McLellan Bombshell: Bush Authorized Plame Leak

firedoglake: George Bush Authorized the Leak of Valerie Wilson’s Identity

That means that not only did Bush put Valerie Plame's life at risk, all the downstream things that happened -- other agents, other informants, tortured, murdered, we don't know -- all consequences flowed from his decision to throw Plame to the wolves.

Monster.

King George Dick Pardons His Trusted Aide Benedict Arnold

Bushit
Since the commutation spares Libby even one minute in jail, it has the effect of a pardon, while preserving his right not to testify. The sentence was commuted rather than an outright pardon granted because as long as Libby still fights his guilty verdict in court, he can invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify against Bush and Cheney, because his testimony could be used against him in a court of law.

Expect the full pardon to be issued on January 19, 2009.

Remember, courts of law are just for the little people like you and me.

Thus spake King George Dick.


WaPo: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence

Another foolish article in the Washington Post today, ignoring last week's reporting on Dick Cheney, claiming Bush made the decision alone. Like Dick didn't tell him what to do. As Jon Stewart says, if you believe this, YOU DON'T KNOW DICK.

WaPo: A Decision Made Largely Alone

Scooter Libby's New Theme Song

A friend of mine made me a recording of this song 20 years ago & I was excited to find it on YouTube. Amen!

Call the Wingnut Wahhhhhmbulance

'Cause Scooter Libby's going to jail. Directly to jail, (well, as direct as it ever gets for a rich white-collar defendant, six to eight weeks), no hanging out watching the roots of the aspens entwine while his appeal drags on. Awwww.

Firedoglake: Libby Loses Liberty

WaPo: Judge Won't Delay Libby Prison Term

Fun Fact

If you leave a comment on a Robert Novak column in the Washington Post calling him a traitor, it will be deleted. See here; note that the first commenter states: "Can we once discuss the merit of the article without all that pointless name-calling, however justified it may be?"; this is in reference to several traitor comments which the Post removed.

However, if you leave a comment calling President Bush Chimpy McFlightsuit, that comment is OK. See here, 6th comment down.

I thought you would want to know.

Another for the "He has no scruples, does he?" Mittwit File

The Song of Mitt: "I'll say anything, for you, dear, anything, for you, dear, anything, for you" (apologies to Lionel Bart and the musical Oliver)

Romney refused to grant any pardons during his four years as Massachusetts absentee governor. Even to Anthony Circosta, a decorated Iraq war veteran who wanted to expunge a conviction from when he was age 13 for shooting another boy in the arm with a BB gun. (Hey, I think all the boys I grew up with were criminals!) Nope, the Mittwit couldn't grant that pardon, even though it would have allowed Circosta to become a police officer. And now as he shamelessly panders to the rabid Republican base, he advocates a pardon for poor, poor Scooter Libby, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.

So think about this. A 13-year-old boy makes a dumb mistake. He shoots his friend in the arm with a BB gun (doesn't even break the skin). Goes on to join the Army National Guard and distinguish himself leading a platoon in the Sunni Triangle. His shooting a BB gun accidentally at age 13 cannot be pardoned by the Mittwit. But Scooter Libby, the assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney? Reveals the name of a covert CIA agent to reporters for political purposes, then lies about it repeatedly to a federal grand jury investigating the outing. Remember, he is a 54-year-old attorney. Those four criminal convictions, decided by a jury? Throw them out and set him free, proclaims the Man of the Most Convenient Answer. That's what he says now. Wait a month, he may have a difference answer. Varmint.

Or as Barney Frank said of the Mittwit, two days ago on New England Cable News:

"The real Romney is clearly an extraordinarily ambitious man with no perceivable political principle whatsover. He is the most intellectually dishonest human being in the history of politics."

Scooter, Go To Jail. (Pardon Pool Starting)

Jail? Who, me?
Scooter Libby was sentenced today to 30 months in jail and a $250,000 fine. How soon before Bush pardons him? I've got January 19, 2009: The last day possible. A little "fuck you" to the justice system as Chimpy crawls back to Crawford.

Of note, the letters in support of Scooter were released by the court. One of the pleaders for mercy for poor, pitiful Scooter? James Carville. He should hand in his Democratic Party membership right now and join his wife's party.

Valerie Plame on C-Span Right Now

Tune in.

C-SPAN live feed.

View From ABroad

Tomorrow's cover of my favorite British newspaper, The Independent

Independent (uk): Liar in the White house: Cheney aide found guilty in CIA leak case
Saga of Washington's discredited WMD claims leads to the conviction for perjury of Dick Cheney's key aide

How Blair has stood by Niger claim

The golden couple targeted by White House machine

Scooter Libby's Very, Very, Very, Very Bad Day

Marcy Wheeler's book Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy (available from Amazon)
On the 10th day of deliberations, a verdict in the Scooter Libby case. Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Count 1 (Obstruction): GUILTY
Count 2 (Perjury): GUILTY
Count 3 (False Statement): NOT GUILTY
Count 4 (Perjury): GUILTY
Count 5 (Perjury): GUILTY

The Washington Post describes the verdict as "a blow to the Bush Administration"; I'm not so sure. I think it's like a heavyweight fight. Bush and Cheney are the champs. You don't beat the champ with punches or even a knockdown. You have to knock the champ out. Until they are impeached or forced to resign, they're still in charge, and we're still fighting their lying, immoral war for oil and hegemony in Iraq.

I hope all these lying, cheating traitorous bastards have a hard time sleeping tonight.

Plame & Wilson To Sue Cheney, Rove & Libby

Press Release: Valerie Plame Wilson, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and Their Counsel to Hold News Conference Announcing Lawsuit against I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby, Vice-President Cheney and Karl Rove

If the government won't prosecute, you have to go to the civil courts.

Man, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Karl Rove's office right now. Big Dick in his constitutional office might wriggle out of civil depositions, but Political Director Rove won't.

I Got a Birthday Present

Well, I think so. Hope Jason Leopold is right. The champagne is waiting....

truthout: Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators
By Jason Leopold

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald spent more than half a day Friday at the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm representing Karl Rove.

During the course of that meeting, Fitzgerald served attorneys for former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove with an indictment charging the embattled White House official with perjury and lying to investigators related to his role in the CIA leak case, and instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.

Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, did not return a call for comment. Sources said Fitzgerald was in Washington, DC, Friday and met with Luskin for about 15 hours to go over the charges against Rove, which include perjury and lying to investigators about how and when Rove discovered that Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA operative and whether he shared that information with reporters, sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said.

Must See TV

Pay no attention to that little man in the corner
Stephen Colbert put George Bush on the spit, with a side of pompous Washington journalists, grilled to perfection, at the Correspondents Dinner last night.

I saw the replay after midnight and was afraid I was going to wake up my upstairs neighbor with my peals of laughter.

It was a little tense in the room, as almost no one seemed to enjoy being the main dish of the barbecue. George and Laura had real sourpusses.

I say 'almost' because Injustice Scalia (Colbert addressed him with a "Vaffunculo", and some other hand gestures, "I'm just saying hi to my Sicilian paisan") grinned broadly and went to the podium after it was over to shake Colbert's hand. George Bush put on a fake smile to shake his hand, then it disappeared as he turned away. Laura didn't even extend her hand. She and Colbert just nodded at each other. Helen Thomas (star of Colbert's video when she pursued him trying to ask why we went to war in Iraq) got a big hug and kiss.

The corporate media seems to be trying to pretend it didn't happen. CNN is running a piece on Bush's schtick with his fake Bush sidekick, with no mention of Colbert. C-Span doesn't have it on the schedule today. Hmmmmm.

Guess you'll have to watch it on the internet. Crooks & Liars has the video, and several other links.

Editor & Publisher: Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Does Not Seem Amused

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”

Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”

Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, just three tables away from Karl Rove, and that he had brought " Valerie Plame." Then, worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, "Uh, I mean... he brought Joseph Wilson's wife." He might have "dodged the bullet," he said, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wasn't there.

Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, "if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. "

Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."

Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the alleged good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.

Addressing the reporters, he said, "You should spend more time with your families, write that novel you've always wanted to write. You know, the one about the fearless reporter who stands up to the administration. You know-- fiction."

He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush's new press secretary is "Snow Job." Colbert closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he had to run from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.

As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and handshakes, and left immediately.

Youtube video of Colbert's video piece: his application for White House Press Secretary.

The Democratic Daily has a rough transcript.

A high quality bittorrent file of Colbert's appearance. (I saw this at Boing Boing)

AOL Poll on who was funniest at Correspondents dinner; Bush imitator Bridges holds a slim lead.

Be Still My Heart

ThinkProgress: Breaking: Rove Meeting With Special Prosecutor About Leak Case

John King, CNN’s political correspondent, just reported:

CNN is told by three force sources familiar with the investigation that this morning Karl Rove, the president’s deputy chief of staff and top political adviser, is meeting with his attorney and is to meet this morning — if it is not already under way — with the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald. According to sources, the goal of the meeting is for Karl to clear up some lingering questions about his role in a White House campaign to undermine Ambassador Joe Wilson — remember he was the the critic of the Bush administration case ever going to war in Iraq, his wife the CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose name was Outed.

It’s a complicated legal investigation and it has become a complicated political problem for the White House. Our understanding, Karl Rove is meeting with his attorney this morning, meeting with the special prosecutor this morning and the hope from Rove’s camp is that he can answer the few remaining questions about his involvement, his back and forth with reporters, during that time frame, his comments to the FBI and other investigators including the grand jury that is investigating this for quite some time now. And the hope from the Rove camp, all can be resolved and Karl Rove cleared of wrongdoing in the relatively near future.

The AP is also reporting that Fitzgerald went before the the grand jury this morning.

'Saving His Sorry Political Ass'

The Leaker-In-Chief has his CIA chief out there polygraphing CIA officers to try and keep us from learning about all his violations of the law and the Constitution. Anything to avoid impeachment. Last week CIA veteran Mary McCarthy was fired for "knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence", although exactly what she is alleged to have leaked is in doubt. Originally it was claimed that she was WaPo reporter Dana Priest's source for her story on Bush's illegal, immoral, and shameful secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. Today's WaPo says she denied being Priest's source, and that the CIA agrees: "a senior intelligence official confirmed yesterday that she is not believed to have played a central role in The Post's reporting on the secret prisons." [N.b., if she wasn't Dana Priest's source, why wouldn't the Washington Post, Priest's employer, just tell us that? Or would that be violating some tenet of journamalism?]

The corporate media reports McCarthy's firing as somehow the equivalent of the outing of Valerie Plame. There is no nuance in their reporting. A leak is a leak is a leak, and the subject of the leak or the intent of the leak is not something they analyze.

That is, of course, bullshit. Larry Johnson (former CIA agent himself) has the pithiest take on the difference:

Larry Johnson at TPM Cafe: Between Conscience and Unconscionable

There is a fundamental moral and ethical difference between someone who leaks information in order to serve the public good and someone, like George Bush, who authorizes leaks only for the purpose of saving his sorry political ass.

Why Rearrange the Deck Chairs? Is It Frogmarching Time?

Speculation is rampant. Obviously McLellan leaving and Rove switching jobs doesn't really change anything. So why the moves?

Bob Fertik summarizes the theories:

Rove Indictment is Imminent

Karl Rove gave up the policy part of his job for a simple reason: he's about to be indicted and frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs, thus making Joe Wilson's dream come true. Sidney Blumenthal is right:

For months, Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, has assured the press that his client, who was believed to be vulnerable to indictment for perjury, is in the clear. But Libby insisted that he was entitled to "disclosure of such documents" in Rove's files "even if Mr. Rove remains a subject of a continuing grand jury investigation".

Karl Rove is a subject of Fitzgerald's investigation - this is the headline buried in Libby's filing.

[]

Update 1: Taylor Marsh thinks Rove is taking over the K Street Project since DeLay is history. I don't think so - being a bagman is a job anyone can do. But only Rove can steal the Senate and House at a time when Bush's polls are in the mid-30's - and falling.

Update 2: emptywheel thinks Rove is effectively taking over the Republican National Committee because Ken Mehlman is going to be indicted in the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal (a.k.a. Watergate 2), and is likely to bring the whole Republican Party down with him. I think that theory has a lot going for it.

Update 3: ThinkProgress says Rove will keep his security clearance, despite his role in the outing of Valerie Plame. Will Joe Lieberman and Henry Waxman demand its revocation?

Maybe This Is Why Dick Cheney Shot A Man In the Face

From truthout.org:

White House 'Discovers' 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak

The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. Senior aides had sent the emails in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed during a federal court hearing Friday.

The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said.

Sources close to the probe said the White House “discovered” the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife’s undercover status to reporters.

John Dickerson Wants a Subpoena, John Dickerson Needs a Subpoena

From slate.com:

Where's My Subpoena?
Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me. (Part 1)

Where's My Subpoena?
Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, and me. (Part 2)

[His story takes place traveling with the President in Africa, in July of 2003, shortly after Joe Wilson's op-ed questioning the 16 words was published.]

While the president finished his meeting with Museveni, I hung out with a "senior administration official" by an old yellow school bus. This was the first of my two conversations about Wilson. []

The senior administration official spoke to me on background about Wilson and the president's amazing decision to blame the CIA. [] The official walked me through all the many problems with Wilson's report: His work was sloppy, contradictory, and hadn't been sanctioned by Tenet or any senior person. Some low-level person at the CIA was responsible for the mission. I was told I should go ask the CIA who sent Wilson.

An hour later, as Bush spoke at an AIDS treatment center, I chatted with a different senior administration official, also on background. We talked about many different aspects of the story—the fight with the CIA, the political implications for the president, and the administration's shoddy damage control. This official also pointed out a few times that Wilson had been sent by a low-level CIA employee and encouraged me to follow that angle. I thought I got the point: He'd been sent by someone around the rank of deputy assistant undersecretary or janitor.

At the end of the two conversations I wrote down in my notebook: "look who sent." [] What struck me was how hard both officials were working to knock down Wilson. []

[] [I received] an e-mail from Matt Cooper telling me to call him from a land line when I had some privacy. At some time after 1 p.m. his time, I called him. He told me that he had talked to Karl Rove that morning and that Rove had given him the same Wilson takedown I'd been getting in Uganda. But Matt had the one key fact I didn't: Rove had said that Wilson's wife sent him.

So, that explained the wink-wink nudge-nudge I was getting about who sent Wilson.

[]

[] I came back from the trip harboring a suspicion that only fully made sense when I learned Plame's CIA cover had been blown. It seemed obvious that the people pushing me to look into who sent Wilson knew exactly the answer I'd find. Yet they were really careful not to let the information slip, which suggested that they knew at the time Plame's identity was radioactive.

Wonder who those two senior administration officials were? Let the guessing begin. Let the indictments fly.

Fitzmas Update

More Allegations of Libby Lies Revealed
Judge's Report Shows Cheney Aide Is Accused Of Broad Deception

The special prosecutor in the CIA leak case alleged that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff was engaged in a broader web of deception than was previously known and repeatedly lied to conceal that he had been a key source for reporters about undercover operative Valerie Plame, according to court records released yesterday.

Fitzgerald Court Papers: Bush Was Briefed on Joe Wilson

Looks like Bush was briefed on Wilson's trip. Ah, what a tangled web we weave:

The special prosecutor in the CIA leak case, Patrick Fitzgerald, has indicated in correspondence unsealed in federal court in recent days that President Bush might have been briefed regarding former ambassador Joseph Wilson's February 2002 CIA-sponsored mission to Niger during a regular morning intelligence briefing.

The information provided to Bush occurred in the form of one of the "President's Daily Briefs," a typically 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing.

New Details Revealed on C.I.A. Leak Case

Information relating to Karl Rove is still under seal, indicating that Fitzgerald's investigation of Rovevil Incarnate still alive & well:

Not all of the previously withheld material was released. Several pages, which apparently contained information about Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, remained under seal. Mr. Rove has not been charged, but remains under investigation although his lawyer has expressed confidence that Mr. Rove will be cleared.

Add Another Count of Obstruction of Justice

via Talking Points Memo:

Leak prober got supersecret files

Fitzgerald, who is fighting Libby's request, said in a letter to Libby's lawyers that many e-mails from Cheney's office at the time of the Plame leak in 2003 have been deleted contrary to White House policy.

Has Rosemary Woods arisen from her grave? Will we see some poor Republican sap secretary demonstrating her delete key mistake?