Plame affair

Robert Novak article

In his July 14 2003 column, columnist Robert Novak wrote that the choice to use Wilson "was made routinely at a low level without Director George Tenet's knowledge." Novak went on to identify Plame as Wilson's wife: "Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him."http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/printrn20030714.shtml

Related Topics:
Robert Novak - [CIA] Director - George Tenet

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Although Wilson wrote that he was certain his findings were circulated within the CIA and conveyed (at least orally) to the office of the Vice President, Novak questioned the accuracy of Wilson's report and added that "it is doubtful Tenet ever saw it." However, Tenet himself later indicated not only his familiarity with the report but that it "was given a normal and wide distribution" in intelligence circles,http://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/press_release/2003/pr07112003.html

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Defenders of White House officials believe that Wilson, in a partisan way, initiated a smear campaign against the Bush administration. They promote the related view that those White House officials who talked on background about Wilson were, rather than trying to punish him by exposing his wife, trying to prevent reporters from believing Wilson's disinformation. Opponents counter this argument by asserting that such officials would still have a duty to diligently avoid exposing undercover officers or other confidential information.

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Claim of Plame Wilson conspiracy

In the July 14 column, Novak claimed that Plame had a role in selecting Wilson, her husband, for his trip to Niger:

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:Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report . The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. "I will not answer any question about my wife," Wilson told me. {{ref|NovakArticle}}

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Wilson had been open about the Central Intelligence Agency's sponsorship of his trip (which he called "discreet but not secret"), and wrote that he had been "informed by officials at the CIA that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report" relating to the sale of uranium yellowcake from Niger (see also Yellowcake Forgery).

Related Topics:
Central Intelligence Agency - Dick Cheney - Uranium - Yellowcake - Yellowcake Forgery

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Of his trip to Niger, Wilson wrote, "I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." Wilson also noted that U.S. Ambassador to Niger Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick "knew about the allegations of uranium sales to Iraq ? and that she felt she had already debunked them in her reports to Washington."

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However, a Senate intelligence committee report issued on July 9, 2004 is taken by some to refute Wilson's claims about the extent of his wife's involvement in arranging the trip. As reported by the Washington Post:

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:The report states that a CIA official told the Senate committee that Plame "offered up" Wilson's name for the Niger trip, then on Feb. 12, 2002, sent a memo to a deputy chief in the CIA's Directorate of Operations saying her husband "has good relations with both the PM and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity." The next day, the operations official cabled an overseas officer seeking concurrence with the idea of sending Wilson, the report said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39834-2004Jul9.html

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Several high ranking CIA officials disputed this claim, however, and indicated that the operations official who made it was not present at the meeting where Wilson was chosen. Wilson wrote: "Apart from being the conduit of a message from a colleague in her office asking if I would be willing to have a conversation about Niger's uranium industry, Valerie had had nothing to do with the matter."

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Others argue that Wilson has said that his wife did not authorize the trip and that he cannot speak about the details. The Senate intelligence committee report and other sources seem to confirm that Valerie Plame gave her husband a positive recommendation. However, they also confirm that she did not personally authorize the trip, contrary to what Matt Cooper reports having been told by Karl Rove.

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Some also suggest that, rather than debunking the Iraq-uranium-Niger theory, Wilson's report actually supported it. As reported by the Washington Post:

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:Wilson's reports to the CIA added to the evidence that Iraq may have tried to buy uranium in Niger, although officials at the State Department remained highly skeptical, the report said.

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:Wilson said that a former prime minister of Niger, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, was unaware of any sales contract with Iraq, but said that in June 1999 a businessman approached him, insisting that he meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between Niger and Iraq.

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Wilson described the situation so, that one source told him, he avoided any talk about subjects, when he once met with an Iraqi official. And never understood what kind of commercial contact the official wanted. They met at a ministerial meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

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A report CIA officials drafted after debriefing Wilson, said (wrongly) that "although the meeting took place, Mayaki let the matter drop due to UN sanctions on Iraq."

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Washington Post ran a correction to the quoted report:

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:In some editions of the Post, a July 10 story on a new Senate report on intelligence failures said that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV told his contacts at the CIA that Iraq had tried to buy 400 tons of uranium from the African nation of Niger in 1998. In fact, it was Iran that was interested in making that purchase, but no contract was signed, according to the report.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39834-2004Jul9.html

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Response to the article

Wilson charged that Plame's CIA status was deliberately exposed by Bush administration officials, as retaliation for his public charge that U.S. intelligence concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was largely a conspiracy to falsify and fabricate evidence to support the war. Wilson had denounced the Bush administration in a The New York Times article on 6 July 2003, writing that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." {{ref|WilsonNYT}}

Related Topics:
Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - Conspiracy - The New York Times - 6 July - 2003

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Novak defends himself

In a later column, Novak said he included this paragraph "because it looked like the missing explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the CIA for its mission." He claimed:

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:I was curious why a high-ranking official in President Bill Clinton's National Security Council (NSC) was given this assignment. Wilson had become a vocal opponent of President Bush's policies in Iraq after contributing to Al Gore in the last election cycle and John Kerry in this one...During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. {{ref|NovakArticle2}}

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Novak also suggested that Plame's relationship to Wilson could be assumed by reading his entry in Who's Who In America, though it was her CIA status rather than her marriage which was a secret. The following day on CNN, Novak announced that Plame's nominal employer was Brewster Jennings & Associates.http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40012-2003Oct3 "There is no such firm, I'm convinced," Novak said, noting that "Ms. Valerie E. Wilson" had donated $1,000 to the Gore campaign in 1999 and had listed Brewster Jennings & Associates as her employer.http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Valerie_Plame.php "CIA people are not supposed to list themselves with fictitious firms if they're under a deep cover -- they're supposed to be real firms, or so I'm told. Sort of adds to the little mystery."http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40012-2003Oct3 In fact, Brewster Jennings & Associates did exist, and proved to be an elaborately crafted CIA enterprise likely to have provided cover not only to Plame/Wilson but to other covert CIA operatives and contacts working abroad: subsequent articles in many publications

Related Topics:
Who's Who In America - Brewster Jennings & Associates

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A40012-2003Oct3¬Found=truehttp://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/25/rove.problem.tm.tm/http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~11851~2972009,00.htmlhttp://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/12186867.htm suggest that BJA, nominally an oil exploration firm, was in fact a CIA front company (now defunct) spying on Saudi and other interests across the Middle East.

Related Topics:
Saudi - Middle East

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Other than the use of the word "operative", there was nothing in the original article to suggest that Plame was engaged in covert activities. Novak later said a CIA source told him unofficially that Plame had been "an analyst, not in covert operations." The suggestion that Plame was a secret agent first appeared in an article by David Corn published by The Nation on July 16, 2003, two days after Novak's column. {{ref|DavidCorn}} Of course, because Plame's official cover was that she was working for a private company, Novak's identification of her as an Agency operative compromised both Plame's cover and the cover of all of the other covert operatives associated with that company. Larry Johnson wrote, "Robert Novak?s compromise of Valerie caused even more damage. It subsequently led to scrutiny of her cover company. This not only compromised her 'cover' company but potentially every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company or with her."http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/07/correcting_the_.html

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Novak indicated that he had used the term "operative" loosely, and had not intended it to identify Plame as an undercover agent. Novak's initial column identified Plame as "an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction." He has since claimed that he believed Plame was merely an analyst at the CIA, not a covert operative —the difference being that analysts are not undercover, so identifying them is not a crime.

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Critics of Novak's defense argue that after decades as a Washington reporter, Novak was well aware of the difference and would be unlikely to make such a mistake. A search of the LexisNexis database for the terms "CIA operative" and "agency operative" showed Novak had correctly used the terms to describe covert CIA employees, every single time they appear in his articles, including the Plame article.

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David Corn, in his July 16th, 2003 blog post that deconstructed Novak's terminology, was the first publication to use the terms "covert" or "undercover" in regard to Plame's status at the CIA. Corn indicated in that post and subsequent ones that he was speculating that Plame might have been "covert" based on Novak's use of the term "Agency operative", which typically is applied only to covert CIA employees. In any case, once Novak had revealed that Plame worked at the CIA the secret was blown and Corn was not revealing anything new.

Related Topics:
David Corn - July 16 - 2003

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Novak has also claimed that Plame's CIA employment was an "open secret" in Washington DC, indicating that effective "affirmative measures" to conceal her relationship to the CIA were not being taken. Several ex-CIA operatives who knew Plame have disputed this and indicated that she was at one time a NOC (nonofficial cover) covert operative. Larry Johnson has stated that Wilson "agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport caught in that status she would have been executed." {{ref|JohnsonNoDiplomaticPassport}}

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In "The CIA Leak", Novak stated this explanation for the two "senior administration officials" and the "CIA official" referenced in his June 14 article:

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:During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. It was an offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger. When I called another official for confirmation, he said: "Oh, you know about it." The published report that somebody in the White House failed to plant this story with six reporters and finally found me as a willing pawn is simply untrue.

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:At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name. I used it in the sixth paragraph of my column because it looked like the missing explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the CIA for its mission. {{ref|NovakArticle2b}}

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In other interviews, Novak confirmed that his sources warned him not to mention Plame. His motivation to disregard the warnings is suggested by this comment in "The CIA Leak:" "I was curious why a high-ranking official in President Bill Clinton's National Security Council (NSC) was given this assignment." Just four days before he revealed Plame's name, Novak wrote "Bush's Enemy Within." Therein, Novak excoriates the Bush administration's appointment of Frances Townsend to an important national security post, explaining she could later betray Bush because two of her former superiors were liberal democrats and she had served in the US Attorney's office in Manhattan. According to Novak this office was "notoriously liberal laden." {{ref|NovakBushEnemyWithin}}

Related Topics:
Frances Townsend - National security - Manhattan

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On February 12, 2004, Murray S. Waas for the American Prospect wrote that two "administration officials" spoke to the FBI and challenged Novak's account about not receiving warnings not to publish Plame's name. According to one of the officials, "At best, he is parsing words... At worst, he is lying to his readers and the public. Journalists should not lie, I would think." {{ref|Waas}} Novak has also stated on CNN's Crossfire that "Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this." {{ref|CNNCrossfireNovak}}

Related Topics:
February 12 - 2004 - Murray S. Waas - American Prospect - FBI - CNN - Crossfire

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Responses of the Bush administration

President George W. Bush and his White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan have made several statements about the administration's response if anyone were found to have been involved in the leak:

Related Topics:
George W. Bush - Scott McClellan

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:McClellan - September 29, 2003: "The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030929-7.html

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:Bush - September 30, 2003: "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030930-9.html

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:McClellan - October 7, 2003: "Let me answer what the President has said. I speak for the President and I'll talk to you about what he wants." and "If someone leaked classified information, the President wants to know. If someone in this administration leaked classified information, they will no longer be a part of this administration, because that's not the way this White House operates, that's not the way this President expects people in his administration to conduct their business." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031007-4.html

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:Bush - June 10, 2004: Responded to media question referring to "anybody who leaked the agent's name" and then asked the President "do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so," to which the President responded "Yes. And that's up to the U.S. Attorney to find the facts." http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/rm/33463.htm

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:Bush - July 18, 2005: "If someone committed crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

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Many people, including several former CIA officials who worked with Plame, as well as members of the press and politicians from both parties, pointing to the October 2003 and June 2004 statements, contend that the President has changed his position over time, from originally stating that he would fire anyone involved in the leak, to stating that only those who "committed a crime" would be fired. Members of the Bush Administration and some Republicans contend that the position has remained consistent — only those criminally responsible for the leak would be fired.

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Novak's sources

In another series of leaks during July 2005, it was revealed that Karl Rove was Novak's second source {{ref|NYTRove2ndSource}}. Novak told Rove about Plame, using her maiden name. Through his personal attorney, Robert Luskin, Rove has stated that other media sources told him about Plame, although he's not sure which journalist first told him. Rove and his attorney do not dispute TIME Magazine reporter Matthew Cooper's contemporaneous email and subsequent grand jury testimony, as related by Cooper himself, that Cooper first learned Plame's identity from Rove. The investigation potentially involves multiple leak sources other than those who spoke to Novak, yet Novak was the first to print reference to Wilson's wife.

Related Topics:
Robert Luskin - TIME Magazine - Matthew Cooper - Email - Grand jury - Testimony

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It is still publicly unknown who was Novak's first source, whom Novak described as "not a partisan gunslinger".

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Justice Department investigation

The matter is currently under investigation by the Justice Department and the FBI. Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the investigation in December 2003. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald currently heads the investigation. Because the Justice Department is a part of the executive branch, some critics of the Bush Administration contend that the absence of rapid and effective action has been deliberate.

Related Topics:
Justice Department - FBI - U.S. Attorney General - John Ashcroft - U.S. Attorney - Patrick Fitzgerald - Executive branch

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In March 2004, the Special Counsel subpoenaed the telephone records from Air Force One.

Related Topics:
Subpoena - Air Force One

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On April 7, 2005, the Washington Post reported that unnamed sources speculated Fitzgerald was not likely to seek an indictment for the alleged crime of knowingly exposing a covert officer (which prompted the inquiry), although he may possibly charge a government official with perjury for giving conflicting information to prosecutors during the investigation. {{ref|WashingtonPostFitzgeraldSpeculation}}

Related Topics:
April 7 - 2005

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Fitzgerald sought to compel Matt Cooper, a TIME Magazine correspondent who had covered the story, to disclose his sources to a grand jury. After losing all legal appeals up through the Supreme Court, TIME turned over Cooper's notes to the prosecutor. Cooper agreed to testify after receiving permission from his source, Karl Rove, to do so. Robert Luskin confirmed Rove was Cooper's source. A July 11, 2003 email from Cooper to his bureau chief indicated that Rove had told Cooper that it was Wilson's wife who authorized her husband's trip to Niger, mentioning that she "apparently" worked at "the agency" on weapons of mass destruction issues. Newsweek reported that nothing in the Cooper email suggested that Rove used Plame's name or knew she was a covert operative {{ref|CoopersSource}}, although Cooper's TIME Magazine article describing his grand jury testimony noted that Rove said, "I've already said too much." Neither Newsweek nor TIME have released the complete Cooper email.

Related Topics:
July 11 - 2003 - Weapons of mass destruction

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The leak to Newsweek, presumably from TIME Magazine, was the first major leak of investigative information. More attenuated leaks have followed, seemingly tailored to either include or absolve various officials and media personages. As of late July 2005, Fitzgerald's office has apparently not talked to the press. White House officials such as Press Secretary Scott McClellan and the President have not made any on-the-record comments concerning the investigation since Newsweek's e-mail scoop, although other Republican officials, particularly RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, are talking with the press.

Related Topics:
Scott McClellan - Ken Mehlman

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New York Times reporter Judith Miller served a civil contempt jail sentence from early July 2005 to 29 September 2005, for refusing to testify to the grand jury. She was released upon reaching an agreement with Fitzgerald to testify at a hearing scheduled on the morning of September 30th, 2005.http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1171977http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092901972.html Miller had previously indicated that, unlike Cooper's, her source has not sufficiently waived confidentiality. She issued a statement at a press conference after her release, stating that her source, Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, had released her from her promise of confidentiality.

Related Topics:
New York Times - Judith Miller - Lewis Libby

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Some commentators, most prominently Arianna Huffington, on her Huffington Post blog, have suggested that Miller may have been "grandstanding" in delaying her testimony to the grand jury. Others believe that Miller went to jail to land a million dollar book deal and to move attention from her questionable Iraq war reports.

Related Topics:
Arianna Huffington - Huffington Post

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On October 6, 2005, Fitzgerald recalled, for the fourth time, Karl Rove to take the stand before the Grand Jury investigating the leak of Plame. This is significant, according to major media sources, as previously Fitzgerald had indicated that the only remaining witnesses to call were Cooper and Miller before he would close his case. Reports have focused on this "last-minute" recall to testify, widely reporting that this is seen by other high-ranking government sources as "ominous" for senior officials in the Bush Administration. The Grand Jury is scheduled to end its term on October 28.http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-100605leak_lat,0,7095414.story?coll=la-home-headlineshttp://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/12836747.htmhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aT6Zo9teA19E&refer=us

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