[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

I don't get it...

Remember how Bush asked Cheney to interview candidates for the job of Vice President and Cheney selected himself?

Maybe Bush asked Rove what they should do about all the calls from conservative Republicans that he should "shake up his staff" and Rove selected Andy Card to take the fall?

Based on the story I linked above about Rove cooperating with Patrick Fitzgerald by telling him about deleted emails and erased hard drives in the Office of the Vice President, it's highly unlikely that anybody's gonna mess with Karl. He probably knows where ALL the skeletons are buried over the past 30 years. Remember when he used to hand Georgie the keys to the car when he came home from Harvard Business School?

So... Now we have this guy Josh Bolton Bolten as the new Chief of Staff. Don't know much about him other than the fact that he has something in common with David Dreier. They both dated Bo Derek. How macho! And Josh owns a Harley. Bonus points there. I don't think David owns a motorcycle.


Bo Derek and Josh Bolton Bolten


Bo Derek and David Dreier



P.S. -- I ran a search to see if I could come up with other "dates" that Josh Bolten has escorted to public events and all I could come up with was his mother. I guess that means we'll be seeing more of Bo Derek, conservative Republican wannabe, in the future, especially since her current live-in boyfriend doesn't seem to be too worried about the "competition."

[schrocat]

here

"Bolten may be polite but he isn't by any stretch buttoned down. He's a big music buff, including country music, and plays guitar. He recites poetry, sometimes at great length. He keeps a copy of the best-selling children's book Walter the Farting Dog on his office's coffee table. His wall collection of Bush photos, typical throughout the White House complex, is unique. The pictures focus exclusively on Bush's hands at key moments in his presidency. Not a single photo of Bush's face can be found."

Check please.

[Ninong]

Josh Bolten and his Fat Boy in front of the White House

"He's soft-spoken but very clear thinking," said Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser. "I love him in an entirely appropriate way. He's a wonderful person."

P.S. -- See if you can find a Kenny Mehlman quote.

[Ninong]

Haha! This is interesting. I just found a post on that wingnut blog, RedState, from back in October where someone was speculating that the White House's plans in the event of a Karl Rove indictment included bringing Josh Bolten in to replace Karl.

Looks like Karl handled that possibility nicely by getting Bolten to replace Andy Card. And, speaking of "nicely," now that Karl is playing nice with Fitzgerald, who knows where that investigation will lead. Will Cheney suddently have another health issue? And, if so, who comes in to take his place? Remember that whoever it is must be acceptable to all of the frontrunners for the 2008 nomination or all hell will break loose. And it would have to be someone who really and truly doesn't know Jack! Maybe they'll get Bob Dole if they can get him out of his Pepsi and Viagra contracts?

[schrocat]

They bring in the fat one.
Hoss...Jeb...whatever his name is

[Ninong]

Remember when Liz Taylor was "dating" Malcolm Forbes? He had a whole collection of Harleys.



I wonder if she'll ask Josh to take her for a ride?

[Ninong]

No wonder I couldn't find anything. His name is misspelled in a lot of online references. Looks like his correct name is Joshua Brewster Bolten with an "e" instead of an "o" like the maniac at the U.N.

P.S. -- He's only the eight of diamonds.

P.P.S. -- His official U.S. govt. biography.

[Ninong]

"Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known." -- Vice President Richard B. Cheney

But nothing from Karl Rove? He's not listed as an advisor or a contributor or anything. Gee, I wonder why?

Instead of giving Scooter that homemade shiv recipe Karl got from Martha Stewart, looks like he used it himself and then tried it out on Scooter and his boss.

[Ninong]

In response to requests from Libby's attorneys for government records that might aid his defense, Patrick Fitzgerald's court filing late Wednesday sheds new light on Libby's claim that he was authorized to provide classified information to Judith Miller at a meeting on July 8, 2003.

"Defendant testified that he was specifically authorized in advance of the meeting to disclose the key judgments of the classified NIE to Miller on that occasion because it was thought that the NIE was ‘pretty definitive' against what Ambassador Wilson had said and that the vice president thought that it was ‘very important' for the key judgments of the NIE to come out," Mr. Fitzgerald wrote.

Mr. Libby is said to have testified that "at first" he rebuffed Mr. Cheney's suggestion to release the information because the estimate was classified. However, according to the vice presidential aide, Mr. Cheney subsequently said he got permission for the release directly from Mr. Bush. "Defendant testified that the vice president later advised him that the president had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE," the prosecution filing said.

P.S. -- It is not against the law for the President to release classified information but the fact that Bush was aware of what was going on and actually authorized it may be difficult for Scotty McClellan to spin. We'll see. He'll almost certainly say that they don't discuss "ongoing investigations." Unless, of course, it's to their advantage to do so.

[schrocat]

So he authorized the leaking of classified info and then authorized Scotty to lie to the American people about it...

Big Deal.

Lying to the American people only matters when it involves testifying under oath about your personal sex life while being questioned about real estate deals that are a decade old.

Bringing these petty things up now only helps the terr'ist!!
How can we win the peace in Kosovo Iraq with all these attacks on glorius leader?
:slap:


P.S. 33%...33%...I have 33% can I get a 32? 32...32%...I have 32, going once, twice...31%! 31 is the offer can I get a 30?...30%?...30%?...I have 30, do I hear 29%? 29? I have 29 can I see 28? Once? twice? sold to the American Public one idiot frat boy at 29%

[The Grim Reefer]

Nothing here to see folks, move along.

Unless Chenney told him to release specific classified information there is nothing wrong with what was done. Feeding frenzy

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Unless Chenney told him to release specific classified information there is nothing wrong with what was done. Feeding frenzy

Yes, Cheney DID instruct him to release specific classified information from an NIE (national intelligence estimate) to a reporter (Judith Miller). I thought I made that clear. And, according to Libby, he resisted but Cheney assured him that he had cleared it with Bush himself and that Bush authorized it.

Now, before you get all worked up, there is NOTHING wrong with that from a strictly legal standpoint. The President can release classified information as he sees fit. If he should ever release information that was harmful to the defense of the country, he could be impeached but it's not against any laws for him to declassify information.

The problem for the administration is that they have been claiming all along that the President was unaware of what was going on, when in truth the only person who was probably unaware of what was going on was Scotty McClellan. (Reminds me of poor Ron Ziegler during Watergate.)

It appears that Cheney, Libby, Rove, and now Bush, may have deliberately misled hapless Scotty. What might have happened is that they parsed their denials in very carefully chosen language but Scotty assumed that they were all as pure as the new fallen snow and got carried away with his denials to the press. Certainly Bush's later statements were very carefully worded when compared to his very earliest statements. Then, at a certain point, they simply clammed up and said they couldn't say anything more until the investigation is completed.

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reefer

Nothing here to see folks, move along.

Unless Chenney told him to release specific classified information there is nothing wrong with what was done. Feeding frenzy

Umm...hello? McFly?

"Mr. Libby is said to have testified that "at first" he rebuffed Mr. Cheney's suggestion to release the information because the estimate was classified. However, according to the vice presidential aide, Mr. Cheney subsequently said he got permission for the release directly from Mr. Bush. "Defendant testified that the vice president later advised him that the president had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE," the prosecution filing said."

To quote a wise man...

"Keep digging...there's a pony in there somewhere."

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by Ninong

The problem for the administration is that they have been claiming all along that the President was unaware of what was going on, when in truth the only person who was probably unaware of what was going on was Scotty McClellan. (Reminds me of poor Ron Ziegler during Watergate.)

Ding Ding Ding!
We have a winner!

[schrocat]

Q Given -- given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President Cheney's discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months ago, a suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name?
THE PRESIDENT: That's up to --
Q And, and, do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

[Ninong]

Excerpts:

Libby: Bush himself authorized leak on Iraq
(Hmmm... I wonder if he had to ask Condi Rice first?)

Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure, the court papers say. According to the documents, the authorization led to the July 8, 2003, conversation between Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

But the disclosure in documents filed Wednesday means that the president and the vice president put Libby in play as a secret provider of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

(...)

“The fact that the president was willing to reveal classified information for political gain and put interests of his political party ahead of Americas security shows that he can no longer be trusted to keep America safe,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said.

Libby’s testimony also puts the president and the vice president in the awkward position of authorizing leaks — a practice both men have long said they abhor, so much so that the administration has put in motion criminal investigations to hunt down leakers.

The most recent instance is the administration’s launching of a probe into who disclosed to The New York Times the existence of the warrantless domestic surveillance program authorized by Bush shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

(...)

Libby’s participation in a critical conversation with Miller on July 8, 2003, “occurred only after the vice president advised defendant that the president specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the National Intelligence Estimate,” the papers by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald stated. The filing did not specify the “certain information.”

“Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller — getting approval from the president through the vice president to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval — were unique in his recollection,” the papers added.

(...)

He is accused of making false statements about how he learned of Plame’s CIA employment and what he told reporters about it.

Her CIA status was publicly disclosed eight days after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat from weapons of mass destruction.

(...)

According to Miller’s grand jury testimony, Libby told her about Plame’s CIA status in the July 8, 2003, conversation that took place shortly after the White House aide — according to the new court filing — was authorized by Bush through Cheney to disclose sensitive intelligence about Iraq and WMD contained in a National Intelligence Estimate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12187153/

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

The problem for the administration is that they have been claiming all along that the President was unaware of what was going on, when in truth the only person who was probably unaware of what was going on was Scotty McClellan. (Reminds me of poor Ron Ziegler during Watergate.)

“There's been nothing, absolutely nothing, brought to our attention to suggest any White House involvement, and that includes the vice president’s office as well."

White House, 9/29/03

[schrocat]

From boomantribune:

On July 18, 2003, the administration declassified the Key Findings from the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. Presumably, this is the information that Scooter Libby claims that President Bush authorized him to leak to Judith Miller on July 8, 2003. But, the relationship of Judy Miller to these findings goes all the way back to September 2002. Let's revisit Judith Miller and Michael Gordon's infamous September 8, 2002 aluminum tube column. Who were the sources?

In the last 14 months, Iraq has sought to buy thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes, which American officials believe were intended as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium. American officials said several efforts to arrange the shipment of the aluminum tubes were blocked or intercepted but declined to say, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence, where they came from or how they were stopped. The diameter, thickness and other technical specifications of the aluminum tubes had persuaded American intelligence experts that they were meant for Iraq's nuclear program, officials said, and that the latest attempt to ship the material had taken place in recent months.
The attempted purchases are not the only signs of a renewed Iraqi interest in acquiring nuclear arms. President Hussein has met repeatedly in recent months with Iraq's top nuclear scientists and, according to American intelligence, praised their efforts as part of his campaign against the West.
Iraqi defectors who once worked for the nuclear weapons establishment have told American officials that acquiring nuclear arms is again a top Iraqi priority. American intelligence agencies are also monitoring construction at nuclear sites...
"The jewel in the crown is nuclear," a senior administration official said. "The closer he gets to a nuclear capability, the more credible is his threat to use chemical or biological weapons. Nuclear weapons are his hole card."
The Central Intelligence Agency still says it would take Iraq five to seven years to make a nuclear weapon if it must produce its own supply of highly enriched uranium for a bomb, an administration official said. American intelligence officials believe that Iraq could assemble a nuclear device in a year or somewhat less if it obtained the nuclear material for a bomb on the black market. But they say there are no signs that Iraq has acquired such a supply.

All of these allegations would be included in the Key Findings of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that was produced in October 2002, and used to convince Congress to authorize the use of force against Iraq.
When Scooter Libby met with Judith Miller on July 8, 2003 and revealed classified information from the 2002 NIE, he was giving her information that she had already received before the NIE was even finalized. But, not only that, a full year after the Libby met with Judith Miller at the St. Regis Hotel and revealed the identity and job of Ambassador Wilson's wife, the administration was refusing to declassify huge portions of the NIE.

Washington D.C., 9 July 2004 - The CIA has decided to keep almost entirely secret the controversial October 2002 CIA intelligence estimate about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that is the subject of today's Senate Intelligence Committee report, according to the CIA's June 1, 2004 response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the National Security Archive. The CIA's response included a copy of the estimate, NIE 2002-16HC, October 2002, Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction, consisting almost entirely of whited-out pages. Only 14 of the 93 pages provided actually contained text, and all of the text except for the two title pages and the two pages listing National Intelligence Council members had previously been released in July 2003. At that time, CIA responded to the first round of controversy over the Niger yellowcake story by declassifying the "Key Findings" section of the estimate and a few additional paragraphs.
The CIA's censorship of the estimate mirrors its apparent treatment of the Senate's own report. The Senate Intelligence Committee had previously noted, in a 17 June 2004 press release, that "The Committee is extremely disappointed by the CIA's excessive redactions to the report." News accounts quoting Senate sources estimate that this excessive redaction amounted to 50% of the entire text. After a month of back-and-forth, not only did a number of Senators gain an education in the subjectivity of classification, but also the CIA retreated, to a final censorship level (by word-count) of 16%. Perhaps the most egregious example of the CIA's knee-jerk secrecy occurs on pages 49-50, when only one sentence survives censorship in the Committee's discussion of the British White Paper - and that sentence reports that the British had actually published the Paper. Large sections of blacked-out discussion following the Committee's Conclusions - such as the CIA's misleading of Secretary of State Colin Powell for his February 2003 United Nations speech (pages 253-257) and the CIA's misleading the public in its October 2002 white paper that left out the caveats, hedged language, and dissents in the underlying intelligence (pages 295-297) - are currently under declassification review by CIA. The Committee itself withheld these sections from the CIA's review until release of the report so as not to be scooped or spun.
The estimate has been the subject of multiple public speeches, statements and testimony by CIA and other intelligence community officials - even more of which is published in today's Senate report. These include public statements by CIA director George Tenet on 11 July 2003 and 11 August 2003, Tenet's Georgetown speech of 5 February 2004, and NIC vice-chairman Stuart Cohen's statement of 28 November 2003.

Now, let's take a look at Libby's testimony to Fitzgerald via TPM Muckraker:

According to defendant [Libby], at the time of his conversations with [Judith] Miller and [Matthew] Cooper, he understood that only three people - the President, the Vice President and defendant - knew that the key judgments of the [National Intelligence Estimate] had been declassified. Defendant testified in the grand jury that he understood that even in the days following his conversation with Ms. Miller, other key officials - including Cabinet level officials - were not made aware of the earlier declassification even as those officials were pressed to carry out a declassification of the NIE, the report about Wilson's trip and another classified document dated January 24, 2003.

The bottom line here is that Judith Miller was given information all the way back in September 2002...some of which may have been denied to Congress in 2004. She was given information in July 2003 before the information had been vetted and cleared for declassification. Libby's claim that Bush declassified the information prior to his meeting with Miller is nonsense. As far as Miller was concerned, nothing was ever classified.

[Ninong]

The President has the authority to declassify anything. Usually this requires that he make a finding and then after the declassification, others in government would be aware that the document in question had been declassified. That's not what happened here. According to Patrick Fitzgerald's filing, it appears that only Bush, Cheney and Libby were authorized to know that this document had been declassified because it was only declassified for them and no one else.

That's unusual but given the reasons for the declassification, it makes sense. A regular declassification would have spilled the beans so to speak. This was a secret declassification for the purpose of passing on classified information to select reporters to advance the administration's position on Iraq and to undermine their critics (i.e., Amb. Joseph Wilson).

According to defendant [Libby], at the time of his conversations with [Judith] Miller and [Matthew] Cooper, he understood that only three people - the President, the Vice President and defendant - knew that the key judgments of the [National Intelligence Estimate] had been declassified. Defendant testified in the grand jury that he understood that even in the days following his conversation with Ms. Miller, other key officials - including Cabinet level officials - were not made aware of the earlier declassification even as those officials were pressed to carry out a declassification of the NIE, the report about Wilson's trip and another classified document dated January 24, 2003.

P.S. -- Looks like schrocat and I posted at the same time.

P.P.S. -- Looks like, according to schrocat's post, that the NIE on Iraq was officially declassified on July 18, 2003. Libby is saying that it was declassified for him by President Bush prior to that date and that at the time, only he, Cheney and Bush were aware of this special, secret declassification for the purpose of giving previously classified information to reporters. But, yes, the administration was selectively leaking classified information for a long time and it is still leaking classified information. Case in point: Libby (and Hadley, and others) were interviewed by Bob Woodward for his book on the administration's runup to the Iraq war. According to Woodward, Libby told him on June 27, 2003 (11 days before he told Miller and Cooper) that the government had information that Saddam was "vigorously" trying to acquire uranium ore from Niger. That's the exact same wording contained in the Iraq NIE that we are now told was declassified by Bush personally just prior to July 8, 2003 and "officially" by the DCIA on July 18, 2003.

[Ninong]

Schrocat,

Yes, Judy Miller was fed classified information on a regular basis by the Office of the Vice President and by Ahmed Chalabi to provide her with inside intelligence for her warmongering articles in the New York Times. She's the one who broke the story on the aluminum tubes and she's the one who reported on the mobile biological weapons labs, etc. All of this info was incorrect and misleading but they fed it to her anyway and she dutifully published it. She published all the crap from Mr. Curveball, too. She has always had a cozy relationship with government officials, going back to the time when she was shacking up with Les Aspin.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make here is that Bush authorized several people in the administration to reveal classified information to Bob Woodward for his tell-all book about the run up to Iraq. The book is biased and slanted and presents only one side of the story but maybe that's because Woodward was taken for a ride? Either that or he did a Judy Miller and willinging pre$$tituted himself for fame, fortune and glory. Sad considering his history but that appears to be a likely explanation. Woodward's book is loaded with details that were classified at the time. Bush himself sat down for several hours of interviews with Woodward for that book and he directed members of his staff to do the same. Stephen Hadley, in particular, spent many hours in interviews with Woodward. Hadley was then Assistant National Security Advisor (Condi was his boss) but he's now National Security Advisor now that Condi is Secretary of State.

And don't forget that Woodward is directly involved in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity because he withheld information that he claims to have had prior to the leak to Judy Miller and Matt Cooper. Not only that, but Woodward failed to tell his bosses at the Washington Post that he was informed of Plame's CIA status by a different government official (possibly Hadley?) before Libby leaked it to Miller and Cooper. And, during all that time, Woodward was saying that there was nothing to the Libby thing and that it would all blow over. He failed to say that he had inside information to support that opinion. His opinion, obviously, was that the release of Plame's identity was common knowledge in the inner circles of the White House and that it was authorized at the highest level.