home

Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Thu Jul 21, 2005 at 04:47:46 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

The Washington Post leads today with an article about the June 9, 2003 State Department memo that identified Valerie Wilson as the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson:

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.

Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, though that designation was not specifically attached to Plame's name and did not describe her status as covert, the sources said.

Given that Colin Powell had the memo with him on July 7, 2003 on Air Force One when the President and his entourage left for Africa, and that Fitzgerald subpoenaed phone records for Air Force one during that period, Fitzgerald may be assuming that someone leaked information from the memo. So, who saw the memo on Air Force One besides Colin Powell?

Remember Karl Rove's statement to investigators that he first learned Valerie Plame Wilson's identity from a reporter but he didn't remember which one? And how that made investigators skeptical?

Is the fact that the memo was secret a smoking gun against Karl Rove? I don't think so. But it may be against others. The Washington Post reports,

Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, has testified that he learned Plame's name from Novak a few days before telling another reporter she worked at the CIA and played a role in her husband's mission, according to a lawyer familiar with Rove's account. Rove has also testified that the first time he saw the State Department memo was when "people in the special prosecutor's office" showed it to him, said Robert Luskin, his attorney...."He had not seen it or heard about it before that time," Luskin said.

Karl Rove wasn't on the plane to Africa....he had left the White House early on the 11th, after his e-mail to Stephen Hadley about his conversation with Cooper, for a family vaction.

I'm leaning towards thinking unless there is a conspiracy to commit perjury or obstruct justice by Rove, Libby or other individual members of Cheney's staff or the White House Iraq Group, whose meetings Rove attended, Rove is going to get a pass.

Later in the article, WaPo reports:

The material in the memo about Wilson's wife was based on notes taken by an INR analyst who attended a Feb. 19, 2002, meeting at the CIA where Wilson's intelligence-gathering trip to Niger was discussed.

Libby and Cheney may have attended that meeting. Remember, Vince Cannistraro testified that on at least two occasions starting in January, Libby and Cheney went out to CIA headquarters to meet with desk policy analysts, which he termed most unusual.

So I do think indictments are possible, and as I've said many times before, I think they will focus on false statements to federal officials under 18 USC 1001, perjury and if the White House Iraq Group is involved, obstruction of justice and possibly, conspiracy to out a covert agent.

Bottom line: The Post article is exciting and a step forward, but it may not be a smoking gun as to Karl Rove - unless Fitzgerald can show a conspiracy between Rove and Libby and/or the White House Iraq Group.

< Report: Hunger Strike at Guantanamo | Roberts and the Blogger Swarm >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#1)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Posted by Jlvngstn at July 20, 2005 01:51 PM Still waiting for an elected official from the Republican party to declare Valerie Plame was not worthy of the agent identity protetction status. Perhaps I missed them saying it in public as opposed to leaking it to Rush et al but I will continue to monitor the news.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    As if Karl Rove needed more trouble

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#4)
    by theologicus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:29 PM EST
    I don't know the answer, but it would be worth asking who benefits from the leak of this memo, and who doesn't.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#5)
    by Tom Maguire on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:29 PM EST
    (1) The Feb 19 meeting was the infamous "Let's send Joe" meeting described in the Senate Intel Committee report (Niger section) - Ms. Plame was there for three minutes to introduce her hubby, which is how the INR analyst made the connection (we think). Libby and Cheney in the same room with Wilson in Feb 2002? The imagination reels. (2) Rove left for vacation on July 11 after talking to Cooper (as your link makes clear, so let's call that a typo) (3) Good point about Luskin denying Rove had seen the memo - I can make a good circumstantial case that Karl *should have* seen it, and I don't trust Luskin, but it is worth noting the denial. Hmm, shameless self-promotion moment - the circumstantial case arguing Karl did see the memo is at my blog.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:29 PM EST
    I think that this memo is a big red herring. Its existence had been leaked over and over again, even to Talon/Ganon of all people. It was first leaked to the WSJ, long ago then to Talon/Ganon, recently to NYT, then again to WSJ, Bloomberg news, and the latest in this list is WAPO. Why is the WH interested in having everyone chase this memo? They do not leak what they do not want you to read. Ganon did not write about things the WH did not want in the public domain. Why then are they pushing it? It is simple; the two players Rove and Libby were not on AF1 where the memo shows up giving them the perfect alibi. The theory that they learned about her from a journalist who must have learned it from someone who was AF1 can now be pushed. Why not put Ari out there, he no longer works for the WH he is easy to sacrifice. But we already knew that this memo was not the source because it uses Wilson and not Plame. By tossing it out there it creates confusion. Leaking it over and over it assures that we will accept it as the source. Next all we need to do is prove that Libby and Rove had no access, but we already did that. That was easy wasn’t it?

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:29 PM EST
    July 21, 2005 4:30 p m MDT Well I can only say that after listening to 3 hrs of Franken this morning , I believe this is a "high crime"!!!!! And I believe it may come out that it goes to the top levels -ie P and vp! How could it not- given it was their deputy chief and chief's of staff who told the now famous Matt Cooper that Wilson's wife was a nahhc -(as Randi Rhodes puts it)! And that we have now the news the "air force one memo" was on that plane in July 2003.And was Bush also on that plane? Was he aware of the memo? I think the ex CIA agent's name on Franken was Larry Johnson, who will be one of the witnesses tomorrow a m at the minority party's hearing. And good for them! The Dems- the opposition, the resistance, the good guys in my book. Thank you very much! I have a piece of Biblical wisdom for these arrogant folks who say they are Americans - they forgot it long ago - if ever they heard it- PRIDE COMETH BEFORE A FALL. And a nursery rhyme to fit: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. Thanks, G

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#8)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:30 PM EST
    et al - Please. This memo proves nothing except that the writer was ignorant of the law and/or Plame's current status. If the problem is leaking her name, and since Rove admitted what he did and signed a release 18 or so months ago, I would think the SP would have named him a "target." He didn't. That speaks volumes about the subject.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#9)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:30 PM EST
    Wow, Jim, where'd you get the idea for that post... the pin on Karl Rove's jacket?? Who are you, anyway?

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#10)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:30 PM EST
    Seriously, I think it speaks volumes about you, Jim, when Karl Rove spins one point to the extent of affixing it to his clothing, and you regurgitate it and offer it up like some deep insight. Are you a pod person? Or just an RNC staffer? Geez...

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:31 PM EST
    Hmm. Maybe this will end Jim's oh-so-clever "she was about as covert as the Washington Monument" canard. Although I'm already starting to miss it; it gets funnier and funnier every time.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#11)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:31 PM EST
    scar - I can speak for myself, as you well know. My problem with the current hahaha going on is simple. 1. Rove signed a release, yet the press acted like they were standing on the deck of the burning ship of free speech and the press. That was just posturing. Both Cooper and Miller could have come forward at anytime in the past 18 months. And, if they were so concerned that the release was forced...hahahahah...they could have asked for assurances... You may note that they didn't. 2. I have problems understanding why Wilson was ever sent in the first place. Stupid is as stupid does, but why send a known anti-war, anti-administration non-professional? Catch a clue. We spend billions on the CIA. At least they could have sent someone would would have written a report. This thing reeks of a political agenda. 3. There is a dispute as to whether or not Rove actually did anything illegal. Many sources state that Plame was not covert. One of the qualifications, and no one has shown differently, is that she must not have been inside the US for the past five years. She has been. 4. So when someone starts talking about someone writing a memo in 03 about Plame being a "secret agent," I have to giggle. BTW - I am a social liberal who believes in a strong national defense. Unlike you I don't have a political manifesto that I must consult before I do anything.

    Re: Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret (none / 0) (#13)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:32 PM EST
    S is for Stupid, which says it was meant for the presidents eyes only.

    Memo Marked Plame's Identity as Secret | 12 comments (12 topical)