At some point after the publication of the July 6, 2003 Op Ed by Mr. Wilson, Vice President Cheney, defendant's immediate superior, expressed concerns to defendant regarding whether Mr. Wilson's trip was legitimate or whether it was in effect a junket set up by Mr. Wilson's wife.
Up until now, focus generally has centered on Libby and Cheney's June conversations. Murray writes that the July conversation occurred "within days" of July 6th. The exact date is uncertain, but it could be as early as July 7, because it appears Libby knew about the CIA report before his July 8 meeting with Miller -- and that he may have shown her portions of it at that meeting. According to the Indictment, while Libby denied to Fitz and the grand jury that he told Judith Miller about Wilson and his wife on July 8th, the Government has a different account of the meeting:
LIBBY thereafter discussed with Miller Wilson's trip and criticized the CIA reporting concerning Wilson's trip. During this discussion, LIBBY advised Miller of his belief that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. (Par. 17.)
Libby told Fitz of his efforts to make sure he had adequate authorization for disclosing portions of the NIE report to Miller that date. He says he was also directed by Cheney to disclose portions of the CIA's March, 2002 report. Fitz wrote in that same April 5 filing (corrected version):
Defendant testified that he thought he brought a brief abstract of the NIE's key judgments to the meeting with Miller on July 8. Defendant understood that he was to tell Miller, among other things, some of the key judgments of the NIE and that the NIE stated that Iraq was "vigorously trying to procure" uranium.
Defendant testified that this July 8th meeting was the only time he recalled in his government experience when he disclosed a document to a reporter that was effectively declassified by virtue of the President's authorization that it be disclosed. Defendant testified that one of the reasons why he met with Miller at a hotel was the fact that he was sharing this information with Miller exclusively.
In fact, on July 8, defendant spoke with Miller about Mr. Wilson after requesting that attribution of his remarks be changed to "former Hill staffer." Defendant discussed with Miller the contents of a then classified CIA report which defendant characterized to Miller as having been written by Wilson. Defendant advised Miller that Wilson had reported that he had learned that in 1999 an Iraqi delegation visited Niger and sought to expand commercial relations, which was understood to be a reference to a desire to obtain uranium. Later during the discussion about Wilson and the NIE, defendant advised Miller of his belief that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. Indict., Count One, ¶ 17. (my emphasis)
Wilson was not the author of that report, and the report does not mention Valerie Plame Wilson, but that's not the point. It was a report of his debriefing after he returned from Africa. Would Libby, who was so careful about checking and rechecking the declassification status of the NIE report, and who had been told by Cheney to reveal the CIA report, really have disclosed information about Joseph Wilson's wife on his own initiative? Jane has more on this.
If not on July 7, Libby and Cheney's July conversation could have taken place as late as July 12, when Cheney, Libby and Cathie Martin took their now infamous plane trip to Norfolk on Air Force Two. According to Fitz's filing last week, Libby acknowledged being asked by Cheney to publicly refute Joseph Wilson's op-ed to the media on that date -- normally it would have been Cathie Martin's job to do that.
....Defendant further testified that on July 12, 2003, he was specifically directed by the Vice President to speak to the press in place of Cathie Martin (then the communications person for the Vice President) regarding the NIE and Wilson. Defendant was instructed to provide what was for him an extremely rare "on
the record" statement, and to provide "background" and "deep background" statements, and to provide information contained in a document defendant understood to be the cable authored by Mr. Wilson.
Cheney and Libby were on the plane. It was likely after the plane returned to Washington that Libby returned a call to Matthew Cooper and again spoke with Judith Miller, and in both conversations, not only discussed Joseph Wilson but allegedly mentioned Valerie Wilson and her role in sending her husband to Niger. Cooper describes his version of the conversation, which occurred at 3:00 pm, in the Nov. 17, 2005 issue of Time. Fitz describes the importance of the conversations with Cooper and Miller in his April 5 filing:
During the conversations that followed on July 12, defendant discussed Ms. Wilson's employment with both Matthew Cooper (for the first time) and Judith Miller (for the third time). Even if someone else in some other agency thought that the controversy about Mr. Wilson and/or his wife was a trifle, that person's state of mind would be irrelevant to the importance and focus defendant placed on the matter and the importance he attached to the surrounding conversations he was directed to engage in by the Vice President.
To sum up, I think there are three points to focus on in Murray's new article:
- How differently Libby acted before disclosing details of the NIE and the CIA report as compared to when he leaked details about Joseph and Valerie Wilson. The first two he went through great machinations to make sure he had authorization. But he wants us to believe that the information on the Wilsons he disclosed on his own, almost on a whim. This man did nothing on a whim. The inference to be made is that Cheney directed him to leak about Valerie Wilson the same as he did details in the NIE report and CIA reports.
- The coincidental timing of the July 12 plane ride to Norfolk with Libby, Cheney and Martin aboard. They discuss a media plan to react to Wilson's op-ed. Right afterwards, Libby tells Miller and Cooper about Valerie Plame Wilson. Is it realistic that Cheney didn't know about or direct Libby's disclosures to Cooper and Miller that date?
- The news of the second coversation between Libby and Cheney, occurring after July 6 and before July 13. In addition to supporting an inference Cheney directed Libby to disclose details about the Wilsons on July 12, doesn't this undercut Libby's lack of memory defense and his insistence that by July 8, he had forgotten what Cheney had told him in June?
More background:
In addition to Jane's response, noted above, other takes on Waas' article include: Steve Soto at Left Coaster; Booman at the Booman Tribune; Kevin Drum;
