Woodward Stakes The Twin Vampires In DC

Bob Woodward--of Watergate notoriety--was on Larry King Live last night and revealed an interesting tidbit that should finally put a stake through the hearts of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame--DC's resident blood-suckers.

Specifically said that -- the source did -- that she was a WMD, weapons of mass destruction, analyst. Now, I've been covering the CIA for over three decades, and analysts, except -- in fact, I don't even know of a case, maybe there are cases, but they're not undercover. They are people who take other information and analyze it. And if you were there at this moment in mid-June when this was said, there was no suggestion that it was sensitive, that it was secret --

Positively devestating quote. Remember that it was Mr. Woodward just last week that stated--under oath, mind you--that he knew about Valerie Plame well ahead of Scooter Libby, and that he, too, received the information from a White House official. Now, he did not reveal that source, but he did have this to say about that last night.

"Do you realize when we talked about this and exactly what was said?" And the source in this case, at this moment -- it's a very interesting moment in all of this -- said, "I have to go to the prosecutor. I have to go to the prosecutor. I have to tell the truth." And so I realized I was going to be dragged into this, that I was the catalyst, and then I asked the source, "If you go to the prosecutor, am I released to testify?" And the source told me, "Yes."

That was Mr. Woodward's recollection of the conversation with his source. He has been cleared to reveal that person's name, and I am sure he will to Mr. Fitzgerald (Sabrina calls him "Fitzie"). Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Rice, and Vice President Cheney have all stated--on the record--that they did not reveal her name to anyone in the press. So, it will be interesting to see who passed the name onto Mr. Woodward.

But to go back to the first quote, I hope you all took note of the italicized portion of that quote. She was an analyst, and a low-level one at that. She had no cover to blow that anyone is aware of. The only person making the contention that she had a "cover" is her husband, Joe Wilson. Not even the CIA--up to this point--has confirmed she had any sort of covert status. Not a NOC, not a covert status, as deemed for an operative, nothing. She was a simple analyst. Now, she might have been handling some sensitive materials, but she was not "sensitive," per se.

This whole fiasco has been nothing more than a witch-hunt. It has been Joe Wilson's private little war against the White House because he is a partisan hack, and someone who desires to be in the limelight. Maybe someone persuaded him that he could be the one to bring down the president. Maybe he believed it to be an affront that people learned who his wife was and whom she worked for. (Funny thing about that seeing as how he made it rather easy for people to know this because neither of them kept this a secret.)

We, at the Asylum, have maintained for quite some time that Mr. Fitzgerald is investigating the wrong people. The investigation should be focusing on Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame.

--Neither of them kept her identity a secret.

--She arranged for his trip to Niger, without the express permission of her superiors.

--He did not submit a report to CIA, yet he testified before the Senate. That testimony was contradicted when he wrote the piece for the New York Times.

--They did the spread in Vanity Fair, revealing Valerie Plame's identity to the world.

--He has consistently lied as to who in the White revealed the identity of his wife who was not covert.

This whole issue stinks to high heaven. In our opinion, Joe Wilson should be sworn in, forced to testify before the Senate, and if any of his testimony contradicts his original testimony, he should be prosecuted for perjury. Likewise, his wife should face criminal charges for violating the chain of command in the CIA, and for blowing her own cover.

The Bunny ;)