jeff (yep, that one)
"If Armitage is 1x2x6 - that is, Priest and Allen's source for the famous September 28, 2003 story - things really don't look so good for him, as that story looks more like an effort to direct attention to some of the other leakers and away from him. As for underlying crimes, we don't know nearly enough. But there are several possibilities. One is that there was not a concerted effort on the part of Armitage in conjunction with OVP. There were different things going on. And then once Armitage realized he might be in trouble, he executed a very effective redirection toward the White House. Another is the possibility that OVP knew Armitage was talking about this, and capitalized on that fact - this has been, I think, a working hypothesis of emptywheel's over at thenexthurrah. And finally, there's the possibility of active cooperation with OVP on Armitage's part, though I consider this the least likely possibility. But in any case, we know far too little about Armitage's role in the original leaks to say confidently what's going on in that regard.
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Armitage is a rock solid Republican and full-on member of the Bush administration in 2003 (and Armitage of course continues to do lots of freelance diplomatic work for the Bush administration while he avoids talking to the American press).
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The INR memo from June 2003 made clear that State was no more enamored of Joe Wilson than OVP."
Maguire:
" the latest wrinkle seesm to be that Marc Grossman, one of Armitage's immediate underlings, may have been the One in the 1 x 2 x 6 leak. Folks have the same issue with that - maybe he was pointing folks away from his boss."
carroll:
"Armitage is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.emptywheel:
One of the signers of the January 26, 1998, Project for the New American Century PNAC letter.
A former board member for CACI International, the private military contractor, which "is being investigated by no less than 5 US agencies for possible contract violations" and "employed four interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison" in Iraq.
One of the Iran-Contra plotters.
Board member of Database Technologies (DBT)/ChoicePoint Inc before taking office under George Bush Jr.
U.S. Government stipulations in the Oliver North trial specifically named Armitage as one of the DoD officials responsible for illegal transfers of weapons to Iran and the Contras.
He's overdue for jail time. Get him Fitz."
"But I would point out that Fitzgerald has made pains, on numerous occasions, to imply that Mr. X is an Innocent Accused (at least as it relates to leaking Plame's identity). Call me crazy, but I put a lot more stock in what Fitzgerald is saying than what someone--however powerful and well-connected--who doesn't have an obvious link to the people who actually WOULD know if Fitz' case had Armitage in its sites (Fitz, Novak, Woodward, and Armitage)"
This story will drive everyone mad - because everyone is trying to fit the facts around two dodgy theses:
a) that there is a strong dividing line between the eurofag lefties at State and the neocons / OVP
b) that Plame was outed to GetWilson
But as we've been saying all along, State is tremendously corrupt, and Plame's outing has more to do with outing Brewster Jennings, than getting Wilson, then the facts fit snuggly into place.
It doesn't really matter whether it was Armitage or Grossman (per Leopold) who was the source of 1*2*6 - the impact was the same, in that it cemented the 'purely revenge' narrative which has been very difficult to unseat - although perhaps Fitz has seen straight through it.
Happy days if that is true.
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