home

Valerie Plame Responds to Karl Rove's Latest Statement


Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson have just released this statement responding to Karl Rove's latest comments about PlameGate (no link, received by e-mail):

“In a December 7th interview discussing his upcoming tell-all book with Cox News, Karl Rove asserted that it was Richard Armitage, not he, who was responsible for the betrayal of CIA covert officer Valerie Plame Wilson. As usual, he shades the truth.

[More...]

On July 17, 2005, Matthew Cooper, then of Time magazine, wrote that on July 11, 2003, Mr. Rove told him “[Ms. Wilson] worked at the ‘agency’,” and by that, he told the Grand Jury investigating the Wilson leak, he “inferred that [Mr. Rove] obviously meant the CIA and not, say, the Environmental Protection Agency.” Cooper continued, “Mr. Rove added that she worked on ‘WMD’ issues and that she was responsible for sending [Ambassador] Wilson.”

This was three days before the publication of Robert Novak’s infamous article. Mr. Novak himself later confirmed that Mr. Rove was his second source, again before the publication of the article. Irrespective of Mr. Armitage’s role in Ms. Wilson’s betrayal, it is irrefutable that Mr. Rove was also independently leaking her name to members of the press prior to publication of Mr. Novak’s article. He is also responsible for her betrayal.

We would welcome Mr. Rove’s authorizing the release of his interviews with Special Counsel Fitzgerald and his testimony before the Grand Jury. The public deserves the whole truth of Mr. Rove’s involvement. President Bush once said he regretted Mr. Rove’s lack of candor. So do we.”

< Some Advice for Gov. Blagojevich | ABC News: Jackson, Jr. is Candidate 5 in Blagojevich Complaint >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    this, (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by cpinva on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 10:25:22 AM EST
    like the lincoln and kennedy assassinations, will provide grist for the mill for the next hundred years.

    won't karl rove just please go away! preferably to another planet, but i'll accept another country.

    What country (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by TomStewart on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 11:17:43 AM EST
    would have him?

    Parent
    How about.... (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by easilydistracted on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 12:08:41 PM EST
    Somalia. Chief Pirate, Rove. Arr

    Parent
    No one would believe him (none / 0) (#29)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 04:55:12 PM EST
    ... as the Dread Pirate Roberts.

    MAYBE the Dread Booty Pirate Robert...

    Parent

    I don't want him to go away at all (none / 0) (#66)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 10:57:35 AM EST
    because he'll just crawl under some rock and wait for a good time to crawl back out again.  Stay in the limelight Karl so that the Wilsons and all the rest of us can continue to ask hard questions and for the release of your interviews and testimony.  Bring it Karl, and until you do we are just going to keep pointing out you aren't bringing it.

    Parent
    Draft Val Plame for DCI! (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by SeeEmDee on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 10:38:52 AM EST
    Now that would be sweet revenge...

    To Out (none / 0) (#30)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 04:58:22 PM EST
    a secret soldier of the Republic is treason.

    The people who did this need to be tried and convicted. Since Justice of this type will never come, perhaps we should just abandon the rule of law altogether, and be satisfied with some kind of political payback.

    (Not trying to be snarky, and I agree with you, just so fed up with our System that seems incapable of producing "just" results.)

    Parent

    It amazes me (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by Steve M on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 10:54:22 AM EST
    that the wingnut zombie army still goes around repeating "Armitage was the leaker" ad infinitum, as if Armitage's actions somehow made Rove and Libby's actions disappear.

    If you're on the phone with a reporter telling them the name of a covert CIA operative, that's scummy and it doesn't become any less scummy if, unbeknownst to you, someone else happened to leak the name to a different reporter a couple days previously.  (Fitzgerald seemed to accept that Armitage's leak was inadvertent, but it doesn't matter either way.)

    But somehow, leaking the name of a covert CIA operative is fine and dandy, as long as "no crime was committed" thereby.  Well, okay, that's a great standard to go by.  Oh, and she wasn't "really" covert, because some right-wing columnist told me so.

    Mrs. Wilson was not covert.. (none / 0) (#5)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 11:30:33 AM EST
    and before you start telling us that the CIA said she was....

    1. Why didn't they wave off Novak when he called before he wrote the story?

    2. Why haven't they provided some proof?

    3. Why was her cover so poor?

    4. Why did she go to work everyday at Langley?

    5. Why did her husband write an article that he had to have known would bring attention to him and his wife?


    Parent
    Oh please (5.00 / 6) (#6)
    by Steve M on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 11:40:48 AM EST
    You want me to believe that the CIA made a referral to the DOJ over the identity of a totally non-covert desk jockey?  Give me a break.  The notion that anyone who works at CIA headquarters couldn't possibly be covert is amateur-hour reasoning.

    Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame was covert and said so in court filings.  The reason he couldn't prosecute anyone for IIPA violations, as he explained to the court, is that Libby's obstruction of justice made it impossible for him to establish the knowledge and intent requirements of the statute.  But the notion that she wasn't covert is, frankly, for the dead-enders at this point.

    Parent

    Oh really? (none / 0) (#10)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 01:19:08 PM EST
    If you were a covert agent, complete with a fictional name and background, would you go work at CIA headquarters???

    Surely you are smarter than that.

    At one time she had been, but was brought in because she had been outed.

    Parent

    You seem to have swallowed (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 05:10:09 PM EST
    Republican talking point whole. You might want to check your liver for damage.

      1. Why didn't they wave off Novak when he called before he wrote the story?

       2. Why haven't they provided some proof?

       3. Why was her cover so poor?

       4. Why did she go to work everyday at Langley?

       5. Why did her husband write an article that he had to have known would bring attention to him and his wife?


    1. It is not CIA policy to comment on whether or not someone works for the agency.
    2. Substantial proof of her being a NOC, the blackest of the black exists The NOC Program: A Look at Valerie Plame's "Nonofficial Cover" as a CIA Operative
    3. I presume you have some credentials in intelligence work, or are you just talking out of your arse? Her cover was just fine until Cheney et.al. exposed it. Or you can point to SOME or ANY evidence of her cover being blown prior to the TREASON committed by the officials in the White House?
    4. People often work at Langley between assignments. You might think that they could have some classified info there that could use some exposition or analysis.
    5. Why did the husband write an article? Because the GOVERNMENT OF THE US WAS LYING TO ITS CITIZENS ON PURPOSE and he thought we had a right to know. Something enshrined in the 1st Amendment.


    Parent
    Why bother with neighbors (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by ff11 on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 02:56:44 PM EST
    When the Bush administration was only too happy and eager to provide our enemies with all the classified information they needed?

    And back again (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by ff11 on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 04:26:39 PM EST
    I'm sorry to point out that you have no point.  The testimony of anonymous internet posters notwithstanding, the CIA specifically stated that she was a covert agent.  Not to mention, you were asked to provide a reference substantiating your claim that she openly commuted to CIA headquarters and have failed to do so.

    "Your point" is a typical Conservative (5.00 / 1) (#68)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 11:03:45 AM EST
    circumvent of answering the hard questions about the laws you broke.  I don't have time for it and I never will.  I have a real life to live that requires real answers to the REAL problems at hand.  Outing a CIA agent is treason.  Rove did exactly that.

    If outing Plame was treason (none / 0) (#71)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 09:15:54 PM EST
    then why isn't Armitage scheduled to be hung, or at least a LWOPer??

    All this was a political fight between the CIA and the Bush administration in which the Demos used the JD for a political hit job.

    And they did a masterful job of it.

    Parent

    Awww......you poor Conservatives of late (4.00 / 0) (#67)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 10:59:02 AM EST
    Somebody call a waaaaaambulance please.

    Whenever Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson are attacked (none / 0) (#20)
    by ruffian on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 03:17:29 PM EST
    I breathe easily and put my hyper-defense mechanism into sleep mode. They are so supremely capable of cutting any attacker down to size that I feel no need to help except to cheer them on.

    Plame (none / 0) (#25)
    by Slado on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 04:19:56 PM EST
    is already enshrined in the lefty hall of fame along with Jimmy Carter and Che.   No matter what facts come out about them it doesn't matter.   They are idols to be worshiped and the left has closed the book on all arguments about them.

    Move on PPJ it's not worth it.

    Support of Treason (none / 0) (#32)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 05:12:09 PM EST
    is aiding and abetting the enemy.

    Please report to the nearest FBI office and turn yourself in.

    "Mrs. Wilson"? (none / 0) (#43)
    by No Blood for Hubris on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 08:02:58 PM EST
    Yes, Valerie Plame was just a silly CIA secretary/wifie  Cheney thought so, too.

    Oopsie for him!

    She'll make a great CIA director.  

    Your attempt at sarcasm is silly. (none / 0) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Dec 10, 2008 at 08:10:51 PM EST
    Valerie Plame was a valued employee and a successful covert agent.

    But like most covert agents she was eventually unmasked and brought home, probably in fear that she had been exposed by Aldrich Ames to the Russians, and from them to others. The timing works rather well.

    Inside the US she continued to be, for all reports, an excellent analyst.

    Parent

    You shouldn't blame anyone else ... (none / 0) (#56)
    by cymro on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 02:49:05 AM EST
    ... for Jim's inability to communicate intelligently.

    Those are the known facts (none / 0) (#69)
    by Molly Bloom on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 11:35:57 AM EST
    so deal with it in your hypothesis.

    BTW here are a couple of more facts. Aldrich Ames was arrested in 1994. Valerie Plame traveled overseas under cover  in the 2000, 2001 and 2002.

    Explain dear Yadda, explain.