Sparky breaks TREASONGATE down for you:
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It was hard to be surprised when I read this in Reuters about the Supreme Court nomination...
"Sources said the timing of an announcement had been moved up in part to deflect attention away from a CIA leak controversy that has engulfed Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove...'It helps take Rove off the front pages for a week,' one Republican strategist said."When Democrats demanded that Rove be fired, it was about more than justice for dirty deeds done. It was about the fact that he was continuing as President Bush's top advisor on matters of supreme importance to all Americans -- literally.
We learned this week that Karl Rove was so adamant about smearing CIA agent Valerie Plame's husband that even White House aides were taken aback. When one asked him why, Rove replied simply: "He's a Democrat."
And yet President Bush allowed him to continue on in his job, despite his original pledge to fire any leakers, and Tuesday night presented a nominee for the highest court in the land chosen under the guidance of a man whose defining characteristic is dirty, scorched-earth partisanship at any cost.
We will not let Rove off the hook. Contribute today to help support our efforts to expose the truth about Rove's disgrace.
It is bad enough that the House is dominated by Rove's kindred spirit, Tom DeLay. Both of these men value power above all. They are the two most influential men in Republican strategy and policy, the men who tell the rest of the Republicans how to speak, think, and vote.
Their ethical blindness casts a shadow of dishonor across the entire Republican Party, who with precious few exceptions cannot bring themselves to utter the slightest word against the two.
Let us be clear here about who has been proven to be "in the loop" on the smearing of CIA agent Valerie Plame's husband:
- Karl Rove: President Bush's Right-Hand Man
- Scooter Libby: Vice President Cheney's Right-Hand Man
- Stephen Hadley: Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's Right-Hand Man
- Dick Cheney: Whose memo was “weakly re-edited” by these treasonous GOP partisans
There has been no indication whatsoever from the White House that what was done was wrong, and no indication whatsoever that they will not do it again.
To understand how profound this abuse of power is, consider that we are currently in a War on Terror, and that our country is desperate to recruit more qualified intelligence operatives. And yet the message from the White House is that, so long as the leaker is not convicted (apparently indictment is acceptable), they reserve the right to "out" with impunity any covert agent whose family member happens to rub the White House the wrong way.
Karl Rove hopes to slip away into the shadows, but we will keep churning the truth out for all Americans to see.
President Bush won't hold Karl Rove accountable. But we will.
Please help fund our efforts with a contribution of $35, $50 or $100 today.
Thank you for standing with us.
John Lapp
Executive Director, DCCC
If you would like to forward our petition and video to friends and family click here.
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Rep. Waxman: Karl Rove violated non-disclosure agreement
Traitor Karl Rove shows us Americans his true colors.
Bush administration handling of pre-war intelligence
July 17, 2005
House representative Henry Waxman (D-Cal) released on Friday a fact sheet from a "briefing booklet" that Karl Rove received when he signed the classified information nondisclosure agreement (SF-312). Executive Order 12958 requires that a person sign this standard form before being granted security clearance. The briefing booklet states that:
Before confirming the accuracy of what appears in the public source, the signer of the SF 312 must confirm through an authorized official that the information has, in fact, been declassified. If it has not, confirmation of its accuracy is also an unauthorized disclosure.
The nondisclosure agreement and the executive order require sanctions against security clearance holders who "knowingly, willfully, or negligently" disclose classified information. The sanctions for such a breach include "reprimand, suspension without pay, removal, termination of classification authority, loss or denial of access to classified information, or other sanctions.
The agreement requires that violators be subject to appropriate sanctions, regardless of whether or not they knew they were leaking classified information:
Officers and employees of the United States Government ... shall be subject to appropriate sanctions if they knowingly, willfully, or negligently ... disclose to unauthorized persons information properly classified.
This information was provided to YubaNet by Representative Waxman, and discussed in detail here.
The case, however, is being tried under the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The strictest interpretation of the act limits breaking it to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover agent. There is only one publicly known conviction for the law. CIA employee Sharon Scranage, who pleaded guilty in 1985. She served 8 months out of a 5 year conviction for revealing to her boyfriend the names of other agents while stationed in Ghana.
Was Plame a covert agent?
The case is clouded by reckoning on the covert status of Valerie Plame when the leak occurred. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for an FBI probe 10 days after the July 13, 2003 column by Robert Novak identified her as an agent. A Chicago native and appointed special prosecutor, Patrik Fitzgerald took over the case 19 months ago. That the case continues today says something in itself.
Critics of the investigation believe the case is overblown because it was widely known in Washington social power circles that Plame worked for the CIA.
A MediaMatters report on the widely publicized quote by Joseph Wilson, who said, "My wife was not a clandestine officer... ", was misconstrued by the press.
BLITZER: But the other argument that's been made against you is that you've sought to capitalize on this extravaganza, having that photo shoot with your wife [in the January 2004 Vanity Fair magazine], who was a clandestine officer of the CIA, and that you've tried to enrich yourself writing this book and all of that.
What do you make of those accusations, which are serious accusations, as you know, that have been leveled against you?
WILSON: My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity.
BLITZER: But she hadn't been a clandestine officer for some time before that?
WILSON: That's not anything that I can talk about. And, indeed, I'll go back to what I said earlier, the CIA believed that a possible crime had been committed, and that's why they referred it to the Justice Department.
In the full context of the above CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports televised broadcast, Wilson was responding to mean that after Robert Novak's column ran, his wife was no longer a clandestine officer. The Vanity Fair coverage given Wilson with wife Plame was a result of the publicity that ensued from the column written by Novack. The photo shoots did not occur before the disclosure, they came in January 2004.
The Associated Press reported the Wilson-Blitzer interview as follows:
...CNN Thursday before the latest revelation, Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying [White House senior adviser Karl] Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."
But at the same time, Wilson acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her. "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said.
Federal law prohibits goverment officials from divulging the identity ...
Media outlets followed the AP lead with their own reporting that mirrored AP report.
Sources
- Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen "In Plame Leaks, Long Shadows". Washington Post, July 17, 2005
- Representative Waxman "Karl Rove's Nondisclosure Agreement". YubaNet, July 15, 2005
- "AP falsely reported Wilson "acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job" when her identity was first publicly leaked". MediaMatters, July 15, 2005
- "NY Times, Wash. Post revised White House pledge to fire Plame leakers". Media Matters for America, July 15, 2005
- Robert Collier "Key questions at the center of the leak controversy". SFGate.com, July 13, 2005
A timeline: Novak, Rove, Cooper
July 15, 2005The Novak story that sparked the contoversy was written on July 14, 2003. The Star Telegram reported that Rove talked to Novak on Tuesday July 8, 2003. A perpetual calendar is useful to observe the date. Cooper called Rove 4 days after his talk with Novak. The date of the Rove-Cooper conversation must then have been July 12, 2003.
U.S. grand jury information "leaked" to the Associated Press revealed Karl Rove spoke to two reporters, rather than the previously thought one reporter Matthew Cooper. It was reported here by MSNBC with the help of MSNBC's "Today" show the reporter Robert Novak was also spoken to, but without a single date to serve as a reference point. Therefore, a reader who wanted to create a timeline of events to discover the publication date of the Novak story that blew Valerie Plames's cover is presented with the following puzzle (one date is provided by WN, the date of Wilson's Op-Ed piece):
- Novak called Rove on a Tuesday, 6 days before he broke the story. During the Novak-Rove conversation, Novak asked whether Rove heard Plame was an agent. At that time, Rove said he believed that he might have heard the same… he wasn’t sure if he did, and if he did, he couldn’t remember who it was.
- Novak’s story containing the Plame "leak" breaks 6 days after the Rove conversation. Two anonymous White House officials are its sources.
- Rove’s conversation with Cooper took place 5 days after Wilson’s Op-Ed piece in The New York Times ran on July 6, 2003. So Rove spoke with Cooper on July 11, 2003.
- Rove's conversation with Cooper takes place 4 days after talking to Novak. So Rove spoke to Novak on July 7, 2003.
- The Novak story broke 6 days after he spoke to Rove. So the Novak story broke on July 13, 2003.
Related news
- "White House refuses to comment on Karl Rove as source of leak". Wikinews, July 12, 2005
- "Karl Rove named as a source of Plame leak". Wikinews, July 3, 2005
Sources
- David Johnston and Richard W. Stevenson "Source says Rove spoke to columnist". Star-Telegram, July 15, 2005
- "Source: Rove says reporters told him of Plame". MSNBC News Services, July 15, 2005
- "Americans losing faith in Bush: Poll". Sify news, July 14, 2005
- CBS/AP "Wilson To Bush: Fire Rove". CBS News, July 14, 2005
- Sue Pleming "CIA agent's spouse says Rove must go". Reuters, July 14, 2005
- Associated Press "Wilson says Bush should fire Rove". MSNBC, July 13, 2005
- AP "Questions and Answers on Rove, CIA Case". SGate.com, July 14, 2005
- Linda Feldmann "In CIA leak case, eyes on Rove". The Christian Science Monitor, July 13, 2005
- Associated Press "White House maintains confidence in Rove". MSNBC, July 12, 2005
Bush dilutes pledge to fire scam-tainted aides
Hindu, India -
WASHINGTON: President George Bush amended a pledge to fire any of his aides involved in the 2003 leak of a CIA agent's identity on Monday, promising only to ...
| Hardball investigates CIA-leak MSNBC - Hardball is conducting a special investigation this week into the CIA-leak controversy. On Monday's program, Dick Sauber, the lawyer ... |
| Why does CIA leak row matter? BBC News, UK - By Matthew Davis. A special prosecutor is investigating who revealed a CIA agent's name to the press after her husband, former US ... |
Washington Post, United States -
By Tabassum Zakaria. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday sidestepped a question about whether his top adviser, Karl ...
And London has been rethreatened:
| Internet message warns Europe of further attacks Financial Times, UK - By Jimmy Burns. The group that claimed responsibility on the internet for the London bombings on Tuesday issued a new statement on ... |
| Terror Group Threatens War Across Europe Los Angeles Times, CA - By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer. CAIRO, Egypt -- A statement in the name of a group that claimed responsibility for the ... |
| 'London bombings' terror group issues new threat Ireland Online, Ireland - An al-Qaida-linked group that claimed responsibility for the London bombings threatened today to launch “a bloody war” on the capitals of European ... |
| Al-Qaeda Sets Deadline for Europe for Iraq Pullout Zaman Online, Turkey - By Anadolu News Agency (aa). An al-Qaeda linked group has allegedly given Eurpoean countries a month to withdraw from Iraq. An Internet ... |
News24, South Africa -
Dubai - The al-Qaeda terror network warned European nations to pull their troops out of Iraq within a month or face more attacks like the London bombings ...
For giggles - in other news the Japanese Governor of Tokyo Insults the French:
Governor of Tokyo is sued for insulting French language
July 18, 2005 On July 13, 21 French and Japanese individuals sued Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, for defamation towards people who use the French language. Those 21 were French language teachers and Japanese researchers who taught French. In 2004, Ishihara said that no one can count in the French language. Ishihara was sued for 500,000 yen (approx. US $4,457) for each plaintiff, including Malik Berkane, a French private language school owner in Tokyo. In addition, the plaintiffs demanded that he make an apology.
On October 19, 2004, Ishihara said "French language is a language in which no one can count, therefore it seems to me reasonable that it is disqualified as an international language. People who are tied to the language have taken it upon themselves to oppose [me]. It is all ridiculous" in a speech Ishihara made at the inaugural celebrations of the "Tokyo U-Club". The Tokyo U-club was founded to support the foundation of Tokyo Metropolitan University (Japanese: ??????, Shuto daigaku Tokyo), which was planned by Ishihara as replacement of universities run by the Tokyo metropolitan government including the same name in English (Japanese: ?????? Tokyo Toritsu Daigaku).
On August 1, 2003, Ishihara issued his plan to found the new university. His plan had no relation to the restructuring plan of the former Tokyo Metropolitan University which had been on-going for years in cooperation with faculty and Tokyo prefectural government. In his new plan faculties of Humanities, Economics and Law would be drasticially changed and divided into newly organized faculties and departures. As for humanities, literature and language studies would be re-organized into language section and literature section, reduced in number of students, and undergraduate and graduate would be relocated into separate campuses. Quite a few members of the Faculty of Humanities opposed this idea strongly and called for opposition widely. As to that its all faculty issued the opposition on the consensus of all faculty on September 25, 2003. The department of French literature and language was a key group in the movment. Also in 2004, Professor Masato Goda, a teacher of French literature, resigned to express his opposition toward Ishihara's educational policy.
Berkane said "I was very shocked when I heard that. Of course we can count numbers in French, and it is used as an official language in international organisations." "I have been in Japan for 23 years. I am sad that what I have taught in that time is denigrated." Berkane said that Berkane had sent a memorandum to Ishihara in February to ask him to apologize but he had as yet received no reply from Ishihara.
On July 15, Ishihara again expressed his opinion that French was formerly a diplomatic lingua franca but due to its complexity it had been falling back. He mentioned that no student had registered in French language lessons at the newly founded Tokyo Metropolitan University. He also stated plaintiffs should have considered seriously if his criticism was appropriate.
Sources
- Japanese Wikinews, ???????????????????????? (Governer of Tokyo Ishihara is sued due to his words "French language is unqualified as the international language")
- "Tokyo Gov Ishihara sued for insulting French language". Japan Today, July 14, 2005
posted by Coat @ 4:21 PM
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