CIA LEAK: WHAT ASHCROFT WAS TOLD: BY MURRAY WAAS

[kpete]

CIA LEAK INVESTIGATION
What Ashcroft Was Told
By Murray Waas, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft continued to oversee the Valerie Plame-CIA leak probe for more than two months in late 2003 after he learned in extensive briefings that FBI agents suspected White House aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of trying to mislead the FBI to conceal their roles in the leak, according to government records and interviews. Despite these briefings, which took place between October and December 2003, and despite the fact that senior White House aides might become central to the leak case, Ashcroft did not recuse himself from the matter until December 30, when he allowed the appointment of a special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, to take over the investigation.

...................

Officials also told Ashcroft that investigators did not believe Libby's account, according to sources knowledgeable about the briefings, and that Libby might have lied to the FBI to defend other -- more senior -- administration officials.

Ashcroft was told no later than November 2003 that investigators also doubted the accounts that Rove, President George W. Bush's chief political adviser, had given the FBI as to how he, too, learned that Plame was a CIA officer and how he came to disclose that information to columnist Robert Novak.

................

In a briefing devoted specifically to Rove and Novak, sources said, officials told Ashcroft that investigators believed it was possible that the presidential aide and the columnist had devised a cover story to present to the FBI to make it appear that Rove had not been a source for Novak's column.


MORE AT:
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0608nj1.htm

[fooj]

1. Another big story...

This, along with the Blumenthol article (Poppy trying to oust Rummy) and the Boston Globe article (20 million paid out to families of dead Iraqi's last year) are certainly damning. Too bad they aren't getting much air time. Wonder why that is?:sarcasm:

[Shakespeare]

2. Hey, did you hear we killed Zarqawi again?

What scandal? :eyes:

[savemefromdumbya]

5. most people don't even know who he is/was

if he ever existed?

[troubleinwinter]

6. Ya forgot the elections fuckups!

[fooj]

8. Damn. Can you believe that I missed that?

:spank:

[myrna minx]

3. This is a very good article. It is a great synopsis

as well as illustrating the total conflict of interest that Ashcroft had with the investigation. It's unbelievable that he did not recuse sooner. Oh--how much was shredded in the mean time.

[TankLV]

11. But yet, crisco johnny has time to cover up statue tits.

and investigate exposed superbowl nipples.

Priorities, priorities.

[Rageneau]

4. Great background article by a truly great journalist.

Murray Waas, Greg Palast, Robert & Sam Parry and a handful of others are the only real political journalists still on the job. If people like them were in charge of our MSM, our once-great nation could stand up, shake herself off, and be great again.

On the other hand, so long as our MSM is dominated by the Coulters and O'Reillys we see every day, she will sink ever deeper into the mire.

[Supersedeas]

7. the list should be longer...but shamefully for now the list is abbreviated

[McCamy Taylor]

9. I didnt miss it. Ashcroft guilt is the reason we have Fitz. He tried

to keep covering for the administration too long, got caught doing it and had to name a real prosecutor to cover his ass ( as "If I was trying to cover for the administration all along would I now be naming a hard ass like Fitz to indict them all?"). Then he got the hell out of Dodge.

And Ashcroft, being a true member of the Rabid Christian Right, was probably the most moral sonaofabitch they had in that administration.

Sweet Al Gonazales is gonna be real popular with the drug dealers in federal lock up when he serves his time in Club Fed.

[jaysunb]

10. Couldn't sneak this past you, huh ?

me either.
Gonzo AND Ashcrot are part of the conspiracy, and cover-up.
I remember another fellow that did this....AG John Mithchell.

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Fitz!

:kick:

[bleever]

13. A veritable treasure trove of info for Plameologists.

A few choice nuggets:

"Looking to undermine Wilson's credibility, Rove, Libby, and at least one other senior administration official told reporters that Plame had arranged for her husband's CIA-sponsored trip, casting it as nepotism."

We know, as the prosecutors do, at least two people who fit that title as an "other senior adminstration official" implicated in this particular act. Dick and Condi. Could this indicate that Condi remains a focus?

According to the FBI report cited in Libby's indictment, when Russert supposedly told Libby that Plame worked for the CIA, "Libby was surprised by this statement because, while speaking with Russert, Libby did not recall that he previously had learned about Wilson's wife's employment from the vice president."

Caught dead to rights, is how I'd translate that. If I'd heard something from my boss and taken notes about it, I'd certainly recognize the information immediately. Wouldn't you?

Rove told the FBI that when Novak mentioned Plame's CIA connection and that she might have played a role in selecting her husband to go to Niger, he (Rove) simply said that he had heard much the same information. According to sources, Novak later told investigators a virtually identical story.

Conspiracy: the prima facia elements seem to be right here. Further confirmation comes from Rove's paid spokesman asserting that Rove never did such a thing. :)

In announcing Ashcroft's recusal and Fitzgerald's appointment on December 30, Comey said that Ashcroft had made the decision: "The attorney general, in an abundance of caution, believed that his recusal was appropriate based on the totality of circumstances and the facts and evidence developed at this stage of the investigation," Comey said. "I agree with that judgment."

Witness the deft touch of the * appointee who actually did his job to honor the rule of law, both by prompting Ashcroft's recusal, and by appointing Patrick Fitzgerald. This man is one of the unsung heroes of the entire case.


One of the questions I'm left with is: what damage was done by Ashcroft's delay in recusing himself? While I don't credit Mr. Ashcroft with the intellectual firepower to advance the chess match himself, certainly his foot-dragging was used by other players to advance their cause.

[AlCzervik]

14. Waas has best the best reporter on this story hands down.

[bonito]

15. Kick n/t