melloween

happy halloween.

my favourite halloween moment was in the castro is SF - dancing amongst 7ft dragqueens when we stumbled across a 5ft granny dressed in a black witch outfit selling pot cookies for $2. they were great.

my least fave halloween moment was being stoned and facing the 300 odd steps up to m&m's house on the hill - id walked up there 100 times before but it looked as insurmountable as the hill that homer and apu climbed in india to go visit the guru-swarmi of kwiki-mart.

peggy noonan

* peggy noonan apparently gets paid to soil write:

"I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."
[snip]
A few weeks ago I was chatting with friends about the sheer number of things parents now buy for teenage girls--bags and earrings and shoes."

Benevolent Dictator

* via the Benevolent Dictator (sans vowels), doonesbury had a whole week's worth of Hariet Miers strips which he has had to toss into the WPB. simbaud thinks its an occupational hazard - but what it actually demonstrates is that topical cartoonists are the only people on the planet who can actually do a weeks worth of work in advance.

* i was just about to tee-off on a rant about how i dont know what the fuck is going on nor what the future portends and how we seem to be at another moment where leftblogistan and we-were-fucking-right-istan are completely witnessing/perceiving different universi when i came across this:

"Republican Senator Norm Coleman used interviews with Aziz as evidence that Saddam's regime granted 23 million barrels of oil to Mr Galloway and his Mariam Appeal fund.

But the French lawyers representing Aziz told Mr Galloway in Paris that Aziz had never made a single statement incriminating him.
[snip]
A separate UN-backed report published on Thursday also alleged the Respect MP received more than 18 million barrels of oil from the regime, and also cited interviews with Aziz."

the repugs have spent gazillions trying to counter the maxim that 'you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts' - apparently they have been successful.

artwork by driftglass

artwork by driftglass

isikoff and luskin, sitting in a tree

* isikoff is reporting that Fitz's trip "to the office of James Sharp, President George W. Bush's own lawyer in the case" on friday morning was " to tell him the president's closest aide would not be charged."

* digby: "Holy Shit. Can someone tell me why Fitzgerald would go to President Bush's personal lawyer on Friday to tell him that Bush's "closest aide wouldn't be charged?" Is it in any possible sense ethical for the prosecutor to be telling the president's lawyer information that isn't available to the public about members of the president's staff in the middle of an investigation?"

* jane reckons that isikoff is whoring himself and she's upset. quite upset.

* isikoff finishes his article with this strange spin:

" But the lawyer (*cough* luskin *cough*) said Novak—and several other figures in the probe—may initially have been able to testify undetected because witnesses were allowed to take an underground elevator up to the grand jury, making it less likely they would be spotted by journalists. In the summer of 2004, presiding Judge Thomas Hogan ordered all witnesses to go through the front door. As a result, Rove—who made four grand-jury appearances—didn't get noticed testifying until October 2004."

does that make any sense?

60 Minutes / TANG / Niger

* josh marshall has an intriguing post about the development of 60 minutes' story about the niger documents which got bumped for the TANG/AWOL/Rathergate story- as you know, I've long speculated that it was Rove's finest hour - he got the dodgy TANG story on air and buried the Niger story in one sweet move.

One of the difficulties with my hypothesis was how Rove was able to manage the timing on both stories. Josh's piece goes into the timing of the development of the TANG story (which Josh was involved in)

"By the late spring of 2004, 60 Minutes had interviewed Burba, the Italian journalist, Rocco Martino, the 'security consultant' who had attempted to sell her the documents in October 2002, and the SISMI asset (the female Italian national) who works in the Nigerien Embassy in Rome. The interviews implicated Antonio Nucera, a colonel from the Italian intelligence service SISMI, as the immediate source of the documents. After an initial conversation, Nucera himself refused all contact with the reporters working on the story.

After this, a string of problems delayed the airing of the story."

Delayed indeed. a bunch of repugs agreed to be interviewed and then kept pulling out at the last minute - repeatedly kicking the can down the road. Eventually "The produced segment was scheduled to be aired on Wednesday, September 8th, 2004... As late as the day of airing itself, a final decision had yet to be made on which segment (TANG or Niger) would run."

Now, if we switch over to the TANG story, Burkett "says he was handed the documents at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 3 by an unknown intermediary." March 3. That would qualify as "late spring " - so, if my hypothesis is correct, the apparently fake TANG documents anonymously entered the stream at the same time it became known that the Niger story was being developed, and then the Niger story kept getting delayed incrementally until while the TANG story was brought to fruition.

(incidentally it was in March04 when i wrote: " if rove is so smart, it would make sense for him to preempt some of the damage -- and get it outta the way 6 months in advance. the awol brouhaha has been dismissed before, itll prolly come out again, so why not bring it to the fore now.")

Ari Fleischer, the original Ari

* via josh marshall, Wapo's traitorgator article that went out on sunday originally said:

"On July 12, the day Cheney and Libby flew together from Norfolk, the vice president instructed his aide to alert reporters of an attack launched that morning on Wilson's credibility by Fleischer, according to a well-placed source."

that sentence has now been removed.

Jane Hamsher: "Wow. Why the hell did they put that up then pull that down? Those lawyers are fucking quick."

post secret.

you know what sunday means - its gavin's favourite day

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

war is so cool

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

this one for is for stepford laura

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

this probably isnt about war,
but i heard yesterday that
40% of the
2000 dead american soldiers
were married.

scooter libby and the plea deal

* reddhedd has a great post about plea deals - both in general, and how they might apply to scooter and others. i suggest you read it.

the consensus in Left Blogtopia seems to building that my intial suspicions were accurate when i said

" im not sure if im just being totally optimistic - but it seems that fitz lays out the case for both the Espionage Act and IIPA very clearly in the indictment - wide enough to drive a bus through - and ive gotta imagine that he's done that for a purpose - for extra leverage over libby and/or for leverage over others.

rove's lawyers must be panicking this weekend."

Reddhedd's post explains how plea deals specifically play a role here. (and let me make a special note that the firedoglake crew really know how to use a picture to make a point! kudos to them)

Shitting Blood

the other day i mentioned the scrap between TheOnion and the WhiteHouse

here's the latest

i wonder if libby and rove will soon have the same problem.

fitzgerald has a pack of cards up his sleeve

this from a lawyer/prosecutor (via jane). its exactly what i've been saying. i hope we are both right.

"All of the elements, at least of the Espionage Act (if not the Intelligence Identities Protection Act), have been made out in the indictment. So, why go to all the trouble of setting up the factual predicates for violations of the classified information statutes in the indictment (especially when he didn't have to) and then stop short of charging them?

[snip]

No, the real reason to lay out as much factual detail as he did was for Fitz to show the world (and in particular, the world within the White House) that he has the goods, and that he won't hesitate to drop the dime on some additional malefactors, particularly, Cheney. Let's face it: Libby is only the consigliere to Cheney's don. Even though the threat of spending 30 years in the pokey will be a powerful incentive for Libby to cut some kind of deal that might include turning on his boss, the possibility of the additional charges of revealing classified information, particularly against Cheney, is even more powerful since, presumably, Cheney does't appear to be at risk of a truth-telling-related indictment."

traitorgators and more indictments

* reddhedd has re-read the indictments - go read what she has to say

* and jane thinks that its funny that Rove's defense appears to be that he spoke to adam levine once and *didnt* mention the 'get wilson' campaign and therefore Rove must be innocent.

* here's digby echoing kathleen reardon: "Can there be any doubt that the Bush administration bet the farm on the idea that the press would keep their mouths shut? And can we all see that they were very close to being right? If Fitzgerald hadn't been willing to take it to the mat, they would have gotten off scott free."

* billmon: "After reading Libby's indictment (soon to be a major motion picture) for a third time, I'm even more puzzled by Fitzgerald's decision not to charge Scooter with either an IIPA or an Espionage Act violation... In other words, the few loose ends he's still tying up may include squeezing Libby until he coughs up the whole hairball of the conspiracy, including the vice president's role in it. Right now, though, it doesn't look like justice has been well served, or even fully baked."
as i said yesterday - i can only imagine that fitz has laid out the case for the lawyers of all the other perps to see what he can charge them with if he wants - including libby - if he so chooses.

* "So why has Fitzgerald been so skeptical of Rove's story? Probably because it is almost identical to Libby's. Like Libby, Rove claimed that when he spoke to reporters he was merely passing along gossip he'd heard from other journalists or from cocktail party chatter. That similarity alone would be enough to make any prosecutor suspicious. But add to that the fact that Rove's description of his conversation with Bob Novak is very similar to Libby's description of his conversations with both Cooper and Russert. In all three cases, the journalist (supposedly) already knew about Plame. And Rove's description of his conversation with Novak is almost word-for-word identical to Libby's description of his conversation with Cooper." (link)

Bush's counsel: James E. Sharp

* nyt:

"Mr. Fitzgerald was spotted Friday morning outside the office of James Sharp, Mr. Bush's personal lawyer. Mr. Bush was interviewed about the case by Mr. Fitzgerald last year. It is not known what discussions, if any, were taking place between the prosecutor and Mr. Sharp. Mr. Sharp did not return a phone call, and Mr. Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, declined to comment."

curiouser

for more on Bush's counsel, lets flashback to this June04 article by John Dean

"The Serious Implications Of President Bush's Hiring A Personal Outside Counsel For The Valerie Plame Investigation
By JOHN W. DEAN

Recently, the White House acknowledged that President Bush is talking with, and considering hiring, a non-government attorney, James E. Sharp. Sharp is being consulted, and may be retained, regarding the current grand jury investigation of the leak revealing the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA covert operative.

[snip]

This action by Bush is a rather stunning and extraordinary development. The President of the United States is potentially hiring a private criminal defense lawyer. Unsurprisingly, the White House is doing all it can to bury the story, providing precious little detail or context for the President's action.

[snip]

Readers may wonder, why is Bush going to an outside counsel, when numerous government attorneys are available to him - for instance, in the White House Counsel's Office?

The answer is that the President has likely been told it would be risky to talk to his White House lawyers, particularly if he knows more than he claims publicly.

[snip]

It is possible that Bush is consulting Sharp only out of an excess of caution - despite the fact that he knows nothing of the leak, or of any possible coverup of the leak. But that's not likely.

On this subject, I spoke with an experienced former federal prosecutor who works in Washington, specializing in white collar criminal defense (but who does not know Sharp). That attorney told me that he is baffled by Bush's move - unless Bush has knowledge of the leak. "It would not seem that the President needs to consult personal counsel, thereby preserving the attorney-client privilege, if he has no knowledge about the leak," he told me.

What advice might Bush get from a private defense counsel? The lawyer I consulted opined that, "If he does have knowledge about the leak and does not plan to disclose it, the only good legaladvice would be to take the Fifth, rather than lie. The political fallout is a separate issue."

I raised the issue of whether the President might be able to invoke executive privilege as to this information. But the attorney I consulted - who is well versed in this area of law -- opined that "Neither 'outing' Plame, nor covering for the perpetrators would seem to fall within the scope of any executive privilege that I am aware of."

That may not stop Bush from trying to invoke executive privilege, however - or at least from talking to his attorney about the option. As I have discussed in one of my prior columns, Vice President Dick Cheney has tried to avoid invoking it in implausible circumstances - in the case that is now before the U.S .Supreme Court. Rather he claims he is beyond the need for the privilege, and simply cannot be sued.

Suffice it to say that whatever the meaning of Bush's decision to talk with private counsel about the Valerie Plame leak, the matter has taken a more ominous turn with Bush's action. It has only become more portentous because now Dick Cheney has also hired a lawyer for himself, suggesting both men may have known more than they let on."

and curiouser

"...God I Love This Country!!!"

oops - my spambot collector slipped off the top of the page resulting in some spammage. i didnt realise that it had slipped - thnx kathy. ive changed the date to 2006 so hopefully we wont have that problem again!

i did however get a comment that i dont think was spammage:

"your blog sucks

Where do you get your information from? I have a feeling I know where. The problem here is that there will always be people like you, the ANTI EVERYTHING GROUP, pissed off about everything, complain about everything yet you and others like you claim to know everything. The problem is you only know what you READ AND WHAT YOU READ IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. I know a lot more about this current war than you liberals, I am, and have fought this war, desert storm, operation determined resolve, desert fox to name a few. Not to brag but, I know FROM EXPERIENCE AND THROUGH CONTACT WITH HIGHER PEOPLE THAN YOURSELF what is going on over there. I have been all around the world learning first hand from different cultures their political and social views not by reading books and watching the news and believe me you would be amazed at what I have found. I am in the military and I know more than I am allowed to talk about. But liberals want immediate answers to several questions. One example is WMD. You, don't know anything except from what YOU hear from THE MEDIA. THE MEDIA? If you knew even a portion of what a lot of the people that REALLY know what's going on, YOU would understand. Unfortunately YOU and others like you will continue to speculate on issues that you have no FACTUAL FOUNDATION. CNN, FOX and the liberal or right wing MEDIA know only what they know and it ain't much. By reading your blog and what you write I can tell you this, you are an ill informed educated (by teachings and books alone, no experience) individual and nothing more. You have no experience in this matter at all, you never fought in a war, you don't have access to certain types of information, you know only what you read in either school, the media or wherever else you get your information. You can't win the argument so try as you may you KNOW NOT A DAMN THING! Check mate, go back to your reading and drink your latte while we protect your freedom."

it was from this guy whose blog is called "...God I Love This Country!!!"

8 redacted pages

* billmon wonders why fitz sent judy (and nearly, cooper) to the bighouse:

"When Fitzgerald went to court to compel Judy Miller and Matt Cooper to appear before the grand jury, he argued that their testimony was essential -- not helpful, but essential -- to his investigation. And every judge who looked at the special prosecutor's evidence in camera agreed, wholeheartedly.

Yet, looking at the charges actually brought in Scooter's indictment, we see this is not, in fact, true. Yes, Cooper and Miller helped pin down the fact that Libby lied on the stand when he said he had told them he heard about Plame's CIA affliation from other reporters and didn't know if those rumors were true or false.

But Fitzgerald already had copious evidence of Scooter's perjury -- from Tim Russert, from witnesses inside the White House, at State and at the CIA, from documents faxed to Libby by the CIA, and from Libby's own notes. Fitzgerald didn't need Cooper's testimony to prove it, and once he had Cooper's he certainly didn't need Miller's.

What Fitzgerald did need them both for -- Miller in particular -- was to prove that Scooter illegally leaked classified information to those not authorized to know it. Other government officials couldn't give him that, nor could Russert -- Meathead says he and Scooter never talked about Plame at all."

my guess is that there is something else in those 8 redacted pages - i wonder what the legal process is to get them unredacted. presumably, if the info in those pages was simply to get the testimony that we now know from the indictments, then they could be now unredacted (or at least during/after the trial).

the West Bank.

as best as i can tell, libby's defense is that he completely forgot 7 internal converaations about plame, but had really really strong memories about the conversations with reporters about plame.

he can take that defense to the bank. the West Bank.

hadley / pollari /condi meeting

* laura rozen, niger guru, is reporting that condi was at the hadley / pollari meeting. hmmmm. delicious.

* here is an interesting compendium of traitorgate responses from the right wingers

* i dont have a clue where the 'plame' thing came from - but fitz never mentioned it

* lehrer finally got around to discussing traitorgate.

* "Some GOP loyalists dismissed yesterday's indictment as a blip that will quickly be forgotten. "If we are going to reach conclusions about stains on the presidency, let's wait until he's [Libby] convicted," said veteran GOP strategist Charles R. Black. Calling Bush's administration "remarkably clean," he added: "The amazing thing is that they went almost five years without having any kind of scandal."" (link)
amazing indeed charlie. you fucking moron. this is truly the first inkling that any of us had that there was something wrong with these people.

* "John D. Podesta, who was chief of staff to Clinton, said Bush may be more constrained by his troubles than Clinton was by his. Noting that Clinton's approval ratings remained above 60 percent throughout the impeachment battle, while Bush's are in the low 40s, Podesta said, "When Clinton said, 'I'm going back to do my work,' people cheered," Podesta said. "When Bush says, 'I'm going to do the job I've been doing,' people say, 'Oh, no.' "" (link)
awesome!

* isabel has an article up at israelinsider

its not the coverup, its the crime.

the conventional wisdom still seems to be that 'its the cover-up, not the crime' - im tempted to believe that isnt true. the underlying crime - and charges pertaining to it - are still out there.

libby's legal strategy has been appalling - he has apparently taken the fall, and the decision appears to have been taken very early on.

putting aside (for the mo') the pardon option, libby's choices appear to be: 1) roll the dice and go to trial 2) plead guilty 3) squeal 4) put a gun in his mouth

pleading guilty doesnt do libby much good - he probably does at least ten years on the current charges, and fitz could probably roll out some more charges if he wants. i cant imagine fitz wants libby to plead - so fitz can continue to squeeze him as long as he wants.

if im fitz, i want libby to either squeal or go to trial - either way, fitz catches other fish. and if im fitz, i dont want libby to swallow a bullet. therefore fitz's strategy is to make sure that libby knows that he isnt indispensable - therefore libby might as well squeal before someone else does, and there's no point cutting his wrists, because even tho it will save libby from seeing his grandkids, it wont save cheney and the Idiot Son becuase there are others who will step up to the plate to save their skin

its not the coverup, its the crime.

Espionage Act and IIPA

* billmon makes a good case that fitz took a dive on the espionage charge.

im not sure if im just being totally optimistic - but it seems that fitz lays out the case for both the Espionage Act and IIPA very clearly in the indictment - wide enough to drive a bus through - and ive gotta imagine that he's done that for a purpose - for extra leverage over libby and/or for leverage over others.

rove's lawyers must be panicking this weekend.

the oct28 deadline was totally artificial - particularly for fitz - he played down the clock very cleverly - its a standard negotiating trick. fitz knows he can pull the trigger on any number of indictments whenever he wants.

i hope.

libby and the leaks

the wsj has a handy diagram.



(update - oops - i just realised that i didnt get the complete diagram - go to the wsj link to see the rest)

fitzmas indictment-shopping season

* im still trying to get my head around the traitorgate thing. as best as i can tell, fitz still has a *pack* of cards up his sleeve - 'fitzmas' was perhaps more akin to thanksgiving - the official *start* of the fitzmas indictment-shopping season.

john conyers calls for new inquiries

* john conyers:

"So today's indictments represent the beginning, but not the end of the process of finally holding the Bush Administration accountable for its conduct in foisting a preemptive war on this country.

The prosecutor has performed his job in pursuing this case vigorously and fairly. I believe it is imperative that Congress pursue these questions and determine how these charges fit into the entire web of deception, manipulation and obfuscation laid bare by the Downing Street Minutes and Treasongate. As a result, I have directed my staff to conduct a comprehensive investigation and review of the facts concerning not only alleged efforts to misuse the White House to out a CIA operative, but misinformation concerning the run up to the Iraq War, and all legal violations and breaches of trust by the Administration concerning the War."

''Jury'' he said. ''It's Scooter Libby.''

Can i be the first to make the gag, riffing of judy miller, that when Fitzgerald introduces Scooter in the trial, he'll say something like:

''Jury, It's Scooter Libby.''

fitzgerald press conference

hmmmm - have just watched the fitz press conference. as best as i can tell, 'fitzmas' will, in retrospect, was just fitzmas eve. much, much more to come.

meanwhile, jamie rubin is on sky-uk trying to argue that this was a great week for Bush becuase of the developments in iran and syria

pic of libby: post resignation

photo of libby: pre-indictment

i heart pat fitzgerald

scooter indicted

emptywheel: The civil suit is pardon insurance.

emptywheel: "Announcement from Wilson's lawyer. I'd bet money he's announcing the civil suit, both Plame and Wilson (thus the need for civil rights violations). The civil suit is pardon insurance. A little message to Bush that pardoning Turd Blossom STILL won't prevent his entire house from falling in."

Wilson to make a statement

"Christopher Wolf, counsel for Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph Wilson, will be making a statement on behalf of Ambassador Wilson at 3 PM in front of the U.S. Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W." Link

thats odd! you'd think they'd consider things before responding.

jeralyn: "The Administration's line is "Business as usual" today. I suspect that means there will not be a large number of indictments."

lol

"rove wont be indicted"

this whole "rove wont be indicted" thing reminds me of the media certainty just prior to the john roberts nomination when the whitehouse told everyone that someone else was being nominated.

meanwhile jeralyn thinks "Rove took a deal and Fitzgerald has agreed not to announce it immediately"

ShiteHouse : other news

i wonder what other news the ShiteHouse will try to shovel out under the cover of Fitzmas

fitz's website

fitz's website is at www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/

will the internet break today?

"rove won't be indicted today"

hmmmmmmm - its all very exciting, no?

everyone is saying 'rove won't be indicted today', as you know. it all sounds like spin.

lehrer and plame

ive been reporting all week on lehrer's coverage of traitorgate - even on fitzmas eve they hardly mentioned it - it was something like the 5th story in their headlines - with less attention than some 'frivolous lawsuit' nonsense.

lehrer and brooks and shields on - but vistually didnt mention it

novaks source

billmon:

"So the night before definitely has an eve-of-battle feel about, a sensation which I'm sure is supercharged with adrenaline for those directly involved in the case. If this were a play or a movie -- Henry V or The Thin Red Line -- kings and generals would be wandering their camps in disguise, checking up on morale, or delivering soliloquies into the darkness, about the loneliness of command.

But it's reality, so I imagine Fitzgerald is answering a few late-night emails, while Shrub snores and dreams that he's falling off his mountain bike, over and over again. Rove, I dunno, maybe he's reviewing his contract to see whether Lucifer can repossess his soul in the event of indictment.

I dearly hope tomorrow does bring indictments -- not so much out of schadenfreude (although its certainly there) but because then we would finally begin to get a glimpse at the truth about the outing of Valerie Plame, or as close to the truth as a two-year-long FBI investigation can get. Hard facts instead of educated guesses (or ridiculous ones.) Named witnesses instead of "lawyers involved in the case." Sworn testimony instead of anonymous gossip.

The questions at stake in the case are, of course, relatively trivial (except for the defendants, and for the Wilsons.) They look even more insignificant next to the sinister mysteries surrounding the march to war in Iraq and the post-invasion cover up, of which the plot against Wilson was just a small part. Still, after two years of playing the redneck edition of Clue, it would be an almost physical relief to know the identity of the real leaker -- whether it was Dick Cheney in the Old Executive Office Building with a scrambler phone, or Ari Fleischer on Air Force One with a classified memo."

billmon is correct when he says "The questions at stake in the case are, of course, relatively trivial" - i dont give a fuck who called novak or where 'Flame' came from or any of the other detail. i dont even care about punishing the perpetrators, per se.

i have 3 major reasons that i hope fitzmas comes with a big hammer:
1. so that these horrible fucking people dont start any new wars - altho im really concerned about the latest noise about syria and iran - including the odd possibility of an 'october surprise' in an off-year.
2. so that the 'situation' in iraq has the slightest chance of not 'exploding' into something much, much worse. amongst all of the terrible possible scenarios in iraq, the least problematic is an america 'govt' running with its tail between its legs - with a sense of apology/wrongdoing/shame
3. the rest of the world needs america to be a beacon on the hill - not some science-hating, torture-lovin, freedom-hating theocracy

cindy sheehan is brilliant

* cindy sheehan is brilliant:

"We headed to the vigil at the White House for our hours long wait in the freezing cold. There was a man there who had several signs which among them said: "Saddam loves Cindy." This man didn't care that Rumsfeld (or Rumsfailed as I accidentally called him on an interview yesterday) was buddy, buddy with Saddam and gave him or sold him tons of WMD's before he became our enemy. I told this man that he didn't bother me, and he told me I don't bother him either. Well, if I don't bother him, why did he come down and make signs and march for hours screaming that I kill our soldiers? We found out why. He was making 60 dollars an hour to do so from some non-profit, right wing group. He said he would switch signs if we gave him more money."

ironic times

these are desperate, nerve wracking times - in an attempt to stop my head exploding, i decided to check up on ironictimes - which is a really funny website that i havent visited in perhaps close to a year - mostly because im so fucking busy trying to get the WhiteHouse criminals all dressed in matching orange suits.

ironictimes has a fixed formula, and its always funny. they lead with a current (real) headline, and then debunk it in fewer than ten words. i suggest you check em out. here are some examples from their recent (weekly) edition:

1. EIGHT MORE HURRICANES FORMING IN ATLANTIC
- “Not related” to global warming, says White House science consultant.

2. Miers Qualifies Remark That Bush Is “Most Brilliant” Man She Ever Met
- Now says Senators on the Judiciary Committee are most brilliant.

3. Pace of Bush Political Appointments Slows
- Analysis: he's running out of cronies

4. Interior Dept. Dispenses With Environmental Reviews Before Issuing Drilling Permits
- To save paper, preserving forests.


in fact, the thing that triggered me into going to ironictimes was the recent brouhaha where the whitehouse attacked The Onion- and the onion struck back

(interesting aside the onion " now boasts 5 million readers a week - 2 million for the print edition, and 3 million online." - 40% print??? wtf?)

i used to love the onion - i dont read it anymore - havent for years - not becuase it isnt funny, but mostly because after reading it, i found it impossible to read 'serious' news - my head keeps expecting an onionesque gag and its really disconcerting

anyways - i read ironictimes - and then tried to read wapo's a1 on the traitorgators - the lede is

"The White House, District Court officials and two potential targets of the CIA leak investigation were making preparations yesterday for the possible announcement of indictments by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald today, according to several sources familiar with the investigation."

dear wapo - there are tens of millions of people 'making preparations' - and we dont need 'several sources' to confirm.

and then the next para - i only got halfway through before my mind started filling in the blanks:

"Two sources said I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, was shopping.. "

i was sure they were going to continue - csi-style - 'shopping for a deal...' but alas:

"Two sources said I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, was shopping for a white-collar criminal lawyer amid expectations of those close to the case that he might be indicted for providing false statements or other charges."

and then i read:

""These will be very, very dark days for the White House," the consultant quoted Card as saying."

and i wasnt sure if my head was filling in the fantasy or if it was really real.
-----
in a separate note - some bloggers have laid out predictions about who they think will be indicted, and with what charges. as best as i can tell this is a fools errand - even more so because we wont have a 'final answer' tomorrow - with the possibility of new GJ's and extensions and whatnot. the only prediction i'll make is that there's a very good chance that many of the predictions will be wrong - the consensus about rove/libby/false-statements/perjury might be true - but i wouldnt be surprised if that was only half the story. or a quarter.

hadley/pollari

* byron york takes a sample of two and argues that fitzgerald is interviewing plame's neighbours for the first time (link)

* richard sale has a new article suggesting that the account last week that said Libby got plames name from cheney are wrong. its all a bit confusing.

* kathleen reardon makes a good point: "If the indictments package sticks or falls apart in the months to come because of efforts to disparage Fitzgerald or some likely dissembling, there's a larger picture here. We came very close to missing how bad the lies were and still are, no small credit going to a press cadre of the courted and cowed" (link)
(kathleen was one of my lecturers at USC - i had a teacher-crush on her)

* " The grand jury was expected to meet Friday morning, with an announcement by Fitzgerald expected about midday." (link)
plan your day accordingly.

* unless you accept the wsj version: "Mr. Fitzgerald met with the grand jury for three hours Wednesday, following which he met for 45 minutes with U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan in his chambers."

* the nyt is reporting on the hadley/pollari meeting - i love this spin: " The White House has confirmed that the meeting took place, but a spokesman for Mr. Hadley described it as a courtesy call of 15 minutes or less." and the non-denial denial: ""No one present at that meeting has any recollection of yellowcake being discussed or documents being provided," Frederick Jones, Mr. Hadley's spokesman, said Thursday"
i wonder how many people were present at the 'courtesy call'?

* the nyt article then says: " the Senate report said the C.I.A.'s counterproliferation division decided to contact Mr. Wilson, who was posted early in his career in Niger. His wife, Valerie Wilson, also known as Valerie Plame, was an undercover officer in that division. The Senate report says that when the division decided to send Mr. Wilson to Niger, she approached him on behalf of the agency and told him "there's this crazy report" on a possible deal for Niger to sell uranium to Iraq."
i havent seen that before - a google shows that phrase comes up only 180 times - its odd that that quote has hardly been mentioned - its interesting spin - although i have no idea why it has surfaced now - or who it benefits. both 'sides' could have used that to spin a variety ways...

treasons greetings

fitzmas brilliance from americablog

fitzmas noel

* i wonder when it was decided that harriet was gonna go?

* aravosis: "6. If Bush thought he could get a wack-job confirmed, he'd have appointed a wack-job instead of Harriet in the first place. He didn't. Nothing has changed to put Bush in a better stead now to get such a wack-job confirmed, and in fact, he's worse off because now he appears even weaker and all his talking points have been blown out of the water. So let him appoint the wack-job, and let the fun begin." (link)
good point - and he has lots more good points.

* "A federal grand jury has indicted Tom Noe, the former Maumee coin dealer suspected of laundering money into President Bush’s reelection campaign, Mr. Noe’s attorney told The Blade today.
Gregory A. White, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, will hold a news conference in Toledo to announce “a major public corruption indictment.”
The three-count indictment says that beginning in October 2003, Mr. Noe contributed to President Bush’s election campaign “over and above the limits established by the Federal Election Campaign Act."
Mr. Noe faces the maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. The conspiracy and false statement counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000 and the campaign finance violation carries a mandatory fine of between $136,200 and $454,000." (link)
woohoo.

could this be an omen? if i stretch things a little bit, i could probably extend Noe to Noel - which would be perfect for fitzmas :-)

tis the season to be jolly

Karl Rove: free as a bird

wsj: "Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser and deputy White House chief of staff, was informed yesterday evening that he may not be charged today but remains in legal jeopardy, according to a person briefed on the matter." (link)
i call bullshit. "may not"? fitz seems like just the kinda guy to put in a courtesy call for no reason. yeah, right.

Karl is in the clear - in a Clear Skies Act kinda way

grand jury extension?

NYT:

"Lawyers in the C.I.A. leak case said Thursday that they expected I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, to be indicted on Friday, charged with making false statements to the grand jury.

Karl Rove, President Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday.

As rumors coursed through the capital, Mr. Fitzgerald gave no public signal of how he intended to proceed, further intensifying the anxiety that has gripped the White House and left partisans on both sides of the political aisle holding their breath.

Mr. Fitzgerald's preparations for a Friday announcement were shrouded in secrecy, but advanced amid a flurry of behind-the-scenes discussions that left open the possibility of last-minute surprises. As the clock ticked down on the grand jury, people involved in the case did not rule out the disclosure of previously unknown aspects of the case."

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

take that for what it is worth.

"what's an indictment?"

* reddhedd describes some of the general legal technicalities in the traitorgate case - such as "what's an indictment?" - the good news is that "one indictment" really means nothing of the sort.
UPDATE: Jeralyn discusses the mechanics of plea bargaining

* jeralyn: "If Karl Rove turns down a deal, I suspect it's because Fitzgerald wasn't willing to agree to a reduction to probation or home detention. I think Karl Rove would bet the farm before agreeing to a jail sentence." (link)

* "In a last-minute flurry of interviews, FBI agents this week canvassed Plame's neighborhood to see if anyone knew about her covert work for the spy agency before she was exposed in a July 2003 newspaper column by Robert Novak." (link)
i so dont get this. apart from why this is being done so late (even tho it may have been done before), why ask neighbours, rather than friends?

* froomkin: "But think it through, and it seems obvious that the Miers withdrawal was timed not to distract from the indictments, but rather to be quickly overshadowed by them.
As Candy Crowley suggested on CNN, if there are indeed indictments tomorrow, the Miers withdrawal will be quickly forgotten. That wipes the slate clean, more or less, and gives President Bush an opportunity to pivot away from the leak scandal with a new Supreme Court nomination sometime in the next week or two." (link)
that argument doesnt seem to stand up.

* further to my comments yesterday about Ralston, the NYT has an article about her: "Ms. Ralston has been interviewed by investigators in the Abramoff case, which is examining Mr. Abramoff's work on behalf of Indian tribes and other lobbying interests, as well as his complicated financial arrangements. She worked for him, first at the firm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds and then at the firm Greenberg Traurig, before she moved to the White House early in President Bush's first term.
Ms. Ralston has also testified at least twice before the grand jury in the leak case." (link)

* wsj: "But the fallout for the Bush administration could be even wider, given the high-profile nature of the case and the pressure Mr. Fitzgerald will be under to support whatever actions he takes. It is expected that any indictments will be very detailed and discuss the involvement of other White House officials who aren't being charged.
"In this case, an indictment could cause serious reputational damage to unindicted officials by describing their roles, criminal or not, in what appears to have been an orchestrated effort to unfairly discredit Wilson in order to clear the way for an increasingly unpopular war," said former New York prosecutor David Pitofsky, now in private practice." (link)
oh sweet. so sweet.

Velvet Revolution and impeachment

VelvetRevolution has a new campaign launched this week - they are going to put this ad in DC's City Paper - they mention our impeachment poll

Rove was offered a deal

raw story:

"However, intelligence officials and those familiar with the case have indicated that Fitzgerald could convene a new grand jury to investigate forged documents used by the Bush Administration that purported to show Iraq was seeking to buy uranium from Niger.

The Chicago-based prosecutor has obtained new information from officials targeted in the leak probe, who are now interested in entering into plea discussions, they added.

Fitzgerald intended to announce that he had secured indictments against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, Wednesday afternoon as well as two people who work outside of the administration, those close to the case said.

But his office was contacted late Tuesday by attorneys representing figures outside the White House, lawyers said, who expressed interest in entering into plea talks with the prosecutor. Several have agreed to enter into last-minute plea negotiations with Fitzgerald in exchange for providing testimony that could result in criminal charges being brought against additional officials inside the White House, they added.

Rove was offered a deal when his lawyer met with Fitzgerald Tuesday, but did not accept, the sources said. Fitzgerald has sought indictments to charge Rove with perjury and obstruction of justice, they asserted.

An eleventh-hour deal could help Fitzgerald "build a strong case against some very senior officials in the office of the vice president," one attorney said."

the wait is killing me.

Bush Administration: Limo of Doom

(thnx kathy)

Joe Wilson was right. There were no WMD

digby's war cry:

"Is there anyone on the planet who thought that the wingnuts were going to sit idly by and let the White House go down in flames without marshalling a feral response? It's their MO about everything. Cross them and they turn into shrieking harpies swooping and swirling in inchoate fury.

Guys, this is Karl Rove we are talking about here. He made his bones more than 30 years ago destroying his Republican opponent. This is what he does. Pat Fitzgerald had better be prepared to be portrayed as a jack-booted, cross-dressing, gay Torquemada willing to do anything to please his Stalinist masters. Anyone who thought differently has not been paying attention.

This is why we shove their previous mantras about perjury and obstruction and "rule of law" in their faces. This is why we repeat the words that Bush used in the 2000 campaign about "not only doing what is legal but what is right." This is why we always, always, bring this back to the fact that 2000 Americans are dead and tens of thousands are disabled because of a war that the administration lied about --- lies that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby tried to cover up.

And when they go after Joe Wilson, we simply say every single time --- "Joe Wilson was right. There were no WMD." That is the lie that is really killing them and that is the lie that they sputter and trip over trying to explain. Democrats should never let a conversation go by in which the public is not reminded that there were no WMD. When the Dem spokesman is (inevitably) confronted by he fact that some of our leading lights voted for the war resolution, they should just say, "the Democrats took the president at his word. They won't make that mistake again."

This is going to be a huge battle, don't ever think it won't. Pat Fitzgerald is going to be destroyed as if he were a Democrat. I hope that the real Democrats who appear on television are preparing for this and are ready to respond. It won't be pretty."

goodnight sweet harriet

* harriet's letter here

* harriets' blog has gone black

* me, im kinda really peeved - i was sure we could do more damage if the nomination was alive for another 6 weeks or so. and more than that, the longer the nomination was alive, the less power Blinky would have when it came time for the next nomination.

* its interesting that they didnt hold the story till after fitzmas - i'd have thought monday would have been perfect for them.

Cheney and Libby lied to the Senate

Murray Waas:

"Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources.
[snip]
Had the withheld information been turned over, according to administration and congressional sources, it likely would have shifted a portion of the blame away from the intelligence agencies to the Bush administration as to who was responsible for the erroneous information being presented to the American public, Congress, and the international community."

brooke, downing and clarridge

Richard Sale's piece says:

"They said that Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC's Washingfton office in an effort to determine if they played any role in the forgeriese or their dissiemination. Also iIncluded in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen, these federal sources said."

Justin Raimondo had already fingered Ledeen and Clarridge:

"Previous versions of the report (the italian parliamentary report) were redacted and had all the names removed, though it was possible to guess who was involved. This version names Michael Ledeen as the conduit for the report and indicates that former CIA officers Duane Clarridge and Alan Wolf were the principal forgers. All three had business interests with Chalabi."

but Downing and Brooke are new names (Wolf is dead) - so i figured i would take Sale's observations at face value and take a closer look at Downing and Brooke and Clarridge

separately, raimondo says:

"Whoever forged these documents and introduced them into the American intelligence stream is guilty of violating this law:

"Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully– (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."

And this law:

"If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

Furthermore, the conspiracy charge applies equally to the unauthorized dissemination of classified information to persons not entitled to receive it... Add to this charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and the total number of the indicted and their prospective years in the hoosegow begins to add up."

so these people might be in some trouble. lets take a closer look - ive put them in separate posts - francis brooke here, duane clarridge here and wayne downing here (again, this is all assuming that Richard Sales is on the money.)

(and to be clear - this is all separate from hannah and wurmser and hadley and fleitz and libby and rove and bolton and rice and cheney)

Francis Brooke

Francis Brooke was the 'chief assistant' at chalabi's INC - first in london, and then in DC


"Francis Brooke worked in the mid-1990s on the Rendon Group's anti-Iraq campaign in London at a salary of $19,000 a month. He subsequently became the chief assistant in Washington to Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress." (link)

Brooke had some good access - first to Big Time Cheney:

"Some of the INC's intelligence on Iraq's alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's supposed ties to militant Islamic groups are reportedly funneled directly to the office of Vice President Dick Cheney by Francis Brooke, the DC lobbyist for the group." (link)

and also to the BigTimer's BigTime guy:

"Brooke, who is a devout Christian, has brought an evangelical ardor to the cause of defeating Saddam. “I do have a religious motivation for doing what I do,” Brooke said. “I see Iraq as our neighbor. And the Bible says, When your neighbor is in a ditch, God means for you to help him.”
[snip]
But in 1991 he took a public-relations job with an American firm in London called the Rendon Group, which described its specialty as “perception management.” The company had been founded by John Rendon, a former executive director of the Democratic National Committee. It didn’t take long for Brooke to realize that the project he was assigned at Rendon was funded by the C.I.A. Brooke." (link)

and maybe this is where Fitzgerald starts to take notice re the Niger forgeries:

"Brooke acknowledged that the I.N.C. had run a forgery shop" (link)

and you wont be surprised to see that he was hooked up with Laurie Mylroie - uberneocon and judy miller's co-author:

"Mylroie and the neocon hawks worked hand in glove to push her theory that Iraq was behind the '93 Trade Center bombing. Its acknowledgements fulsomely thanked John R. Bolton and the staff of AEI for their assistance, while Richard Perle glowingly blurbed the book as 'splendid and wholly convincing.' I. Lewis Libby, now Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is thanked for his 'generous and timely assistance.' Others who merit expressions of gratitude in Myleroie's acknowledgements are Cheney's foreign-policy advisors John Hannah and David Wurmser as well as Francis Brooke, a principal Washington lobbyist for the Iraqi National Congress." (link)

this post is one of a four-part series - see the set-up piece here, thenfrancis brooke here, duane clarridge here and wayne downing here

wayne downing

General Wayne Downing was a 4-star General who basically took over Richard Clarke's job after 911 and also worked for ahmed chalabi and the INC.

first, here's the fluff piece from Nov 01 when he was going to Save America:

"Wayne Downing is the most famous terrorism fighter you've never heard of. Less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, he shelved his semi-retirement to coordinate the nation's far-flung campaign "to detect, disrupt and destroy global terrorist organizations and those who support them," as the White House put it.
[snip]
In 34 years he rose through the ranks to command all special operations troops, including the clandestine Delta Force commandos whose close-quarter tactics are vital in places like Afghanistan. Battle-tested in Vietnam, Panama and the Persian Gulf, Downing is revered among the elite soldiers who call themselves "the quiet professionals."
[snip]
Downing once was courted for the job of White House drug czar, but friends say he felt that was an unwinnable war.
[snip]
Downing has supported an insurrection in Iraq for several years, arguing that Hussein's regime could be toppled if only America had the guts to arm and support the Iraqi National Congress, a rebel coalition based in London. Calling on influential lawmakers, Downing helped win passage in 1998 of the Iraq Liberation Act, which set aside nearly $100 million for military weaponry and training for anti-Hussein warriors.

The idea of overthrowing Hussein had wide political support and endorsements from people like Donald Rumsfeld, but was never fully embraced by the Clinton White House. Some national security experts and military analysts consider Downing's military plan half-baked: a potential replay of the Bay of Pigs bloodbath in Cuba.

"I have had visits from the opposition groups, trying to convince me that 1,000 men, armed, placed into Iraq, would have the entire regime toppled; the regular army would fold," retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, former commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, told a Senate hearing last year. Zinni clearly didn't buy it.

"Be careful," he said. "Bay of Pigs could turn into Bay of Goats."
[snip]
Downing, at least publicly, hasn't used the word dirty. Aggressive, yes. Relentless, yes. "Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," he vowed the day he took the job, "we intend to give these people and those who support them no place to hide.""

given his chalabi connection, you might wonder what his 'get osama' plan looked like

"By early November (2001), Wayne Downing, a retired Army general who headed counterterrorism in the White House, on his own initiative began working up plans for an attack of Iraq, keeping his superiors informed of his progress. A Pentagon planning group also kept hard at work on possible options." (link)

and

"Although his official duties focused on the al Qaeda threat, Downing was one of the loudest voices in the debate over the necessity and methods for destroying the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Downing played a key role in this debate. He had advised the opposition Iraqi National Congress since 1998 and helped the group refine a plan for overthrowing Hussein. That plan, drawn up before Sept. 11, looked quite similar to the later U.S. campaign against the Taliban: Special
Operations troops would advise and train local fighters, who would seize a deserted air base in southern Iraq under U.S. air cover. Any Iraqi units massed to attack the airfield would be destroyed from the air while isolated units would be encouraged to defect." (link)

unfortunately, his 24/7/365 dedication fell short about 300 days later:

" (CNN) -- The White House announced Thursday that retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing is resigning his post as deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism.

Downing took the newly created post last October as part of the White House response to the September 11 attacks. His main responsibility, according to a White House release, was to organize and staff the National Security Council's office focused on combating terrorism, and an office of intelligence detection within the Office of Homeland Security.

A senior administration official told CNN that Downing is not stepping down due to any frustration with the White House or any concern he did not have enough influence within the West Wing. This official told CNN that such suggestions are "Washington hooey."" (link)

not that his resignation stopped his war-lust - in Nov02 he was a founding member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq with a bunch of PNAC'ers who happened to be well-connected (wikipedia entry)

"With the administration's blessing, a new group is forming to press the case in the United States and Europe for ejecting Hussein from power. Called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq...
While the Iraq committee is an independent entity, committee officers said they expect to work closely with the administration. They already have met with Hadley and Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Committee officers and a White House spokesman said Rice, Hadley and Cheney will soon meet with the group."" (link)

and in case you thought that maybe Rumsfeld's iraq plan was light on forces, our friend wayne downing thought that perhaps 1,000 people would be sufficient:

"Chalabi then talked to Ritter about doing intelligence work for the I.N.C. In a demonstration of his seriousness, he showed Ritter two studies advocating Saddam’s overthrow. One was a military plan, written, in part, by a conservative friend, retired General Wayne Downing, who had commanded the Special Forces in the first Gulf War. The study suggested that Iraqi insurgents would be able to topple Saddam almost by themselves. Since the plan required few American troops, it could be easily sold to Congress. Ritter, a former marine, told me that he wasn’t impressed. He recalled, “I said, ‘I don’t think the small units could do the jobs you’re saying. It’s a ploy’ ” to get the Americans involved. Chalabi, he said, did not deny it. “So how come the fact that you’d need more American assistance is not in the plan?” Ritter asked. “Because it’s too sensitive,” Chalabi replied." (link)

this post is one of a four-part series - see the set-up piece here, thenfrancis brooke here, duane clarridge here and wayne downing here

duane clarridge

Duane Clarridge is a long-time CIA guy - he was in Rome, and then he basically ran the entire iran-contra debacle, before being pardoned by Bush 41. He was almost chosen for Chertoff's job, and was a part of Chalabi's INC

Here's Raimondo's synopsis:

" Clarridge, first head of the Counterterrorism Center set up by Bill Casey under Reagan, who deserves a column all by himself. His close relationship with Ledeen dates from his time as chief of station in Rome in the late 1970s. Clarridge was indicted for lying to prosecutors during the Iran-Contra imbroglio, but given a presidential pardon. His book, A Spy for All Seasons, was the first real "tell-all" book about the Agency. During the Reagan administration, he purportedly was the intellectual author of the notorious "Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare," a CIA how-to manual instructing the Nicaraguan contras in the fine art of terrorism, including bombings, assassinations, and violence directed at noncombatants. It was Clarridge who came up with the bright idea of mining Nicaragua's harbors, which led to the unprecedented condemnation of the U.S. government's actions in the World Court. He was reportedly slated to become a top counterterrorism official in the National Security Council, but was nixed. He now lives in San Diego, Calif., and pursues a number of business and ideological interests, including Dax Resources Corp., which runs a 24-hour Global Response Center and advertises its facility at kidnap prevention and counterterrorism, noting that "we can also undertake special operations, including technical countermeasures.""

and this from SourceWatch:

"Duane R. "Dewey" Clarridge is a former 30+ year employee of the CIA. His late in career postings included chief of the Latin American Division (1981-1984), chief of the European Division, and chief of the Counterterrorism Center. He retired from the CIA in 1987 after being formally reprimanded for his role in the Iran-Contra affair.""

he was pardoned - but here's a brief description of what he would have been charged with:

"The investigation of Clarridge focused on his knowledge of and role in both parts of the Iran/contra affair -- the arms-for-hostages trades with Iran and the effort to secure covert foreign funding for the contras after Congress cut off U.S. aid. In November 1985, when North became involved in an Israeli effort to ship U.S.-made HAWK missiles to Iran to secure the release of U.S. hostages being held in Lebanon, he turned to Clarridge, then chief of the CIA's European Division, for assistance. Clarridge testified extensively about his role in the operation, but steadfastly denied contemporaneous knowledge that the shipment contained weapons. Clarridge also testified at length about his efforts to support the contras, but denied soliciting support from third countries or even knowing about discussions of such efforts. In both instances, there was strong evidence that Clarridge's testimony was false.

On November 26, 1991, a federal Grand Jury indicted Clarridge on seven counts of perjury and false statements to congressional investigators and to the President's Special Review Board (the Tower Commission) stemming from his testimony about his role in the November 1985 arms shipment to Iran.1 The OIC decided not to seek an indictment against Clarridge for false testimony about CIA efforts to solicit third-country funding for the contras, primarily because the solicitation effort in which Clarridge was involved was called off at the last minute by his superiors."

bob parry has more details here - parry, of course, is the guru on iran contra.

and doug valentine takes a swipe at clarridge in a critique of a sy hersh article:

"Hersh then chose to cite former CIA officer Robert Baer, an avid supporting for unleashing the CIA, who heaped praise on former CIA officer Duane Clarridge for running the CT Center properly under Ronald Reagan's CIA Director, William Casey. This was in the mid-1980s, when mining foreign ports and forming death squads was permitted. But, Hersh tells us, Clarridge was eventually fired because the things he was doing were "too risky."

Hersh, however, did not choose to use the word "illegal" to describe what Clarridge did, nor did he choose to mention that Clarridge, who may be one of his anonymous sources, was indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, but pardoned by lame duck President G. H. W Bush in December 1992.

It's also important to know that Hersh, in a 20 December 2001 article for The New Yorker, reported that Duane Clarridge, along with General Wayne Downing ("who ran a Special Forces command during the Gulf War," and was a nominee to head the Office of Homeland Security), had helped Ahmad Chalabi draw up an attack plan for Iraq. Chalabi, of course, is the discredited leader of the Iraqi National Congress (and mentor to New York Times reporter Judy Miller), upon whose word the Bush Regime based many of its claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction."

this post is one of a four-part series - see the set-up piece here, thenfrancis brooke here, duane clarridge here and wayne downing here

did norquist leak to novak?

a couple of weeks ago, jane hamsher had a post called "who is the third man?" based on a Time article which said:

"Fitzgerald's intentions aren't the only mystery. Another character in the drama remains unnamed: the original source for columnist Robert Novak, who wrote the first piece naming Plame. Fitzgerald, says a lawyer who's involved in the case, "knows who it is and it's not someone at the White House.""

Tex over at antiwar blog said: "Oh, and that mysterious "third man?" My money is on Grover Norquist."

that would be a fun twist - as you know, ive long been interested in the Norquist link - I wrote a post called "why is Norquist lying?" - because he said that he didnt know that ralston had testified to the Grand Jury. At the time, everyone had assumed that Ralston was testifying becuase of her proximity to Rove - but maybe norquist knew that fitz would ask ralston about that original novak leak - and he knew he was toast (novakula flipped early).

of course, ralston also used to work for abramoff - she could be one of the most important players in america right now - imagine what she knows! remember all those terrorists that are linked through the abramoff/norquist link. oooh fun. i wrote about that here and here

Resign. Now.

a new campaign

"Most of us would agree that George Bush is the worst President ever. His years in office have been a disaster not only for the people of this country, but for all the peoples of the world.

It’s time for George Bush to go.

Many people have talked about impeachment. George Bush has certainly engaged in impeachable conduct. But let’s face it, with a large Republican majority in Congress, impeachment simply will not happen."

Bush: "i am not a puppet"

* "While one White House insider says losing Karl Rove would be a devastating blow to the president, Mr. Bush thinks that his own ability and authority derives from his policies; that Rove is an extension of the president, not a puppet master, that the administration can move forward on its long-term agenda, including tax reform and immigration." (link)
lol - i am not a puppet!

Richard Sale has an update

From Richard Sale, longtime UPI intelligence correspondent:

An hour ago I was contacted by a U.S. government official close to the Fitzgerald case. This person told me that there WILL be indictments announced later this afternoon, and the Special Prosecutor will hold a press conference tomorrow. (link)

Berlusconi and sismi and niger

* laura tries to explain the latest about niger/italy:

"You have an ex-Sismi agent (Rocco Martino), a current Sismi vice captain (Antonio Nucera), and a long-time Sismi mole in the Niger embassy Rome involved in assembling the Niger forgeries. You have a former Sismi agent (Rocco Martino) trying to selling them, to the French, to the British, to an Italian journalist. Sismi itself issued reports to the CIA and MI6 with the information on Iraq supposedly contracting to purchase 500 tons of yellowcake from Niger that turned up in the forgeries. You have the head of Sismi Nicolo Pollari admitting to Repubblica in an interview published Monday that Sismi knew what Rocco Martino was up to in 2001 and offering to show them a photo of Martino passing the dossier to British intelligence. I am not sure how the Berlusconi government can plausibly deny that Sismi didn't have a direct role in the Niger yellowcake claims to western intelligence, and a very cozily indirect role to the forgeries themselves. Unless it's the kind of denial that Rove and Libby meant when they told the grand jury that they hadn't told journalists about Wilson's wife or her place of employment."

fascinating.

Richard Sale: Fitz to throw the book

* digby has some big news if its true (via Richard Sale)- fitz is gonna throw the book at a couple of these creeps and get a new GJ and keep on bulldogging.

it looks as though we are about to be served our entree this week - and we can keep dreaming about a feast in the future. as Harriet Miers might say: the best news eva!!!!

freedom fireworks

rising hegemon calls them 'freedom fireworks'

i never knew wellstone - from what i now know, i think he'd be one of my heroes - 'happy' anniversay - i hope the worms enjoyed him

y2k?

* " Senior Pentagon officials were warned not to let the USS Cole dock in Yemen two days before terrorists attacked the ship five years ago killing 17 sailors, according to Congressman Curt Weldon, who said the crucial intelligence was gleaned from the former secret defense operation, "Able Danger."" (link)

* larry wilkerson in his LAT op-ed: "(The CAbal's) insular and secret workings were efficient and swift — not unlike the decision-making one would associate more with a dictatorship than a democracy. This furtive process was camouflaged neatly by the dysfunction and inefficiency of the formal decision-making process..
Today, we have a president whose approval rating is 38% and a vice president who speaks only to Rush Limbaugh and assembled military forces. We have a secretary of Defense presiding over the death-by-a-thousand-cuts of our overstretched armed forces...
It's a disaster. Given the choice, I'd choose a frustrating bureaucracy over an efficient cabal every time." (link)

* Fox is playing the 'withdraw harriet' ad during brit hume - while simultaneouly saying that its only a small "ad buy of $250k" - lol

* via arthur, the UK Telegraph says that Judy MIller is like david brent of The Office fame

* " Frank Luntz, Republican pollster and strategist. said: “If [Fitzgerald] indicts, they [the White House] will have no choice but to attempt to demonise him. I think that is going to be really, really tough.”" (link)
ha ha - not even frank can help them

* "CBS’ JOHN ROBERTS: Lawyers familiar with the case think Wednesday is when special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will make known his decision, and that there will be indictments. " (link)

* FT: "Indictments in the CIA leak investigation case are expected to be handed down by a grand jury on Wednesday, bringing to a head a criminal inquiry that threatens to disrupt seriously President George W. Bush's second term." (link)

* apparently the break-in at the niger embassy in rome was "simulated" - bizarre (link)

* late traitorgate news is that the fbi has been interviewing Plame's neighbours about whether they knew she was CIA - this is bizarre at the eleventh hour - im not sure if its some sort of signalling, or if fitz is desperate.

* americablog has a fabulous new range of product - y2k? - as in "why are there 2000 dead american soldiers?"

hadley and niger forgeries

* "Asked in 1999 about Clinton's impeachment by the House, Bush responded, "I would have voted for it. I thought the man lied."" (link)

* Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus have a slam piece on Joe Wilson for some reason - slamming him mostly becuase he likes John Kerry and cos he is *gasp* conspicuous. (link)

* here's an odd comment from froomkin: "Libby recently broke a bone in his foot, ostensibly while running up stairs." (link)
ostensibly?

* apparently the nyt made a mistake when it said that cheney was under oath - could the nyt possibly ruin their reputation any further with this story? (not that it matters - if he lied to a prosecutor, the crime is different but the penalty is the same)

* there's a lot of news coming out of italy re the niger forgeries. the important news seems to be that Hadley was neck-deep in them. Laura Rozen thinks that it goes part of the way to explain why the 'get wilson' campaign was so vociferous - although it still doesnt explain it to me.

* (remember hadley took the sword on the 16 words)

sorryeverybody.com

remember sorryeverybody.com ?

after fitzmas, i want the redvoters to set up their equivalent - with weeping, apologetic, shamed redvoters apologising for being so stupid - and promising to do what they can to rectify the situation

steve clemons

steve clemons:

"An uber-insider source has just reported the following to TWN (since confirmed by another independent source):
1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end.

2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters.

3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and "filed" tomorrow.

4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday."

man - i thought today was gonna be the day. this is killing me. do we hear the news before the press conference?

"1-5 indictments" ????? that doesnt sound great

Could Syria have been so stupid?

i havent discussed the haririkiri report much - i cant believe that syria could possibly have been so stupid - the Guardian tries to answer it

"Could Syria have been so stupid?

Many people still question whether Syria could really have been so stupid as to assassinate Hariri. What did it hope to gain? How on earth did it expect to get away with it?

There are several possible explanations. One is that it was a standard knee-jerk reaction from an old-style intelligence apparatus. With Hariri in opposition Syria saw its influence in Lebanon slipping away and thought it could call a halt by eliminating him and sending a warning to others. There may also have been an element of retribution, since Hariri was perceived - perhaps correctly - as the instigator, via his French pals, of resolution 1559.

According to Mehlis, whoever killed Hariri also went to the trouble of setting up a fake culprit - creating an imaginary Islamist group to claim responsibility, abducting a devout young Lebanese man to be framed as the suicide bomber and selecting a type of explosives favoured by militants in Iraq.

At the time, of course, the Syrians and their Lebanese security allies were still in control and would have had no reason to expect that independent investigators would challenge their account or trace their phone calls.

Their main miscalculation was to underestimate the international response to the assassination, and the protests inside Lebanon. Looking back, it seems obvious there would be an outcry, but perhaps it was not so obvious to the perpetrators at the time." (link)

2000 dead american soldiers

2000 dead american soldiers - my heart goes out to the families of every person killed in this stupid fucking war. of all nationalities, and of all occupations.

its nice to see some media coverage for this stupid milestone. i tried, and failed, to generate some coverage for the 2000th dead american with Operation Milestone Millstone - back on September 6.

i closed over there with words that are as valid today as they were then:

lets hang the president and the rest of the Mission Accomplices
with their own evil deeds.

norm coleman: fool. george galloway: cool.

* normcoleman accuses galloway of being in the pay of saddam - again. adam sent it through with a question: "What do you make of this?...the best defense is a strong offense?" (link)
norm coleman is an idiot - he figures that theres 51% of voters will vote for him if he says whitewater oil4food every week

* arthur silber is back! new blog at powerofnarrative

* google is stupid - again - i'm #3 on "iran-contra testimony" (link)

* steve clemons: "I have just been tipped off that the Los Angeles Times plans to run a rip-the-veneer-off the White House cabal op-ed by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former State Department Chief of Staff, in the morning.
I have read it...It's 998 words of honest patriotism that Americans need to hear -- and 998 tons of dynamite on the Executive Office of the President." (link)
these fucking cowards - coming out of the woodwork on fitzmas eve

* miers apparently isnt going to get to the senate - i think thats probably a shame.

* driftglass is almost sorry, almost, briefly, for the moderate republicans:

"...and for only one reason: whatever Santa Claus delivers come Fitzmas morn, in five short years, the Moderates have lived to become everything they detest. Every word of clucking reproach they yelped in snickering glee during the Clinton Age has gotten caught up in the Bush Treason Cyclotron, sped up to light-speed, and is now coming screaming back at them like a sack of radioactive axe-heads.

Their worst nightmare is in the process of coming true, big as a mountain in stilettos, carrying a sledgehammer in one hand and a 40-foot-long straight razor in the other, and there is not shit all they can do about it. Because everything they believed or touted or crowed about or tried to rub in our faces is in the process of coming down around their ears." (link)

and one of the main reasons i love driftglass is because he would put a mountain on stillettos to make it bigger. brilliant. who else would do that?

fitzgerald : chicken hawks

i was hoping to post a pic of real chicks but my cam drivers arent working - so ill post this instead. but the good news is that i have real, live, 2 day old chickens - its springtime here! out of abundnace of caution tho - ive just learnt the logic behind 'dont count your chickens before they've hatched' - i had ten eggs and only got 4 babies (so thats where the saying came from!)

id also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that bush and his friends are all chicken hawks

rosa

im not gonna pretend to know you - but im glad we had you. RIP.

and dont worry yourself too much that wilkerson and scowcroft waited till fitzmas eve. there are lots of other who have your back

He's a vile, detestable, moralistic person

* mark kleiman offers 3 options for why blinky said "The special prosecutor is conducting a very serious investigation. He's doing it in a very dignified way..." here's option 3: ". Mr. Fitzgerald has Mr. Bush by the gonads, and Mr. Bush, a coward as well as a bully, is begging him not to squeeze"

* tom maguire: "(5) Where are the scalps?
I will remind my friends on the left - if Fitzgerald settles on John Hannah, David Wurmser, and Fred Fleitz, most of America will think they have been asked to play "Dead or Canadian?""
lol.

* "He's a vile, detestable, moralistic person with no heart and no conscience who believes he's been tapped by God to do very important things," one White House ally said, referring to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald." (not the president) (link)

* "fitzmas" has its own wikipedia entry!

* lehrer is *still* ignoring traitorgate - even on fitzmas eve (altho they are doing a judy story to pretend to cover it)

* xymphora has a traitorgator update - he speculates that it was all a trap by the cia. i reckon that is nonsense - and its even scarier if its een close to accurate