According to four attorneys who over the past two days have read a transcript of the President Bush's interview with investigators, Bush did not disclose to either investigators or the special counsel that he had authorized Cheney or any other administration official to leak portions of the NIE to Woodward and Miller or any other reporter. Rather, these people said the president said he frowned upon "selective leaks."
Bush also said during the interview two years ago that he had no prior knowledge that anyone on his staff had been involved in a campaign to discredit Wilson or that individuals retaliated against the former ambassador by leaking his wife's undercover identity to reporters.
I'm mostly interested in where Fitzgerald is headed. There are two things we need to know to solve the puzzle. If I were an investigative journalist, as opposed to a lawyer analyzing news reports and court filings, here's what I would concentrate on:
- Nailing down the identity of Bob Novak's source, Bob Woodward's source and Walter Pincus's source.
- Identifying the Administration officials who got immunity or a deal to plead to lesser charges in exchange for cooperation.
By Fitz' insistence in the pleading that Libby isn't entitled to Mark Grossman's or other officials' witness statements until he turns them over pursuant to the Jencks Act, Grossman is one. Besides Grossman, I'm thinking Ari Fleischer, Fred Fleitz, John Hannah, David Wurmser.
Those whose cases seem to be unresolved are Karl Rove and Stephen Hadley, either or both of whom may either have immmunity or deals or be facing Indictment.
I still think Fitzgerald's goal is Dick Cheney. If I were a reporter, that's where I'd be looking. I'd take another look at David Addington, as well. One question I have, does Cheney write his own e-mails and personally read e-mails from others, or do secretaries and aides handle all that?
I'd also like to see some more writing on George Tenet. Why isn't he going to be a witness? Why didn't he testify before the grand jury? Has he been interviewed in recent months? (Background here and here.)
Like Armitage, he recently joined the board of directors of a corporation, so I assume he's home free, and probably one of the "innocents accused" Fitzgerald likes to refer to.
Elsewhere on the web:
Christy at Firedoglake is burning up the web with detailed analysis of Fitz's filing. TPM has today's press gaggle with Scotty. The New York Times provides analysis of Scotty's conference.
The Washington Post has a Bush leaker's response:
A senior administration official, speaking on background because White House policy prohibits comment on an active investigation, said Bush sees a distinction between leaks and what he is alleged to have done. The official said Bush authorized the release of the classified information to assure the public of his rationale for war as it was coming under increasing scrutiny.
Also, the official said, the president has not been accused of authorizing the release of the name of Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA operative whose unmasking in a July 2003 newspaper column prompted the federal investigation. "There is a clear difference between the two," the official said. "I understand that in politics these two can be conflated. And we're going to have to try to deal with that. But there is an active investigation and that limits our ability to do so."
Arianna weighs in here and here.
The New York Times has an editorial, Playing Hardball with Secrets.
[Graphic created exclusively for TalkLeft by CL.]
