Administration
Officials Involved In Plame Leak
The cast of administration
characters with known connections to the outing of an undercover CIA agent:
(Comment on this page here .)
Karl Rove
Senior Advisor to President Bush (2001-2005); Deputy White House Chief
of Staff (2005-Present)
ADMINISTRATION, ROVE ORIGINALLY DENIED ANY
INVOLVMENT IN THE LEAK: Asked on 9/29/03 whether he had “any knowledge” of the leak or whether
he leaked the name of the CIA agent, Rove answered “no.” That same day, White
House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, after having “spoken to Karl,” asserted
that “it is a ridiculous suggestion” to say Rove was involved in the leak. In
August 2004, Rove maintained, “I didn’t know her name and didn’t leak her
name.” [ABC News, 9/29/03 ; White House Press Briefing, 9/29/03 ; RawStory ; Newsweek, 7/11/05 ]
ROVE SPOKE WITH TIME REPORTER MATT COOPER: In a conversation with Time
reporter Matt Cooper — a conversation that Rove insisted be kept on “deep
background” — Rove instructed Cooper, “Don’t get too far out on Wilson.” Rove
then identified Valerie Plame as “Wilson’s wife” who “works at the agency on
wmd [weapons of mass destruction].” According to Cooper, his conversation with
Karl Rove was the first time he had heard anything about Wilson’s wife. Additionally,
Rove told Cooper that further information discrediting Wilson and his findings
would soon be declassified and ended the phone conversation by saying “I’ve
already said too much.” [Time, 7/25/05 ]
ROVE SPOKE WITH COLUMNIST ROBERT NOVAK: A week prior to publishing his
column which outed undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, Robert Novak spoke with
Karl Rove. In the 7/8/03 conversation with Rove, Novak brought up Plame’s role
at the CIA, and Rove confirmed for the reporter that Plame worked at the CIA:
“I heard that too,” said Rove. [NYT, 7/15/05 ]
ROVE TESTIFIED FOUR TIMES BEFORE THE GRAND JURY: Karl Rove appeared before a
federal grand jury for a fourth and most likely last time on October 14, 2005. In
his previous testimony to the grand jury, Karl Rove reportedly admitted “that
he circulated and discussed damaging information regarding [Plame] with others
in the White House, outside political consultants, and journalists” and “is
said to have named at least six other administration officials” who were
involved. From Rove’s description of the administration’s efforts, sources
characterized the actions as “an aggressive campaign to discredit Wilson
through the leaking and disseminating of derogatory information regarding him
and his wife to the press, utilizing proxies such as conservative interest
groups and the Republican National Committee to achieve those ends, and
distributing talking points to allies of the administration on Capitol Hill and
elsewhere.” [American Prospect, 3/8/04 ; Newsweek, 7/11/05 ; Reuters, 10/14/05 ]
ROVE DEFENSE TEAM ANTICIPATES CHARGES; ROVE PLANS TO RESIGN IF
INDICTED: “Rove’s defense team asserts that President Bush’s
deputy chief of staff has not committed a crime but nevertheless anticipates
that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald could find a way to bring charges
in the next two weeks.” “Bush senior adviser Rove and others at the White House
had concluded that if indicted he would immediately resign or possibly go on
unpaid leave, several legal and Administration sources familiar with the
thinking told Time.” [Washington Post, 10/15/05 ; Time, 10/24/05 ]
ROVE WAS REPORTEDLY ADMONISHED BY BUSH FOR
LEAKING: “An
angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for
his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News. ‘He made his
displeasure known to Karl,’ a presidential counselor told The News. ‘He made
his life miserable about this.’” [NY Daily News, 10/19/05 ]
MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Rove was a regular participant in
the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House Iraq Group. The
main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of
going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. One clear
example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the
pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into
the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The group included the other
individual who has been confirmed as a leaker, Lewis Libby. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby
Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney (2001-Present)
CHENEY AND LIBBY PRESSURED CIA ON URANIUM: Cheney and Libby visited the CIA
headquarters to engage the CIA analysts directly on this issue of uranium
acquisition in Africa, “creating an environment in which some analysts felt
they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush
administration’s policy objectives.” [Washington Post, 6/5/03 ]
LIBBY, WITH ROVE AND HADLEY, PREPARED TENET’S
RESPONSE TO NIGER CRITICISMS: Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr., were helping to prepare what became
the administration’s primary response to criticism that a flawed phrase about
the nuclear materials in Africa had been included in Mr. Bush’s State of the
Union address six months earlier. They had exchanged e-mail correspondence and
drafts of a proposed statement by George Tenet, then the director of central
intelligence, to explain how the disputed wording had gotten into the address. Mr.
Rove, the president’s political strategist, and Mr. Libby, the chief of staff
for Vice President Dick Cheney, coordinated their efforts with Stephen Hadley,
then the deputy national security adviser, who was in turn consulting with Mr.
Tenet. [New York Times, 7/22/05 ]
LIBBY SPOKE TO JUDY MILLER: Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief
of staff discussed with New York Times correspondent Judith Miller the fact
that the wife of a White House critic worked for the CIA on as many as three
occasions before the woman, Valerie Plame, was publicly identified, according
to a New York Times account. [NYT, 10/16/05 ]
LIBBY MAY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO OBSTRUCT JUSTICE: According to Miller, this was what
her attorney Floyd Abrams told her about his conversation with Libby’s
attorney: “He was pressing about what you would say. When I wouldn’t give him
an assurance that you would exonerate Libby, if you were to cooperate, he then
immediately gave me this, ‘Don’t go there, or, we don’t want you there.’ ”
[NYT, 10/16/05 ]
LIBBY SPOKE TO WALTER PINCUS: “Pincus answered questions about
Libby as well. Both he and Cooper said they did so with Libby’s approval, and
both said that their conversations with Libby did not touch on the identity of
Wilson’s wife.” [Washington Post, 9/15/04 ]
LIBBY SPOKE TO GLEN KESSLER: “Fitzgerald took a tape-recorded
deposition that will be played to the grand jury from Washington Post reporter
Glenn Kessler. Kessler said he agreed to be interviewed, at the urging of I.
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Cheney, about two telephone
conversations he had with Libby. Kessler said he told the prosecutors that in
conversations last July 12 and July 18, Libby did not mention Plame or Wilson.”
[Washington Post, 6/24/04 ]
LIBBY SPOKE TO MATTHEW COOPER: Libby tells Time magazine reporter
Matthew Cooper that Dick Cheney had not been responsible for Wilson’s mission. Speaking
on the record, Libby denies that Cheney knew about or played any role in the
Wilson trip to Niger. Speaking on background, Cooper asks Libby if he had heard
anything about Wilson’s wife sending her husband to Niger. Libby replies,
“Yeah, I’ve heard that too.” [Time, 7/25/05 ]
WHITE HOUSE DENIES LIBBY INVOLVEMENT: During press briefing, Scott
McClellan says of Libby and others that “they assured me that they were not
involved” in “leaking classified information.” [White House, 10/10/03 ]
CHENEY ASKED ABOUT LIBBY BY PROSECUTORS: “Vice President Dick Cheney was
recently interviewed by federal prosecutors who asked whether he knew of anyone
at the White House who had improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover
C.I.A. officer. Mr. Cheney was also asked about conversations with senior
aides, including his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby . It was not clear how Mr.
Cheney responded to the prosecutors’ questions.” [New York Times, 6/5/04 ]
LIBBY NOTES FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO BY
PROSECUTORS:
“One set of documents that prosecutors repeatedly referred to in their meetings
with White House aides are extensive notes compiled by I. Lewis Libby, Vice
President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and national security adviser. Prosecutors
have described the notes as ‘copious.’” [New York Times, 2/10/04 ]
LIBBY TESTIFIED BEFORE GRAND JURY, MAY HAVE
MISLED: Libby
told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned Plame’s
identity from Tim Russert. Russert said in a statement last year that he told
the prosecutor that “he did not know Ms. Plame’s name or that she was a CIA
operative” and that he did not provide such information to Libby in July 2003. [Bloomberg, 7/22/05 ]
LIBBY PLANS TO RESIGN IF INDICTED: “Bush senior adviser Rove and
others at the White House had concluded that if indicted he would immediately
resign or possibly go on unpaid leave, several legal and Administration sources
familiar with the thinking told Time… The same would apply to I. Lewis
(Scooter) Libby, the Vice President’s chief of staff, who also faces a possible
indictment.” [Time, 10/24/05 ]
MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Libby was a regular participant in
the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House Iraq Group. The
main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of
going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. One clear
example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the
pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into
the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The group included the other
individual who has been confirmed as a leaker, Karl Rove. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
Condoleezza Rice
National Security Advisor (2001-2005); Secretary of State (2005-Present)
RICE WAS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: Rice was one of several senior
administration officials on a July 2003 flight to Africa, during which it was
decided that she would appear on the Sunday shows to “protect Cheney by
explaining that he had had nothing to do with sending Wilson to Niger, and
dismiss the yellowcake issue.” [Newsweek, 7/17/05 ]
RICE RECEIVED TOP SECRET BRIEFING BOOK ON AFRICA TRIP: “To
allow her to prepare on the long flight home to D.C., White House officials
assembled a briefing book, which they faxed to the Bush entourage in Africa. The
book was primarily prepared by her National Security Council staff. It
contained classified information — perhaps including all or part of the memo
from State. The entire binder was labeled TOP SECRET.” [Newsweek, 7/17/05 ]
RICE SAID SHE LEARNED OF WILSON’S TRIP FROM ABC
NEWS APPEARANCE:
” [O]n Ambassador Wilson’s going out to Niger, I learned of that when I was
sitting on whatever TV show it was, because that mission was not known to
anybody in the White House.” [State Department, 7/11/03 ]
RICE CLAIMED NO KNOWLEDGE OF LEAKS: “I know nothing of any
such White House effort to reveal any of this. And it certainly would not be
the way the president would expect his White House to operate.” [Fox News, 9/28/03 ]
“COOPERATED” WITH FITZGERALD’S PROBE. When asked if she had been asked to
testify before the grand jury, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “I
have, like everybody else, cooperated with Prosecutor Fitzgerald and I’m quite
certain that he will make his report.” [Fox News, 10/16/05 ]
MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Rice was a regular participant in
the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House Iraq Group. The
main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of
going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. One clear
example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the
pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into
the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The group included the two
individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. [Washington
Post, 8/10/03 ]
Stephen Hadley
Deputy National Security Advisor (2001-2005); National Security Advisor
(2005-Present)
ROVE COMMUNICATED HIS CONVERSATION WITH COOPER
TO HADLEY:
After Karl Rove spoke to Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper about Joseph Wilson
(according to Cooper, this was the first time he learned of Plame’s identity),
Rove wrote Hadley an email. The July 11, 2003 email said: “Matt Cooper called
to give me a heads-up that he’s got a welfare reform story coming. When he
finished his brief heads-up he immediately launched into Niger. Isn’t this
damaging? Hasn’t the president been hurt? I didn’t take the bait, but I said if
I were him I wouldn’t get Time far out in front on this.” [Associated Press, 7/15/05 ]
HADLEY SEEN AS “EYES AND EARS” FOR CHENEY: In 1989, Hadley served as assistant
secretary of defense for international security policy under then-Defense
Secretary Dick Cheney. Hadley admitted Cheney was “a factor” in his hiring as
deputy national security adviser by President Bush in 2001. The Washington Post
reported that some saw Hadley as Cheney’s “eyes and ears” at the NSC. [Washington
Post, 7/25/01 ]
HADLEY WAS WARNED NOT TO CITE URANIUM EVIDENCE: Hadley
briefed reporters on July 22, 2003 to explain why the bogus intelligence should
have been excluded from Bush’s State of the Union. Hadley noted his receipt of
a memorandum from the CIA, dated October 6, 2002, that explained why references
to Iraq’s pursuit of uranium was dropped from Bush’s October 7 speech against
Iraq. According to Hadley, the memo provided “some additional rationale for the
removal of the uranium reference.” The memo described “some weakness in the
evidence, the fact that the effort was not particularly significant to Iraq’s
nuclear ambitions because the Iraqis already had a large stock of uranium oxide
in their inventory This memorandum was received by the Situation Room here in
the White House, and it was sent to both Dr. Rice and myself.” [Hadley/Bartlett
Gaggle, 7/22/03 ]
HADLEY REVIEWED POWELL’S SPEECH TO U.N. WHICH
DID NOT CONTAIN URANIUM REFERENCE: Prior to Powell’s speech, Condoleeza Rice’s
deputy Stephen Hadley led “the White House effort to sift through the
intelligence with the help of the CIA,” and tried “to determine what can be
released without damaging the agency’s ability to gather similar information.” The
uranium reference mentioned in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union just one week
prior was deleted from Powell’s speech to the U.N. because Powell said it did
not stand “the test of time.” [Washington Post, 1/30/03 ]
HADLEY COORDINATED WITH TENET ON TENET’S APOLOGY: The
Washington Post reported, “Behind the scenes, the White House responded with
twin attacks: one on Wilson and the other on the CIA, which it wanted to take
the blame for allowing the 16 words to remain in Bush’s speech. As part of this
effort, then-deputy national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley spoke with
Tenet during the week about clearing up CIA responsibility for the 16 words,
even though both knew the agency did not think Iraq was seeking uranium from
Niger, according to a person familiar with the conversation.” [Washington Post,
7/27/05 ]
MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Hadley was a regular
participant in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House
Iraq Group. The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of
the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at
home. One clear example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear
rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term
‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The
group included the two individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove
and Lewis Libby. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
Andrew Card
White House Chief of Staff (2001-Present)
CARD GIVEN A TWELVE-HOUR HEAD START ON THE
INVESTIGATION:
On September 29, 2003, the Department of Justice informed then-White House
counsel Alberto Gonzales that it was launching a criminal investigation into
the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. Gonzales was instructed to notify the
White House staff to preserve all documents related to the case. By his own
admission, Gonzales didn’t comply with the request immediately; he went to
Chief of Staff Andrew Card and told him that the White House staff would be
told to preserve all documents related to the leak the following morning. As a
result, Card had a 12-hour window to tip off White House staff about the
request — an amount of time that “would give people time to shred documents and
do any number of things.” [CBS, 7/24/05 ; Democracy Now ; Fox News, 12/31/03 ]
CARD WAS ON AIR FORCE ONE: Then-Secretary of State Colin
Powell was on Air Force One accompanying President Bush on the July 2003 trip
to Africa. A “senior State Department official confirmed that, while on the
trip, Powell had a department intelligence report on whether Iraq had sought
uranium from Niger.” The State Department memo in question — a “key piece of
evidence in the CIA leak investigation” — stated that “Wilson’s wife had
attended a meeting at the CIA where the decision was made to send Wilson to
Niger.” The memorandum “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…” [Newsweek, 8/9/04 ; Washington Post, 7/20/05 , 7/20/05; Knight Ridder, 3/5/04]
CARD INITIATED CONVERSATION BETWEEN TENET, BUSH
ABOUT INVESTIGATION: Two days into the Justice Department investigation, Card initiated a
conversation between President Bush and then-director of the CIA George Tenet
about the leak investigation. Though Tenet was not planning on discussing the
issue with the President at the daily intelligence briefing, it was Card who
brought up the subject. [New York Times, 10/5/03 ]
MEMBER OF WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Andrew Card was the founder and a
“regular participant” in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White
House Iraq Group. The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination
of the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at
home. One clear example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear
rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term
‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The
group included the two individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove
and Lewis Libby. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
Alberto Gonzales
Chief White House Counsel (2001-2005); Attorney General (2005-Present)
GONZALES INTERVIEWED BY THE GRAND JURY: Gonzales testified in front of the
Grand Jury about the Plame leak on June 18, 2004. [Washington Post, 6/19/04 ]
GONZALES WAITED TWELVE HOURS BEFORE INFORMING
WHITE HOUSE STAFF OF INVESTIGATION: On 9/29/03, the Department of Justice informed
White House counsel Alberto Gonzales that it was launching a criminal
investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity. Gonzales was
instructed to notify the White House staff to preserve all documents related to
the case. Gonzales, however, waited 12 hours before informing White House staff
about the investigation. Instead, he told only Chief of Staff Andrew Card about
the inquiry, in effect giving Card a 12-hour window to tip off White House
staff, including Karl Rove, about the request. [Face the Nation, 7/24/05 ]
GONZALES SERVED AS ‘GATEKEEPER’ OF JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION: After the Justice Department launched its investigation into the Plame
leak, Gonzales was the chief advisor to White House staffers on complying with
the investigation. He also acted as “gatekeeper,” invoking “executive
privilege” in order to hold back certain sensitive White House documents from
investigators. Gonzales personally spent days screening all requested documents
before handing them over to investigators. [CBS, 10/7/03]
Mary Matalin
Senior Advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney (2001-2002)
MATALIN WORKED CLOSELY WITH VICE PRESIDENT DICK
CHENEY: Mary
Matalin was senior advisor in Vice President Dick Cheney’s office at the time
of the leak. While in the White House, she worked closely with Scooter Libby —
the Vice President’s chief of staff who was one of Matt Cooper’s sources. [Washington
Post, 2/3/01 ]
MATALIN INTERVIEWED BY THE GRAND JURY: Matalin testified
in front of the Grand Jury about the Plame leak on January 21, 2004. [Washington
Post, 2/10/04 ]
MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Matlin was a regular
participant in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House
Iraq Group. The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of
the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at
home. One clear example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear
rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term
‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The
group included the two individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove
and Lewis Libby. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
Ari Fleischer
White House Press Secretary (2001-2003)
IN EARLY JULY, FLEISCHER READ MEMO ABOUT PLAME
ON AIR FORCE ONE: “On the flight to Africa, Fleischer was seen perusing the State
Department memo on Wilson and his wife, according to a former administration
official who was also on the trip.” [Bloomberg, 7/18/05 ]
FLEISCHER TOLD GRAND JURY HE NEVER SAW THE
MEMO: “Mr.
Fleischer told the grand jury that he never saw the document, a person familiar
with the testimony said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the
prosecutor’s admonitions about not disclosing what is said to the grand jury.” [New
York Times, 7/23/05 ]
FLEISCHER AMONG FIRST GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO
CRITICIZE WILSON: Newsday reported, “In the subpoenaed July 12 [2003] transcript of a
briefing in Nigeria, then-press secretary Ari Fleischer called Wilson a
“lower-level official” and said Wilson had made flawed and incomplete
statements.” The transcript of the briefing was pulled from the White House
site but has since been restored. [Newsday, 3/6/04 ; White House, 7/12/03 ]
FLEISCHER TALKED TO NOVAK ONE DAY AFTER HIS COLUMN WAS PUBLISHED:
Fleischer’s “telephone log showed a call on the day after Mr. Wilson’s article
appeared from Mr. Novak, the columnist who, on July 14, 2003, was the first to
report Ms. Wilson’s identity.” [New York Times, 7/23/05 ]
FLEISCHER INTERVIEWED BY FBI ABOUT LEAK: [Washington Post,
2/10/04 ]
FLEISCHER A FOCUS OF FITZGERALD INVESTIGATION: “‘Ari’s name keeps popping up,’
said one source familiar with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s probe. Another
source close to the probe added there is renewed interest in Fleischer, ‘based
on Fitzgerald’s questions.’” [New York Daily News, 7/15/05 ]
Susan Ralston
Personal assistant to Karl Rove (2001-Present)
RALSTON IS ROVE’S RIGHT-HAND: ABC News reported on August 2, 2005
that Susan Ralston, Karl Rove’s long-time right-hand, testified before the
grand jury. The National Journal reported, “If Karl Rove is Bush’s main man,
then it’s Ralston who makes this White House go — because she’s indispensable
to Rove.” According to Newsweek, Ralston was suggested to Rove by
ethically-troubled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, for whom she previously served as a
top aide. [ABC The Note, 8/2/05 ; Newsweek, 4/20/05 ; National Journal, 6/18/05]
RALSTON WAS ASKED WHY ROVE’S CALL WITH MATT
COOPER NOT ENTERED INTO PHONE LOGS: “At one point, the aides were asked why Mr.
Cooper’s call to Mr. Rove was not entered in Mr. Rove’s office telephone logs. There
was no record of the call, the person who has been briefed said, because Mr.
Cooper did not call Mr. Rove directly, but was transferred to his office from a
White House switchboard. The aides have worked closely with Mr. Rove, screening
his calls and coordinating his activities with other White House officials. Mr.
Hernandez had been an aide to President Bush since his successful campaign for
governor of Texas in 1994, and Ms. Ralston is known as one of Mr. Rove’s most
trusted associates.” [New York Times, 8/3/05 ]
FITZGERALD MAY WANT RALSTON’S TESTIMONY FOR
SOMETHING BESIDES COOPER CONVERSATION: “But a person familiar with Cooper’s testimony
said that Ralston’s name did not come up during the reporter’s grand jury
appearance. That indicates that Fitzgerald may be interested in her testimony
for other reasons.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/3/05 ]
Israel Hernandez
Personal assistant to President Bush (2001-2005)
ROVE AIDE HERNANDEZ TESTIFIED: ABC News reported on August 2, 2005
that Israel Hernandez, a Rove aide in July 2003 during the leak of Valerie
Plame, testified before the grand jury. Hernandez was tapped as assistant
secretary of commerce. [ABC The Note, 8/2/05 ; NY Daily News, 6/24/05 ]
John Hannah
Aide to
Vice President Cheney
HANNAH A “MAJOR PLAYER” IN FITZGERALD PROBE: According to the UPI, “The
investigation, which is continuing, could lead to indictments, a Justice
Department official said. According to these sources, John Hannah and Cheney’s
chief of staff Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby were the two Cheney employees. ‘We believe
that Hannah was the major player in this,’ one federal law enforcement officer
said. Calls to the vice president’s office were not returned. Hannah and Libby
did not return calls. [UPI, 2/4/04 ]
FITZGERALD PRESSURED HANNAH TO NAME SUPERIORS: The strategy of the FBI is to make
clear to Hannah ‘that he faces a real possibility of doing jail time,’ as a way
to pressure him to name superiors, one federal law enforcement official said.’”
[UPI, 2/4/04 ]
INVOLVEMENT IN LEAK PROBE: “Officials who testified or were
questioned by investigators also included John Hannah, Mr. Cheney’s principal
deputy national security adviser.” [NYT, 10/19/05 ]
HANNAH REPORTEDLY WORRIED ABOUT INDICTMENT: “John Hannah,
an aide to Cheney and one of two dozen people questioned in the CIA leak case,
has told friends in recent months he is worried he may be implicated by the
investigation, according to two U.S. officials.” [Washington Post, 10/20/05 ]
Scott McClellan
Deputy White House Press Secretary (2001-2003); White House Press
Secretary (2003-Present)
MCCLELLAN WAS NOT ON AFRICA TRIP: “Fleischer and Bartlett were with
Bush on a July 7-12 trip to Africa just prior to publication of Novak’s column,
and McClellan, then Fleischer’s deputy, was on vacation.” [Associated Press, 2/11/04 ]
MCCLELLAN SAID THE PRESIDENT “KNOWS” KARL
WASN’T INVOLVED: “Q All right. Let me just follow up. You said this morning, ‘The
President knows’ that Karl Rove wasn’t involved. How does he know that? MR.
McCLELLAN: Well, I’ve made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in
the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person who made that
suggestion, backing away from that. And I said it is simply not true. So, I
mean, it’s public knowledge. I’ve said that it’s not true. And I have spoken
with Karl Rove…” [White House, 9/29/03 ]
MCCLELLAN SAID THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE ANYONE IN
THE WHITE HOUSE OR VICE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE WAS INVOLVED: “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 ]
MCCLELLAN SAID IF ANYONE IN THE ADMINISTRATION
WAS INVOLVED THEY’D BE FIRED: “If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no
longer be in this administration.” [White House, 9/29/03 ]
MCCLELLAN SAID ROVE, LIBBY AND ABRAMS WERE NOT
INVOLVED: “Q
Scott, earlier this week you told us that neither Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams nor
Lewis Libby disclosed any classified information with regard to the leak. I
wondered if you could tell us more specifically whether any of them told any
reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA? MR. McCLELLAN: Those
individuals — I talked — I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and
those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that’s where
it stands.” [White House, 10/10/03 ]
MCCLELLAN REFUSES TO COMMENT FURTHER BECAUSE
“THE INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING”: Even though he made his previous comments
while the investigation was ongoing. [White House, 7/11/05 ]
MCCLELLAN INTERVIEWED BY FBI: Time magazine revealed in
mid-October 2003 that “the FBI has interviewed more than two dozen officials in
several Washington offices, including White House press secretary Scott
McClellan and Bush political adviser Karl Rove as well as other West Wing
aides.” [Time, 10/27/03 ]
Dan Bartlett
White House Communications Director (2001-2005); Councelor to the
President (2005-Present)
BARTLETT WAS ON AIR FORCE ONE: Bartlett was one of several senior
administration officials on a July 2003 flight to Africa. During the trip,
Bartlett gave a background briefing in which he urged reporters to look into
the CIA’s sole in sending Joe Wilson to Niger. The briefing has not drawn
“substantial interest” the prosecutor’s office recently. One source for a New
York Times article on the subject said Prosecutor Fitzgerald knew about the
briefing but was not pursuing it. A different source for the same article said
the Mr. Bartlett did not see the State Department memo that was otherwise
witnessed on the plane. [NYT, 7/27/05 ]
BARTLETT TESTIFIED BEFORE THE GRAND JURY: According to Anne Kornblut of the
New York Times, citing “a person who has been briefed on the case,” Bartlett
told investigators that “he did not know who Ms. Wilson was” when her name was
leaked. Bartlett’s attorney has refused to discuss the case, citing requests by
the special counsel. [[NYT, 7/27/05 ; Washington Post, 7/21/05 ]
BARTLETT HAS LONGSTANDING TIES TO KARL ROVE: Rove and Bartlett go way back, and
the influence of the former still has a tendency to affect the later. As
Newsweek reports: “Technically, Rove was in charge of politics, not
‘communications.’ But, as he saw it, the two were one and the same–and he used
his heavyweight status to push the message machine run by his Texas protege and
friend, Dan Bartlett.” [Newsweek July 25, 2005.] He has worked closely with
both Bush and Rove since 1994, when he worked on Bush’s first successful
campaign for governor. Before that, Bartlett was an employee of Karl Rove and
associates, a political consulting firm established by Karl Rove after the 1980
primary defeat of George HW Bush against Ronald Reagan. [ Link ; White House ]
BARTLETT OFFERED CONTRADICTORY EXPLANATIONS OF
16 WORDS: In
July of 2003, Bartlett, referring the infamous “16 words” in Bush’s State of
the Union address, told reporters that “there was no debate or questions with
regard to that line when it was signed off on.” The very same week Condoleeza
Rice told reporters that there was “discussion on that specific sentence, so
that it reflected better what the CIA thought.” [Washington Post, 7/15/03 ;=]
MEMBER OF WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Bartlett was a regular participant
in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House Iraq Group. The
main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of
going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. One clear
example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear rhetoric” during the
pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term ‘mushroom cloud’ into
the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The group included the two
individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. [Washington
Post, 8/10/03 ]
Claire Buchan
Deputy Press Secretary (2001-2005)
BUCHAN ANNOUNCED THAT PRESIDENT BUSH HAD SPOKEN
WITH A LAWYER REGARDING LEAK: On Wednesday, June 2, 2004, Buchan announced that Bush had consulted a
lawyer, Jim Sharp, about the growing leak controversy. “The president has said
that everyone should cooperate in this matter and that would include himself,”
said Buchan at the time. [Associated Press, 6/2/04 ]
BUCHAN TESTIFIED BEFORE THE GRAND JURY: Buchan testified on February 6,
2004–the same day as Adam Levine, a former press office employee, and Scott
McClellan. “I was pleased to cooperate,” said Buchan at the time. She has
declined to reveal any details of her testimony. [Fox News, 2/11/04 ]
BUCHAN CLAIMED THAT NO WHITE HOUSE STAFF HAD
BEEN ASKED TO SIGN WAIVERS: Despite the fact that the White House is “fully cooperating,” Buchan
said that no one had been asked to sign a form waiving the right to privacy. White
House officials said that privacy waivers were routinely sought from government
employees in the course of investigations to find the sources of sensitive or
classified information, even though the procedure was not widely known. [NYT, 1/3/04 ].
Catherine Martin
Assistant to the Vice President for Public Affairs (2001-2004)
MARTIN DENIED THAT CHENEY HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF
WILSON OR HIS REPORT: In response to claims that Joe Wilson had circulated his Niger report
prior to the State of the Union Address, Martin denied that Cheney had any
knowledge of it. “The vice president doesn’t know Joe Wilson and did not know
about his trip until he read about it in the press,” said Martin. [The New
Yorker, 10/20/03 ]
MARTIN INTERVIEWED BY FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS: The FBI interviewed Martin about
the leak. It is suspected, though uncertain, that Martin testified before the
grand jury. [Newsday, 2/24/04 ; Washington Post, 11/26/04 ]
PROSECUTORS EXPRESS INTEREST IN CALLS MADE TO
AND BY MARTIN:
Prosecutors have reportedly asked about calls made to and from Martin’s cell
phone in July of 2003. [NYT, 2/10/03 ]
MARTIN CLAIMED IGNORANCE OF WHETHER OR NOT
LIBBY HAD TALKED TO NOVAK: According to a Newsweek article, Martin denied knowledge of whether or
not Scooter Libby had talked to columnist Bob Novak. “I don’t know the answer,”
Martin said when asked about Scooter’s possibly involvement. Her response is
considered part of a larger White House tactic to avoid answering such
questions. [Newsweek, 10/8/03 ]
Jennifer Millerwise
Spokeswoman for Vice President Cheney (2001-2003)
FORMER CHENEY SPOKESWOMAN: She served as Deputy Assistant for
Communications and Press Secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001 to
2003. During the first 10 months of the Bush Administration, she was Assistant
Press Secretary in the White House Office of the Press Secretary. [ CIA website ]
CURRENT DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT THE CIA: [ CIA website ]
QUESTIONED BY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS IN LEAK
PROBE:
Bloomberg reported that she was questioned by Fitzgerald’s team “about the vice
president’s knowledge of the anti-Wilson campaign and his dealings on it with
Libby, his chief of staff.” [Bloomberg, 10/17/05 ]
David Wurmser
Cheney assistant
on national security
WURMSER REPORTEDLY A KEY TO THE PROBE: “Special prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald, meanwhile, is combing over testimony by John Hannah and David
Wurmser, national security aides to Vice President Cheney who sources questioned
under oath say may be the key to the probe.” [NY Daily News, 10/20/05]
FBI AGENTS HAVE PURSUED WURMSER’S ROLE: “FBI agents also have asked current
and former officials about Richard Perle of the defense board and David
Wurmser, an Iran specialist and principal deputy assistant for national
security affairs in Cheney’s office, according to sources familiar with or
involved in the case.” [Washington Post, 9/4/04 ]
INVESTIGATION IS LOOKING AT WURMSER, PERLE, AND
FEITH MEMO:
“Some familiar with the case suggest that the FBI’s investigation is looking
back as far as 1996, when Feith, Richard Perle, Feith’s boss at the Pentagon in
the 1980s and until recently chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board,
and David Wurmser, a co-founder of OSP who is now Cheney’s Middle East adviser,
wrote a radical memo, called ‘A Clean Break,’ to incoming Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for confrontation with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon
and the PLO.” [The Nation, 10/4/04]
WURMSER WAS SUBJECT OF ANOTHER FBI PROBE: “According to a government source,
the Pentagon’s National Criminal Investigative division began probes in
2002–with FBI guidance–to determine who leaked secret war plans to The New York
Times and The Washington Post in June 2002. At the State Department, diplomatic
security launched an investigation into David Wurmser, an aide to John Bolton,
for leaking a letter from Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Pentagon objecting
to the Syria Accountability Act. The letter ended up being the basis for a
story in The Jerusalem Post.” [The New Republic, 10/10/05]
Colin Powell
Secretary of State (2001-2005)
POWELL WAS ON AIR FORCE ONE: Then-Secretary of State Colin
Powell was on Air Force One accompanying President Bush on the July 2003 trip
to Africa. A “senior State Department official confirmed that, while on the
trip, Powell had a department intelligence report on whether Iraq had sought
uranium from Niger.” The State Department memo in question — a “key piece of
evidence in the CIA leak investigation” — stated that “Wilson’s wife had
attended a meeting at the CIA where the decision was made to send Wilson to
Niger.” The memorandum “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…” There are also indications that Fitzgerald subpoenaed phone
records from Air Force One — where the memo was first seen by many
administration officials — to “determine whether presidential aides used the
aircraft’s phones to leak the name of a CIA employee to reporters.” [Newsweek, 8/9/04 ; Washington Post, 7/20/05 ; Knight Ridder, 3/5/04]
POWELL TESTIFIED BEFORE THE GRAND JURY: Though not a subject of the
inquiry, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell testified before the federal
grand jury on July 16, 2004. Powell’s appearance was seen “as the latest sign
the probe being conducted by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald [was] highly active
and broader than [had] been publicly known. Sources close to the case say
prosecutors were interested in discussions Powell had while with President
George W. Bush on a trip to Africa in July 2003, just before Plame’s identity
was leaked to columnist Robert Novak.” Sources saw the decision to question
Powell as indicative of “the thoroughness with which Fitzgerald is conducting
the probe–and that knowledge about Plame was circulated at the highest levels
of the administration.” [Newsweek, 8/9/04 ]
Karen Hughes
White House Aide (2001-2002); Under Secretary of State for Public
Diplomacy (2005-Present)
HUGHES INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: In the questionnaire for her
confirmation proceedings, Karen Hughes listed that she had been interviewed by
the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. [New York Times, 7/22/05 ]
HUGHES DECRIED LEAK, DENIED ROVE’S INVOLVMENT: In her book, Ten Minutes From
Normal, Hughes discussed the leak, calling it “wrong” and “unfair” to Bush. Hughes
earlier said the leak was “disruptive to democracy.” In her book, she said
whoever conducted the leak “should come forward and not hide behind
journalistic ethics for his or her self-protection.” She added, “The use of
unnamed sources has become a convenient way for too many political operatives
to hide and avoid accountability for their statements.” Additionally, Hughes
commented that she knew Rove wasn’t involved in the leak because “Karl has said
he was not involved.” [ Ten Minutes From Normal ; POE News, 10/2/03 ]
HUGHES INVOLVED IN DRAFTING 2003 STATE OF THE
UNION WITH FALSE URANIUM CLAIM: In his 2003 State of the Union address,
President Bush declared, “The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” It has
been reported that Karen Hughes was “involved in drafting the speech.” She said
her primary goal in the process was to answer: “Why is Saddam Hussein’s
continued defiance a threat to our country and to peace in the world?” Intelligence
from the CIA and the State Department at that time indicated Iraq was not
attempting to acquire uranium from Niger. Furthermore, the inclusion of the
false statement led to apologies from Condi Rice, Stephen Hadley, Ari
Fleischer, and George Tenet. Instead of addressing the allegations at the time
they were made, Hughes defended the false intelligence and devised a
communications strategy that questioned the motives of those who criticized the
president. [President Bush, 1/28/03 ; The Houston Chronicle, 1/27/03; Baltimore
Sun, 7/23/03 ; Washington Post, 7/20/05 ; MSNBC, 9/28/03 ; White House Press Briefing, 7/29/03 ; CNN, 7/11/03 ; USA Today, 3/14/02 ]
HUGHES HAS PREVIOUS HISTORY OF SMEARING WHITE
HOUSE CRITICS:
Hughes “was an advocate of the howitzer treatment” of the former Bush
counter-terrorism chief and White House critic Richard Clarke. In an attempt to
attack and smear the character of Richard Clarke, the White House released
numerous pieces of information that were previously classified, including an
email from Clarke to Condi Rice shortly after 9-11 and Clarke’s resignation
letter. The White House also revealed Clarke to be the source of an anonymous
background briefing he had done on behalf of the president. However, the White
House refused Clarke’s request to declassify his correspondence with Rice prior
to 9-11 about the threats that were being ignored. Hughes admitted on ABC’s
20/20 that she was involved in these efforts against Clarke: “I’m involved in
White House discussions about those issues… I think, from personal knowledge,
that many of the things he said are not true.” [New York Times, 3/28/04 ;
CNN, 4/9/04 ; CNN, 3/4/04 ; ABC’s 20/20, 3/29/04]
MEMBER OF WHITE HOUSE IRAQ GROUP: Hughes was a regular
participant in the weekly meetings of the Bush Administration’s White House
Iraq Group. The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of
the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at
home. One clear example of this fact is that “the escalation of nuclear
rhetoric” during the pre-war stage, “including the introduction of the term
‘mushroom cloud’ into the debate, coincided with the formation” of WHIG. The
group included the two individual who have been confirmed as leakers, Karl Rove
and Lewis Libby. [Washington Post, 8/10/03 ]
Adam Levine
Communications
Aide (2001-2003)
LEVINE WAS ONE OF FEW PRESS AIDES TO SPEAK TO
REPORTERS DURING AFRICA TRIP: “Levine was one of the few press officials at the White House to answer
reporters’ calls [during the Africa trip].” [CNN, 2/10/04 ]
LEVINE AMONG THE FIRST WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS TO
TESTIFY BEFORE GRAND JURY: Levine testified on February 6, 2004. “Levine’s testimony was described
as ‘brief’ and non-combative, and followed several interviews with FBI agents. The
source said there were many questions about which reporters [Levine] and other
senior officials talked to, suggesting investigators are trying to get as much
information as possible from press officials, knowing the reporters are
unlikely to talk.” [Newsday 2/24/04 ; CNN, 2/10/04 ]
LEVINE SAID TO TESTIFY ABOUT ‘WHITE HOUSE PROCEDURES’:
“Dan French, former U.S. attorney for New York’s Northern District, and Don
Kinsella, the district’s longtime criminal bureau chief, are representing a
former White House press aide, Adam Levine ‘The President of the United States
has asked his staff to cooperate, and even though Levine’s no longer on the
staff he’s adhering to the President’s request,’ French said. ‘He has been
called to testify before the federal grand jury concerning his knowledge of
White House procedures, in particular phone calls with reporters. He was called
to testify and we represented him in those proceedings.’” [The Times Union
(Albany, NY) 2/12/04]
LEVINE LEFT ADMINISTRATION IN DECEMBER ‘03, BUT
RELATIONSHIP CONTINUED: New York Times: “Levine left the Bush administration in December after
working as the principal liaison between the White House and television
networks.” Later, the Washington Post describes Levine as “a former White House
aide who portrayed Russert in mock sessions with administration officials,”
referring to White House prep for President Bush in advance of his Meet the
Press appearance in early February ‘04. [NYT, 2/10/04 ; Washington Post, 2/5/04 ]
LAST-MINUTE TESTIMONY FROM LEVINE: The Washington Post reported that
prosecutors conducted “last-minute interviews with Adam Levine, a member of the
White House communications team at the time of the leak, about his
conversations with Rove.” [Washington Post, 10/27/05 ]
Bob Joseph
Director for Nonproliferation at National Security Council (2001-2005);
Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
(2005-Present)
JOSEPH SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR INCLUSION OF
URANIUM CLAIM IN STATE OF THE UNION: The New York Times reported that senior
intelligence officials said that Alan Foley, a C.I.A. expert on weapons of mass
destruction, said “he was asked by Bob Joseph, the director for
nonproliferation at the National Security Council, whether the president’s
address could include a reference to Iraq’s seeking uranium from Niger.” [NYT, 7/18/03 ]
JOSEPH GUIDED WMD CASE AGAINST IRAQ: Bob Joseph, “the senior director
dealing with weapons of mass destruction, guided the process of building the
case against Iraq” from the White House. Thus, it appears likely he would have
seen the State Department memo that contained Plame’s identity. [Newsweek, 9/30/03 ]
Vice President Dick Cheney
FITZGERALD FOCUSING ON DIRECT CHENEY
INVOLVEMENT:
Bloomberg reported, “A special counsel is focusing on whether Vice President
Dick Cheney played a role in leaking a covert CIA agent’s name, according to people
familiar with the probe that already threatens top White House aides Karl Rove
and Lewis Libby.” [Bloomberg, 10/17/05 ]
CHENEY INTERVIEWED BY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS: “Vice President Dick Cheney was
recently interviewed by federal prosecutors who asked whether he knew of anyone
at the White House who had improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover
C.I.A. officer. Mr. Cheney was also asked about conversations with senior
aides, including his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby . In addition, those people
said, Mr. Cheney was asked whether he knew of any concerted effort by White
House aides to name the officer. It was not clear how Mr. Cheney responded to the
prosecutors’ questions. [Cheney] was not questioned under oath and he has not
been asked to appear before the grand jury.” [NYT, 6/5/04 ]
CHENEY SEEMS TO BE THE COMMON DENOMINATOR: Four members of the Vice
President’s staff — “Scooter” Libby, John Hannah, Mary Matalin, and Catherine
Martin — have either been implicated in the leak or testified before the grand
jury. In addition, Stephen Hadley worked under Cheney at the Defense Department
and is considered by some to be his “eyes and ears” on the NSC staff. [Washington
Post, 7/25/01 ]
CHENEY AND LIBBY PRESSURED CIA ON URANIUM: Cheney and Libby visited the CIA
headquarters to engage the CIA analysts directly on this issue of uranium
acquisition in Africa, “creating an environment in which some analysts felt
they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush
administration’s policy objectives.” [Washington Post, 6/5/03 ]
President George W. Bush
WAS BUSH INVOLVED IN THE LEAK? In July 2005, the New York Times
raised the possibility that Bush could be involved in the leak. “It is still
not clear what the investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. operative’s identity
will mean for President Bush. So far the disclosures about the involvement of
Karl Rove, among others, have not exacted any substantial political price from
the administration. And nobody has suggested that the investigation directly
implicates the president. Yet Mr. Bush has yet to address some uncomfortable
questions that he may not be able to evade indefinitely There is the broader
issue of whether Mr. Bush was aware of any effort by his aides to use the
C.I.A. officer’s identity to undermine the standing of her husband, a former
diplomat who had publicly accused the administration of twisting its prewar
intelligence about Iraq’s nuclear program.” [NYT, 7/24/05 ]
BUSH QUESTIONED BY FITZGERALD FOR OVER AN HOUR: On June 24, 2004, special
prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and several of his assistants questioned the
president for about 70 minutes in the Oval Office. Bush retained a private
lawyer, Jim Sharp, for the interview. A prominent First Amendment lawyer, Floyd
Abrams, said “It’s hard to believe the special prosecutor would be burdening
the president with an interview unless they had testimony to the effect that
the president had information.” [Washington Post, 2/25/04]
STARR DEPUTY SAID BUSH INTERVIEW SUGGESTED
HIGH-LEVEL INVOLVEMENT IN LEAK: The New York Daily News reported, “The Bush
interview ‘indicates there’s obviously a belief that the leak was at a high
level,’ said Sol Wisenberg, a former [Ken] Starr deputy who questioned Clinton.
‘The President usually doesn’t meet and knock around ideas with midlevel
staffers.’” [New York Daily News, 6/25/04 ]
BUSH WAS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT MEMO:
A classified State Department report that contained Valerie Plame’s identity
was sent to Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration officials
who were aboard Air Force One with the president on July 7, 2003. The extent of
the circulation of the memo is not known. [Washington Post, 7/21/05 ]
BUSH CLAIMED TO WANT TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF
THE LEAK: On
September 29, 2003, a senior administration official told the Washington Post
that Bush said, “I want to get to the bottom of this,” during a daily staff
meeting which Karl Rove attended. [Washington Post 9/30/03 ]
BUSH TOLD TENET HE WOULD COOPERATE WITH THE INVESTIGATION:
A conversation between the president and Tenet about the investigation did not
consume, according to Andy Card, “any significant amount of time or discussion
or angst. It was basically, ‘We’re cooperating, you’re cooperating, I’m glad to
see the process is moving forward the way it should.’” [NYT, 10/4/03 ]
BUSH REPORTEDLY KNEW ROVE WAS A LEAKER TWO
YEARS AGO: “An
angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for
his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News. ‘He made his
displeasure known to Karl,’ a presidential counselor told The News. ‘He made
his life miserable about this.’” [NY Daily News, 10/19/05 ]
Informant: star*kid