Fitzgerald Investigation of Leak of Identity of CIA Agent

and i was so looking forward to my golden years being quiet and filled with milk and honey.

rats.

Here is a great piece on Bush taking care of his own.

^7/6/07: Sacrifice Is for Suckers

By PAUL KRUGMAN

On this Fourth of July, President Bush compared the Iraq war to the
Revolutionary War, and called for "more patience, more courage and more
sacrifice." Unfortunately, it seems that nobody asked the obvious
question: "What sacrifices have you and your friends made, Mr. President?"

On second thought, there would be no point in asking that question. In
Mr. Bush's world, only the little people make sacrifices.

You see, the Iraq war, although Mr. Bush insists that it's part of a
"Global War on Terror", a fight to the death between good and evil, isn't
like America's other great wars -- wars in which the wealthy shared the
financial burden through higher taxes and many members of the elite
fought for their country.

This time around, Mr. Bush celebrated Mission Accomplished by cutting
tax rates on dividends and capital gains, while handing out huge no-bid
contracts to politically connected corporations. And in the four years
since, as the insurgency Mr. Bush initially taunted with the cry of
"Bring them on" has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and left
thousands more grievously wounded, the children of the elite --
especially the Republican elite -- have been conspicuously absent from
the battlefield.

The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights, but they don't believe in
paying any of the cost of those fights or bearing any of the risks.
Above all, they don't believe that they or their friends should face any
personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting
intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching
that war's execution.

The Web site Think Progress has a summary of what happened to the men
behind the war after we didn't find W.M.D., and weren't welcomed as
liberators: "The architects of war: Where are they now?" To read that
summary is to be awed by the comprehensiveness and generosity of the
neocon welfare system. Even Paul Wolfowitz, who managed the rare feat
of messing up not one but two high-level jobs, has found refuge at the
American Enterprise Institute.

Which brings us to the case of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr.

The hysteria of the neocons over the prospect that Mr. Libby might
actually do time for committing perjury was a sight to behold. In an
opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled "Fallen Soldier," Fouad
Ajami of Johns Hopkins University cited the soldier's creed: "I will
never leave a fallen comrade." He went on to declare that "Scooter Libby
was a soldier in your -- our -- war in Iraq."

Ah, yes. Shuffling papers in an air-conditioned Washington office is
exactly like putting your life on the line in Anbar or Baghdad. Spending
30 months in a minimum-security prison, with a comfortable think-tank
job waiting at the other end, is exactly like having half your face or
both your legs blown off by an I.E.D.

What lay behind the hysteria, of course, was the prospect that for the
very first time one of the people who tricked America into war, then
endangered national security yet again in the effort to cover their
tracks, might pay some price. But Mr. Ajami needn't have worried.

Back when the investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's
identity began, Mr. Bush insisted that if anyone in his administration
had violated the law, "that person will be taken care of." Now we know
what he meant. Mr. Bush hasn't challenged the verdict in the Libby case,
and other people convicted of similar offenses have spent substantial
periods of time in prison. But Mr. Libby goes free.

Oh, and don't fret about the fact that Mr. Libby still had to pay a
fine. Does anyone doubt that his friends will find a way to pick up the
tab?

Mr. Bush says that Mr. Libby's punishment remains "harsh" because his
reputation is "forever damaged." Meanwhile, Mr. Bush employs, as a
deputy national security adviser, none other than Elliott Abrams, who
pleaded guilty to unlawfully withholding information from Congress in
the Iran-contra affair. Mr. Abrams was one of six Iran-contra defendants
pardoned by Mr. Bush's father, who was himself a subject of the special
prosecutor's investigation of the scandal.

In other words, obstruction of justice when it gets too close to home is
a family tradition. And being a loyal Bushie means never having to say
you're sorry.

Late-Night Jokes About Scooter Libby

"Earlier today, a federal judge sentenced Scooter Libby to 30 months in prison for lying. I believe prison is not the place to be when your nickname is Scooter." --Jay Leno

"Some speculate President Bush will pardon Libby right before he serves jail time, while others ... know he will." --Jon Stewart

"Scooter Libby was found guilty of perjury, obstruction, and making false statements -- or as the White House calls it, a press conference." --Bill Maher

"I say if Bush doesn't pardon him, at least he should give him a new nickname, because if you have Scooter on the back of your prison jump suit, you are just asking for it." --Bill Maher

"The Republican base is furious. They are saying it is wrong to convict someone of perjury and obstruction of justice unless there is proof of an underlying blow job." --Bill Maher

Personally, I think Libby got off easy -- usually when you take one for Cheney, it's a shot in the face" --Jay Leno

"In the Valerie Plame case, Scooter Libby was found not guilty ... on one of the five charges. ... But the media is instead focusing, of course, on the four counts of perjury, lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice for which Libby was convicted. It's typical. They always see the glass as 80% guilty." --Stephen Colbert

I'm not sure what the criteria is for a CIA star, if it is only for American citizens who are killed, or if it is for anyone who is working for the CIA.

All I know is there was only one star engraved on the wall around that time.

Yep, that sums it up. All that you know.

from the below source, it seems that a star is awarded to "a CIA agent killed in the line of duty"

not everyone that an agent works with is an actual cia agent. from what i've been told, most are paid foreign free lance operatives, informants and facilitators. they receive nothing from the agency if wounded or killed.

www.cia.gov/news-information




i guess the apple fell not only far, but over a fence into the next yard..

The republicans don't have traitors, only fellow comrads that they protect from the laws of our land.

and no corrupt party members either.

damn c.i., we should be votin' for this band of angels.

Never fear; many republicans will be voted into office in November 2008.

i think ya could be right about that. whether or not expectations of a great change quickly occuring under a democratic majority congress were realistic or not, the hard left seems to be pretty ticked off, as do a lot of independents and some moderate dems. a couple of the talking heads have been talking about an internal civil war going on similar to that of the republican party.

i do think however that the low polls for congress are not only a reflection of people's frustration with dems. the republicans in there don't seem real popular either.

kinda like the poll question, "do you think the country is headed in the right direction?"

gotta watch that one. i'm pretty sure that james dobson and i would both answer "no". but for very different reasons.

same with bush's polls. i feel like the only ones left supporting him are way right hawks, tax resistors and a few of the evangelicals. he's pretty much frustrated the affections of the independents and moderate republicans.

so there could be quite a few republicans voted in.

on the other hand, there could be a democratic and independent sweep.

that would be new and different...

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White House Subpoena battle escalates


By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is urging a former White House political director to ignore a subpoena and not testify before Congress about the firings of federal prosecutors, her lawyer says.

The Senate Judiciary Committee wants to hear from Sara Taylor at its hearing Wednesday and she is willing to talk. Testifying, however, would defy the wishes of the president, "a person whom she admires and for whom she has worked tirelessly for years," lawyer W. Neil Eggleston said.

Eggleston stated, in a letter this weekend to committee leaders and White House counsel Fred Fielding, that Taylor expects a letter from Fielding asking her not to comply with the subpoena.

"In our view, it is unfair to Ms. Taylor that this constitutional struggle might be played out with her as the object of an unseemly tug of war," Eggleston wrote.

He added, "Absent the direction from the White House, Ms. Taylor would testify without hesitation before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She has committed no wrongdoing. She will assert no personal priviliges."

The committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, said he expects Taylor to testify.


I hope this is the first leak of the dam, and others will be forthcoming with more information about the Bush mafia.

The courts may not like the claim of executive privilege in this matter. First, it involves possible criminal violations; i.e., violating the provisions of the Hatch Act. Second, Bush can't pick and choose when to use EP. (He has in the past allowed officials (e.g., Rice) to abide by subpoenas.

The stars are only for American's employed as CIA agents and who died in the line of duty. If you think back a few years you will remember about the ambush of CIA workers who were lined up in their cars trying to get into the parking lot at Langley. I hope no one is under the assumption that the foreign-born killers thought they were killing Covert Agents, because all they cared about was killing anyone associated with the CIA. Our enemies don't make subtle distinctions regarding Covert or non-covert, they get flamed up if they suspect you work for ANY American Intelligence gathering Agency. Do you remember how long it took our good friends in Pakistan to finally turn over the men who killed the CIA commuters???? If you don't remember, let me just remind you it took years and Christ only knows what we had to give up to coax Pakistan to finally turn over the men that they had been protecting.

I know how comforting the Intelligence Community regards the malicious risk-taking in the disclousure of their classified identities. In previous administrations we knew we were in trouble if the American News networks discovered any American serving in a covert status. But time marches on, and now Intelligence Community personnel are offered up by our own Government if one of our relatives fell out of favor with the Fourth Branch of the Government. If I had done the same thing that White House staffers did, no one would hear from me because I would be in a Federal Prison charged with some crime against the U.S. It is good to live in a free country, our founding fathers are probably spinning in their graves.

I just hope that the historians who write about the Bush presidency will remember to include all the ways Bush and his gang of criminals thrashed our Constitution and Bill of Rights. It seems some Americans still don't "get it." They still think Bush is doing a good job.

Published Jul. 15, 2007 7:30 am
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The compound cover-ups continue

MARTIN SCHRAM

On the night he became president of the United States under the most unprecedented of circumstances, Gerald Ford stood in the East Room of what was officially his new home and nailed the essence of governance in a single sentence: "I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together ..." By that standard, the government of President Bush and Vice President Cheney came unglued long ago.

Bush's commutation on Monday of former vice-presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence - a jail term sought by a Republican-appointed special prosecutor, decreed by a Republican-appointed judge, upheld by a Republican-appointed appellate court - for the felonies of perjury and obstruction of justice should have surprised no one in the know. It fell nicely within the pattern that has ruled the Bush-Cheney administration.

Ever since the days of their pre-inaugural transition, secrecy has reigned. Truth has been viewed as fungible, malleable, expendable. It has been that way on all manner of matters - from the intelligence underlying the sending of young men and women into harm's way and then keeps them there when the mission has been changed, or the justification for the jettisoning of principles of treatment of those captured in war, or merely those traditional corruptions involving the influence of special interests in the making of the policies that govern and even shape our lives.

The compound cover-ups continue, unabated because they are oft-abetted - and all of Washington knows it, from the ever-outraged liberals to often-angered centrists to the occasionally irked conservatives.

What has slipped their collective minds, however, is that in a very real sense, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, special counsel in the Libby case, has made himself part of the Bush-Cheney cover-up. Fitzgerald has departed from the tradition established by previous special counsels and has opted not to report to the public on the conclusions his investigation established concerning the scandal he was appointed to investigate.

Specifically, Fitzgerald has chosen not to outline the conclusions of his excruciatingly long and meticulous investigation that would shed light at last on just who did what in the Bush-Cheney administration's leaking to journalists the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. This is a matter of significant public importance because the case involves far more than Libby's actions. It involves actions taken by the man Libby so loyally served for years and was clearly trying to shield by making false statements to federal investigators - Cheney. The case also involves direct actions taken by the president's closest political strategist and operative, White House assistant Karl Rove.

Cheney, Rove and, no doubt, the president were displeased by public statements by Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, that Bush had been incorrect in his State of the Union assertion that Iraq sought uranium in Niger. The CIA had sent Wilson to look into the statement. Cheney, Rove and others understandably wanted to discredit Wilson's competence - which is no crime, just politics.

It is a federal crime to divulge the identity of a covert CIA agent - but only if the leaker knows that individual actually is a covert agent, not just a CIA employee. That's difficult to prove in court. So Fitzgerald wound up charging no one with divulging a covert agent's identity. But Libby obstructed justice by making false statements to federal investigators and the grand jury, especially about how he learned that Plame worked for the CIA. Libby was told that by Cheney. But Libby had claimed to investigators he learned it from NBC journalist Tim Russert, who is rarely mistaken for the veep.

Meanwhile, the president was asserting he wanted his staff to tell the truth and would fire any leaker. His press secretary assured America that it was ridiculous to think that Rove or Libby told journalists of Plame's identity. But we now know they had. Then again, lying to journalists or ordinary Americans is not obstruction of justice. Just obstruction of democracy.

That is why Bush desperately hopes Fitzgerald will keep the lid on what he knows about the false statements and undemocratic acts made in his name. No wonder his Monday statement carefully praised Fitzgerald as "a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged" - even as the president was erasing the core result of Fitzgerald's work.

A special counsel's public duty goes beyond prosecuting criminals. It is a public trust that must never withhold vital truths from the citizens he serves.

Martin Schram writes political analysis for Scripps Howard News Service.

Plame's lawsuit is thrown out. No surprise.

http://cbs2.com/topstories/topstories_story_200150235.html

Has anyone heard any further explanation from the Bush judge? Certainly the outing of Plame was not done by the members of the White House in conjunction with their official duties.

I noted that the judge helped Bush before with respect to the GAO suit for information from Cheney.

Okie, so you have no problem with outing a CIA spy for political purposes?

Ex-Gonzales no. 2: Make Fitzgerald Attorney General Michael Roston
Published: Friday July 20, 2007

The former top deputy to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suggested that Special Prosecutor and US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald should be Attorney General of the United States, according to a report in Bloomberg News.

"I think he would make a spectacular attorney general," former Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Comey told the news service's Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos in a Friday article. "He certainly is one of the very best federal prosecutors in America."

Comey, who served as Deputy Attorney General from 2003-2005 under both Gonzales and John Ashcroft now works in the private sector with the Lockheed Martin Corproation. He recently re-emerged into public view when the Senate and House Judiciary Committees subpoenaed him to receive testimony about a hospital bed confrontation between Gonzales, then White House Counsel, and Ashcroft over a domestic spying program that Comey refused to certify as legal.
link

I think that Comey is pulling our chains. In my view, Fitz did a terrible job. We had an outing of a CIA (classified) spy, and the best he could do was to indict Libby for lying and obstructing. And how many millions did he spend in reaching this nothing conclusion?