Blah Blah Blog

"By sitting down, she was standing up for all Americans." - Rep. John Lewis.

Rosa Parks. 1913-2005.

Labels: in the news

...and wait.

I read some stuff online yesterday claiming that the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case was targeting President Bush as well as Vice President Cheney.

While the posting was thorough enough to make it seem like it might be from a legit source, the crucial detail of former Secretary of State Colin Powell showing the infamous Plame memo to Bush and Cheney on Air Force One sent my bullshit detector a ring-ring-ringin'.

Because, for obvious reasons, the president and the vice president are never on the same plane. Duh.

And suddenly I remembered how we've been played by these cats in the White House so many times before. They are slippery, slippery, slippery.

So as of now, I'm officially not getting my hopes up.

I think there will be indictments, sure. And Washington is certainly buzzing with lots of talk of indictments at the highest level, and contingency plans.

But I don't want to get caught up in the pre-schadenfreude thing.

After all - remember the exit polls on election day?

See ya next week y'all.

(Or maybe tomorrow night at Firlefanz?)

Peace,

B.

Labels: in the news

First, the Washington Post:

"As the investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name hurtles to an apparent conclusion, special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has zeroed in on the role of Vice President Cheney's office, according to lawyers familiar with the case and government officials. The prosecutor has assembled evidence that suggests Cheney's long-standing tensions with the CIA contributed to the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame...

Then came Raw Story:

A senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney is cooperating with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, sources close to the investigation say.

Individuals familiar with Fitzgerald's case tell RAW STORY that John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John Bolton, was named as a target of Fitzgerald’s probe. They say he was told in recent weeks that he could face imminent indictment for his role in leaking Plame-Wilson's name to reporters unless he cooperated with the investigation.

Others close to the probe say that if Hannah is cooperating with the special prosecutor then he was likely going to be charged as a co-conspirator and may have cut a deal.

Then came US News and World Report:

Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

[snip]

Said another Bush associate of the rumor, "Yes. This is not good." The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008.

[snip]

"Folks on the inside and near inside are holding their breath and wondering what's next," said a Bush adviser. But, he added, they aren't focused on the future of the vice president. "Not that, at least not seriously," he said.

And then a final word from former CIA operative Larry Johnson:

Had lunch today with a person who has a direct tie to one of the folks facing indictment in the Plame affair. There are 22 files that Fitzgerald is looking at for potential indictment. These include Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, Dick Cheney, and Mary Matalin (there are others of course). Hadley has told friends he expects to be indicted. No wonder folks are nervous at the White House.

And it will come back around.

Merry Fiztmas.

Labels: in the news

From the Oct. 17 edition:

It's hard to imagine an artist more prepared for the evolving nature of the music industry than Bryan Thomas.

The singer, songwriter, who works for New York State United Teachers by day, has used a variety of talents, from online business savvy to his design skills creating Web sites, and a solid understanding of the importance of networking to become one of the best known local musicians.

He's a mainstay of "best of" lists throughout the Capital Region, and even as far as the Village Voice in New York City, something the likable and self-effacing songwriter seems embarrassed talking about.

The full embarassment is here.

:-)

Thanks, Mr. Leavitt.

Peace,

B.

Labels: music

Just another day at the office...

Karl Rove nosed his Jaguar out of the garage at his home in Northwest Washington in the predawn gloom, starting another day in which he would be dealing with a troubled Supreme Court nomination, posthurricane reconstruction and all the other issues that come across the desk of President Bush's most influential aide.

But Mr. Rove's first challenge on Wednesday morning came before he cleared his driveway: how to get past the five television crews and the three photographers waiting for him. He flashed his blinding high beams into the camera lenses and sped by.

That is the way things are for the Bush White House these days. The routines are the same. But everything, in the glare of the final stages of a criminal investigation that has reached to the highest levels of power in Washington, is different.

Just another day at the office...

President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, appeared before a federal grand jury on Friday for a fourth and most likely last time as prosecutors neared a decision on whether to bring indictments over leaking a covert
CIA operative's name.

Rove, the most powerful and controversial political strategist in Washington, made no comment as he entered the federal courthouse to begin his testimony, hoping to convince grand jurors that he did nothing illegal.

Prosecutors have told Rove they can not guarantee that he will not be indicted over the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Labels: in the news

...for special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

From today's Washington Post:

New York Times reporter Judith Miller answered questions yesterday about a previously undisclosed conversation she had with Vice President Cheney's chief of staff in June 2003 and is scheduled to testify before a grand jury today to answer more questions in the investigation of how a covert CIA operative's identity was leaked to reporters.

Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who has indicated he is nearing a decision about whether to charge anyone in the case, questioned Miller about notes she said she discovered last week involving a June 23, 2003, conversation with Cheney's top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, according to a source familiar with Miller's account.

According to the source, the notes reveal that the two discussed Bush administration critic and former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV about three weeks before the name of Wilson's wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, appeared in a syndicated column written by Robert D. Novak...

Numerous lawyers involved in the 22-month investigation said they are bracing for Fitzgerald to bring criminal charges against administration officials. They speculated, based on his questions, that he may be focused on charges of false statements, obstruction of justice or violations of the Espionage Act involving the release of classified government information to unauthorized persons. The grand jury's term is to expire Oct. 28.

"This is not a guy who would walk away with nothing," said one lawyer involved in the case.

And from the Wall Street Journal:

There are signs that prosecutors now are looking into contacts between administration officials and journalists that took place much earlier than previously thought. Earlier conversations are potentially significant, because that suggests the special prosecutor leading the investigation is exploring whether there was an effort within the administration at an early stage to develop and disseminate confidential information to the press that could undercut former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, Central Intelligence Agency official Valerie Plame...

Mr. Rove, who has already testified three times before the grand jury and was identified by a Time magazine reporter as a source for his story on Mr. Wilson, is expected to go back to the grand jury, potentially as early as today, to clarify earlier answers.

Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the White House Iraq Group. Formed in August 2002, the group, which included Messrs. Rove and Libby, worked on setting strategy for selling the war in Iraq to the public in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion. The group likely would have played a significant role in responding to Mr. Wilson's claims.

Meanwhile, back at the White House:

HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, my sense, in reporting this, Chris, is that the Bush family, political family, is at war with itself inside the White House. My sense is, it's—it's—it's—it's Andy Card, the chief of staff, and his people against Karl Rove, the brain.

MATTHEWS: Right.

FINEMAN: And that runs through a whole lot of things, whether it's Harriet Miers or Katrina. But it all starts with Iraq.

And some submerged, but now emerging divisions within the administration over why we went into that war, how we went into that war and what was done to sell it. There are people [who] are out for Karl Rove inside that White House, which makes his situation even more perilous.

My understanding, from talking to somebody quite close to this investigation, is that they think there are going to be indictments and possibly Karl Rove could be among them,, if not for the act of the leaking information about Valerie Plame, then perhaps for perjury, because he's now testified four times.

And there are conflicts between what Matt Cooper told the grand jury and what Rove evidently told the jury himself. And Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, is an absolute stickler for detail who has no political axe to grind here, other than keeping his own credibility. Having put Judy Miller in jail, having gone to the lengths he had, my understand is, he has got some people here, not only Rove, but perhaps Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff.

MATTHEWS: I also get the sense he reads the law book. He doesn't care about the politics.

(CROSSTALK)

FINEMAN: That's what I meant. That's what I meant. He doesn't care about the politics.

Labels: in the news

Chestnut brown canary
Ruby throated sparrow
Sing a song don't be long
Thrill me to the marrow

After 85 days in jail for refusing to name her source, New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified on Friday about conversations with a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to a grand jury investigating who leaked the name of a CIA operative.

Legal sources close to the case said Miller, who was freed on Thursday, gave the federal grand jury in Washington a detailed account of two conversations she had in July 2003 with Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

[snip]

The lawyers said [special prosecutor Patrick "Bulldog"] Fitzgerald could now move quickly to bring indictments in the case, or he could conclude that no crime was committed and end his investigation and possibly issue a report on his findings.

Fitzgerald had indicated he could wrap up his investigation once he obtained Miller's testimony.

SHAKE UP WHITE HOUSE?

The outcome could shake up the Bush White House, already reeling from criticism over its response to Hurricane Katrina and the indictment of House Republican leader Tom DeLay on a conspiracy charge related to campaign financing.

The leak investigation has ensnarled Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, as well as Libby. The White House had long maintained that they had nothing to do with the leak but reporters have since named them as sources.

Here's the full thang.

And you make it hard...

Doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo...

Labels: in the news