Tip of the Iceberg
By Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
From: TPMCafe Special Guests
Last night I went on Hannity and Colmes to talk about my recent call to expand the Fitzgerald investigation to look at a possible White House conspiracy to deceive Congress. Mr. Hannity wanted to make a big joke out of my contention that the CIA leak issue is "only the tip of the iceberg." But I'm quite serious.
Many around Washington are expecting indictments to be handed down tomorrow on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Those are serious crimes; make no mistake. But I think the real question before America is this: were the actions in question part of a larger, deliberate, effort to quash dissent and march the country into war? That's why I've called for the Special Counsel's investigation to be expanded.
Specifically, I've asked that Mr. Fitzgerald seek answers to three pressing questions: whether the CIA leak incident was part of a larger, deliberate effort to deceive Congress into authorizing war in Iraq, who exactly was involved, and whether any of their actions were criminal. If a larger, intentional effort was indeed underway - as evidence is tending to show that it was - that amounts to a criminal conspiracy.
It'll be interesting to see what happens with Fitzgerald's announcement tomorrow - certainly, the Washington landscape will change radically if Rove and others are forced to step down. But indictments or not, the findings of this grand jury have primarily shown us one thing: that we need to know more about the actions of this White House in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/27/17276/403