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This is a scalable context timeline. It contains events related to the event May 31, 2007: Judge to Release Letters Asking for Leniency for Libby. You can narrow or broaden the context of this timeline by adjusting the zoom level. The lower the scale, the more relevant the items on average will be, while the higher the scale, the less relevant the items, on average, will be.
Valerie Plame, a young CIA case officer working in the Europe Division at the agency's Directorate of Operations following a tour in Greece (see Fall 1985 and Fall 1989), decides on a risky career move—becoming a NOC, or Nonofficial Covered Officer. As reporter Laura Rozen will later explain: "Becoming a NOC would require Plame to erase all visible connections to the US government, while, with the help of the agency's Office of Central Cover, developing and inhabiting a plausible new private sector career and professional identity that would serve as useful cover for her to meet and develop potential sources of intelligence value to the agency without revealing herself as an agent of the US government. It also meant giving up the protection of diplomatic status should her covert activities be discovered." "A NOC has no overt affiliation with the US government," Plame will later write. "If he was caught, the United States would deny any connection." The CIA accepts her as a NOC candidate, and in order to distance herself from her former association with her former "cover" career as a junior State Department officer in Athens, Plame begins pursuing double graduate degrees in international affairs and European studies. She studies at both the London School of Economics and at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where the entire curriculum is taught in French. By 1996 she is ensconced in an apartment in Brussels, where she begins a "career" as an energy executive and secret NOC. She has a far wider range of potential contacts within the corporate world as an apparent private citizen, and her new assignment introduces her to the world of weapons proliferation, WMD, counternarcotics, economic intelligence, technological developments, and counterterrorism. (Wilson 2007, pp. 332-333)
CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson uses the front company Brewster Jennings & Associates as cover for work against the nuclear proliferation network run by Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan. Details of what exactly she does and whether other CIA officers use it as cover are not known. However, she is said to pose as an "oil consultant" and the company is also said to be involved in alternative energy in some way. (Gourlay, Calvert, and Lauria 1/27/2008) According to former CIA officer Vincent Cannistraro, her specialty in the agency's nonproliferation center is biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, and "recruiting agents, sending them to areas where they could access information about proliferation matters, weapons of mass destruction." (Meek and Bazinet 1/27/2008) Plame Wilson makes a donation of $1,000 to Al Gore's election campaign in 1999 giving the company's name as her employer, and also lists it as her employer on her 1999 tax forms. (Gourlay, Calvert, and Lauria 1/27/2008)
Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent (see Fall 1992 - 1996) posing as an energy executive, lists "Brewster-Jennings & Assoc." as her employer when making a $1,000 donation to the presidential campaign of Al Gore (D-TN). "Brewster Jennings" will later be revealed to be a CIA front company (see October 3, 2003). (FactCheck (.org) 7/22/2005; Crewdson 3/11/2006)
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, "outs" a covert CIA agent to a reporter. Libby tells New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who has been a reliable outlet for administration leaks and disinformation (see December 20, 2001, August 2002, and May 1, 2003), that Valerie Plame Wilson is a CIA official. Plame Wilson is a covert CIA officer currently working at CIA headquarters on WMD issues in the Middle East. More importantly for Libby, she is the husband of former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, who went to Niger to verify the administration's claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium there (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002), and who has become an outspoken critic of the administration's war policies both on television and in print (see July 6, 2003).
Libby Blames CIA for 'Slanted Intell' - Miller meets Libby at the Old Executive Building. Her focus is, as she has written in her notebook, "Was the intell slanted?" meaning the intelligence used to propel the US into war with Iraq. Libby is "displeased," she notes, by what he calls the "selective leaking" of information to the press by the CIA. He calls it a "hedging strategy," and Miller quotes him in her notes: "If we find it, fine, if not, we hedged." Miller feels that Libby is trying to use the interview to set up a conflict between the White House and the CIA. He says that reports suggesting senior administration officials may have selectively used some intelligence reports to bolster their claims about Iraq while ignoring others are "highly distorted." The thrust of his conversation, Miller will later testify (see September 30, 2005), is to try to blame the CIA for the intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq invasion. The CIA is now trying to "hedge" its earlier assessments, Libby says. He accuses it of waging what he calls a "perverted war" against the White House over the issue, and is clearly angry that it failed to, in his view, share its "doubts about Iraq intelligence." He tells Miller, "No briefer came in [after the State of the Union address] and said, 'You got it wrong, Mr. President.'"
Joseph Wilson and 'Valerie Flame' - Libby refers to "a clandestine guy," meaning Wilson, and tells Miller that Cheney "didn't know" about him, attempting to disassociate Cheney from any responsibility for Wilson's trip. In her notes, Miller writes, "wife works in bureau?" and she will later testify that she is sure Libby is referring to the CIA. In her notes, she also writes the words "Valerie Flame," a misspelled reference to Wilson's wife. (Miller 10/16/2005; Brenner 4/2006; Unger 2007, pp. 310; MSNBC 2/21/2007)
No Story from Interview - Miller does not write a story based on the conversation with Libby. (Miller 10/16/2005; van Natta, Liptak, and Levy 10/16/2005)
Libby a 'Good-Faith Source' - Miller will later recall Libby as being "a good-faith source who was usually straight with me." (van Natta, Liptak, and Levy 10/16/2005) She will note that she was not accustomed to interviewing high-level White House officials such as him. For Miller, Libby was "a major figure" and "one of the most senior people I interviewed," she will say. "I never interviewed the vice president, never met the president, and have met Karl Rove only once. I operated at the wonk level. That is why all of this stuff that came later about my White House spin is such bullsh_t. I did not talk to these people.… Libby was not a social friend, like Richard Perle." (Brenner 4/2006)
Initial Incorrect Dating by Times - In October, the New York Times will initially, and incorrectly, identify the date of this conversation as June 25. (Johnston 10/8/2005)
Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, meets with New York Times reporter Judith Miller for breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC. Libby has already learned that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, is an undercover CIA agent (see 12:00 p.m. June 11, 2003 and (June 12, 2003)).
Again Reveals Plame Wilson's CIA Identity - During their two-hour meeting, Libby again tells Miller, who will testify to this conversation over two years hence (see September 30, 2005), that Wilson's wife is a CIA agent (see June 23, 2003), and this time tells Miller that she works with WINPAC, the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control bureau that deals with foreign countries' WMD programs.
Claims that Iraq Tried to Obtain African Uranium - Libby calls Wilson's Times op-ed (see July 14, 2003) inaccurate, and spends a considerable amount of time and energy both blasting Wilson and insisting that credible evidence of an Iraq-Niger uranium connection indeed exists. He also says that few in the CIA were ever aware of Wilson's 2002 trip to Niger to verify the uranium claims (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002). Miller will write: "Although I was interested primarily in my area of expertise—chemical and biological weapons—my notes show that Mr. Libby consistently steered our conversation back to the administration's nuclear claims. His main theme echoed that of other senior officials: that contrary to Mr. Wilson's criticism, the administration had had ample reason to be concerned about Iraq's nuclear capabilities based on the regime's history of weapons development, its use of unconventional weapons, and fresh intelligence reports." Libby gives Miller selected information from the classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq (NIE—see October 1, 2002) that he says backs up the administration's claims about Iraqi WMD and the Iraq-Niger uranium claim. That information will later be proven to be false: Cheney has instructed Libby to tell Miller that the uranium claim was part of the NIE's "key judgments," indicating that there was consensus on the claim's validity. That is untrue. The claim is not part of the NIE's key judgments, but is contained deeper in the document, surrounded by caveats such as the claims "cannot [be] confirm[ed]" and the evidence supporting the claim is "inconclusive." Libby does not inform Miller about these caveats. (Miller 10/16/2005; Dubose and Bernstein 2006, pp. 216-217; Rich 2006, pp. 183-184; Gellman and Linzer 4/9/2006) In subsequent grand jury testimony (see March 24, 2004), Libby will admit to giving Miller a bulleted copy of the talking points from the NIE he wanted her to emphasize. He will tell prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he had it typed by his assistant Jenny Mayfield. "It was less than what I had been authorized to share with her," he will say, and describes it as about a third of a page in length. This document will either not be submitted into evidence in Libby's trial (see January 16-23, 2007) or not be made publicly available. (Marcy Wheeler 2/22/2007)
Libby Identified as 'Former Hill Staffer' and Not White House Official - Miller agrees to refer to Libby as a "former Hill staffer" instead of a "senior administration official" in any story she will write from this interview. Though technically accurate, that characterization, if it had been used, would misdirect people into believing the information came from someone with current or former connections to Congress, and not from the White House. Miller will not write a story from this interview. In later testimony before a grand jury, Libby will falsely claim that he learned of Plame Wilson's CIA identity "from reporters." The reverse is actually true. (Miller 10/16/2005; Dubose and Bernstein 2006, pp. 216-217; Rich 2006, pp. 183-184) Libby is also apparently aware of Wilson's 1999 trip to Niger to find out whether Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan had tried to procure Nigerien uranium (see Late February 1999), as Libby's notes include the notation "Khan + Wilson?" Cheney's chief lawyer, David Addington, has also asked Libby about Wilson's 1999 trip. (Wilson 2007, pp. 361-362) Libby has authorization from Cheney to leak classified information to Miller, and understands that the authorization comes directly from President Bush (see 7:35 a.m. July 8, 2003). It is unclear whether Libby has authorization from Cheney or Bush to divulge Plame Wilson's CIA identity.
Miller Learned Plame Wilson Identity from Libby - Miller will later testify that she did not learn Plame Wilson's identity specifically from Libby, but that testimony will be undermined by the words "Valerie Flame" (an apparent misspelling) written in her notes of this meeting. She will also testify that she pushed, without success, for her editors to approve an article about Plame Wilson's identity. (van Natta, Liptak, and Levy 10/16/2005)
Bill Harlow, a CIA spokesman, has a conversation with conservative columnist Robert Novak regarding Novak's plans to reveal the CIA status of Valerie Plame Wilson in a forthcoming column (see July 14, 2003). Novak has learned of Plame Wilson's identity from Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (see July 8, 2003), and has already spoken to White House political strategist Karl Rove (see July 8 or 9, 2003). Harlow will testify about his conversation with Rove to the grand jury investigating the Plame Wilson leak in 2004. In speaking with Novak, Harlow warns as strongly as he can without revealing classified information (i.e. Plame Wilson's covert status) that Plame Wilson did not authorize her husband's mission to Niger (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002) and Novak should not reveal her name or CIA identity. After their conversation ends, Harlow checks with other CIA officials, and confirms that Plame Wilson is an undercover operative. He then calls Novak back and reiterates that her name should not be used (see Before July 14, 2003). Harlow does not tell Novak that Plame Wilson is an undercover operative, because that information is classified. Novak will ignore Harlow's warnings and reveal Plame Wilson's name in his July 14 column. In an October 2003 column, he will minimize Harlow's warnings, writing that an unidentified CIA official (Harlow) "asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause 'difficulties' if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that [she] or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name" (see October 1, 2003). (Pincus and VandeHei 7/27/2005)
New York Times reporter Judith Miller again speaks to Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, in regards to the Iraqi WMD controversy and the recent op-ed by former ambassador Joseph Wilson (see July 6, 2003). In Miller's notes, she writes the words "Victoria Wilson." Libby has twice informed Miller that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, is a CIA agent (see June 23, 2003 and 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003).
Miller Unsure of Details of Disclosure - In testimony about the interview two years later (see September 30, 2005), Miller will say that "before this [telephone] call, I might have called others about Mr. Wilson's wife. In my notebook I had written the words 'Victoria Wilson' with a box around it, another apparent reference to Ms. Plame, who is also known as Valerie Wilson. I [testified] that I was not sure whether Mr. Libby had used this name or whether I just made a mistake in writing it on my own. Another possibility, I said, is that I gave Mr. Libby the wrong name on purpose to see whether he would correct me and confirm her identity." In her testimony, Miller will say that at the time, she believed she had heard Wilson's wife only referred to by her maiden name of Plame. When asked whether Libby gave her the name of Wilson, Miller will decline to speculate.
Criticizing Plame Wilson's Husband - During their conversation, Libby quickly turns the subject to criticism of Wilson, saying he is not sure if Wilson actually spoke to anyone who had knowledge of Iraq's attempts to negotiate trade agreements with Niger. After Miller agrees to attribute the conversation to "an administration official," and not Libby himself, Libby explains that the reference to the Iraqi attempt to buy uranium from Niger in President Bush's State of the Union address—the so-called "sixteen words" (see 9:01 pm January 28, 2003)—was the product of what Miller will call "a simple miscommunication between the White House and the CIA."
'Newsworthy' Disclosure - Miller will later testify that at the time, she felt it "newsworthy" that Wilson's wife was a CIA agent, and recommended to her editors that the Times pursue the angle. She will write: "I felt that since the Times had run Mr. Wilson's original essay, it had an obligation to explore any allegation that undercut his credibility. At the same time, I added, I also believed that the newspaper needed to pursue the possibility that the White House was unfairly attacking a critic of the administration." (US District Court for the District of Columbia 8/27/2004 ; Gerstein 10/4/2005; Miller 10/16/2005; van Natta, Liptak, and Levy 10/16/2005; US District Court for the District of Columbia 10/28/2005 )
Government officials, most likely with the CIA, ask conservative columnist Robert Novak not to publish the name of covert agency official Valerie Plame Wilson in an upcoming column (see July 14, 2003). Two government officials will testify in February 2004 that they made the request (see February 2004). The officials warn Novak that by publishing her name and CIA affiliation, he risks jeopardizing her ability to engage in covert work, damaging ongoing intelligence operations, and risking sensitive overseas intelligence assets. According to the officials, Novak is told that Plame Wilson's work for the CIA "went much further than her being an analyst," and that publishing her name would be "hurtful," could stymie ongoing intelligence operations, and jeopardize her overseas sources. (Waas 2/12/2004) One of the officials will later be identified as CIA spokesman Bill Harlow. (McClellan 2008, pp. 173-174) Plame Wilson's husband, Joseph Wilson, will later write: "Lamely attempting to shirk responsibility, Novak [will claim] that the CIA no 'was a soft no, not a hard no.' On the wings of that ludicrous defense, he soared to new heights of journalistic irresponsibility." (Wilson 2004, pp. 347)
Newsday reporters Timothy Phelps and Knut Royce have an article published that confirms Valerie Plame Wilson, whose covert CIA identity was blown eight days ago by conservative columnist Robert Novak (see July 14, 2003) based on information provided by two senior administration officials (see July 8, 2003 and July 8, 2003), works at the CIA on WMD issues as an undercover official with the directorate of operations. Phelps and Royce receive confirmation of this from unnamed intelligeice officials. Plame Wilson's husband, embattled war critic Joseph Wilson, refuses to confirm his wife's status as a CIA official, but says the leak of her identity to the press, as well as her position as his wife and even her maiden name, are attempts to intimidate others from speaking out against Bush administration intelligence failures. "It's a shot across the bow to these people, that if you talk we'll take your family and drag them through the mud as well," he says. Wilson and retired CIA official Frank Anderson say that if Plame Wilson is indeed a covert official (see Fall 1992 - 1996), whoever leaked her identity violated the law, endangered her career, and put the lives of her contacts in foreign countries at risk. Anderson, who formerly headed the CIA's Near East division, says, "When it gets to the point of an administration official acting to do career damage, and possibly actually endanger someone, that's mean, that's petty, it's irresponsible, and it ought to be sanctioned." Wilson adds: "If what the two senior administration officials said is true, they will have compromised an entire career of networks, relationships, and operations.… [T]his White House has taken an asset out of the" weapons of mass destruction fight, "not to mention putting at risk any contacts she might have had where the services are hostile.… This might be seen as a smear on me and my reputation, but what it really is is an attempt to keep anybody else from coming forward" to reveal similar intelligence lapses. A senior intelligence official also confirms that Plame Wilson did not send her husband to Niger, as some have alleged (see February 19, 2002 and July 22, 2003). "They [the officers who did ask Wilson to check the uranium story] were aware of who she was married to, which is not surprising," he says. "There are people elsewhere in government who are trying to make her look like she was the one who was cooking this up, for some reason. I can't figure out what it could be.… We paid his [Wilson's] air fare. But to go to Niger is not exactly a benefit. Most people you'd have to pay big bucks to go there." (Phelps and Royce 7/22/2003)
The CIA sends a letter to the Justice Department affirming that the agency considers the identity leak of covert official Valerie Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003) a possible crime. (Central Intelligence Agency 1/30/2004 )
PBS hosts a live discussion with former CIA analyst Larry Johnson and journalist Tom Rosenstiel on the exposure of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert CIA official (see July 14, 2003). Columnist Robert Novak initially told reporters that the White House "gave" him the information about Plame Wilson (see July 21, 2003), but is now claiming that he had to "dig for" that information (see September 29, 2003). Novak also asserts that Plame Wilson was a "mere" CIA analyst and not a covert operative (see Fall 1992 - 1996), and admits that CIA officials asked him not to reveal her identity (see (July 11, 2003) and Before July 14, 2003), though he says they never indicated that doing so would endanger her or anyone else. Johnson says: "To hear Bob Novak parsing words like a Clinton lawyer defining sex is outrageous.… They took the initiative to divulge the CIA officer's name. And that is outrageous."
Confirmation that Plame Wilson Was Undercover - Johnson confirms that Plame Wilson is indeed an undercover CIA official, saying: "Let's be very clear about what happened. This is not an alleged abuse. This is a confirmed abuse. I worked with this woman. She started training with me. She has been undercover for three decades, she is not, as Bob Novak suggested, a CIA analyst. But given that, I was a CIA analyst for four years. I was undercover. I could not divulge to my family outside of my wife that I worked for the Central Intelligence Agency until I left the agency on Sept. 30, 1989. At that point I could admit it. So the fact that she's been undercover for three decades and that has been divulged is outrageous because she was put undercover for certain reasons. One, she works in an area where people she meets with overseas could be compromised. When you start tracing back who she met with, even people who innocently met with her, who are not involved in CIA operations, could be compromised. For these journalists to argue that this is no big deal."
Novak Did 'a Really Dangerous and Terrible Thing' - Rosenstiel calls Novak's assertion that the CIA didn't warn him of any danger in leaking Plame Wilson's name "weak," and adds: "Bob Novak has done a really dangerous and terrible thing. If you are going to get involved in something like this where you're bumping up against breaking the law, as a journalist you have a civil disobedience test you have to meet. What's the public good of this story? What's the—balanced against what's the danger to the people involved publishing the story. The third part of the test is, is it necessary in telling the story to do this or is there another way to do it, do you need to divulge this person's name, in other words, to convey the information you think is of the public interest? This doesn't meet any one of those three tests. It's not of overriding public interest. Novak may be really just an instrument of Republican revenge here. Whatever the public good is of the story is far overwhelmed by the danger to this woman and her network of operatives. And it's gratuitous. You could have told the story without her name." Johnson adds: "This is not about partisan politics. This is about a betrayal, a political smear of an individual with no relevance to the story. Publishing her name in that story added nothing to it. His entire intent was correctly as Ambassador Wilson noted (see August 12, 2003): to intimidate, to suggest that there was some impropriety that somehow his wife was in a decision-making position to influence his ability to go over and savage a stupid policy, an erroneous policy, and frankly, what was a false policy of suggesting that there were nuclear material in Iraq that required this war. This was about a political attack. To pretend that it's something else and to get into this parsing of words, I tell you, it sickens me to be a Republican to see this."
Most Reporters Thought Story 'Lousy - Asked why six reporters were told of Plame Wilson's identity and five chose not to publish it (see September 28, 2003), Rosenstiel says that the five reporters' decision "tells us that the majority of reporters involved thought this was a lousy story." It was "[i]mproper to identify and actually maybe the story itself just didn't rise to the level of being much of a story. Frankly, it's difficult to see how this information discredits Wilson. I can see how it intimidates him but I don't think it necessarily discredits his research into the Niger claim." (Smith 9/30/2003)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, having told State Department officials that he was one of the sources for Robert Novak's July 2003 outing of CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson (see October 1, 2003), is questioned by FBI agents investigating the leak of Plame Wilson's identity. Armitage admits to passing along classified information to columnist Robert Novak that identified Plame Wilson as a CIA official working on WMD issues (see June 10, 2003). According to a 2006 Newsweek article, the three State Department officials who know of Armitage's involvement—Secretary of State Colin Powell, State Department counsel William Howard Taft IV, and Armitage himself—do not take the story public, and Armitage's role remains secret. (Isikoff 9/4/2006)
Knight Ridder reporter Warren Strobel publishes an analysis of the potential damage the Plame Wilson identity leak (see Fall 1992 - 1996 and July 14, 2003) has caused to the CIA and to US national security. According to current and former CIA officials interviewed by Strobel, revealing Plame Wilson's identity "may have damaged US national security to a much greater extent than generally realized." Former CIA and State Department official Larry Johnson says flatly, "At the end of the day, [the harm] will be huge and some people potentially may have lost their lives." Strobel notes that Plame Wilson's training cost the US "millions of dollars and requires the time-consuming establishment of elaborate fictions, called 'legends,' including in this case the creation of a CIA front company that helped lend plausibility to her trips overseas." Conservative columnist Robert Novak not only outed Plame Wilson, but her front company, Brewster Jennings (see October 2, 2003), a revelation that former CIA counterterrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro says puts other CIA officers at risk as well (see October 3, 2003). Plame Wilson's career, as a specialist in Iraqi WMD, is now over, costing the agency her expertise, knowledge, and, perhaps most irreplaceably, the network of operatives and sources she has built up over the years. Former CIA agent Jim Marcinkowski, now a prosecutor in Michigan, says: "This is not just another leak. This is an unprecedented exposing of an agent's identity." Johnson calls himself "furious, absolutely furious" at the security breach. (Strobel 10/11/2003) According to anonymous intelligence officials, the CIA performed an "aggressive," in-house assessment of the damage done by her exposure, and found it to have been "severe" (see Before September 16, 2003). It is unlikely that Strobel is aware of this assessment.
Former CIA case officer Jim Marcinkowski, a former classmate of outed CIA case officer Valerie Plame Wilson (see Fall 1985), is outraged by the revelation of Plame Wilson's CIA status and the allegations that the leak of her identity is not a crime (see July 14, 2003 and September 29, 2003). Another former classmate of Plame Wilson's, former CIA agent Larry Johnson, says: "[W]hat I keep seeing in the newspaper is the spin and leak that this is no big deal. And that's got to stop.… The problem with this is a lot of the damage that has occurred is not going to be seen. It can't be photographed. We can't bring the bodies out because in some cases it's going to involve protecting sources and methods. And it's important to keep this before the American people. This was a betrayal of national security." Marcinkowski concurs: "This is an unprecedented act. This has never been done by the United States government before. The exposure of an undercover intelligence officer by the US government is unprecedented. It's not the usual leak from Washington. The leak a week scenario is not at play here. This is a very, very serious event." Plame Wilson was an NOC, or nonofficial cover officer (see Fall 1992 - 1996). "It was the most dangerous assignment you could take. It takes a special sort of person," says Marcinkowski, who is now a prosecutor in Michigan. Former CIA official Kenneth Pollack agrees, describing an NOC's identity as the "holiest of holies." Many believe that the outrage among the rank and file of CIA agents and officials at Plame Wilson's outing was so strong that CIA Director George Tenet had little choice but to recommend that the Justice Department investigate the leak (see September 16, 2003). Marcinkowski says: "In this particular case, it was so far over the line, I think myself and a lot of us were truly outraged that the government would do this.… I mean, we kept our mouths closed since 1985, when we joined." Johnson, noting that both he and Marcinkowski are registered Republicans, says: "As a Republican, I think we need to be consistent on this. It doesn't matter who did it, it didn't matter which party was involved. This isn't about partisan politics. This is about protecting national security and national security assets and in this case there has been a betrayal, not only of the CIA officers there, but really a betrayal of those of us who have kept the secrets over the years on this point." (Borger 10/22/2003; CNN 10/24/2003)
White House political strategist Karl Rove testifies before the grand jury investigating the Plame Wilson identity leak. Rove does not tell the jury that he discussed Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA status with reporters other than columnist Robert Novak (see July 8, 2003 and July 8 or 9, 2003). At a minimum, Rove is failing to disclose conversations he has had about Plame Wilson with Time's Matthew Cooper (see 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003). (Johnston and Stevenson 11/4/2005; New York Times 2006; Kornblut 4/27/2006) There is some mystery about the date and content of Rove's second testimony to the grand jury; in 2006, reporter Michael Isikoff will say that Rove testifies twice during February 2004. In neither appearance does he admit to leaking Plame Wilson's CIA identity to reporters. (Isikoff and Thomas 5/8/2006)
After a long and difficult struggle with herself, senior CIA case officer and outed covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003) resigns from the agency. In 2007, she will reflect that for 20 years, "I had loved what I was doing, but I could no longer continue to do the undercover work for which I had been trained. My career had been done in by stupidity and political payback, and that made me angry. I would… resign—sadly, but on my terms." Plame Wilson's boss "literally beg[s]" her "to reconsider her decision, and despite my respect for her and my belief in the mission, I was not tempted for a moment. Leaving was the right choice for me and my family. I was ready to close this chapter in my life." Plame Wilson will recall: "The young officers whom I had supervised were particularly outraged at what had happened and at the increasing politicization of intelligence that my case exemplified. Like me, they had entered the agency filled with energy, hope, and patriotism, only to emerge a few years later with a realization of their own vulnerabilities, the danger of politicians meddling in intelligence matters, and a clearer sense of the moral ambiguity that characterizes even the most honorable institutions." (Wilson 2007, pp. 239-240, 389)
Lewis Libby's lawyers reveal a detailed outline of their planned defense strategy to combat government charges that their client committed perjury and obstructed justice (see October 28, 2005). Libby's lawyers intend to offer what some call a "memory defense," a claim that Libby did not deliberately lie to the FBI (see October 14, 2003 and November 26, 2003) or to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury (see March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004), but instead was a victim of his own confusion and faulty memory, a condition brought on by his preoccupation with national security matters. Libby's lawyers have asked for a huge number of highly classified documents (see January 23, 2006 and January 31, 2006) to support his claim of being overworked due to his involvement in the administration's battle against terrorism and other threats against the nation. The documents, the lawyers claim in a court filing, "are material to establishing that any misstatements he may have made were the result of confusion, mistake, and faulty memory resulting from his immersion in other, more significant matters, rather than deliberate lies." Libby's conversations with reporters during the summer of 2003 about CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, July 10 or 11, 2003, 2:24 p.m. July 12, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003) "occurred in the midst of an unending torrent of meetings, briefings, and discussions of far more urgent and sensitive issues, including for example, the detection and prevention of terrorist attacks against the United States," bringing stability to Iraq, and the spread of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran. Libby was "inundated from early in the morning until late at night with the most sensitive national security issues this country faces," his lawyers say, and his faulty memory about what he did and did not tell reporters about Plame Wilson is insignificant compared to the other matters that were on his mind. (Lewis 2/1/2006)
The online news site Raw Story publishes an article claiming that the exposure of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see June 13, 2003, June 23, 2003, July 7, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, July 8, 2003, 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, 8:00 a.m. July 11, 2003, Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003, 1:26 p.m. July 12, 2003, July 12, 2003, and July 14, 2003) caused more damage to US national security than has previously been admitted, particularly in the area of containing foreign nuclear proliferation. Editor and reporter Larisa Alexandrovna sources the story from a number of anonymous current and former intelligence officials. Plame Wilson, the officials say, was an integral part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran. Alexandrovna writes, "Their [the officials'] accounts suggest that Plame [Wilson]'s outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for US national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program." The officials say that while previous reports indicate Plame Wilson may have been involved in monitoring nuclear "black market" activities, particularly those involving Abdul Qadeer Khan (see Late February 1999), her real focus was Iran, though her team would have come into contact with Khan's black market network during the course of its work on Iran's nuclear program. Khan's network is believed to have been the primary source of Iran's nuclear weapons efforts. The officials refuse to identify the specifics of Plame Wilson's work, but do say that her exposure resulted in "severe" damage to her team and significantly hampered the CIA's ability to monitor nuclear proliferation. (Alexandrovna 2/13/2006) The officials also say that the CIA conducted an "aggressive" in-house assessment of the damage caused by Plame Wilson's exposure shortly after the White House leaked her identity to the press, and found the damage done by the leak "severe" (see Before September 16, 2003).
Conservative media outlets such as the Web site Human Events announce the launch of scooterlibby.com, a Web site that coordinates and markets the fundraising efforts of the Lewis Libby defense fund (see After October 28, 2005). (The site also operates under the URL scooterlibby.org.) The chairman of the Libby Legal Defense Trust, Republican fundraiser and former ambassador Mel Sembler, writes on the front page of the site: "Since September 11, 2001, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby has been one of the unsung heroes in fighting the war on terror, working diligently and making countless contributions on some of the most critical life and death issues that our country has faced. For the past five years, Scooter Libby served selflessly as an assistant to President Bush and as the chief of staff and national security adviser to Vice President Cheney. But Scooter's great service to our country has now been cut short, and his good name attacked. A distinguished group of friends, business leaders, and former government officials have joined the Libby Legal Defense Trust to help Scooter defray his legal costs from the recent charges. We hope you will join us in supporting this effort." The site features an endorsement from Dick Cheney calling Libby "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known." (Sellers 2/21/2006; Jeralyn Merritt 2/21/2006; Libby Legal Defense Trust 2/21/2006) Sembler says the group wants to raise $5 million for Libby's defense. The group, staffed with veteran fundraisers who worked for the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign and other high-profile Republican campaigns, is believed to have raised almost half of that amount already. (Leonnig 2/22/2006) In upcoming days, Slate editor John Dickerson will publish an analysis of the site's efforts, calling it an attempt to "humanize" Libby and portray him as a selfless, innocent victim of government persecution (see February 27, 2006).
David Corn, a Nation editor and co-author of the book Hubris with Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff, reveals the nature of Valerie Plame Wilson's status and duties as a CIA agent in his column. Isikoff and Corn have revealed similar information in their book; both accounts are based on interviews with confidential CIA sources. To answer the question of whether columnist Robert Novak broke the law when he "outed" Plame Wilson as a covert CIA official (see July 14, 2003) depends on whether Plame Wilson was, indeed, an undercover agent. Novak has called her "an analyst, not in covert operations" (see October 1, 2003). Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg has called her a "desk jockey" whose CIA status was common knowledge within Washington (see September 30, 2003). A Republican congressman called her a "glorified secretary" (see September 29, 2003). White House officials have suggested that her employment was no real secret. But according to the research done by Isikoff and Corn, none of that is true. Corn writes: "Valerie Wilson was no analyst or paper-pusher. She was an operations officer working on a top priority of the Bush administration. [Richard] Armitage, [Karl] Rove, and [Lewis] Libby had revealed information about a CIA officer who had searched for proof of the president's case. In doing so, they harmed her career and put at risk operations she had worked on and foreign agents and sources she had handled" (see July 21, 2003, September 27, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, and October 23-24, 2003)). The book also demonstrates that Plame Wilson did not send her husband, Joseph Wilson, on the now-famous trip to Niger as many Bush administration supporters have claimed (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002, February 19, 2002, and July 22, 2003). Isikoff and Corn have verified Plame Wilson's status as a NOC, or "non-official cover" officer, the highest and most clandestine of the CIA's field agents (see Fall 1992 - 1996). Her job as a NOC was to recruit agents and informants for the CIA in foreign countries. After her return to Washington, she joined the counterproliferation division's Iraq desk (see 1997), and eventually headed the operations unit of the CIA's Joint Task Force on Iraq (JTFI), the agency's unit in learning about Iraq's WMD programs (see 2002 and April 2001 and After)—which, Corn writes, was first launched months before the 9/11 attacks. Plame Wilson not only worked on JTFI duties in Washington, but in the Middle East, including a trip to Jordan to determine whether aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq were for conventional missiles or for nuclear centrifuges. When Novak blew her cover, she was preparing to change her clandestine status from NOC to official cover, with plans to eventually return to secret operations. As Corn observes, Novak and the White House officials who leaked the information of her CIA status to him (see September 28, 2003) destroyed her chances of continuing her career, jeopardized the foreign agents and sources she had worked with (see October 3, 2003), and hindered the nation's ability to determine the truth behind the claims of Iraqi WMD. (Corn 9/6/2006)
The US District Court for the District of Columbia awards two seats for bloggers among the journalists who will cover the Lewis Libby trial (see January 16-23, 2007). It is the first time bloggers have been granted this level of access to such a high-profile government court case. The two seats are among the 100 set aside for the media in the courtroom; well over 100 media personnel are expected to descend on the court before the trial starts; the court has set up an "overflow room" for the reporters, cameramen, and other personnel who are not able to get into the courtroom proper. The Media Bloggers Association (MBA) won the right to allow two of its members into the court, and the two seats will rotate among selected members. MBA president Robert Cox says the trial, and the involvement of bloggers covering it, could "catalyze" the association's efforts to win respect and access for bloggers in federal and state courthouses. Thomas Kunkel of the University of Maryland School of Journalism says: "The Internet today is like the American West in the 1880s. It's wild, it's crazy, and everybody's got a gun. There are no rules yet." Cox hopes that the bloggers' participation in the trial coverage may act to codify and legitimize bloggers' news coverage. Sheldon Snook, an administrative assistant to Judge Thomas Hogan (see August 9, 2004 and October 7, 2004), says, "Bloggers can bring a depth of reporting that some traditional media organizations aren't able to achieve because of space and time limitations." Snook also notes that some bloggers bring a welcome expertise in legal or government matters to their reporting. Cox says the bloggers who the MBA will allow into the courtroom will be diverse in nature, with differing political outlooks and from different parts of the nation. "The history of where blogging is going to go is not defined. It could go in a very positive direction or it could go in a very negative direction," Cox says. "We have to do more than just sit on our hands and see what happens." (Sipress 1/11/2007) The liberal political blog FireDogLake (FDL) is also sending a team of bloggers to cover the trial, separately from MBA. Author Marcy Wheeler, who has covered the Libby investigation for FDL and an affiliated blog, The Next Hurrah, will be part of the FDL team, as will former prosecutor Christy Hardin Smith. The FDL bloggers intend to sublet an apartment in Washington, where they will live and work as roommates during the legal proceedings. One FDL member will cover the trial from inside the courtroom, while others will work in the overflow room or via the Internet from the apartment. (Christy Hardin Smith 1/3/2007; Jeralyn Merritt 1/11/2007)
A jury of nine men and three women, along with four alternates, is seated in the Lewis Libby perjury and obstruction trial, selected from an original jury pool of 60 prospects. The jury seating takes days longer than expected, in part because the Libby defense team works to block any jurors who state any disapproval of the Bush administration or its conduct of the Iraq war. Jurors are asked if they had ever applied for a job at the CIA, or know anyone who works for the agency. Some are asked if they know the meaning of the word "covert." One prospective juror says: "A lot of what the CIA does is overtly covert.… My father was a Methodist minister. He didn't run in those circles." US District Judge Reggie Walton asks the potential jurors: "Mr. Libby is the former chief of staff and national security adviser of Vice President Cheney. Do any of you have feelings or opinions about the Bush administration or any of its policies or actions, whether positive or negative, that might affect your ability to give a former member of the Bush administration a fair trial?" Defense lawyer Theodore Wells tells one prospective juror, "There is a real possibility Vice President Cheney will be sitting in that chair," indicating the witness stand. One potential juror responds, "I don't have the highest opinion of him." He continues that he has read a lot about the CIA leak case on Internet blogs and in the newspaper, and calls it "standard Washington politics." After one potential juror tells the court that she voted for President Bush, Fitzgerald tells Walton that he is concerned the questions are getting too political. In the absence of the jurors, Fitzgerald says, "Now we're finding out how people voted." Defense lawyers say that because they intend to call Cheney to testify on Libby's behalf (see December 19, 2006), they don't want jurors who already dislike or distrust Cheney. (Ryan 1/16/2007; Washington Post 7/3/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) Counsel's opening statements take place a week after the jury members begin taking their places (see January 23, 2007 and January 23, 2007).
NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert testifies in the trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby (see January 16-23, 2007), following almost three days of videotaped testimony from Libby (see February 7, 2007). Russert's testimony is virtually identical to statements he previously made to an FBI investigator (see November 24, 2003) and to the Plame Wilson grand jury (see August 7, 2004).
Never Discussed Plame Wilson with Libby - Questioned by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Russert contradicts Libby's 2004 testimony, where Libby said he learned of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson's identity from Russert in July 2003 (see March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004). Russert says that in July 2003 he spoke with Libby, who complained about MSNBC news anchor Chris Matthews's coverage of the Iraq war (see July 10 or 11, 2003). Libby testified that at the end of that phone call, Russert broached the subject of war critic Joseph Wilson and told him that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, saying, "[A]ll the reporters know" that Plame Wilson is a CIA officer. Russert tells the jury: "That would be impossible. I didn't know who that person was until several days later." He adds: "If he had told me [Plame Wilson's identity], I would have asked him how he knew that, why he knew that, what is the relevance of that. And since [it was] a national security issue, my superiors [would] try to pursue it."
Cross-Examination Focuses on Faulty Recollections - Libby's lawyer, Theodore Wells, is skeptical of Russert's denial. "You have the chief of staff of the vice president of the United States on the telephone and you don't ask him one question about it?" he asks. "As a newsperson who's known for being aggressive and going after the facts, you wouldn't have asked him about the biggest stories in the world that week?" Russert replies, "What happened is exactly what I told you." Wells cites a transcript of Russert's initial testimony before the FBI, in which he said he could not rule out discussing Plame Wilson with Libby. Russert says he doesn't believe that is what he told the FBI. Wells asks, "Did you disclose in the affidavit to the court that you had already disclosed the contents of your conversation with Mr. Libby?" Russert attempts to answer, saying, "As I've said, sir…" but Wells cuts him off, saying, "It's a yes or no question." Russert responds, "I'd like to answer it to the best of my ability." Wells says: "This is a very simple question. Either it's in the affidavit or it's not. Did you disclose to the court that you had already communicated to the FBI the fact that you had communicated with Mr. Libby?" Russert answers, "No" (see Late February or Early March, 2004). Wells attempts to raise questions about Russert's ethics and credibility, and implies that Russert wanted to see Libby face charges. In follow-up questioning, Fitzgerald asks Russert, "Did you take joy in Mr. Libby's indictment?" Russert replies: "No, not at all. And I don't take joy in being here" in the courtroom as a witness. During the second day of Russert's testimony, defense lawyers ask why Russert told the FBI about his conversation with Libby, but said he would not testify if subpoenaed; Russert says he viewed the FBI conversation and the subpoena differently. During redirect, Fitzgerald notes that during Libby's grand jury testimony, Libby claimed that he had indeed learned of Plame Wilson's identity from his then-boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, but had forgotten about it, and when Russert told him about Plame Wilson's CIA status, it was as if it were new information to him (see February 6, 2007). (FireDogLake 2/7/2007; FireDogLake 2/7/2007; FireDogLake 2/7/2007; FireDogLake 2/7/2007; FireDogLake 2/7/2007; FireDogLake 2/7/2007; Courson 2/8/2007; Lewis 2/9/2007; Apuzzo 2/9/2007; MSNBC 2/12/2007; MSNBC 2/21/2007) The Associated Press writes: "Wells wants to cast Russert as someone who cannot be believed, who publicly championed the sanctity of off-the-record conversations but privately revealed that information to investigators. Russert said he viewed the FBI conversation and testimony to prosecutors differently." (Apuzzo 2/9/2007)
Potential Mistrial Averted - The jurors are not supposed to read about the trial in the press or watch television coverage of it; resultingly, they are provided newspapers with the pertinent information scissored out. As the jurors enter the courtroom for Russert's second day of testimony, Judge Reggie Walton notes that they were given newspapers with a Washington Post article, headlined "Tim Russert on the Uncomfortable Side of a Question," unredacted. A juror brought the newspaper to the attention of the marshals immediately upon receipt of it, and no juror admits to having read it. Walton rules that no harm has been done, and a potential mistrial is averted. (FireDogLake 2/7/2007)
The defense for accused perjurer Lewis "Scooter" Libby questions Vice President Dick Cheney's national security adviser, John Hannah, who says he worked very closely with Libby while Libby served as Cheney's chief of staff. Hannah testifies that Libby has a poor memory (see January 31, 2006), telling defense lawyer John Cline, "On certain things Scooter had an awful memory." Hannah also says that part of Libby's job as chief of staff to Cheney was to "push back" on any criticism of the vice president such as that leveled by war critic Joseph Wilson (see July 6, 2003). (Lewis and Shane 2/13/2007; Marcy Wheeler 2/13/2007; MSNBC 2/21/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) Hannah says of Libby's memory, "It would often be the case where he was quite good at remembering ideas and concepts and very bad at figuring out how those ideas came to him." Hannah portrays Libby's typical workday as, in the words of the Associated Press, "breakneck," with CIA briefings beginning a long and often hectic workday peppered with top-level meetings. "He was the key person talking about and helping advise the vice president on issues of homeland security," Hannah testifies. Hannah's testimony is key to the defense strategy, helping paint Libby as a man consumed with the duties of an intensely stressful job and therefore prone to make mistakes in recollection, especially about issues such as the identity of a CIA official whose husband is publicly criticizing the government. Hannah is also able to introduce some specifics about the national threats Libby worked to prevent, including terrorism and the problems posed by Iran and Pakistan, without subjecting Libby to cross-examination (see February 12, 2007). When Libby tried to remember things during his hectic workday, Hannah testifies, he often was unable to do so completely. (Apuzzo 2/13/2007; Lewis and Shane 2/13/2007; Marcy Wheeler 2/13/2007; Marcy Wheeler 2/13/2007) Hannah's attempt to paint Libby as overworked and mnemonically challenged is short-lived, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald pins Hannah down in cross-examination. Fitzgerald asks Hannah if it would be accurate to say that because of Libby's crushing work schedule during the week of July 6, 2003, the former chief of staff would have only spent time on things he considered important. "If he gave something an hour or two that week," Fitzgerald asks, "it would be something Mr. Libby thought was important, right?" Hannah agrees. The jury is well aware that Libby spent two hours with New York Times reporter Judith Miller on July 8 of that week (see 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003). Both outed CIA case officer Valerie Plame Wilson and FireDogLake blogger Jane Hamsher will observe, "It was a Perry Mason moment." (Wilson 2007, pp. 290-291; Apuzzo 2/13/2007; Lewis and Shane 2/13/2007; Marcy Wheeler 2/13/2007; Jane Hamsher 2/13/2007) Former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal, the author of a recent book critical of the Bush administration, calls Hannah "Cheney's stand-in, but without Cheney's enormous potential liabilities that might be explored through cross-examination. Hannah's role was to be the first-person witness to buttress Libby's memory defense." (Blumenthal 2/15/2007)
The New York Times publishes a profile of some of the bloggers covering the Lewis Libby trial. The article, by Times reporter Scott Shane, focuses on the team of six writers and researchers who work on a volunteer basis for FireDogLake (FDL), a liberal blog owned by movie producer and author Jane Hamsher. According to Shane, "FireDogLake has offered intensive trial coverage, using some six contributors in rotation," including "a former prosecutor [Christy Hardin Smith], a current defense lawyer [Jeralyn Merritt, who also writes for her own blog, TalkLeft], a Ph.D. business consultant [Marcy Wheeler, who has written a book, Anatomy of Deceit, on the subject]," a blogger who has covered the issue since Valerie Plame Wilson's outing (the pseudonymous "Swopa"), an acknowleged expert on the Iraq/Niger uranium claims (the pseudonymous "eRiposte"), and Hamsher, "all of whom lodge at a Washington apartment rented for the duration of the trial." Their work is so intensive and the bloggers so well-versed in the intricacies of the trial and its surrounding issues that "[m]any mainstream journalists use [FDL's live coverage] to check on the trial."
'Coming of Age' for Bloggers - Shane writes: "For blogs, the Libby trial marks a courthouse coming of age. It is the first federal case for which independent bloggers have been given official credentials along with reporters from the traditional news media" (see Early January, 2007). Robert A. Cox of the Media Bloggers Association says, "My goal is to get judges to think of bloggers as citizen journalists who should get the same protections as other journalists get." Left-leaning bloggers such as those from FDL routinely disparage Libby and other Bush administration members in their writings, Shane notes, while right-wing blogs covering the trial, such as American Thinker, have targeted prosecution witnesses such as Tim Russert (see February 7-8, 2007) for their criticism. Sheldon Snook, the court official in charge of the news media, says the decision to admit bloggers (five to 10 out of the 100 or so reporters present on busy trial days) has worked out well. Snook tells Shane, "It seems they can provide legal analysis and a level of detail that might not be of interest to the general public but certainly has an audience." Shane observes that "the Libby trial bloggers are a throwback to a journalistic style of decades ago, when many reporters made no pretense of political neutrality. Compared with the sober, neutral drudges of the establishment press, the bloggers are class clowns and crusaders, satirists and scolds." Wheeler says covering the trial alongside mainstream reporters has confirmed some of her skepticism about mainstream journalism. "It's shown me the degree to which journalists work together to define the story," she says. "[O]nce the narrative is set on a story, there's no deviating from it." Hamsher, who is battling breast cancer, says of blogging, "There's a snarky, get-under-the-surface-of-things quality to it that's really me." (The Times later notes that the FDL and other bloggers are not the first to cover a federal trial; anti-tobacco activist Gene Borio covered the trial of the federal government's lawsuit against the tobacco industry in 2004.) (Marcy Wheeler 2/8/2007; Shane 2/15/2007)
Countered 'Involved' Mainstream Media - In a contemporaneous interview with US News and World Report, Hamsher says of the mainstream coverage: "The media was having difficulty covering it because they were so involved in it. When the investigation started, Karl Rove's attorney start[ed] putting out all this stuff. And every day the story would change and the blogosphere would document that. We had thousands of people showing up at our site and pointing out that the stories were never consistent. This story had so much information, and so many articles were written that it enabled the blogosphere to take in all of this information. And a cadre of professional people—not kids in their underwear—came together, compared notes, and developed a narrative of the story that was a pushback to the one that was being generated by the powers that be.… Our work on this particular topic has done a lot to defeat the notion that bloggers are fact free." (Christy Hardin Smith 2/15/2007) Salon's progressive blogger Glenn Greenwald calls FDL's trial coverage "intense, comprehensive, and superb.… [T]hey have produced coverage of this clearly significant event—one which has provided rare insight into the inner workings of the Beltway political and journalistic elite—that simply never is, and perhaps cannot be, matched by even our largest national media outlets." He notes that even conservative news outlets such as the National Review have relied on FDL's "liveblogging" of the trial for their reporting. (Greenwald 2/15/2007) Shortly before the article comes out, Wheeler posts: "[T]he importance of having this story be told from a blogger's perspective… is because there is so much about it the mainstream media cannot comfortably report. This story strikes at the core reasons why there are bloggers, why so many readers and writers have decided to invest their time in citizen driven media." (Marcy Wheeler 2/8/2007)
Presiding Judge Treats Bloggers as Professionals - Smith writes: "For the record, Judge Walton's entire staff and all the folks at the courthouse have been wonderful throughout the entire process. From the first day forward, our whole team of bloggers were treated like every other professional covering the case—there was no distinction made, no patronizing attitude, just the same treatment for all of us. The amount of work that has gone into covering this case has been astronomical—the live blogging, the courtroom observations, the late night analysis, all the IMs [instant messages] and phone calls to cross-check details—you name it. But so worth it, still, to get the entire story out and not just blurbs and bits. And I cannot thank Judge Walton and his staff enough for giving us this opportunity. Truly."
Error in Reporting Corrected - Smith corrects an error in Shane's reporting, noting that the Media Bloggers Association did not negotiate their media passes to gain admittance to the courtroom; that was done largely by Hamsher and the other FDL contributors, with assistance from author and fellow blogger Arianna Huffington. (Christy Hardin Smith 2/15/2007)
Media responses to the closing arguments in the Libby trial (see 9:00 a.m. February 20, 2007, 11:00 a.m. February 20, 2007, and 3:00 p.m. February 20, 2007) are strong and varied.
'Strongest Arguments Yet' of Cheney's Complicity - New York Sun reporter Josh Gerstein writes that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's "explosive" statements were his "strongest arguments yet" that Vice President Dick Cheney directed former chief of staff Lewis Libby to out CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson. Libby was "not supposed to be talking to other people," Fitzgerald said. "The only person he told is the vice president.… Think about that." (Gerstein 2/21/2007)
Fitzgerald Put 'Vice President on Trial' - Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff writes, "Fitzgerald pretty much made it clear to the jury that Libby, in the prosecution's mind, was protecting the vice president of the United States." Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News adds: "I think Fitzgerald and his fellow prosecutors put the vice president on trial, even though he was not charged with anything. But he was very much front and center in this trial from start to finish." (Froomkin 2/21/2007)
Fitzgerald 'Sinister,' 'Overcaffeinated'; Wells 'Erratic' - Conservative columnist Byron York is somewhat taken aback at Fitzgerald's focus on Cheney, calling Fitzgerald "quite sinister" in his statements about Cheney's apparent complicity in the leak. York sums up the two sides' arguments and presentational styles. He calls both sides "uneven," and says that defense attorney Theodore Wells's performance "was erratic, sometimes appearing to defend his own honor more than his client's, and sometimes brilliantly dismantling the credibility of key prosecution witnesses." York writes that Fitzgerald "seemed overcaffeinated and overreaching, perhaps overwhelming the jury with the minutiae of the case." He concludes, "How their closing summations will play with jurors is anybody's guess." (York 2/21/2007)
Praise for Wells - The Washington Post's Linton Weeks is more complimentary of Well's closing statement. Weeks's analysis of Wells's close is similar to the glowing profile published by the New York Times earlier in the trial (see February 10, 2007). He portrays Wells as "tall, athletic, mustachioed—like a fighter imaging the bout to come," and possessed of "an inner toughness of someone who will use any combination of punches to win big." He notes that Wells paused during the proceedings to check on his elderly mother, watching her son from a wheelchair in the courtroom aisle. Though Weeks writes that Wells had "moments [that] seemed out of sync," hurrying through a PowerPoint slide presentation, "[a]t other times, he was impressive, trying to convince the jury that the prosecution was attempting to ruin Libby based on a few conversations with reporters." Weeks quotes one of Wells's colleagues, Washington lawyer Stanley Brand, as saying Wells "has a wonderful demeanor… a master tactician… a bulldog, but in a gentle way." Brand calls Wells "one of the five best trial lawyers in the country." Weeks then spins an admiring biography of the "tough defense attorney who has mastered the balance between easygoing and hard-charging," and uses Wells's high school and college football career upon which to hang his final metaphor: "There in the middle of the courtroom, Wells was playing center again, helping call the plays and protecting the guy with the ball. Laughing in the beginning, crying in the end." (Weeks 2/21/2007)
Sincere and Insincere Emotions - Author Marcy Wheeler, writing for the blog FireDogLake (see February 15, 2007), says that assistant prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg baited Wells into going into a sincere rage at the beginning of his argument. In the first portion of the prosecution's close, Zeidenberg told the jury that Wells had not proven the White House conspiracy he alleged, and, Wheeler writes, Wells spent the first 20 minutes of his closing argument defending his trial strategy. "This was real rage," she writes, "but it was rage in the service of Ted Wells, not rage in the service of Scooter Libby." By goading Wells into losing his composure and defending his own actions, Wheeler writes, Wells was forced to rush his climactic argument. Wheeler says that Wells "really does have a schtick, one that the journalists who have seen him before all recognize. He finishes the rational part of his case. Then he spends the last 20 minutes or so summoning rage for his client. He brings all the emotion summoned for his client to a crescendo. And then he weeps, demonstrating clearly to the jury how deeply he believes that his client has been wronged." But because Wells wasted the first 20 minutes defending his own actions, he "had no time to get into character, and he went immediately from a rushed but rational argument about memory into his emotional appeal.… [C]ompared to the real rage Wells had shown earlier in the day, it looked fake. Utterly, completely fake. Because Wells reacted to Zeidenberg's barbs, he showed the jury true emotion that made all his elaborate schtick—the thing that Wells does best, normally—look like an act." Moreover, Fitzgerald was able to mock the outrage that Wheeler believes to be "schtick" (see 3:00 p.m. February 20, 2007) all the more effectively because he almost never raised his voice or displayed any passion throughout the trial. (Marcy Wheeler 2/21/2007)
Facts vs. Emotion - Sidney Blumenthal, a former Clinton administration adviser who has written a book critical of the Bush administration, writes that the prosecution depended largely on a structure of facts and evidence, while the defense relied much more on emotional appeals to the jury. He writes, "[T]he final argument on behalf of Scooter Libby was Libby's last disinformation campaign." Of the defense's attacks on the credibility of news reports and the journalists who make them, Blumenthal writes: "This extraordinary defense—that nothing in any newspaper can be considered true—was the reductio ad absurdum of the Bush administration's use and abuse of the press corps. Having manipulated it to plant stories on weapons of mass destruction to legitimize the Iraq war, Libby, who was centrally involved in those disinformation efforts, was reduced to defending himself on the basis that newspapers cannot be trusted to publish the truth." Of Fitzgerald's pronouncement of a "cloud" over Cheney, Blumenthal writes that "Fitzgerald made clear that he believed that Cheney was the one behind the crime for which he was prosecuting Libby. It was Cheney who was the boss, Cheney who gave the orders, and Cheney to whom Libby was the loyal soldier, and it is Cheney for whom Libby is covering up." (Blumenthal 2/22/2007)
The jury in the Lewis Libby perjury and obstruction trial alerts Judge Reggie Walton that it expects to work into next week before delivering a verdict. The jurors ask Walton for a dictionary, office supplies, and Friday afternoon off. Walton denies the dictionary request but grants the other two. "So I assume they will not have a verdict tomorrow either," Walton tells lawyers for both the prosecution and defense. Earlier in the day, the jurors asked Walton for a large flip chart, masking tape, Post-It notes, a large easel-sized Post-It pad, and pictures of the various witnesses, apparently to construct their own visual aids. Walton will say he denied the dictionary request because definitions of common words can often have legal implications. Instead, he tells the jurors to ask him directly if they have questions about word or phrase meanings. (Sniffen 3/1/2007)
A jury finds former White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby guilty of multiple felonies relating to his divulging the identity of former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity to the press (see June 23, 2003, 8:30 a.m. July 8, 2003, and Late Afternoon, July 12, 2003). Libby is found guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements, and one count of obstruction of justice. He is acquitted of one count of lying to the FBI, Count Three of the charges. (US District Court for the District of Columbia 3/6/2007 ; Marcy Wheeler 3/6/2007; Washington Post 7/3/2007; BBC 7/3/2007)
No Further Charges - The Associated Press writes, "The trial revealed how top members of the Bush administration were eager to discredit Plame [Wilson]'s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the administration of doctoring prewar intelligence on Iraq." Libby remains expressionless during the reading of the verdicts, but his wife sobs and lowers her head as the verdicts are announced. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says no additional charges pertaining to the Plame Wilson leak investigation will be filed. "The results are actually sad," Fitzgerald tells reporters. "It's sad that we had a situation where a high-level official person who worked in the office of the vice president obstructed justice and lied under oath. We wish that it had not happened, but it did." Fitzgerald adds that Libby, by lying and obstructing justice, harmed the process of law, and made it more difficult to find out who actually did what in the Plame Wilson leak. (Apuzzo and Sniffen 3/6/2007; Christy Hardin Smith 3/6/2007)
Libby the 'Fall Guy'; Memory Defense Implausible - Libby will be sentenced to 30 months in prison (see June 5, 2007). One juror, Denis Collins, tells reporters that he and his fellow jurors found passing judgment on Libby "unpleasant," but that in final consideration, Libby's story was too difficult to believe. Collins, a former Washington Post reporter, tells reporters that the jurors had constructed 34 poster-sized pages filled with information they distilled from the trial testimony (see March 1, 2007). They determined that Libby had been told about Plame Wilson's CIA status at least nine different times, and could not accept the defense's argument that he forgot about knowing it (see January 31, 2006). "Even if he forgot that someone told him about Mrs. Wilson, who had told him, it seemed very unlikely he would not have remembered about Mrs. Wilson," Collins says. But, Collins goes on to say, the jurors believe there is more to the story than Libby's criminal behavior. "We're not saying we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty," Collins says, "but it seemed like… he was the fall guy" for Vice President Dick Cheney, his former boss. Collins says the jurors felt "a tremendous amount of sympathy" for Libby, and wondered why they were not hearing from other White House officials in Libby's defense, particularly Cheney and Bush political strategist Karl Rove. "It was said a number of times: 'What are we doing with this guy here? Where's Rove? Where are these other guys?'" He says that the testimony of Cheney aide John Hannah was particularly hurtful to Libby's case (see February 13, 2007), with Hannah seesawing between claiming Libby had an "awful" memory (see January 31, 2006) and then saying he had an incredible grasp of minute details. Collins describes the jury as "dispassionate" in its deliberations, and adds that it took the jury over a week to conclude Libby was guilty of any charges. He says that one juror held out for Libby's innocence on Count Three, based on reasonable doubt; otherwise the entire jury was unanimous for Libby's guilt. Fitzgerald says that because Libby lied to both FBI investigators and the grand jury investigating the Plame Wilson identity leak, it became impossible to fully investigate Cheney's role in leaking Plame Wilson's covert identity. (Apuzzo and Sniffen 3/6/2007; Jane Hamsher 3/6/2007; Marcy Wheeler 3/6/2007; Waas 12/23/2008) In her 2007 book Fair Game, Plame Wilson will reflect, "[I]t seemed that Libby's defense tactic of casting him as a 'scapegoat' (see January 16-23, 2007) had worked, but not in the way they had intended." (Wilson 2007, pp. 294-295)
New Trial? - Libby's defense attorney, Theodore Wells, says he will request a new trial—something the BBC will call "a common tactic"—and if it is denied, Wells says he will appeal the verdict. Libby is fingerprinted and released on his own recognizance to await sentencing. (Christy Hardin Smith 3/6/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) "We have every confidence Mr. Libby ultimately will be vindicated," Wells tells reporters. "We believe Mr. Libby is totally innocent and that he didn't do anything wrong." (Apuzzo and Sniffen 3/6/2007)
Weeping with Relief - Plame Wilson will recall watching the news on television: "To say I was a bundle of nerves—it felt like I needed two hands to stir the milk in my coffee—would be an understatement." When the verdicts are read, she begins to "cry with relief," and immediately calls her husband Joseph Wilson. His response: "Thank God. The charge of obstruction of justice was the most important." Of her own feelings, Plame Wilson will write, "My feelings of deep sadness over the entire affair were tempered by relief that our justice system still worked as intended." (Wilson 2007, pp. 294-295)
White House Response - White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino says President Bush watched news of the verdict on television in the Oval Office. Perino says the president respects the jury's verdict but "was saddened for Scooter Libby and his family." Perino says the verdict should not be construed as in any way embarrassing for the White House: "I think that any administration that has to go through a prolonged news story that is unpleasant and one that is difficult—when you're under the constraints and the policy of not commenting on an ongoing criminal matter—that can be very frustrating." (Apuzzo and Sniffen 3/6/2007)
Speaking of the conviction of former White House official Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007), former Justice Department prosecutor Guy Singer says: "A conviction at that high level within the White House is almost unheard of in our history. It is exceedingly rare that a prosecution is initiated, let alone concluded, at this level. For such a high-ranking member to be convicted of obstructing justice is really astounding." (Schmitt and Miller 3/7/2007)
The lawyers for convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007) are preparing a request for a new trial for their client. Meanwhile, the White House is working to lower expectations for a presidential pardon for Libby, as many conservative pundits and publications have demanded (see March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, and March 7, 2007). Democrats are demanding that Libby not be pardoned (see March 6, 2007). President Bush, speaking to CNN En Espanol, says: "This was a lengthy trial on a serious matter, and a jury of his peers convicted him. And we've got to respect that conviction.… On a personal note, I was sad. I was sad for a man who had worked in my administration, and particularly sad for his family." Bush refuses to say anything else because the issue is an "ongoing legal matter." White House press secretary Tony Snow says: "All of this conversation, speculation about a pardon, I know, makes for interesting speculation, but it's just that. Right now, Scooter Libby and his attorneys have made clear that they're going to try to get a retrial and if they don't get that, they're going to get an appeal." Snow says Bush is "careful" about awarding pardons. "These are not things to be treated blithely," he says, adding that Bush takes the pardon process very seriously. "He wants to make sure that anybody who receives one—that it's warranted, but I would caution against any speculation in this case." One Libby trial juror, Ann Redington, says she supports the idea of a pardon, even though she was part of a unanimous decision to convict Libby of four felony counts. "It kind of bothers me that there was this whole big crime being investigated and he got caught up in the investigation as opposed to in the actual crime that was supposedly committed," Redington says during an MSNBC interview. Libby's lawyer William Jeffress says the lawyers are preparing a request for a new trial; the Associated Press observes that such requests are common and are rarely granted. Joseph Wilson, whose wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was exposed as a covert CIA official by Libby and other White House officials, praises the verdict. "Convicting him of perjury was like convicting Al Capone of tax evasion or Alger Hiss of perjury," Wilson says. "It doesn't mean they were not guilty of other crimes." (Apuzzo and Sniffen 3/8/2007)
Washington Times editor Wesley Pruden calls on President Bush to immediately pardon convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007), calling Libby's prosecution "malicious" and Patrick Fitzgerald a "rogue prosecutor." Bush could turn the guilty verdict "into a Democratic debacle" by "appealing successfully to the American spirit of fair play." Pruden asserts, without evidence, that the jury has said "they had to put clothespins on their noses to return guilty verdicts." But Bush, like other Republican presidents, lacks boldness, and makes the perpetual mistake of being too "nice" to "the enemy," the Democrats. Once Bush explains his pardon to the American citizenry, "they would applaud settling the account," Pruden writes. The only criminals in the entire affair are Fitzgerald and "the judges who let him get away with" prosecuting Libby. Pruden lambasts Republicans such as Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) who counsel caution about issuing a pardon. Pruden concludes, "A pardon, now, would right a grievous government wrong." (Pruden 3/9/2007)
Syndicated columnist Linda Chavez extends the recent spate of conservative attacks on the integrity of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the aftermath of the Lewis Libby trial verdict (see March 6, 2007). Echoing columns by other conservative pundits and editorial boards (see March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, and March 9, 2007), Chavez accuses Fitzgerald and even "some jury members" of having inappropriate "motivations" to wreak harm on Libby's former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney. Fitzgerald was either a deliberate or an unwitting tool of "virtually everyone on the left and much of the press" to pursue the leak of official Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA status in an attempt to go after Cheney, a pursuit Chavez calls a "vendetta." Chavez concludes: "It is clear that from the beginning, Fitzgerald's only interest was in directly implicating the vice president in the leak. When he was unable to do so, he decided to punish Scooter Libby for protecting his boss." (Chavez 3/11/2007) Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Steyn joins Chavez in denouncing Fitzgerald, calling the prosecution "perverse" and a "mockery" of justice, and accusing Fitzgerald of deliberately attempting to besmirch the White House by prosecuting Libby. He concludes by saying that Fitzgerald's conduct during the entire investigation and trial was a "disgrace." (Steyn 3/11/2007)
A CNN/Opinion Research poll shows that almost 70 percent of Americans believe the president should not pardon convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007). The results show that 69 percent oppose a pardon and 18 percent favor a pardon. Also, 52 percent believe that Libby's former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, was involved in covering up the Valerie Plame Wilson identity leak. Twenty-nine percent disagree. (CNN 3/12/2007) A poll published four days later by Gallup shows that 67 percent of those polled believe President Bush should not pardon Libby, and 21 percent believe that he should. The Gallup poll shows that 34 percent of Republicans support a pardon, along with 21 percent of independents and 11 percent of Democrats. (Jones 3/16/2007) Hours after the CNN poll comes out, NBC reporter and MSNBC commentator Andrea Mitchell, who was tangentially involved in the Libby case (see October 3, 2003 and February 12, 2007), tells a viewing audience: "[P]olling… indicates that most people think, in fact, that he should be pardoned. Scooter Libby should be pardoned." (Eschaton 3/12/2007)
The House Oversight Committee holds a hearing about the ramifications of the Lewis Libby guilty verdict (see March 6, 2007) and the outing of former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003). Plame Wilson is the star witness, and for the first time publicly discusses the leak and her former status as a covert agent. As earlier revealed by authors Michael Isikoff and David Corn in their book Hubris, Plame Wilson was the covert operations chief for the Joint Task Force on Iraq (JTFI), a section of the CIA's Counterproliferation Division (CPD), which itself is part of the agency's clandestine operations directorate. Indeed, as Libby special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has already stated, the fact of her employment with the CIA was itself classified information (see October 28, 2005). (Wilson 2007, pp. 299; Pitney 3/16/2007; Corn 3/19/2007)
Republican Attempts to Close Hearing Fail - Tom Davis (R-VA), the committee's ranking Republican, attempts to close Plame Wilson's testimony to the public on the grounds that her statements might threaten national security. "It would be with great reluctance, but we have to protect confidential information," he says. Politico reporter John Bresnahan describes Davis as "clearly unhappy that the hearing is taking place at all, so his threat has to be viewed in that context." Davis goes on to say: "We are mining something that has been thoroughly looked into. There are so many other areas where [Congressional] oversight needs to be conducted instead of the Plame thing." The hearing will remain open to the public. (Bresnahan 3/14/2007)
Pre-Testimony Jitters - In her book Fair Game, Plame Wilson recalls the jitters she experiences in the hours leading up to her appearance before the committee. She had tried, in the days before the hearing, "to think of every possible question the committee could throw at me.… I had to be sharp to avoid giving any information that the CIA would deem sensitive or classified. It was a minefield." She is relieved to learn that CIA Director Michael Hayden has met with committee staffers and, she will write, "explicitly approved the use of the term 'covert' in describing my cover status." She will write that though she still cannot confirm the length of her service with the CIA, she can "at least counter those who had suggested over the last few years that I was no more than a 'glorified secretary'" (see Fall 1985, Fall 1989, Fall 1992 - 1996, and April 2001 and After). (Wilson 2007, pp. 299)
CIA Confirmed Plame Wilson's Covert Status - Before Plame Wilson testifies, committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) reads a statement saying that she had been a "covert" officer" who had "served at various times overseas" and "worked on the prevention of the development and use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States." Waxman notes that the CIA had cleared this statement. And during subsequent questioning, committee member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) reports that Hayden had told him, "Ms. Wilson was covert." (Corn 3/16/2007; Pitney 3/16/2007; FireDogLake 3/16/2007; Christy Hardin Smith 3/16/2007)
Confirms Her Status in CPD - Plame Wilson testifies that she is still bound by secrecy oaths and cannot reveal many of the specifics of her CIA career. However, she testifies, "I served the United States of America loyally and to the best of my ability as a covert operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency." She says, "In the run-up to the war with Iraq, I worked in the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA, still as a covert officer whose affiliation with the CIA was classified." She also notes that she helped to "manage and run secret worldwide operations." Prior to the Iraq war, she testifies, she had "raced to discover intelligence" on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. "While I helped to manage and run secret worldwide operations against this WMD target from CIA headquarters in Washington, I also traveled to foreign countries on secret missions to find vital intelligence." Those trips had occurred within the last five years, she says, contradicting arguments that she had not functioned as a covert agent within the last five years and therefore those who revealed her identity could not be held legally accountable (see February 18, 2007). "Covert operations officers, when they rotate back for temporary assignment in Washington, are still covert," she says. Furthermore, far from her identity as a CIA agent being "common knowledge on the Georgetown cocktail circuit," as some have alleged (see September 30, 2003, July 12, 2004, and March 16, 2007), she testifies that she can "count on one hand" the number of people outside the agency who knew of her CIA status before her outing by White House officials. "But, all of my efforts on behalf of the national security of the United States, all of my training, and all of the value of my years service were abruptly ended when my name and identity were exposed irresponsibly." (Wilson 2007, pp. 300-302; Corn 3/16/2007; Stein 3/16/2007) During this portion of testimony, Davis repeats an assertion that neither President Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney were aware of Plame Wilson's covert status during the time of her exposure. (FireDogLake 3/16/2007)
'They Should Have Been Diligent in Protecting Me and Other CIA Officers' - Plame Wilson testifies that, as the Libby trial progressed, she was "shocked and dismayed by the evidence that emerged. My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior government officials in both the White House and the State Department. All of them understood that I worked for the CIA, and having signed oaths to protect national security secrets, they should have been diligent in protecting me and every CIA officer." Many agents in CPD are covert, she says, and thusly, officials such as Cheney and Libby, who knew she worked in that division, should have been careful in spreading information about her.
'Grave' Damage to National Security - Plame Wilson says she cannot be specific about what kind of damage was done by her identity being revealed (see Before September 16, 2003, October 3, 2003, October 11, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, October 23-24, 2003, October 29, 2005, and February 13, 2006); the CIA did perform a damage assessment, but did not share the results with her, and that assessment is classified (see Before September 16, 2003). "But the concept is obvious," she says. "Not only have breaches of national security endangered CIA officers, it has jeopardized and even destroyed entire networks of foreign agents who in turn risked their own lives and those of their families—to provide the United States with needed intelligence. Lives are literally at stake. Every single one of my former CIA colleagues, from my fellow covert officers, to analysts, to technical operations officers, to even the secretaries, understands the vulnerability of our officers and recognizes that the travesty of what happened to me, could happen to them. We in the CIA always know that we might be exposed and threatened by foreign enemies. It was a terrible irony that administration officials were the ones who destroyed my cover… for purely political motives." (Wilson 2007, pp. 300-302; Corn 3/16/2007) She refuses to speculate as to the intentions of White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove in exposing her identity (see July 10, 2005). (FireDogLake 3/16/2007)
Politicization of Intelligence Dangerous, Counterproductive - Plame Wilson decries the increasingly partisan politicization of intelligence gathering and presentation under the Bush regime, saying: "The tradecraft of intelligence is not a product of speculation. I feel passionately as an intelligence professional about the creeping, insidious politicizing of our intelligence process. All intelligence professionals are dedicated to the ideal that they would rather be fired on the spot than distort the facts to fit a political view—any political view—or any ideology.… [I]njecting partisanship or ideology into the equation makes effective and accurate intelligence that much more difficult to develop. Politics and ideology must be stripped completely from our intelligence services, or the consequences will be even more severe than they have been and our country placed in even greater danger. It is imperative for any president to be able to make decisions based on intelligence that is unbiased." (Wilson 2007, pp. 300-302; Corn 3/16/2007)
No Role in Deciding to Send Husband to Niger - Plame Wilson discusses the persistent rumors that she dispatched her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium from that country (see February 21, 2002-March 4, 2002). Such rumors imply that Wilson was unqualified for the mission, and was sent by his wife for reasons having to do with partisan politics and nepotism (see July 9, 2004). Plame Wilson testifies that she had no authority to send her husband anywhere under CIA auspices, that it was a co-worker's suggestion, not hers, to send her husband (see February 19, 2002, July 22, 2003, October 17, 2003, and July 20, 2005), and that her participation was limited to writing a note outlining her husband's qualifications for such a fact-finding mission (see Fall 1999 and February 13, 2002). She testifies that a colleague had been misquoted in an earlier Senate Intelligence Committee report in saying that she proposed her husband for the trip, and that this colleague was not permitted to correct the record. (FireDogLake 3/16/2007; Corn 3/16/2007; Corn 3/19/2007)
Further Investigation Warranted - After Plame Wilson concludes her testimony, Waxman declares: "We need an investigation. This is not about Scooter Libby and not just about Valerie Plame Wilson." Journalist David Corn concurs: "Waxman was right in that the Libby trial did not answer all the questions about the leak affair, especially those about the roles of Bush administration officials other than Libby. How did Cheney learn of Valerie Wilson's employment at the Counterproliferation Division and what did he do with that information? How did Karl Rove learn of her CIA connection? How did Rove manage to keep his job after the White House declared anyone involved in the leak would be fired?… What did Bush know about Cheney's and Rove's actions? What did Bush do in response to the disclosure that Rove had leaked and had falsely claimed to White House press secretary Scott McClellan that he wasn't involved in the leak?" Republican committee members are less sanguine about the prospect of such an investigation, with Davis noting that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had already conducted an investigation of the leak. Corn writes: "Not all wrongdoing in Washington is criminal. Valerie Wilson's presence at the hearing was a reminder that White House officials (beyond Libby) engaged in improper conduct (which possibly threatened national security) and lied about it—while their comrades in the commentariat spinned away to distort the public debate." (Corn 3/16/2007; Corn 3/19/2007)
Former representative and Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp (R-NY) recommends that President Bush pardon convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007). Kemp's column, printed in the conservative Web publication Town Hall, is not as vociferous in its condemnation of the Libby perjury trial and special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald as some published by his conservative colleagues (see March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, March 9, 2007, and March 11, 2007). Kemp begins his column by telling his readers that two jurors in the trial, Ann Redington and Denis Collins, have "endors[ed] a pardon," quoting Redington from her interview on MSNBC's Hardball (see March 8, 2007) and Collins from a column by the New York Times's Maureen Dowd (Collins's "endorsement" was a tepid "I would really not care" when asked if he would support a pardon for Libby—see March 8, 2007). Kemp writes of a pardon, "It's the right thing to do and it's the right thing to do now—anything less makes a travesty of our system of justice." Kemp echoes his colleagues' arguments that Fitzgerald prosecuted Libby for political reasons, particularly in an attempt to target Vice President Dick Cheney. He then notes that two previous presidents, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have pardoned government officials who were targeted by special prosecutors—Bush in his pardon of convicted Iran-Contra conspirator Caspar Weinberger (see December 25, 1992) and Clinton's pre-emptive pardon of then-CIA Director John Deutch, who was under investigation for mishandling classified information on his home computer. Weinberger was facing the possibility of years of jail time; Deutch was negotiating with prosecutors for a guilty plea to a single misdemeanor charge. Kemp repeats debunked charges that the CIA did not treat Valerie Plame Wilson's status as either classified or particularly sensitive (see Fall 1992 - 1996, Late 1990s-2001 and Possibly After, April 22, 1999, (July 11, 2003), Before July 14, 2003, July 22, 2003, July 30, 2003, September 30, 2003, October 11, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, January 9, 2006, February 13, 2006, September 6, 2006, and March 16, 2007) and also repeats his colleagues' charges that the government's witnesses had no better memories of key events than did Libby. Kemp concludes: "Most prosecutors would walk away from such a case—a case based on a faulty premise and focused on faulty memories months after the fact. President Bush would be well within presidential authority and past presidential practice if he were to rectify this travesty in the near future. My hope is he pardons Libby now!" (Kemp 4/3/2007)
Convicted felon Lewis Libby decides not to ask for a new trial (see March 6, 2007), but says he intends to appeal his conviction to a federal appeals court. (CBS News 1/25/2007)
Bush officials are battling a lawsuit filed against them by former CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson, according to a report by the Associated Press. Plame Wilson is suing (see July 13, 2006) four Bush administration officials—Vice President Dick Cheney (see July 7-8, 2003), White House political strategist Karl Rove (see July 8, 2003 and 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003), convicted perjurer Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007), and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (see June 13, 2003)—for deliberately disclosing her identity as a CIA official to the public for political gain. Cheney's lawyer calls the lawsuit "a fishing expedition" and accuses Plame Wilson of making "fanciful claims." Plame Wilson says her constitutional rights were violated by the defendants. Armitage's lawyer says the suit is "principally based on a desire for publicity and book deals." Plame Wilson's lawyer counters by saying the case is "about egregious conduct by defendants that ruined a woman's career." Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, arguing on behalf of all four defendants, says that none of the officials deliberately disclosed classified information, specifically the information of Plame Wilson's covert status in the CIA. The defendants' lawyers claim that they should not be sued personally for actions taken as part of their official duties. And a Justice Department lawyer claims that Cheney should have much the same legal immunity as President Bush. (Associated Press 5/17/2007) The lawsuit will soon be dismissed (see July 19, 2007).
Patrick Fitzgerald, who successfully prosecuted former Bush administraton official Lewis Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements (see March 6, 2007), recommends 30 to 37 months in prison for Libby's jail sentence. In a court filing with Judge Reggie Walton, Fitzgerald notes that the Libby defense called Libby's prosecution "unwarranted, unjust, and motivated by politics," and Libby's supporters (see February 21, 2006) continue to do so.
Libby Chose to Lie - To address this charge, Fitzgerald goes back through the investigation and notes that Libby, a lawyer himself, fully understood his obligations as a government witness. "He, of course, could have told the truth, even if, as was the case for many other witnesses, doing so risked the possibility of criminal prosecution, or personal or political embarrassment," Fitzgerald writes. "He also could have declined to speak to the FBI agents, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before the grand jury, or challenged any lines of inquiry he believed improper. And the evidence at trial showed that Mr. Libby had access to counsel and had adequate time to review relevant documents and contemplate his conduct before he testified. Regrettably, Mr. Libby chose the one option that the law prohibited: he lied. He lied repeatedly to FBI agents and in sworn grand jury testimony, and he lied about multiple facts central to an assessment of his role in the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's CIA employment. He lied about when he learned of [Valerie Plame Wilson's] CIA employment, about how he learned of her CIA employment, about who he told of her CIA employment, and about what he said when he disclosed it. In short, Mr. Libby lied about nearly everything that mattered." Libby's choice to lie, Fitzgerald goes on to note, made it impossible to discover "the role that Mr. Libby and those with whom he worked played in the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's information regarding CIA employment and about the motivations for their actions.… Mr. Libby's lies corrupted a truth-seeking process with respect to an important investigation, and on behalf of which many others subordinated important public, professional, and personal interests. To minimize the seriousness of Mr. Libby's conduct would deprecate the value that the judicial system places on the truthfulness of witnesses, and tempt future witnesses who face similar obligations to tell the truth to question the wisdom and necessity of doing so." Fitzgerald notes that Libby "has expressed no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, and no recognition that there is anything he should have done differently—either with respect to his false statements and testimony, or his role in providing reporters with classified information about Ms. Wilson's affiliation with the CIA."
Justifies Libby's Prosecution when Other Leakers Not Prosecuted - Fitzgerald counters the arguments that because only Libby, and not all three proven leakers (see October 2, 2003 and February 2004), was prosecuted, his prosecution was somehow invalid. The other leakers, Richard Armitage and Karl Rove, eventually admitted to leaking Plame Wilson's name to the press. Libby consistently lied about his leaks. "To accept the argument that Mr. Libby's prosecution is the inappropriate product of an investigation that should have been closed at an early stage," Fitzgerald writes, "one must accept the proposition that the investigation should have been closed after at least three high-ranking government officials were identified as having disclosed to reporters classified information about covert agent Valerie Wilson, where the account of one of them was directly contradicted by other witnesses, where there was reason to believe that some of the relevant activity may have been coordinated, and where there was an indication from Mr. Libby himself that his disclosures to the press may have been personally sanctioned by the vice president. To state this claim is to refute it. Peremptorily closing this investigation in the face of the information available at its early stages would have been a dereliction of duty, and would have afforded Mr. Libby and others preferential treatment not accorded to ordinary persons implicated in criminal investigations."
States that Prosecution Knew Plame Wilson Was Covert from Outset - Fitzgerald also says what he was unable to say directly in the trial, that "it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute… as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press." Fitzgerald explains that he chose not to charge Libby with outing a covert intelligence agent in part because Libby's lies, and presumably the obfuscatory and contradictory statements of other Bush administration officials, made it difficult to prove beyond doubt that Libby knew Plame Wilson was a covert agent when he exposed her as a CIA official. "On the other hand, there was clear proof of perjury and obstruction of justice which could be prosecuted in a relatively straightforward trial."
No Justification for Leniency - "In light of the foregoing," Fitzgerald writes, "the assertions offered in mitigation are consistent with an effort by Mr. Libby's supporters to shift blame away from Mr. Libby for his illegal conduct and onto those who investigated and prosecuted Mr. Libby for unexplained 'political' reasons (see March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, March 9, 2007, and March 11, 2007). The assertions provide no basis for Mr. Libby to receive a reduced sentence.… While the disappointment of Mr. Libby's friends and supporters is understandable, it is inappropriate to deride the judicial process as 'politics at its worst' on behalf of a defendant who, the evidence has established beyond a reasonable doubt, showed contempt for the judicial process when he obstructed justice by repeatedly lying under oath about material matters in a serious criminal investigation.… Mr. Libby's prosecution was based not upon politics but upon his own conduct, as well as upon a principle fundamental to preserving our judicial system's independence from politics: that any witness, whatever his political affiliation, whatever his views on any policy or national issue, whether he works in the White House or drives a truck to earn a living, must tell the truth when he raises his hand and takes an oath in a judicial proceeding or gives a statement to federal law enforcement officers. The judicial system has not corruptly mistreated Mr. Libby; Mr. Libby has been found by a jury of his peers to have corrupted the judicial system." (US District Court for the District of Columbia 5/30/2007)
Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison - Libby will be sentenced to 30 months in prison (see June 5, 2007), but will have his sentence commuted before he serves any time (see July 2, 2007).
Writing in anticipation of a judicial sentence for convicted felon Lewis Libby, columnist Byron York publishes a column in the conservative National Review criticizing the sentencing recommendation made by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Though Libby could theoretically be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for his four felony convictions (see March 6, 2007), Fitzgerald is asking Judge Reggie Walton to sentence him to 30-37 months in jail (see May 25, 2007), appropriate, Fitzgerald says, because of the seriousness of the investigation which he obstructed. York argues that Fitzgerald never proved anyone in the White House violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, but in his recommendation Fitzgerald argues that his grand jury "obtained substantial evidence indicating that one or both of the… statutes may have been violated." York states that Fitzgerald is asking Walton to sentence Libby as if he had indeed committed such a violation: "Because the investigation defendant was convicted of endeavoring to obstruct focused on violations of the IIPA and the Espionage Act, the court much calculate defendant's offense level by reference to the guidelines applicable to such violations." York argues that because Fitzgerald was never able to prove that any violations of either the IIPA or the Espionage Act were committed, Walton cannot sentence Libby in light of his obstruction of that investigation. York says that a pre-sentencing report poses a different view: As quoted in Fitzgerald's brief, the report states, "The criminal offense would have to be established by a preponderance of the evidence [but] the defendant was neither charged nor convicted of any crime involving the leaking of [Valerie Plame Wilson's] 'covert' status." The pre-sentencing report therefore supports a lighter sentence. Fitzgerald continues, "The reasons why Mr. Libby was not charged with an offense directly relating to his unauthorized disclosures of classified information regarding Ms. Wilson included, but were not limited to, the fact that Mr. Libby's false testimony obscured a confident determination of what in fact occurred, particularly where the accounts of the reporters with whom Mr. Libby spoke (and their notes) did not include any explicit evidence specifically proving that Mr. Libby knew that Ms. Wilson was a covert agent." (York 5/29/2007) Libby will be sentenced to 30 months in prison (see June 5, 2007), but will have his sentence commuted before he serves any time (see July 2, 2007).
Friends of convicted felon Lewis Libby fear that when Judge Reggie Walton sentences Libby (see June 5, 2007), Libby will be sent directly to jail. A member of the Libby Legal Defense Trust (see February 21, 2006) says, "I think that he will get some jail time and probably be sent away that day." (US News and World Report 5/30/2007)
Judge Reggie Walton, who presided over the Lewis Libby perjury trial (see March 6, 2007), says in the interest of transparency he will release the more than 150 letters he has received regarding Libby's upcoming sentencing (see May 25, 2007 and June 5, 2007). He will release the letters after sentence is passed. Many of the letters are from current and former Bush administration officials pleading for leniency on Libby's behalf. Libby, through his attorney William Jeffress, opposes the letters' release, saying the letter writers never expected their words to be made public. (CBS News 1/25/2007; Associated Press 5/31/2007) The letters are released after Libby's sentencing. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote of Libby, "I know Mr. Libby to be a patriot, a dedicated public servant, a strong family man, and a tireless, honorable, selfless human being." Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state in the Nixon administration and an informal Bush administration adviser, wrote: "I would never have associated the actions for which he was convicted with his character. Nor do I believe that they will ever be repeated. Having served in the White House and under pressure, I have seen how difficult it is to recall precisely a particular series of events." (Roston 6/5/2007) Others who submitted letters include General Peter Pace, former Clinton administration peace negotiator Dennis Ross, and former Bush administration officials Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney did not submit letters on behalf of Libby. (Totenberg 6/5/2007) Jeffress actively solicited letters from Libby's friends and associates asking Walton to either give Libby a light sentence or no real sentence at all. In Jeffress's filing asking that the letters remain private, he writes, "Given the extraordinary media scrutiny here, if any case presents the possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the Internet and their authors discussed, even mocked, by bloggers, it is this case." Marcy Wheeler, who spearheaded a team of bloggers that provided in-depth coverage of the Libby case (see February 15, 2007), derides Jeffress's fears of being mocked by bloggers, but says there are far more compelling reasons to release the letters than to discomfit the letter writers. Wheeler notes that a lighter sentence would dissuade Libby from testifying against his former boss, Cheney, who is widely suspected of orchestrating the Plame Wilson exposure. Moreover, some of Libby's supporters themselves have reason, she writes, "to be thankful that Libby successfully obstructed the investigation" and are anything but neutral. Finally, she writes: "[T]his sentencing, now scheduled for June 5, takes place against the background of the Bush administration's purge of at least nine US attorneys, in at least one case at the behest of Republicans who complained that the US attorney didn't file charges against a Democrat before an election. We have every reason to suspect that Bush's supporters have inappropriately intervened in the administration of justice. Without seeing those letters, how can we be sure the same isn't happening here?" (Wheeler 5/29/2007)
Former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, found guilty of four felonies in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see March 6, 2007), is sentenced by Judge Reggie Walton to 30 months in jail, fined $250,000, and given two years' probation. The sentence is at the low end of the 30-37 month recommendation provided by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald (see May 25, 2007). Libby's plea for leniency is denied. An appeals court will refuse to allow Libby to remain free while he appeals the convictions. (York 5/29/2007; Washington Post 7/3/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) "Many defendants are first offenders, most defendants have family. We need to make clear that the truth matters and one's station in life does not matter," says prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. "We had to… chase down rabbit holes that he took us down by lying to us… [the jury had] to sort through this fun house of mirrors." Libby's attorney Theodore Wells argues that because of the "public humiliation" caused to Libby by the trial, and because of Libby's "exceptional public service to the nation," he should be given no jail time. Libby's co-counsel, William Jeffress, continues to insist that Plame Wilson was not covert, a position long since disproven (see Fall 1992 - 1996, Late 1990s-2001 and Possibly After, April 22, 1999, (July 11, 2003), Before July 14, 2003, July 22, 2003, July 30, 2003, September 30, 2003, October 11, 2003, October 22-24, 2003, January 9, 2006, February 13, 2006, September 6, 2006, and March 16, 2007), and attempts to assert that Libby did not actually expose her as a CIA agent, an argument again debunked during the proceedings. For himself, Libby speaks briefly, thanking the court for treating him kindly, and says he is ready for the sentence: "Now I realize fully the court must decide on punishment, and I hope the court will consider my whole life," he says. In pronouncing sentence, Walton says: "I've watched these proceedings with a sense of sadness because I have the highest respect for government servants. It is important that we expect and demand a lot of people who are in those situations. They have a certain high level obligation when they occupy that situation. In this situation Libby failed to meet the bar." (Roston 6/5/2007) Libby will spend no time behind bars (see July 2, 2007).
Legal analysts call Vice President Dick Cheney's publicly expressed desire for convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007) to be freed "unusual" and "troubling." They note that while Cheney and President Bush are friends and former colleages of Libby, they are also officials sworn to uphold the law and run the branch of government that prosecuted Libby. "It's a disappointment whenever a person who occupies a high office and takes an oath doesn't respond to a demonstrated serious criminal event in a serious governmental way," says former Iran-Contra prosecutor John Barrett. "It's an adversary process and I understand the personal dimension, but the United States is the side of the case that President Bush and Vice President Cheney are on. Those are their jobs." Attorney Lance Cole, who worked with Democrats on the Senate Whitewater Committee, says, "Libby's lies derailed the investigation, and Cheney's role has never been fully explained; the comments of the president and especially the vice president are troubling in this context" (see May 25, 2007). Presidential scholar Stanley Kutler, author of The Wars of Watergate, a famous book on the Watergate scandal, says Cheney's statement is unusual in a historical content. "I know of no time in Watergate where someone who was convicted got the warm embrace of those in power," Kutler says. He calls allegations that Libby's political activity was unfairly criminalized "spurious." (Yost 6/6/2007)
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald urges Judge Reggie Walton not to delay convicted felon Lewis Libby's 30-month jail sentence (see March 6, 2007 and June 5, 2007). Libby's lawyers have argued that Libby should not have to begin his jail term until his appeal has concluded (see June 19, 2007). Fitzgerald has argued that the evidence against Libby was overwhelming, and the appeal is likely to bear little fruit. If Libby is ordered to jail, his lawyers are expected to ask the appeals court to put the sentence on hold. (Apuzzo 6/12/2007) Walton will not delay jailing Libby (see June 14, 2007), but President Bush will commute Libby's sentence, sparing him the need to actually go to jail (see July 2, 2007).
Convicted perjurer Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007) is told by Judge Reggie Walton he cannot delay starting his jail term (see June 5, 2007) while he appeals his conviction. Libby's lawyers say they will seek an emergency order delaying Libby's prison sentence. They are also appealing Libby's conviction. (CBS News 1/25/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) Libby will spend no time behind bars (see July 2, 2007).
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, described by observers as a moderate liberal, castigates US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the government lawyers who successfully prosecuted former White House senior aide Lewis ("Scooter") Libby (see October 28, 2005 and March 6, 2007). Unlike some of his more conservative colleagues (see October 29, 2005, October 31, 2005, November 4, 2005, November 17, 2005, November 18, 2005, December 8, 2005, April 9, 2006, April 17, 2006, July 12, 2006, Late August-Early September, 2006, September 2-5, 2006, September 5, 2006, September 5, 2006, September 7, 2006, October 16, 2006, January 17, 2007, February 16, 2007, February 16, 2007, February 27, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 6, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 7, 2007, March 8-9, 2007, March 9, 2007, and March 11, 2007), Cohen does not plainly state that Libby is innocent of any crime. Rather, Cohen accuses Fitzgerald of doing the work of the "liberal press (especially the New York Times)" and "opponents of the Iraq war" in "mak[ing] a mountain out of a molehill." The outing of clandestine CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (see July 14, 2003 and July 12, 2006) was nothing more than a "run-of-the-mill leak," he writes. Moreover, he writes, Fitzgerald "wound up prosecuting not the leaker—Richard Armitage of the State Department (see June 13, 2003)—but Libby, convicted in the end of lying. Cohen justifies his claim by writing: "This is not an entirely trivial matter since government officials should not lie to grand juries, but neither should they be called to account for practicing the dark art of politics. As with sex or real estate, it is often best to keep the lights off." Cohen goes on to call the Libby investigation "a train wreck—mile after mile of shame, infamy, embarrassment, and occasional farce." He accuses Fitzgerald of using the power of his office to unjustly compel journalists to testify to their own knowledge and complicity in Libby's leak. The Iraq war opponents "cheered" Fitzgerald on, Cohen writes, and goes on to say that those opponents "thought—if 'thought' can be used in this context—that if the thread was pulled on who had leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to Robert D. Novak, the effort to snooker an entire nation into war would unravel and this would show… who knows? Something. For some odd reason, the same people who were so appalled about government snooping, the USA Patriot Act, and other such threats to civil liberties cheered as the special prosecutor weed-whacked the press, jailed a reporter, and now will send a previously obscure government official to prison for 30 months." Had the Iraq war only claimed 300 American lives and ended with a clear victory, Cohen writes, no one would have called for any such investigation. As it stands, he continues, the anti-war left and the "liberal press" demanded "scalps" and was given Libby's. "Accountability is one thing," Cohen writes. "By all means, let Congress investigate and conduct oversight hearings with relish and abandon. But a prosecution is a different matter. It entails the government at its most coercive—a power so immense and sometimes so secretive that it poses much more of a threat to civil liberties, including freedom of the press, than anything in the interstices of the scary Patriot Act." He concludes by calling on President Bush to commute Libby's sentence. (Cohen 6/19/2007; Greenwald 6/19/2007) Cohen has previously asked that the prosecution of Libby be terminated (see October 13, 2005), called Libby's prosecution "silly," and misrepresented the facts behind the prosecution (see January 30, 2007). Author, columnist, and former civil liberties lawyer Glenn Greenwald, writing a response to Cohen's column for his blog in the Internet news publication Salon, savages Cohen by mockingly "praising" Cohen's column as perfectly "capturing the essence of our Beltway media." Cohen's exhortation to allow politics to be practiced with "the lights off" is, Greenwald asserts, "the central belief of our Beltway press.… If that isn't the perfect motto for our bold, intrepid, hard-nosed political press, then nothing is." Greenwald notes what he calls the "multiple falsehoods" of Cohen's argument—the appointment of Fitzgerald to investigate the leak that outed Plame Wilson was not a result of pressure from the "liberal press" or what Cohen calls the "sanctimon[ious]" anti-war left, unless the CIA and the Justice Department are left-wing organizations (see July 30, 2003, Before September 16, 2003 and December 30, 2003). Greenwald writes that the core of Cohen's apparent horror and indignation at the pursuit of the Plame Wilson leak is that his colleagues in the media were investigated and in one instance jailed (see July 6, 2005). "As any prosecutor knows—and Martha Stewart can attest—white-collar types tend to have a morbid fear of jail," Greenwald quotes Cohen as writing. Greenwald responds: "Indeed, it is so terribly unfair to investigate powerful government officials because, as 'white-collar types,' they have a 'morbid fear of jail'—in contrast, of course, to blue-collar types, and darker ones still, who really do not mind prison at all. Why would they? It's their natural habitat, where they belong. That is what prison is for. That has been the real point here all along. The real injustice is that prison is simply not the place for the most powerful and entrenched members of the Beltway royal court, no matter how many crimes they commit. There is a grave indignity to watching our brave Republican elite be dragged before such lowly venues as a criminal court and be threatened with prison, as though they are common criminals or something. How disruptive and disrespectful and demeaning it all is." Greenwald says that the "most valuable lesson of Cohen's column… is that the overriding allegiance of our permanent Beltway ruling class is to the royal court which accords them their status and prestige. That overarching allegiance overrides, easily, any supposed partisan, ideological or other allegiances which, in their assigned roles, they are ostensibly defending." Were the Beltway press to actually investigate and pursue stories instead of "snuggling" with their "friends" in government, it would expose corruption and foster justice, instead of encouraging corruption and fostering injustice. Greenwald concludes: "Our media stars have not merely stood idly by while our highest government officials engage in endless deceit and corruption. They actively defend it, enable it, justify it, and participate in it. Keeping the lights off is their principal function, one which—with rare and noble exceptions—they perform quite eagerly." (Greenwald 6/19/2007)
Convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007) asks a federal appeals court to delay his incarceration (see June 14, 2007). Libby says that because his appeal (see April 13, 2007) has a good chance of success, he should not be required to serve any of his sentence. (CBS News 1/25/2007)
Convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007), sentenced to 30 months in federal prison (see June 5, 2007), becomes federal inmate No. 28301-016. Libby's inmate number is assigned by the US Bureau of Prisons, which is determining which facility he will be assigned to serve his time at. As a non-violent, first-time offender, Libby will likely be placed in a minimum-security prison camp. (Associated Press 6/28/2007) Libby will not serve any jail time (see July 2, 2007).
Ending weeks of speculation, President Bush commutes the sentence of convicted felon and former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby (see March 6, 2007 and June 5, 2007), calling the sentence "excessive." Libby is now a free man, though he is still due to serve two years' probation period and pay a $250,000 fine. Many Libby supporters, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have called upon Bush to pardon Libby (Politico 7/2/2007; Washington Post 7/3/2007; BBC 7/3/2007) , but Bush stopped short of issuing a full pardon. (Goldstein 7/3/2007) White House press secretary Tony Snow says that the White House did not bow to pressure from Republicans and conservative pundits to pardon or commute Libby's sentence. "This has nothing to do with political pressure," Snow says. "It has everything to do with justice.… The president is doing the right thing for a principled reason. For once, it might be refreshing for people to consider that principle tends to be governing in this White House and not polls. He's laid out some highly defensible reasons and he takes his powers very seriously. If you take a look at pardons and commutations, they've been done very carefully in this White House. Not every White House has done that." (Goldstein 7/3/2007) Bush says in a written statement that he decided to "respect" the jury's conviction of Libby, but adds that Libby's "exceptional public service" and prior lack of a criminal record led him to conclude that the 30-month sentence handed down last month was "excessive." Bush notes that he had previously promised not to intervene until Libby had exhausted all of his appeals, but because an appeals court denied Libby a delay in beginning his prison sentence (see July 2, 2007), Bush decided to act: "With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.… The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting." Libby's lawyer Theodore Wells says in a statement that Libby and his family "wish to express their gratitude for the president's decision today," and says Libby will continue to pursue an appeal. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald acknowledges Bush's power to commute Libby's sentence, but disputes the characterization of Libby's sentence as excessive, saying: "An experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing." (Politico 7/2/2007; Goldstein 7/3/2007)
Libby's Commutation Allows Refusal to Testify before Congress - Author Laura Rozen will note that by commuting Libby's sentence instead of pardoning Libby, Bush allows Libby to retain the ability to refuse to testify before Congress on the grounds that he could incriminate himself. Thusly, Libby can avoid not only testifying about his own actions in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak affair, but about the roles of his former bosses, Bush and Cheney. (Wilson 2007, pp. 388)
Split Reactions - The reactions to Libby's commutation are split along largely partisan lines, with many Democrats and their supporters expressing their outrage over the decision to spare Libby from serving prison time (see July 2, 2007).
Judge Reggie Walton, whose 30-month sentence of convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007 and June 5, 2007) was obviated by President Bush's commutation of the sentence (see July 2, 2007), declines to comment on Bush's action. In an email, Walton says, "To now say anything about sentencing on the heels of yesterday's events will inevitably be construed as comments on the president's commutation decision, which would be inappropriate." (Canadian Broadcasting Company 7/3/2007)
Convicted felon Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007 and June 5, 2007) pays his $250,000 fine, plus a $400 special assessment fee. With the commutation of his jail sentence by President Bush (see July 2, 2007), Libby is only required to serve two years' probation to complete his sentencing requirements. (CBS News 1/25/2007)
The White House refuses to allow special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to turn over key documents from his investigation into the Valerie Plame Wilson identity leak to Congress, as requested by House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) since June 2007 and revealed by Waxman today. Waxman has repeatedly requested reports of interviews by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and five top White House aides—White House political strategist Karl Rove, former press secretary Scott McClellan, former chief of staff Andrew Card, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and former communications director Dan Bartlett. Waxman has also requested transcripts and other documents relevant to these officials' testimony. According to Waxman, Fitzgerald is willing to turn over the documents to the committee, but cannot gain White House permission to do so. Waxman appeals to newly appointed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to overrule the White House and release the documents. "I hope you will not accede to the White House objections," Waxman writes to Mukasey. "During the Clinton administration, your predecessor, Janet Reno, made an independent judgment and provided numerous FBI interview reports to the committee, including reports of interviews with President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and three White House chiefs of staff. I have been informed that Attorney General Reno neither sought nor obtained White House consent before providing these interview records to the committee. I believe the Justice Department should exercise the same independence in this case.… There is no legitimate basis for the withholding of these documents. Mr. Fitzgerald has apparently determined that these documents can be produced to the committee without infringing on his prosecutorial independence or violating the rules of grand jury secrecy. As records of statements made by White House officials to federal investigators, outside the framework of presidential decision-making, the documents could not be subject to a valid claim of executive privilege." Mukasey will not accede to Waxman's request. Many believe that even though Fitzgerald only managed to convict one White House official as a result of his investigation (see March 6, 2007), he compiled evidence that indicates others, including Cheney, were involved in leaking Plame Wilson's CIA status. Fitzgerald has indicated that his investigation into other White House officials was drastically hindered by Libby's repeated lies under oath (see 9:00 a.m. February 20, 2007 and May 25, 2007). Fitzgerald has declined to testify before Waxman's committee, citing rules that prohibit him from revealing grand jury proceedings, and noting that prosecutors "traditionally refrain from commenting outside of the judicial process on the actions of persons not charged with criminal offenses." (Froomkin 12/3/2007) Waxman will continue, without success, to request the information (see June 3, 2008), though the White House will release heavily redacted transcripts of Libby's grand jury testimony in the summer of 2008. (Waas 12/23/2008)
Convicted felon Lewis "Scooter" Libby (see March 6, 2007), formerly the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, decides to drop his appeal of his convictions. (Washington Post 7/3/2007) Libby's lawyer, Theodore Wells, says Libby is dropping the appeal mainly because of the burden the legal maneuvering has placed on his family. "We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence," he says. "However, the realities were that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.… The appeal would lead only to a retrial, a process that would last even beyond the two years of supervised release, cost millions of dollars more than the fine he has already paid (see July 5, 2007), and entail many more hundreds of hours preparing for an all-consuming appeal and retrial." Wells also says no one has discussed a pardon with President Bush. (CBS News 1/25/2007; Associated Press 12/10/2007) Libby's conviction was commuted by Bush months before (see July 2, 2007).
Convicted felon Lewis "Scooter" Libby (see March 6, 2007), formerly the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, is disbarred from practicing law. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rules that when a lawyer "is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, disbarment is mandatory." (CBS News 1/25/2007; Reuters 3/20/2008) Libby's conviction was commuted by President Bush months before (see July 2, 2007). Libby has already been suspended from practicing law. Libby says he will not challenge the disbarment. (Jeralyn Merritt 3/20/2008; Reuters 3/20/2008)
The Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal concerning former CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson's dismissed lawsuit against four Bush officials (see July 19, 2007). Plame Wilson had sued former Vice President Dick Cheney (see July 7-8, 2003), former White House political strategist Karl Rove (see July 8, 2003 and 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003), convicted perjurer Lewis Libby (see March 6, 2007), and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (see June 13, 2003), for deliberately disclosing her covert CIA status to reporters. Plame Wilson and her co-plaintiff, husband Joseph Wilson, have said their case is about "abuse of power at the highest level of American government." The dismissal of their lawsuit was upheld by a federal appeals court in 2008. (Fox News 6/22/2009) In May, Solicitor General Elena Kagan urged the Court to deny the Wilsons' appeal, saying that the lawsuit did not meet the criteria of the 1974 Privacy Act. The law, Kagan argued, barred federal employees from being sued; only their agencies could be sued. (Aquino 6/22/2009)
Investigative journalist Robert Parry speaks at a conference in Heidelberg, Germany concerning the progression of journalism from the 1970s to the present. Parry tells the gathering that American investigative journalism may have hit something of a zenith in the 1970s, with the media exposure of the Pentagon Papers (see March 1971) and the Watergate scandal (see August 8, 1974). "That was a time when US journalism perhaps was at its best, far from perfect, but doing what the Founders had in mind when they afforded special protections to the American press," he says. "In the 1970s, besides the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, there were other important press disclosures, like the My Lai massacre story and the CIA abuses—from Iran to Guatemala, from Cuba to Chile. For people around the world, American journalism was the gold standard. Granted, that was never the full picture. There were shortcomings even in the 1970s. You also could argue that the US news media's performance then was exceptional mostly in contrast to its failures during the Cold War, when reporters tended to be stenographers to power, going along to get along, including early in the Vietnam War." However, those days are long past, Parry notes, and in recent years, American journalism has, he says, gone "terribly wrong." Parry says that the American press was subjected to an orchestrated program of propaganda and manipulation on a par with what the CIA did in many foreign countries: "Think how the CIA would target a country with the goal of shoring up a wealthy oligarchy. The agency might begin by taking over influential media outlets or starting its own. It would identify useful friends and isolate troublesome enemies. It would organize pro-oligarchy political groups. It would finance agit-prop specialists skilled at undermining and discrediting perceived enemies. If the project were successful, you would expect the oligarchy to consolidate its power, to get laws written in its favor. And eventually the winners would take a larger share of the nation's wealth. And what we saw in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States was something like the behavior of an embattled oligarchy. Nixon's embittered allies and the Right behaved as if they were following a CIA script. They built fronts; they took over and opened new media outlets; they spread propaganda; they discredited people who got in the way; ultimately, they consolidated power; they changed laws in their favor; and—over the course of several decades—they made themselves even richer, indeed a lot richer, and that, in turn, has translated into even more power."
Building a Base - Right-wing billionaires such as the Koch brothers (see 1979-1980) and Richard Mellon Scaife, along with Nixon-era figures such as former Treasury Secretary William Simon (a Wall Street investment banker who ran the right-wing Olin Foundation) worked to organize conservative foundations; their money went into funding what Parry calls "right-wing media… right-wing think tanks… [and] right-wing attack groups. Some of these attack groups were set up to go after troublesome reporters." Parry finds it ironic, in light of the CIA's interference in the affairs of other nations, that two foreign media moguls, Sun Myung Moon and Rupert Murdoch, were key figures in building and financing this conservative media construct. Some media outlets, such as Fox News (see Summer 1970 and October 7, 1996), were created from scratch, while others, such as the venerable and formerly liberal New Republic, were bought out and taken over by conservatives. When Ronald Reagan ascended to the White House, Parry says, he brought along with him "a gifted team of [public relations] and ad men." Vice President George H.W. Bush, a former CIA director, enabled access to that agency's propaganda professionals. And Reagan named William Casey to head the CIA; Casey, a former Nixon administration official, was "obsessed [with] the importance of deception and propaganda," Parry says. "Casey understood that he who controlled the flow of information had a decisive advantage in any conflict."
Two-Pronged Attack - Two key sources of information for Washington media insiders were targeted, Parry says: the "fiercely independent" CIA analytical division, whose analyses had so often proven damaging to White House plans when reported, and the "unruly" Washington press corps. Casey targeted the CIA analysts, placing his young assistant, Robert Gates, in charge of the analytical division; Gates's reorganization drove many troublesome analysts into early retirement, to be replaced with more malleable analysts who would echo the White House's hard line against "Soviet expansionism." Another Casey crony, Walter Raymond Jr., worked to corral the Washington press corps from his position on the National Security Council. Raymond headed an interagency task force that ostensibly spread "good news" about American policies in the foreign press, but in reality worked to smear and besmirch American journalists who the White House found troubling. According to Parry, "Secret government documents that later emerged in the Iran-Contra scandal revealed that Raymond's team worked aggressively and systematically to lobby news executives and turn them against their reporters when the reporters dug up information that clashed with Reagan's propaganda, especially in hot spots like Central America." It was easy to discredit female journalists in Central America, Parry says; Raymond's team would spread rumors that they were secretly having sexual liaisons with Communist officials. Other reporters were dismissed as "liberals," a label that many news executives were eager to avoid. Working through the news executives was remarkably successful, Parry says, and it was not long before many Washington reporters were either brought to heel or marginalized.
'Perception Management' - Reagan's team called its domestic propaganda scheme "perception management." Parry says: "The idea was that if you could manage how the American people perceived events abroad, you could not only insure their continued support of the foreign policy, but in making the people more compliant domestically. A frightened population is much easier to control. Thus, if you could manage the information flows inside the government and inside the Washington press corps, you could be more confident that there would be no more Vietnam-style protests. No more Pentagon Papers. No more My Lai massacre disclosures. No more Watergates." The New York Times and Washington Post, the newspapers that had led the surge of investigative reporting in the 1970s, were effectively muzzled during the Reagan era; Parry says that the two papers "became more solicitous to the Establishment than they were committed to the quality journalism that had contributed to the upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s." The same happened at the Associated Press (AP), where Parry had attempted, with limited success, to dig into the Reagan administration's Central American policies, policies that would eventually crystallize into the Iran-Contra scandal (see May 5, 1987). Few newspapers followed the lead of AP reporters such as Parry and Brian Barger until late 1986, when the Hasenfus air crash provided a news story that editors could no longer ignore (see October 5, 1986). But, Parry says, by the time of the Iran-Contra hearings, few news providers, including the Associated Press, had the stomach for another scandal that might result in another impeachment, particularly in light of the relentless pressure coming from the Reagan administration and its proxies. By June 1990, Parry says he understood "the concept of 'perception management' had carried the day in Washington, with remarkably little resistance from the Washington press corps.… Washington journalists had reverted to their pre-Vietnam, pre-Watergate inability to penetrate important government secrets in a significant way." The process accelerated after 9/11, Parry says: "[M]any journalists reverted back their earlier roles as stenographers to power. They also became cheerleaders for a misguided war in Iraq. Indeed, you can track the arc of modern American journalism from its apex at the Pentagon Papers and Watergate curving downward to that center point of Iran-Contra before reaching the nadir of Bush's war in Iraq. Journalists found it hard even to challenge Bush when he was telling obvious lies. For instance, in June 2003, as the search for WMD came up empty, Bush began to tell reporters that he had no choice but to invade because Saddam Hussein had refused to let UN inspectors in. Though everyone knew that Hussein had let the inspectors in and that it was Bush who had forced them to leave in March 2003, not a single reporter confronted Bush on this lie, which he repeated again and again right through his exit interviews in 2008" (see November 2002-March 2003, November 25, 2002, December 2, 2002, December 5, 2002, January 9, 2003, March 7, 2003, and March 17, 2003).
The Wikileaks Era and the 'Fawning Corporate Media' - Parry says that now, the tough-minded independent media has been all but supplanted by what former CIA analyst Ray McGovern calls the "Fawning Corporate Media." This has increased public distrust of the media, which has led to people seeking alternative investigative and reporting methods. Parry comments that much of the real investigative journalism happening now is the product of non-professionals working outside the traditional media structure, such as Wikileaks (see February 15, 2007, 2008, and April 18, 2009). However, the independent media have not demonstrated they can reach the level of influence of institutions like the Washington Post and the New York Times. "[I]f we were assessing how well the post-Watergate CIA-style covert operation worked," Parry says, "we'd have to conclude that it was remarkably successful. Even after George W. Bush took the United States to war in Iraq under false pretenses and even after he authorized the torture of detainees in the 'war on terror,' no one involved in those decisions has faced any accountability at all. When high-flying Wall Street bankers brought the world's economy to its knees with risky gambles in 2008, Western governments used trillions of dollars in public moneys to bail the bankers out. But not one senior banker faced prosecution.… Another measure of how the post-Watergate counteroffensive succeeded would be to note how very well America's oligarchy had done financially in the past few decades. Not only has political power been concentrated in their hands, but the country's wealth, too.… So, a sad but—I think—fair conclusion would be that at least for the time being, perception management has won out over truth. But the struggle over information and democracy has entered another new and unpredictable phase." (Parry 5/15/2012)
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