"And after a prompt review of this request, the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, with the assistance of the FBI as the lead investigative agency, opened a full investigation, and that was last Friday," Ashcroft said. "The prosecutors and agents who are and will be handling this investigation are career professionals with extensive experience in handling matters involving sensitive national security information, and with experience relating to investigations of unauthorized disclosures of such information."

The attorney general has requested that both the White House and the CIA maintain any documents "that might be relevant to the investigation, to the extent not already done in the normal course of their activities. Ashcroft said that "such requests are standard procedures in investigations of this type." He also refused to answer any questions about the probe because it is "an ongoing criminal investigation."

Ashcroft's announcement came after former Ambassador Joseph Wilson admitted Tuesday morning that he had fabricated at least part of the story about White House advisor Karl Rove identifying Wilson's wife as a CIA employee.

"In one speech I gave out in Seattle not too long ago, I mentioned the name Karl Rove," Wilson told ABC's Good Morning America. "I think I was probably carried away by the spirit of the moment...I don't have any knowledge that Karl Rove himself was either the 'leaker' or the authorizer of the leak."

Almost immediately, however, Wilson again pointed the finger at Rove.

"I have great confidence that, at a minimum, [Rove] condoned it," Wilson alleged, "and certainly did nothing to shut it down."

Democrats blast Ashcroft, don't want to know if Wilson's wife was really a spy

Democrats, who seized on the issue Monday, continued to attack the Bush administration's credibility in general and Ashcroft specifically.

"We just think that for perception, for the sake of perception, I think there is always going to be a cloud hanging over whether or not this Justice Department, run by John Ashcroft, will ever have the objectivity and the independence to do the kind of investigation required," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) "We don't have confidence in John Ashcroft."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told CNSNews.com that focusing on who identified Wilson's wife as a CIA employee is "premature."

"I don't think the question is who it is. That's why, if we knew who it was, we wouldn't be asking for an investigation. I don't think that changes a thing," Schumer said. "We know that it was done. It's been reported it's been done by high up officials in the administration and in the White House, and we've got to get to the bottom of it."

Neither Schumer nor House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would address reports that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is actually a technical analyst for the agency, not an undercover officer in the CIA's clandestine service.

"That would not be something that I would be interested in confirming or denying at this time," Pelosi told reporters. "With the facts that I have before me, I'm calling for a special counsel because of reports that officials in the White House have disclosed the name of a clandestine officer."

Pelosi - who, in addition to her role as the highest-ranking Democrat in the House, is an ex-officio member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence - could legally confirm Plame's status with the CIA. Although Pelosi could not legally identify Plame as a clandestine officer, she could disclose if the former ambassador's wife was not an undercover agent.

Novak says Plame was a CIA analyst, not an undercover operative

The controversy began as the result of a trip Wilson took to Niger, where he had previously served as U.S. ambassador, on behalf of the CIA. He was sent to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase uranium in that country, claims he concluded were false.

Wilson, who was the last U.S. ambassador in Iraq before the Gulf War, publicly criticized the Bush administration for including the uranium allegation in the president's State of the Union address.

Syndicated columnist Robert Novak commented on Wilson's report about that trip in his July 14 column and mentioned Wilson's wife as possibly being responsible for her husband being chosen for the assignment.

"Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction," Novak wrote. "Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate."

Responding to the charges that someone in the White House had intentionally put the career and possibly the life of an undercover CIA operative at stake as part of a political payback, and that he had been used as a pawn in the maneuver, Novak seemed almost livid.

"When I called the CIA in July, they confirmed Mrs. Wilson's involvement in a mission for her husband on a secondary basis," Novak said on CNN's Crossfire. "They asked me not to use her name but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else."

Novak also disputed Democrats' claims that Wilson's wife was a secret agent.

"According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative and not in charge of undercover operatives," Novak added. "So what is the fuss about? Pure Bush bashing."

The career journalist, who has worked in Washington for 46 years, also criticized those who claimed the White House was "shopping the story" of Wilson's familial ties to the intelligence agency to friendly reporters.

"Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. In July, I was interviewing a senior administration official on Ambassador Wilson's report when he told me the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction," Novak explained. "Another senior official told me the same thing."

Bush 'confident' in Justice Department, wants 'to know the truth'

Nonetheless, President Bush, traveling in Chicago, said he wants the source of the information identified.

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. If the person has violated laws, that person will be taken care of," Bush warned. "I welcome the investigation, and I'm absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job."

The president hinted that someone, possibly Novak, could bring the probe to an end quickly.

"If anybody's got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so that we can find out whether these allegations are true and get on about our business," Bush said.

Novak responded to a similar request earlier, saying: "I do not reveal confidential sources."

If Plame was, in fact, a CIA clandestine services officer, any government employee who divulged that fact could face 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. Novak does not face prosecution, however. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (50 USC 421) exempts journalists from prosecution unless they engage in a "pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents...with reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States."

See Earlier Story:
Bush Critic Suggests White House Used Dirty Tricks to Discredit Him (Sept. 30, 2003)

Listen to audio for this story.

E-mail a news tip to Jeff Johnson.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

[zygoat]

Didn't Leahy(sp) expose undercover agents and/or informants in a similar case while "serving" on the intelligence committee? Resulting in death or injury to some of those involved? If this is such a big deal, why is he still in office?

[AntiGuv]

Valerie Plame was obviously an undercover operative - not a mere technical analyst. If that's not obvious from the opening of the Justice Department investigation (which would not exist if no potential crime had been perpetrated), then it's directly acknowledged in the following Sept 30 memo from White House counsel Alberto Gonzales:

We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee.

[alnick]

Actually, it has not been made clear yet whether or not Plame was undercover.

If no investigation is opened, there will be an appearance of a cover up.

As to the memo, note the word "possible." Gonzales' second memo refers to the "purported" undercover operative.

She may very well have been undercover, but no definitive confirmation of her status has yet been made.

[AntiGuv]

The existence of the investigation is rather definitive, since the CIA has to assert that she was undercover in order for the Justice Dept to even open a preliminary inquiry.

This parsing is really rather pointless, I must add..

[mewzilla]

Leaky Leahy didn't get his nickname for nuthin'...

[AntiGuv]

Oh, and the word "possible" obviously qualifies the phrase "unauthorized disclosures" - not the phrase "undercover CIA employee"...

[Redleg Duke]

Because he is a Democrat. The rules apply differently.

[Redleg Duke]

I suspect the only "undercover" work she did was servicing Slick.

[Redleg Duke]

Heck, you have already passed judgement.

Another happy Bush Basher I see.

[AntiGuv]

I haven't passed judgment on anything, except for the patently obvious fact that Valerie Plame was an undercover operative, not a technical analyst or whatever.

BTW, is Alberto Gonzales another happy Bush Basher?

[mewzilla]

But I believe the statute also indicates that the person leaking must know that the leak could result in physical harm to the person whose identity is being disclosed. If this chick wasn't undercover, how could her ID being disclosed do her any harm?

[AntiGuv]

If you really want my opinion, though - since you were so polite as to ask before leaping to conclusion - I think that whoever gave Novak the info didn't realize she was undercover. If that turns out the case, then no law was broken and everyone will just bebop along to less problematic diversions...

[alnick]

Here's what the Gonzales memo did: Restated the charges.

I repeat: Plame may or may not have been covert. Jumping to conclusions is not smart.

[AntiGuv]

No, that is incorrect.

Intelligence Identities Protection Act

1) The disclosure must have been made by someone with authorized access to classified information.

2) The disclosure must have been intentional.

3) The person accused must have known the agent identified was a covert operative.

4) The person accused must know the U.S. means to conceal the agent's intelligence relationship.

Those are the requirements for conviction.

[AntiGuv]

Fine, I won't argue the point. Think what you will.

[Khaibit]

Yes, Valerie Wilson was definitely under cover. It has been confirmed by half a dozen sources. Amongst others, a former CIA analyst who worked with her;

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec03/leaks_09-30.html

LARRY JOHNSON: Let's be very clear about what happened. This is not an alleged abuse. This is a confirmed abuse. I worked with this woman. She started training with me. She has been undercover for three decades, she is not as Bob Novak suggested a CIA analyst. But given that, I was a CIA analyst for four years. I was undercover. I could not divulge to my family outside of my wife that I worked for the Central Intelligence Agency until I left the agency on September 30, 1989. At that point I could admit it.

So the fact that she's been undercover for three decades and that has been divulged is outrageous because she was put undercover for certain reasons. One, she works in an area where people she meets with overseas could be compromised. When you start tracing back who she met with, even people who innocently met with her, who are not involved in CIA operations, could be compromised. For these journalists to argue that this is no big deal and if I hear another Republican operative suggesting that well, this was just an analyst fine, let them go undercover. Let's put them overseas and let's out them and then see how they like it. They won't be able to stand the heat.

I say this as a registered Republican. I'm on record giving contributions to the George Bush campaign. This is not about partisan politics. This is about a betrayal, a political smear of an individual with no relevance to the story. Publishing her name in that story added nothing to it.

What is clear in this case is that there were other reporters who had the integrity and good judgment to recognize that this was a political hatchet job that this was not about real news. I like Bob Novak and I have been on his other show but in this case he got it wrong. And to hide behind the parsing of words that she was an analyst so therefore it's okay. No, it's not okay.

The principle's established: do not divulge the names of these people. In my own career trainee class I did not know Joe's wife last name; we went by our first initials.

I was in the same class with her. I was Larry J. In fact, when I first saw her last name I didn't recognize her until one of other my classmates who's out now called me up and said, hey. To realize this is a terrific woman, she's a woman of great integrity and other people that don't know her were trying to suggest that she is the one that initiated that. That is such nonsense. This is a woman who is very solid, very low key and not about show boating.

[Diogenesis]

Why would Johnson talk in public?

[Khaibit]

I dunno. Apparently he is angry about it... and obviously the cat is now well and truly out of the bag.

[Diogenesis]

Maybe he is a "plant" - or has his FBI file held
[and threatened to be revealed] by the Democrats.