The Novak Leak and the Bush Duty

World Net Daily ^ | 10-6-03 | Patrick J. Buchanan

[dogbyte12]

With the daily casualty reports coming in from Iraq, the White House has a new problem it did not need: a scandal that could force the firing of several White House aides.

Here is a chronology of how it came about.

Last July, former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times undercutting a claim in the president's case for war, made in his State of the Union address. The claim was that Iraq had been seeking to buy uranium from an African country.

Wilson revealed he had been commissioned by the CIA, before Bush spoke, to travel to Niger to investigate reports that Iraq had been seeking to buy "yellowcake." From talks with diplomats and government officials there, Wilson concluded the reports were probably bogus, that Iraq was not in the market for this ingredient of atom bombs. He filed a report with the CIA saying exactly that.

Wilson's op-ed had the effect of undercutting the president's case for war, and apparently enraged the White House.

When Robert Novak, the respected veteran journalist, asked a "senior administration official" how the critical Niger assignment could have been given to Wilson, who had served on Clinton's National Security Council and was a donor to Democrats, his source fingered the CIA as responsible for the blunder. The source then added that Wilson's wife, who worked at the CIA, had promoted Wilson to her superiors as just the man to undertake the Niger assignment.

Novak reported this and identified Wilson's wife by name as a "CIA operative." The CIA has now asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into who outed Wilson's wife, and why. For someone to deliberately break the cover of a clandestine CIA operative is a federal offense punishable by 10 years in a prison.

As Novak retells the story in his Oct. 1 column, however, there does not appear the stuff of a provable crime. Novak says his source was "no partisan gunslinger" out to settle scores. Second, he was told Wilson's wife was a "CIA employee" and regrets having used the term "operative."

Third, the identify of Wilson's wife was not pressed upon him, but came up in answer to his question as to how Wilson got the assignment. Thus, there was no malice, no deliberate intent to out the woman – i.e., it was a blurted blunder by an unthinking source, not a crime.

Novak also called the CIA, where a source confirmed that Wilson's wife worked at the agency. Novak was asked not to name Wilson's wife, but the CIA source never suggested that she would be in peril if he did. Thinking the fact important to the story of how Joe Wilson was put in a position where he could undercut the president of the United States' case for war, Novak included it.

Again, as there appears no deliberate intent to out Wilson's wife as a CIA agent, and the CIA confirmed her identity, and Novak will not testify against his source in any event, there appears insufficient grounds to prosecute.

Where the White House has a far more serious problem, however, is from a Washington Post report a week ago, which quoted another "senior administration official" as saying "two White House aides" actively pushed on six different journalists the fact that Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA operative.

If this is true, it amounts to a vendetta of retribution against Joe Wilson for having written something offensive to the White House, and might indeed constitute a federal crime.

If this Washington Post report is true, the two White House aides ought to be ferreted out and fired by the president himself. And as these names are floating about town, it would take George W. Bush less than an hour to call the suspects into his office and confront each, and if they did not deny that they pushed this story, tell them they are no longer welcome on the White House staff. And to get themselves a good lawyer.

The president's father, director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970s, has himself denounced the outrageous practice of outing CIA agents. A few years back, a wholesale outing, done by one poltroon, resulted in the assassination of a CIA patriot serving at his overseas post.

As America's victory in Iraq has gone sour, and Americans have begun to question why we had to go to war, the game in this town has gone hardball. Many believe the Bush presidency itself may be at risk. The stakes are thus enormous, and the Bush-haters – and baiters – are out in force.

But while hardball is justified, dirtball is not. And that is what was apparently done to Joe Wilson's wife.

[dogbyte12]

Fascinating to me because of the message here Buchanan is sending. Novak is a white knight, didn't do anything wrong. The 2 who leaked to the other 6 are bad, and the president is bad if he doesn't ferret out the leakers. It was Novak who outed Plame to the public. I think Buchanan's long friendship with Novak is clearly affecting his judgement.

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[Steve_Seattle]

I thought the report about the six other journalists had already been discredited or undermined.

[Tacis]

We are dealing here with neocommunist, America-hating scumball democrats. They, including Wilson, is perfectly capable of sacrificing any individual for their own political/ssleazy purpose. Wilson, knowing his wife was simply a newspaper reader for the CIA, could easily have distributed her name so he could whine about it later. This, BTW, is an argument I learned from Willie's White House sewer dwellers. They learned it when the nazis burned the Reichstag and blamed the original commies.

The issue does highlight a Bush failing. He must purge all the Clintonistas still working for him. Start with Boucher at State and get rid of all of them now, while there is still time before the election.

[writmeister]

Buchanan's judgment is affected by his hatred of all things Bush. Sometimes, I think Buchanan actually prefers Bill and Hillary, which would explain all his years as CNN's token.

[MamaLucci]

If this Washington Post report is true,

The answer's staring ya in the face, Pat.

[Mo1]

The president's father, director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970s, has himself denounced the outrageous practice of outing CIA agents. A few years back, a wholesale outing, done by one poltroon, resulted in the assassination of a CIA patriot serving at his overseas post.

Gee Pat .. and who would this be??

[big gray tabby]

He filed a report with the CIA saying exactly that.

Really? Let's see it. This is the first I heard of any report being filed. I thought his bride "de-briefed" him while they were 2nd honeymooning in Paris on our dime.

[palmer]

Yeah he started out great and then lost it, analogous to his political career.

[joesnuffy]

Do you serve red or white wine
with red herring?

[G.Mason]

"If this is true ["two White House aides"], it amounts to a vendetta of retribution against Joe Wilson for having written something offensive to the White House, and might indeed constitute a federal crime."

Poor Pat "I'm now irrelevant" Buchanan.

A few more "if's or mights and this would be newsworthy.

[InterceptPoint]

I thought the report about the six other journalists had already been discredited or undermined.

Do you have a reference?

The very idea that a "senior administration official" would, in effect, rat on two of his assiciates seems very far fetched to me. At a minimum, if true, this sounds like a holdover Dem doing his duty for "the cause". What is amazing is that this WP story has any legs at all. Where are the 6 journalists and why haven't they come forward. There is no issue of confidentiality of sources here. Now that would add some credibility to the story. If one or more of the 6 don't come forward and at least make the claim that they where contacted by one of the two administration officials then there is no story.

[Dave S]

Novak is a white knight, didn't do anything wrong. The 2 who leaked to the other 6 are bad, and the president is bad if he doesn't ferret out the leakers. It was Novak who outed Plame to the public.

Its not illegal for Novak to report the leak. It may or may not be illegal but certainly was stupid for whoever in the administration made the leak. And its killing Bush. Whoever made the leak, inadvertant or not, should acknowledge it and move on, even if it's Cheney.

[Dave S]

thought the report about the six other journalists had already been discredited or undermined.

My understanding was that Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews were contacted several days to a week after the Novak article appeared in the press. Matthews reportedly told Wilson that it was Rove that called him. But again at least two of these six reporters (and we dont know the others) were called AFTER the article appeared. Wilson said that they had been called before but what Ive heard lately was that Matthews and Mitchell were contacted afterwards to give the story legs, not to leak it.

[Cicero]

What's mainly operating here is that Buchanan is so violently isolationist that he'd rather side with a left-wing scum who opposes the Iraqi war than an honest president who had nothing to do with any alleged leak.

Buchanan has been working for the enemy ever since Bush was elected. Too bad.

[aristeides]

Wilson said on one of the talk shows yesterday (Face the Nation, I believe) that the six reporters were contacted about a week after the Novak column.

[Steve_Seattle]

Washington lives by leaks - even as the outrage over the Novak leak was being pumped by the Dems, David Kay's confidential testimony to the congressional committee was immediately leaked without a peep of protest by anyone, and most of the leaking was undoubtedly done by Dems eager to spin the "no WMD's found" line. The Dems' outrage is fake, it's just an attempt to make Bush look bad. One man's "leak" is another man's noble "whistleblower." Any media outrage over any leak is sanctimonious hypocrisy. No one believes that Valerie Plame was in any way endangered or compromised by this leak. Wilson can scarcely control his glee over this. It's all politics and it's all bulls**t.

[aristeides]

Sen. Hagel agreed on one of the talk shows yesterday that the leak is a serious national security matter. So did a Washington Times editorial and a Tony Blankley column last week. So does Georgie Anne Geyer in a column in the Washington Times today.

And so, I take it, does President Bush.

[tiamat]

THE thing I have not heard is ANYONE calling for Novack's head, and they should be.

Tia

[Steve_Seattle]

Last week, the Media Research group (see link on Drudge), did a story comparing this controversy to much more substantial leaks of national security information following 9-11. Unlike now, the media then was almost totally indifferent to the story because it was Dems who were doing the leaking. The story never got legs. So that's why I say this is all politically-motivated bull. Plame was a known CIA employee before Novak ever wrote his story.