Scooter's Defense...?

[Me.]

I can’t believe Fitzgerald would fall for that old “Tenet Done It” chestnut.

<<<snip>>>

“There's no telling whether this source is being truthful. Karl Rove's attorney put out facts that crumbled as more information became public. But you don't have to look too far between the lines to discern Libby's cover story. It goes something like this: Wilson wrote his Times article. All hell broke loose. The White House asked, "Who authorized this trip?" Someone called the CIA for information. The CIA reported back that Wilson was contacted by the counter-proliferation office, where his wife Valerie was working. But--and here's the crucial "but"--the CIA did not tell the White House that Valerie was undercover. Thus, if any White House officials--say, Rove or Libby--repeated this information to reporters, then they may have been engaged in leaking classified and sensitive information to discredit a critic but they were not committing a crime. And who was at fault? George Tenet, the CIA director at the time.

How convenient. Tenet has already taken the fall for Bush's decision to launch the war in Iraq. He reportedly told Bush that the WMD case was a "slam-dunk." And subsequent investigations--from the Republican-controlled Senate intelligence committee and an independent commission that only looked at the intelligence community, not the White House--have excoriated Tenet's CIA for botching the WMD job. (Still, Bush saw fit to give Tenet a nice medal.)”cont….

When Fitzgerald first pursued Miller and Cooper, it was easy to dismiss him as an overzealous prosecutor interested more in a vendetta than in making a case. But as the Cooper portion of this episode demonstrated, Fitzgerald was after information crucial to his investigation. From Cooper he obtained material that showed Rove had discussed the CIA identity of Wilson's wife with a reporter. Though Fitzgerald and Miller have clashed on non-Plame business previously, perhaps he has been seeking information just as critical from her.

For anyone following the matter, it's impossible not to guess about what's going on and what Fitzgerald will do. His grand jury expires at the end of October. He could impanel a new one and keep investigating. But all indications suggest he's close to done. One person who recently had contact with Fitzgerald and his attorneys says that they seem confident about whatever it is they are pursuing. The Miller matter was something of a sideshow that at times drew more attention than the central issue. Now that Miller has decided to follow the course of the other reporters, perhaps Fitzgerald will be ready to end his inquiry and render decisions about indictment. Throughout Washington, those who have closely observed this investigation express different hunches about whether there will be indictments, about whom will be indicted if there are indictments, about what laws will be invoked if there are indictments. There have been no leaks making one guess more probable than another. Those who care are all waiting for Fitzgerald.”


http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050930/cm_thenation/325662;_ylt=A86.I1PMdj1D438BZwr9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[elfin]

1. Maybe he will say that Judy was the one who told HIM

about Plame and not the other way around. And that SHE was the one who got it from CIA source - or Chalabi. Still think it was Rove who pulled all the various puppets' strings to get the story to the press by a very circuitous route.

I do not think Miller is blameless in this - a willing tool for the Bushies.

[Me.]

2. They Did Try Floating That One

in the press a few months back, which led to Judy being jailed so that Fitzgerald could collaborate the stories. Not that I consider her clean in any of this, I think she's up to her neck in this, perhaps why Bolton visited her in jail. I think Fitz knows exactly what's going on. Next they'll be trying to implicate Powell and say he was the one. It did seem like they were trying to him up for that. I think Bolton and his evil minions are the ones who provided the intel.