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"Condensed" Edition of "Rove via Repub's Nepotism OP" thread.
I am responding to feedback in the first thread on this subject, by condensing the material presented and adding a short description of the points supported in quote box numbers 3 thru 8.
To better illustrate how far Karl Rove's NEPOTISM "OP", his "talking point" that was created in July 2003 in an attempt to undermine the claims by former Ambassador Joe Wilson that he was "sent to Niger" by the CIA, has morphed into a <h4>"refuge of denial"</h4>, for "the believers". Wilson must be branded a "liar" to justify Rove's "outing" of Wilson's CIA, WMD Analyst, wife,
I offer the first two quote boxes, the views of Bush admin "believer",Rep King.
Contrast what is displayed below the first two, "Rep. Peter King" quote boxes, in this post, with Rep. King's "talking point".
Quote Box - 3: On Oct. 1, 2003 <h4>Even Novak</h4> tells CNN's Blitzer that senior Bush admin. officials told him that Wilson's wife suggested that he be sent to NIGER, but his source at the CIA said, "to their knowledge, he did not -- that the mission was not suggested by Ambassador Wilson's wife."
Quote Box - 4: In Wilson's July 6, 2003 Op-Ed column in the NY Times, he writes, "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".
<h3>Wilson does NOT write that "Vice President Cheney sent him to Niger.</h3>
Quote Box - 5 : Wilson's July 15, 2004 letter to Sen. Pat Roberts, concerning the distortion of facts by the Republican senators that they inserted in their intelligence report, that did not agree with opinions of other senate democrats and republicans on the senate intelligence committee. It is this addendum that the "NEPOTISM" "OP" quotes as a "finding" in the senate report. It is not in the report, read Wilson's letter and decide for yourself.
Quote Box - 6: July 22, 2003 Newsday's D.C. news bureau reporters filed a report that, "A senior intelligence official confirmed that Plame was a Directorate of Operations undercover officer who worked "alongside" the operations officers who asked her husband to travel to Niger.
But he said she did not recommend her husband to undertake the Niger assignment."
Quote Box - 7: Nov. 25, 2004 WaPo runs a report that, "Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell would tell Wilson they had heard from administration aides that the real story was not what Wilson found in Niger but his wife's role in selecting him for the trip"
Quote Box - 8: March 10, 2004 WaPO reporter Froomkin reports that, "According to a December Washington Post story by Mike Allen and Dana Milbank, "Sources said the CIA is angry about the circulation of a still-classified document to conservative news outlets suggesting Plame had a role in arranging her husband's trip to Africa for the CIA. The document, written by a State Department official who works for its Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), describes a meeting at the CIA where the Niger trip by Wilson was discussed, said a senior administration official who has seen it."
On top of being secret, CIA officials said it was wrong."
Bottomline: In the last few days, we found that the "source" of the NEPOTISM "OP", was not "CIA or Intelligence Sources", they are consistantly reported, even by Novak, to deny that Valerie Plame was the one to "suggest or to send" her huband, Joeph Wilson to Niger to investigate uranium sales.
Only "senior admin. officials", and the three Republican senators who added a "partisan" addendum to the July 2004 Senate Intelligence report, are reported as the sources of the NEPOTISM "OP's" talking point !
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8525978/site/newsweek/page/2/">Cooper wrote that Rove offered him a "big warning" not to "get too far out on Wilson." Rove told Cooper that Wilson's trip had not been authorized by "DCIA"—CIA Director George Tenet—or Vice President Dick Cheney. Rather, "it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip."</a>
IMO, it speaks of the deviousness and disregard for the truth, that the above quote of Rove, is now "spun" so that Rove is falsely and cynically portrayed as a "concerned whistleblower", and not the author of a smear aimed at Wilson and his CIA analyst wife, Valerie Plame.
This is a "radicalized" version of Rove's NEPOTISM "OP":
Quote Box - 1
Quote:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1000978394
Rep. King Says Russert and Others in Media Should 'Be Shot,' Not Karl Rove
By E&P Staff
Published: July 13, 2005 2:00 PM ET
NEW YORK From the transcript of an interview on Tuesday night on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," between host Joe Scarborough and Congressman Peter King, a Republican from New York, on the Plame case and the possible leak of the CIA agent's name by White House aide Karl Rove.
***
SCARBOROUGH: The last thing you want to do at a time of war is reveal the identity of undercover CIA agents.
KING: <h3>No. Joe Wilson, she recommended—his wife recommended him for this.</h3> He said the vice president recommended him. To me, she took it off the table. Once she allowed him to go ahead and say that, write his op-ed in “The New York Times,” to have Tim Russert give him a full hour on “Meet the Press,” saying that he was sent there as a representative of the vice president, when she knew, she knew herself that she was the one that recommended him for it, she allowed that lie to go forward involving the vice president of the United States, the president of the United States, then to me she should be the last one in the world who has any right to complain.
And Joe Wilson has no right to complain. <h3>And I think people like Tim Russert and the others, who gave this guy such a free ride and all the media, they're the ones to be shot, not Karl Rove.</h3>
Listen, maybe Karl Rove was not perfect. We live in an imperfect world. And I give him credit for having the guts.
And I really—I tell you, Republicans are running for cover. They should be out attacking Joe Wilson. We should throw this back at them with all the nonsense that has been said about George Bush and all the lies that have come out.
SCARBOROUGH: Well...
KING: Let's at least stand by the guy. He was trying to set the record straight for historical purposes and to save American lives. And if Joe Wilson's wife was that upset, she should have come out and said that her husband was a liar, when he was.
E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)
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More on Rep. Peter King.........
Quote Box - 2
Quote:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationwo...nation-big-pix
Fightin' words from King
Rep. Peter King takes gloves off in replies to angry voters
Jun 27, 2005
BY J. JIONI PALMER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
June 30, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A lifelong boxing fan who himself trains in the ring twice a week, Rep. Peter King is not one to run away when it comes to confrontation -- even when it comes in the form of a letter from a constituent.
"I understand that you recently contacted my office requesting that I vote to censure President Bush," King, a Republican from Seaford, recently wrote Bellmore resident Harry Halikias. "I disagree with you in every respect. You are morally, intellectually and politically wrong. President Bush is an outstanding leader of outstanding integrity. Like Ed Koch, I thank God every night that he is our president. You should do the same."
Halikias, 28, a computer systems analyst, was taken aback by King's missive, which he said was an unwarranted response to his initial letter.
"I was somewhere between shocked and disappointed that someone elected to represent us would use that kind of language," said Halikias, a Democrat who says he may have once voted for King. "I think he took it personally when he didn't have to. I didn't question his morality or intellect.".......
.........King, who said he reviews every letter sent out by his office, often penning them himself, said most are respectfully worded. However, he said, if someone takes a swing at him, they should expect to get punched back.
"The general rule is that almost any letter that comes in receives a polite response," said King. "The exception is when an abusive letter comes in, but even then sometimes you'll give them a bye the first time."
Claudia Borecky's Feb. 3 e-mail to King arguing that Social Security should not be privatized was bad enough, King said, but her follow-up to his response was over the top.
"Her first letter to me was very abusive, then she came back with another snotty letter, so I said what the hell," he said.
The second letter began, "I think you underestimate the knowledge of your constituents on Social Security" and asks "do you have the courage to hold a Town Meeting so that we may hear your opinion on plan?"
King responded: "I am in receipt of your March 5th e-mail and regret that you don't know as much about social security as you pretend." It concludes, "Frankly it is truly unfortunate that you chose to resort to adolescent-like name-calling against the president rather than attempt to discuss the issue intelligently."
Borecky, of Merrick, said the tone of King's letter was unwarranted and upsetting.............
...............King said he reserves the combative language for partisan matters. He's not at all apologetic.
"I think they should be honored they have a congressman who actually listens to them -- even if they are not making sense," King said. "I respond to them and they run crying to the newspapers. It's just like the kid who's a wise punk, then when someone takes a shot at them they go running to the teacher."
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Quote Box - 3
Quote:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/...vak/index.html
...........BLITZER: You mean when he wrote that op-ed page article in The New York Times?
NOVAK: New York Times ... That was on a Sunday morning. On Monday, I began to report on something that I thought was very curious. Why was it that Ambassador Wilson, who had no particular experience in weapons of mass destruction, and was a sharp critic of the Iraqi policy of President Bush and, also, had been a high-ranking official in the Clinton White House, who had contributed politically to Democrats -- some Republicans, but mostly Democrats -- why was he being selected?
I asked this question to a senior Bush administration official, and he said that he believed that the assignment was suggested by an employee at the CIA in the counterproliferation office who happened to be Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. I then called another senior official of the Bush administration, and he said, Oh, you know about that? And he confirmed that that was an accurate story. I then called the CIA. They said that, to their knowledge, he did not -- that the mission was not suggested by Ambassador Wilson's wife -- but that she had been asked by her colleagues in the counterproliferation office to contact her husband. So she was involved...............
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Quote Box - 4
Quote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/op...5ac468&ei=5070
NYTimes.com > Opinion
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
What I Didn't Find in Africa
By JOSEPH C. WILSON 4th
Published: July 6, 2003
.........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. While I never saw the report, I was told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that documented the sale of uranium yellowcake — a form of lightly processed ore — by Niger to Iraq in the late 1990's. 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.....
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Quote Box -5
Quote:
http://www.politicsoftruth.com/edito...Statement.html
Joe Wilson's response to the addendum of the Senate Intelligence
Committee's Report on pre-war intelligence posted by three of its
Republican members
Joseph C. Wilson, IV
July 15, 2004
The Honorable Pat Roberts
Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The Honorable Jay Rockefeller
Vice Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Dear Senator Roberts and Senator Rockefeller,
I read with great surprise and consternation the Niger portion of Senators Roberts, Bond and Hatch “additional comments to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee's Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Assessment on Iraq. I am taking this opportunity to clarify some of the issues raised in these comments.
................First conclusion: “The plan to send the former ambassador to Niger was suggested by the former ambassador's wife, a CIA employee.”
That is not true. The conclusion is apparently based on one anodyne quote from a memo Valerie Plame, my wife sent to her superiors that says “my husband has good relations with 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.” There is no suggestion or recommendation in that statement that I be sent on the trip. Indeed it is little more than a recitation of my contacts and bona fides. The conclusion is reinforced by comments in the body of the report that a CPD reports officer stated the “the former ambassador's wife 'offered up his name'” (page 39) and a State Department Intelligence and Research officer that the “meeting was 'apparently convened by [the former ambassador's] wife who had the idea to dispatch him to use his contacts to sort out the Iraq-Niger uranium issue.”
In fact, Valerie was not in the meeting at which the subject of my trip was raised. Neither was the CPD Reports officer. After having escorted me into the room, she departed the meeting to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. It was at that meeting where the question of my traveling to Niger was broached with me for the first time and came only after a thorough discussion of what the participants did and did not know about the subject. My bona fides justifying the invitation to the meeting were the trip I had previously taken to Niger to look at other uranium related questions as well as 20 years living and working in Africa, and personal contacts throughout the Niger government. Neither the CPD reports officer nor the State analyst were in the chain of command to know who, or how, the decision was made. The interpretations attributed to them are not the full story. In fact, it is my understanding that the Reports Officer has a different conclusion about Valerie's role than the one offered in the “additional comments”. I urge the committee to reinterview the officer and publicly publish his statement.
It is unfortunate that the report failed to include the CIA's position on this matter. If the staff had done so it would undoubtedly have been given the same evidence as provided to Newsday reporters Tim Phelps and Knut Royce in July, 2003. They reported on July 22 that:................
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The following is the July 22, 2003 report from Newsday that Wilson refers to.
Quote Box - 6
Quote:
http://www.informationclearinghouse....rticle4190.htm
Columnist Blows CIA Agent's Cover
By Timothy M. Phelps and Knut Royce
WASHINGTON BUREAU; Timothy Phelps is the Washington bureau chief.
July 22, 2003: (Newsday) Washington - The identity of an undercover CIA officer whose husband started the Iraq uranium intelligence controversy has been publicly revealed by a conservative Washington columnist citing "two senior administration officials."
Intelligence officials confirmed to Newsday yesterday that Valerie Plame, wife of retired Ambassador Joseph Wilson, works at the agency on weapons of mass destruction issues in an undercover capacity - at least she was undercover until last week when she was named by columnist Robert Novak.
............. Novak reported that his "two senior administration officials" told him that it was Plame who suggested sending her husband, Wilson, to Niger.
A senior intelligence official confirmed that Plame was a Directorate of Operations undercover officer who worked "alongside" the operations officers who asked her husband to travel to Niger.
But he said she did not recommend her husband to undertake the Niger assignment. "They [the officers who did ask Wilson to check the uranium story] were aware of who she was married to, which is not surprising," he said. "There are people elsewhere in government who are trying to make her look like she was the one who was cooking this up, for some reason," he said. "I can't figure out what it could be."
"We paid his [Wilson's] air fare. But to go to Niger is not exactly a benefit. Most people you'd have to pay big bucks to go there," the senior intelligence official said. Wilson said he was reimbursed only for expenses..............
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Quote Box - 7
Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
........It was in the ensuing days that television reporters Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell would tell Wilson they had heard from administration aides that the real story was not what Wilson found in Niger but his wife's role in selecting him for the trip...........
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Quote Box - 8
Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...¬Found=true
Inside the Real West Wing
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2004; 10:15 AM
It's the most powerful place on Earth.
.........Gannon asked Wilson: "An internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel details a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports. Do you dispute that?"
According to a December Washington Post story by Mike Allen and Dana Milbank, "Sources said the CIA is angry about the circulation of a still-classified document to conservative news outlets suggesting Plame had a role in arranging her husband's trip to Africa for the CIA. The document, written by a State Department official who works for its Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), describes a meeting at the CIA where the Niger trip by Wilson was discussed, said a senior administration official who has seen it."
On top of being secret, CIA officials said it was wrong.
Gannon won't talk about it. But he does keep lobbing those softballs. Sometimes he even brings props. And press secretary McClellan seems to appreciate it.............
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