The Report from Wilson’s Trip, Again

/in /by

Once upon a time in a land called Plameology, I was utterly obsessed with the CIA report on Joe Wilson’s trip. As I pointed out some time ago, the trip report, in addition to Valerie’s identity, was classified at the beginning of leak week. And as I pointed out over the weekend, it is crystal clear that Libby, at least, leaked material from this, knowing it was classified, with no claim it had been declassified. Moreover, he probably leaked it to Novak, though both claim Libby said nothing of substance to Novak when they spoke on July 9.

My renewed interest in the trip report comes from a line recently unsealed from Tatel’s opinion refusing Judy’s and Cooper’s attempt to quash her subpoena. In a part of the opinion that supports the argument that Rove perjured himself (presumably about both his Novak and his Cooper conversations), Tatel included the following quote from Novak’s grand jury testimony:

According to Novak, when he “brought up” Wilson’s wife, “Mr. Rove said, oh, you know about that too” (II-154) and promised to seek declassification of portions of a CIA report regarding the Niger trip, which Rove said “wasn’t an impressive piece of work or a very definitive piece of work” (II-158).

That is, according to Novak, Rove promised to declassify the trip report, even while providing a judgment about it. And, by all appearances, Tatel thinks that grand jury testimony supports the case that Rove lied in his own grand jury testimony.

  5. prostratedragon says:

    OT (To help loosen the tight focus of that obssession):

    From NPR, Niger’s Trees May Be Insurance Against Drought

    Pretty interesting report, starting with the reintroduction of trees into the Sahelian nation, and ending with a determined Nigerien ecologist who wants to gather data to persuade CO2-producing nations to help support the sustenance of the renewed forests. There’s a video, too.

    Now let me go read …

  6. Tom in AZ says:

    Awe inspiring is correct. Day by day, point by point you’re making it harder and harder for the wingnuts and the MSM to keep glossing over this story.

    Thanks, Marci!

  8. nellieh says:

    Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts ….? Libby got sucked in willingly. Thought he was a tough guy. Wilson is slapping them all silly and he isn’t done. If Valerie’s civil suit gets approved for trial, BURN ’EM!

  11. simpleacounts says:

    I believe the first word of the second line in the following passage, it should read Novak instead of Rove.
    â€Moreover, if he had shared that bit with Rove, that would mean he had told Novak the report was classified even as he leaked from it.â€

  12. simpleacounts says:

    I believe the first word of the second line in the following passage, it should read Novak instead of Rove.
    â€Moreover, if he had shared that bit with Rove, that would mean he had told Novak the report was classified even as he leaked from it.â€

  14. Rose says:

    Marcy, I do appreciate your detective work – the details you uncover makes us understand even better why a dependable fall guy was needed to throw sand into the umpire’s face.

    If I were not living through this nightmare, I would swear I was reading fiction.

  15. radiofreewill says:

    EW – Reading through Libby’s Grand Jury testimony a few days back, I saw the passage where Libby says that only Bush, Cheney and himself knew of the de-classification of the materials that Libby went on to show select reporters.

    I think Libby was missioned with â€Explain the Intel and the Forgeries†and he carried around a briefing book that evolved and grew over time.

    The earliest strata of his binder was probably:

    The Oct. 2002 NIE, containing –

    – key judgments, Uranium Claim Info, the Navy Report, and the British Dossier

    This was the support for the 16 Words.

    The next layer reflects the revelation of the forgeries. Libby adds-in the WINPAC Analysis Memo, the Mar 8 DIA Memo, and the Mar 11 DIA Memo, which ’mask’ the fact that the support for the 16 Words was based on the forgeries.

    Libby had to have a ready answer to the question – Did you rely solely on the forged documents, or did you have additional sources? For that, Libby had these three memos that showed lots of activity (date conflated) and an apparent second source, who was supporting the Niger Claim.

    I think this is where Cheney requested the CIA Trip Report.

    The next layer would likely be the discovery of Wilson as the Ambassador who went to Niger in Feb. 2002 – May 6th Kristof Article–>May 29 Grossman request–>June 10 INR Memo.

    It seems likely that Wilson was on Rove’s radar politically as early as Feb 28, but unlikely that Libby took notice until Kristof’s May 6th Article.

    The June 10 INR Memo is a key piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It identifies Joe Wilson as the former Ambassador who went to Niger and debunked the Uranium Claim, and his CIA wife who works in Counterproliferation.

    What Libby, (Rove,) Cheney and presumably Bush know now is: Wilson knows the Niger Claim was false, based on forgeries. His wife is in Counterproliferation – that just sounds like she can pick-out forgeries a mile away – and they are afraid that she would be able to recognize the hack work on the two DIA Memos and possibly comment on the WINPAC Memo, as well. On top of that, she might be aware of the Italian saga of the forgeries.

    Around June 12, I think Bush decided it was time to ’Get Wilson and his wife.’

    I say all this because Libby’s Briefing Book covers Bush’s War Rationale Justification to Critics. It’s a story that Bush, Cheney, Rove and Libby are telling together, stage by stage.

    That being said – there’s no way Cheney was making Leak de-classification and release decisions without Bush’s approval. This was Bush’s political neck for the greatest blunder in American Foreign Policy.

    Bush authorized those leaks – each one of them. Cheney would make the case – probably as a pontificating gasbag, impressario-style – and the Deciderer would Decide – then Cheney told Libby, and Libby did what he was told, with Rove’s media assistance.

    But, Bush was the Leaker.