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Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 12:33:48 PM EST
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Michael Isikoff reports that Joseph Tate, Libby's lawyer, says Libby did not speak to Novak. Also, the call between Libby and Miller in jail was a four-way conference call with both their lawyers on the call.

Isikoff also reports that Fitzgerald was ready to extend the grand jury for another term, which could have left Miller in jail for up to another 18 months, even without a criminal contempt charge.

Libby's defense remains:

Tate acknowledges that Libby did indeed tell Miller that Iraq war critic Joe Wilson's wife (Plame) had arranged for Wilson to take a CIA-sponsored trip to Africa to probe reports that Iraq was seeking uranium for a nuclear bomb. But he says Libby did not know Plame's real name nor her undercover status at the CIA.

As I wrote in an overly long post earlier, I think the signs point to no indictments for leaking Plame's identity but possible indictments for perjury, making false statements to federal officials, obstruction of justice and some kind of conspiracy charge.

Maybe Cheney will be one of those caught in a false statements or conspiracy charge. Since he's considered the most powerful man in Washington, it's unlikely. His staff, and the White House Iraq Group, however, may not fare so well. And Rove's biggest liability may be his story that he first heard of Plame from a reporter, but he can't remember which one, and that his call to Matt Cooper was initially about welfare reform. That's about as convincing as a drug dealer who agrees to cooperate and then says he can't remember who sold him the kilo of coke.

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    Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak | 14 comments (14 topical)
    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:36 PM EST
    Newsweek and Isikoff -- what do they know --they thought the military was flushing Korans down the toilet. If they get off because of the phony excuse --they didn't know...that will be the biggest bunch of crap ever. And of course Wilson's wife did not send him on the trip

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#2)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:36 PM EST
    I have felt right along that some folks were hoping for too much out of this suppossed 'outting' case. I really have never thought that there would be any indictments coming out of it but we'll see at the end of the month. I'm starting to get the feeling that Ms Miller was more worried about exposing another source perhaps pertaining to another case plus the threat of more jail time if the GJ was extended. I think that the Left had to much invested in this case to be objective about it. And I include most of the main-stream print media in that same dubious investment. Though I'll admit it certainly enflamed the the party apparachiks and thier proles for a while.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:36 PM EST
    Libby's story isn't very convincing either. The fact that Libby didn't know Wilsom's wife's name is utterly irrelevant. When you don't live in Saudi Arabia or one of a couple of U.S. counties on the Utah-Arizona line, identifying someone as someone else's wife, particularly when it is within a particular time period is tantamount to identifying them by name. Furthermore, when someone who has no publicly known political office can arrange that their spouse conduct a CIA sponsored investigation, the argument that he should have known that she was a covert operative for the CIA, or at least should have looked into it, pursuant to protocals he signed a document saying he understood, beforing blabbing it to a reporter, sounds pretty strong to me. If you have those kinds of facts in hand, why not charge the CIA disclosure along with the other dirt you have against him and force Libby to role the dice and go to trial over the issue (or plea), rather than simply drop the charges without a fight. The grand jury needs only probable cause and Libby's evidence, on its face as admitted, seems to supply that.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:37 PM EST
    Apparatchiks, proles, this is disgusting talk. Conspiracy to commit treason, and the commission of treason, is not so hard to perceive in the actions of the Bushliars. Making a legal case, with the usual loopholes for the usual felons, is a separate issue to the LEGITIMACY of charges, and the deserving of prosecution. WHERE are our impeachment rights, jimcee? Do you just think they only exist if the party in power wants to have them? This isn't about the 'Left' having high expectations -- it's about Our Constitution, something that you lot seem to have ZERO commitment to. Underneath it all, profit-motives, selfishness, hatred, dead hearts, and the coercions of the truly corrupt, who you support. Shame on you, jim.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#5)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:37 PM EST
    No PinLA, Too many folks put too much into these charges and that investment is looking like a bad one. This story has been flogged to death by TL as well as many, many media outlets trying to make it an impeachable offence. And it did rile up the usual suspects (see KOS, Media Matters et al)who in turn tried to rile up the Lefty base. Heck if anyone wanted to know who Valerie Plame was all they needed to do is check 'Who's Who' or ask her or her husband at any cocktail party what she did. I'm not quite sure what your point is about the Constitution so I'll leave that be. This is looking like 'Much Ado About Nothing' but we'll see come the end of October.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:37 PM EST
    jc-you are spreading baseless RNC talking points once again. Plame was a NOC, and a real patriot, not a chickenhawk like you. She put her life on the line. No one at any of your "cocktail parties" had a clue that she was a NOC, and go ahead and study Who's Who so you can out all the other NOC's hiding in there, traitor. Here is a bit from a 'classmate' of hers:
    Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA.  I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985.  All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies.  We had official cover.  That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport.  If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card. A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer.  That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport.  If caught in that status she would have been executed.
    Larry Johnson

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Also, jimcee likes to ignore the fact that outing Plame OUTED THE FRONT COMPANY. When did the CIA report on the damage done come out? It never did. Gee, could that be ANOTHER example of Bush covering up his own crimes? You don't say. How many tens or hundreds of spies and collaborators were outed along with Ms. Plame?

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Squeaky, I'm not a Republican and have never been one. I wouldn't know where to look for a GOP talking point. As I said before it was fairly common knowledge in Washington that Mrs Wilson was a CIA agent and she wasn't under cover when her name was exposed by whomever did it. I believe she had become a mother by that time and the CIA doesn't do deep cover with newly minted moms. As far as your ad hominum attack about me being a chicken hawk you might be surprised to find out I served in the Army did my time there and now I'm too old to serve again although my nephew was killed in Iraq a while back. But again you are just showing your lack of depth by resorting to such feckless nonsense. It just seems to me that you're upset because it is starting to look as if this whole thing is coming up empty and you are lashing out, feebly, I might add. I am starting to think that Ms Miller was covering up a source in this investigation and that source was Jumpin' Joe Wilson. And since when does the Left care about the CIA and call them patriots? Was that after the Iran-Contra deals or after Sen Kerry recieved that magic hat from the CIA spook just before he entered Cambodia a few years too early. When you substitute invective and emotion for reason then you have already lost the argument. And as I said earlier we'll all just have to wait to see if there are any indictments handed down later on to see whom is correct. Dollars to donuts anyone?

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#9)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Paul-I think that when a NOC's front company is outed the whole operation folds and is near impossible to determine who was killed as a result. It is likely that people were killed, though.
    Brewster Jennings was, in fact, a well-established CIA proprietary company, linked for many years to ARAMCO. The demise of Brewster Jennings was also guaranteed the moment Plame was outed. It takes years for Non-Official Covers or NOCs, as they are known, to become really effective. Over time, they become gradually more trusted; they work their way into deeper information access from more sensitive sources. NOCs are generally regarded in the community as among the best and most valuable of all CIA operations officers and the agency goes to great lengths to protect them in what are frequently very risky missions.
    COUP D'ETAT

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#10)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    jc-A patriot and NOC agent is not something that ever goes away until the NOC resigns. As you can see above, her front co was destroyed as a result of the leak. The left, it is true. is not fond of CIA ops but that still does not take away Plame's status as a patriot. No one in your "cocktail parties" knew of her NOC status and were unlikely to have known that she worked at the CIA. Her neighbors with whom she was close were shocked that she worked, no less for the CIA, as they thought of her as a typical soccer mom. Sorry about your nephew. Whatever your political affiliation is your points are exactly the same as FOX and the RNC, and have been debunked by her peers. The outing of Plame was traitorous and another example of payback at any cost, great cost in this case, by Bush when he senses someone is against him.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:39 PM EST
    Jimcee has never been a Republican and wouldn't know where to find their talking points, and then he spews out their talking points verbatim, while taking time to attack John Kerry. He's psychic. Or a liar. Or psychic. Never been a Republican, though, nope. Like O'Reilly.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:39 PM EST
    Nice invective you two. And yes people knew she was CIA whether you are wont to believe it or not, wanting it so doesn't make it so. I'll wait for the indictments and or trial results of one of your list of (already convicted in your mind) administration members to make my final judgement. I do believe in due process, apparently you two don't as you have already convicted some anonymous person. No need for a judicial system for you guys. I don't do talking points RNC or otherwise. I'm just mature enough to wait for the system to work it's magic either way and able to form my own opinions with out the need to immerse myself in an echo chamber of someone else's making. That is why I come here instead of some Freeper or Limbaugh type site. Honestly some corresponents here are the opposite of those who frequent those sites but they are just as goofy. Good-night.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#13)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:39 PM EST
    As I said before it was fairly common knowledge in Washington that Mrs Wilson was a CIA agent and she wasn't under cover when her name was exposed by whomever did it.
    So you mean that YOU knew her name!? Please provide links. BTW, what was invective? Your talking points are EXACTLY the rnc talking points.

    Re: Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:39 PM EST
    queaky - There are several layers to this that you just wish to ignore, because all you want to do is attack Bush. You are indeed a BHAW. And that's fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. But when you look at them, your claims fall to pieces. Fist of all, we need to go back to Robert Novak. He called the CIA and asked, and he wasn't told to NOT use the name. Now, if people's lives were at stake, don't you think the CIA would have said, "No way. Don't. Stop." The reason why, of course, is that she was no loner a secret agent. And lives weren't at stake.
    Writing in January in the Washington Post, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General Victoria Toensing explained that she helped draft the 1982 law in question. Said Toensing: "The Novak column and the surrounding facts do not support evidence of criminal conduct." For Plame's outing to have been illegal, the one-time deputy AG explained, "her status as undercover must be classified." Also, Plame "must have been assigned to duty outside the United States currently or in the past five years." Since in neither case does Plame meet those criteria, Toensing argued: "There is a serious legal question as to whether she qualifies as 'covert.'" The law also requires that the celebrated non-spy's outing take place by someone who knew the government had taken "affirmative measures to conceal [the agent's] relationship" to the U.S.
    And then we have this from a former spy:
    But other former C.I.A. officers say that by 2003 Ms. Wilson's cover was already thin. Any serious inquiry would have revealed that Brewster Jennings was little more than a mailbox. Though she traveled regularly, Ms. Wilson, who speaks French, German and Greek, had been working for some time at agency headquarters in Langley, Va. And her marriage to a senior American diplomat, Mr. Wilson, ended any pretense of having no government ties. "At that point, she looks, walks and quacks like an overt agency employee," said Fred Rustmann, a C.I.A. officer from 1966 to 1990, who supervised Ms. Wilson early in her career and calls her "one of the best, an excellent officer."
    Link But to me, one of the most disturbing things about this is that whole affair was ignited by Joe Wilson. He didn't have to write the op ed. He didn't have to become involved. Yet he did, even though he should have easily been able to see that even if not attacked by the administration, by bringing attention to himself, the thin cover remaining for his wife could easily be penetrated. So, he either didn't care, or he thought that the media wouldn't investigate because of his anti-war position, or he thought that the administration couldn't do anything. The latter position is exatly what Kennedy did during his race with Nixon when he claimed time and again about a "missie gap" that didn't exist. Kennedy knew the charge to be false, but he also knew that Nixon couldn't hit back. The truth is that none of this helps the country. It is a pis*sing contest between the Left and the administration, nothing more. If you lined all the players up side by side you couldn't tell them apart. I sometimes feel like sayin, "Children should be seen but not heard."

    Newsweek: Libby Did Not Talk to Novak | 14 comments (14 topical)