I Believe This Clears Karl Rove

For over a week the media and the Democrats have slandered and villified Karl Rove like never before. This behavior came on the heels of Joe Wilson’s renewed zeal about the outing of his wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative. Everyone wanted Rove’s head on what has been revealed, thus far, in the federal government’s investigation of this matter. The government is investigating the leak, not because she was a covert operative, but because it is possible executive branch officials may be involved. When that occurs, a special is always assigned to investigate. They may never find anything, but because the executive branch is involved, this is the way things happen.

The truth of the matter has already been cracked wide open and fried on an Arizona sidewalk. First of all, Valerie Plame was anything but a covert operative. Yes, she worked in the CIA’s branch concerning WMDs, but she was a low level analyst. She wasn’t even a NOC, or non-official cover agent. She hadn’t been outside the US in six years, which is a primary prerequisite for NOC status. So, she wasn’t covert.

Second, her husband, Joe Wilson—former US ambassador—outed her long before this exploded over a Robert Novak column. He did so in an online biography he was working on. Further, a lot of people in Washington knew about Plame and her job. She was not exactly tight-lipped about it. That doesn’t strike me as someone with covert status in the CIA. This isn’t James Bond stuff here, folks; agents like Bond end up getting killed.

But today, there’s a story from Matt Cooper, a White House correspondent, who called Karl Rove to discuss something completely off the topic of Valerie Plame. His questions regarding Plame came at the end of the interview in an apparent attempt to sandbag the president’s advisor.

New York – In his 2 1/2 hour testimony last Wednesday before the grand jury investigating the CIA leak case, TIME White House correspondent Matthew Cooper testified that when he called White House political advisor Karl Rove the week of July 6, 2003, Rove did not reveal Joe Wilson’s wife’s name and did not reveal her covert status to Cooper. But he did say that Wilson’s wife works at the "Agency on WMD." This was the first time Cooper had ever heard of Wilson’s wife.

Cooper writes that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald "asked me several different ways if Rove indicated how he had heard that (Valerie) Plame worked at the CIA." Cooper says he testified that Rove did not.

Cooper also writes about his August 2004 testimony before the grand jury relating to his conversation with Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby. Cooper writes that, like Rove, Libby never used Plame’s name or indicated that her status was covert and he never told Cooper that he had heard about Plame from other reporters, as some press accounts have indicated. On background, Cooper had asked Libby if he had heard anything about Wilson’s wife sending him to Niger. Libby answered with words to the effect of "Yeah, I’ve heard that too."

I guess Karl Rove didn’t know anything, huh? Rove didn’t reveal Plame. "Scooter" Libby didn’t reveal Plame. So, I guess this will finally lay to rest this issue. I hope it does because I’m getting tired of a witch hunt that’s missing the important factor. That, being the witch. I knew this when this story broke. Last year, when Joe Wilson made his "frog march" comment about Karl Rove, I dealt with this issue then. I said she wasn’t a covert operative, therefore she had no cover to blow. I also pointed out that just about everybody in DC knew who she was. Further, I pointed to her husband’s book, and the Vanity Fair spread they did.

The only people that outed Valerie Plame were her and her husband. The White House didn’t leak her name. No one connected to the administration did. Joe Wilson did. Valerie Plame did. It was their inability to shut the hell up that brought this down on them.

Further, Joe Wilson needs to be prosecuted for breaking the False Statements Act in his sworn testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Prior to his testimony, and after his testimony we have found out that he lied about the business dealings between Niger and Iraq.

Take this from Mark Steyn:
In fact, the only lying sonafabitch turned out to be Yellowcake Joe. Just about everybody on the face of the earth except Wilson, the White House press corps and the moveon.org crowd accepts that Saddam was indeed trying to acquire uranium from Africa. Don't take my word for it; it's the conclusion of the Senate intelligence report, Lord Butler's report in the United Kingdom, MI6, French intelligence, other European services -- and, come to that, the original CIA report based on Joe Wilson's own briefing to them. Why Yellowcake Joe then wrote an article for the New York Times misrepresenting what he'd been told by senior figures from Major Wanke's regime in Niger is known only to him.
Say it ain’t so, Joe...Tell the world why you lied to everyone when your own words contradict what you’ve been saying. Add to the fact that every other major intelligence service agrees you’re a nut and a crackpot, and now, a liar to boot.

Still don’t buy it? Fine, read on...

A.) Wilson Insisted That The Vice President’s Office Sent Him To Niger:
Wilson Said He Traveled To Niger At CIA Request To Help Provide Response To Vice President’s Office. "In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president’s office." (Joseph C. Wilson, Op-Ed, "What I Didn’t Find In Africa," The New York Times, 7/6/03)

Joe Wilson: "[W]hat They Did, What The Office Of The Vice President Did, And, In Fact, I Believe Now From Mr. Libby’s Statement, It Was Probably The Vice President Himself ..." (CNN’s "Late Edition," 8/3/03)

Vice President Cheney: "I Don’t Know Joe Wilson. I’ve Never Met Joe Wilson. … And Joe Wilson - I Don’t [Know] Who Sent Joe Wilson. He Never Submitted A Report That I Ever Saw When He Came Back." (NBC’s "Meet The Press," 9/14/03)

CIA Director George Tenet: "In An Effort To Inquire About Certain Reports Involving Niger, CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Experts, On Their Own Initiative, Asked An Individual With Ties To The Region To Make A Visit To See What He Could Learn." (Central Intelligence Agency, "Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence," Press Release, 7/11/03)

B.) Wilson Claimed The Vice President And Other Senior White House Officials Were Briefed On His Niger Report:
"[Wilson] Believed That [His Report] Would Have Been Distributed To The White House And That The Vice President Received A Direct Response To His Question About The Possible Uranium Deal." (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

The Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Reported That The Vice President Was Not Briefed On Wilson’s Report. "Conclusion 14. The Central Intelligence Agency should have told the Vice President and other senior policymakers that it had sent someone to Niger to look into the alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal and it should have briefed the Vice President on the former ambassador’s findings." (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

CIA Director George Tenet: "Because This Report, In Our View, Did Not Resolve Whether Iraq Was Or Was Not Seeking Uranium From Abroad, It Was Given A Normal And Wide Distribution, But We Did Not Brief It To The President, Vice-President Or Other Senior Administration Officials." (Central Intelligence Agency, "Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence," Press Release, 7/11/03)

C.) Wilson Has Claimed His Niger Report Was Conclusive And Significant
Wilson Claims His Trip Proved There Was Nothing To The Uranium "Allegations." "I knew that [Dr. Rice] had fundamentally misstated the facts. In fact, she had lied about it. I had gone out and I had undertaken this study. I had come back and said that this was not feasible. … This government knew that there was nothing to these allegations." (NBC’s, "Meet The Press," 5/2/04)

Officials Said Evidence In Wilson’s Niger Report Was "Thin" And His "Homework Was Shoddy." (Michael Duffy, "Leaking With A Vengeance," Time, 10/13/03)

Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Unanimous Report: "Conclusion 13. The Report On The Former Ambassador’s Trip To Niger, Disseminated In March 2002, Did Not Change Any Analysts’ Assessments Of The Iraq-Niger Uranium Deal." (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

"For Most Analysts, The Information In The Report Lent More Credibility To The Original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Report On The Uranium Deal, But State Department Bureau Of Intelligence And Research (INR) Analysts Believed That The Report Supported Their Assessments That Niger Was Unlikely To Be Willing Or Able To Sell Uranium." (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

CIA Said Wilson’s Findings Did Not Resolve The Issue. "Because [Wilson’s] report, in our view, did not resolve whether Iraq was or was not seeking uranium from abroad, it was given a normal and wide distribution, but we did not brief it to the president, vice president or other senior administration officials. We also had to consider that the former Nigerien officials knew that what they were saying would reach the U.S. government and that this might have influenced what they said." (Central Intelligence Agency, "Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence," Press Release 7/11/03)

The Butler Report Claimed That The President’s State Of the Union Statement On Uranium From Africa, "Was Well-Founded." "We conclude that, on the basis of the intelligence assessments at the time, covering both Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the statements on Iraqi attempts to buy uranium from Africa in the Government’s dossier, and by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, were well-founded. By extension, we conclude also that the statement in President Bush’s State of the Union Address of 28 January 2003 that: ‘The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.’ was well-founded." (The Rt. Hon. The Lord Butler Of Brockwell, "Review Of Intelligence, On Weapons Of Mass Destruction," 7/14/04)

D.) Wilson Denied His Wife Suggested He Travel To Niger In 2002:
Wilson Claimed His Wife Did Not Suggest He Travel To Niger To Investigate Reports Of Uranium Deal; Instead, Wilson Claims It Came Out Of Meeting With CIA. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: "Among other things, you had always said, always maintained, still maintain your wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA officer, had nothing to do with the decision to send to you Niger to inspect reports that uranium might be sold from Niger to Iraq. … Did Valerie Plame, your wife, come up with the idea to send you to Niger?" Joe Wilson: "No. My wife served as a conduit, as I put in my book. When her supervisors asked her to contact me for the purposes of coming into the CIA to discuss all the issues surrounding this allegation of Niger selling uranium to Iraq." (CNN’s "Late Edition," 7/18/04)

But Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Received Not Only Testimony But Actual Documentation Indicating Wilson’s Wife Proposed Him For Trip. "Some CPD, [CIA Counterproliferation Division] officials could not recall how the office decided to contact the former ambassador, however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip. The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador’s wife ‘offered up his name’ and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador’s wife says, ‘my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.’" (Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq," U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

E.) Wilson Has Claimed His 1999 Trip To Niger Was Not Suggested By His Wife:
Wilson Claims CIA Thought To Ask Him To Make Trip Because He Had Previously Made Trip For Them In 1999, Not Because Of His Wife’s Suggestion. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: "Who first raised your name, then, based on what you know? Who came up with the idea to send you there?" Joe Wilson: "The CIA knew my name from a trip, and it’s in the report, that I had taken in 1999 related to uranium activities but not related to Iraq. I had served for 23 years in government including as Bill Clinton’s Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. I had done a lot of work with the Niger government during a period punctuated by a military coup and a subsequent assassination of a president. So I knew all the people there." (CNN’s "Late Edition," 7/18/04)

In Fact, His Wife Suggested Him For 1999 Trip, As Well. "The former ambassador had traveled previously to Niger on the CIA’s behalf … The former ambassador was selected for the 1999 trip after his wife mentioned to her supervisors that her husband was planning a business trip to Niger in the near future and might be willing to use his contacts in the region …" (Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq," U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

F.) Wilson Claimed He Was A Victim Of A Partisan Smear Campaign
Joe Wilson: "Well, I Don’t Know. Obviously, There’s Been This Orchestrated Campaign, This Smear Campaign. I Happen To Think That It’s Because The RNC, The Republican National Committee’s Been Involved In This In A Big Way …" CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: "But They Weren’t Involved In The Senate Intelligence Committee Report." Wilson: "No, They Weren’t." (CNN’s "Late Edition," 7/18/04)

Senate Intelligence Committee Unanimously Concluded That Wilson’s Report "Lent More Credibility" For Most Analysts "To The Original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Reports." "Conclusion 13. The report on the former ambassador’s trip to Niger, disseminated in March 2002, did not change any analysts’ assessments of the Iraq-Niger uranium deal. For most analysts, the information in the report lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal, but the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) analysts believed that the report supported their assessment that Niger was unlikely to be willing or able to sell uranium to Iraq." (Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq," U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)
(Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq," U.S. Senate, 7/7/04)

G.) A Month Before The Bob Novak And Matthew Cooper Articles Ever Came Out, Wilson Told The Washington Post That Previous Intelligence Reports About Niger Were Based On Forged Documents:
In June Of 2003, Wilson Told The Washington Post "The Niger Intelligence Was Based On Documents That Had Clearly Been Forged Because ‘The Dates Were Wrong And The Names Were Wrong.’" (Susan Schmidt, "Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission," The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

However, "The [Senate Select Committee On Intelligence] Report … Said Wilson Provided Misleading Information To The Washington Post Last June [12th, 2003]." (Susan Schmidt, "Plame’s Input Is Cited On Niger Mission," The Washington Post, 7/10/04)

Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Unanimous Report: "The Former Ambassador Said That He May Have ‘Misspoken’ To The Reporter When He Said He Concluded The Documents Were ‘Forged.’" (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

H.) Wilson Claimed His Book Would Enrich Debate:
NBC’s Katie Couric: "What Do You Hope The Whole Point Of This Book Will Be? Joe Wilson: "Well, I - I Hope, One, It Will Tell - It Tries To Tell An Interesting Story. Two, I Hope That It Enriches The Debate In A Year In Which We Are All Called Upon As Americans To Elect Our Leaders. And Three, … That [It] Says That This Is A Great Democracy That Is Worthy Of Our Taking Our Responsibilities As Stewards Seriously." (NBC’s "Today Show," 5/3/04)

Wilson Admits In His Book That He Had Been Involved In "A Little Literary Flair" When Talking To Reporters. "[Wilson] wrote in his book, he told Committee staff that his assertion may have involved ‘a little literary flair.’" (Matthew Continetti, "‘A Little Literary Flair’" The Weekly Standard, 7/26/04)

Wilson’s Book The Politics Of Truth: Inside The Lies That Put The White House On Trial And Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity Has Been Panned In Numerous Reviews For Its Inaccuracies:
"On Page One Of Chapter One, He Quotes NBC Talk Show Host Chris Matthews, Who Told Him That, After Mr. Wilson Chose To Go Public: ‘Wilson’s Wife Is Fair Game.’ Later, He Bases His List Of Suspect Leakers On Conversations With Members Of The News Media And A ‘Source Close To The House Judiciary Committee.’" (Eli Lake, Op-Ed, "Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Mr. Wilson," New York Post, 5/4/04)

"For Example, When Asked How He ‘Knew’ That The Intelligence Community Had Rejected The Possibility Of A Niger-Iraq Uranium Deal, As He Wrote In His Book, He Told [Senate Intelligence] Committee Staff That His Assertion May Have Involved ‘A Little Literary Flair.’" (Matthew Continetti, "‘A Little Literary Flair,’" The Weekly Standard, 7/26/04)

The Boston Globe: "In Essence, Much Of Wilson’s Book Is An Attempt To Portray The Bush Administration As A Ministry Of Fear Whose Mission In Pursuing War In Iraq Required It To Proclaim A Lie As Truth." (Michael D. Langan, Op-Ed, "‘Truth’ Makes Much Of Bush Controversy," The Boston Globe, 5/4/04)

Newsweek’s Evan Thomas Wrote In The Washington Post: "[W]ilson’s Claims And Conclusions Are Either Long Hashed Over Or Based On What The Intelligence Business Describes As ‘Rumint,’ Or Rumor Intelligence." (Evan Thomas, Op-Ed, "Indecent Exposure," The Washington Post, 5/16/04)
I.) Wilson Claimed The CIA Provided Him With Information Related To The Iraq-Niger Uranium Transaction:
"The Former Ambassador Noted That His CIA Contacts Told Him There Were Documents Pertaining To The Alleged Iraq-Niger Uranium Transaction And That The Source Of The Information Was The [Redacted] Intelligence Service." (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

However, "The DO [Director Of Operations At The CIA] Reports Officer Told Committee Staff That He Did Not Provide The Former Ambassador With Any Information About The Source Or Details …" (Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq," 7/7/04)

J.) Wilson Claimed He Is A Non-Partisan "Centrist":
Recently, Joe Wilson Refused To Admit He Is A Registered Democrat. NBC’s Jamie Gangel: "You are a Democrat?" Joe Wilson: "I exercise my rights as a citizen of this country to participate in the selection of my leaders and I am proud to do so. I did so in the election in 2000 by contributing not just to Al Gore's campaign, but also to the Bush-Cheney campaign." (NBC’s "Today Show," 7/14/05)

"[Wilson] Insist[s] He Remained A Centrist At Heart." (Scott Shane, "Private Spy And Public Spouse Live At Center Of Leak Case," The New York Times, 7/5/05)
Joe Wilson Is A Registered Democrat. (District Of Columbia Voter Registrations, Accessed 7/14/05)

Joseph Wilson Has Donated Over $8,000 To Democrats Including $2,000 To John Kerry For President In 2003, $1,000 To Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) HILLPAC In 2002 And $3,000 To Al Gore In 1999. (The Center For Responsive Politics Website, www.opensecrets.org, Accessed 7/12/05)

Wilson Endorsed John Kerry For President In October 2003 And Advised The Kerry Campaign. (David Tirrell-Wysocki, "Former Ambassador Wilson Endorses Kerry In Presidential Race," The Associated Press, 10/23/03)

"[Wilson] Admits ‘It Will Be A Cold Day In Hell Before I Vote For A Republican, Even For Dog Catcher.’" (Scott Shane, "Private Spy And Public Spouse Live At Center Of Leak Case," The New York Times, 7/5/05)

Karl Rove’s cleared. Joe Wilson’s toast, and hopefully, this will finally lay this story to rest.

Publius II