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How to Make the White House Come Clean About Plame Conspiracy

By Elizabeth de la Vega, Tomdispatch.com. Posted March 1, 2007.


Libby's trial has raised more questions than it has answered. It's time for a full-scale congressional hearing to hold the Bush administration accountable.

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Last week, apparently belatedly realizing the obvious -- that the attack on former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame was a White House family affair -- New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called for the administration to come clean. Bush and Cheney owe "the American people a candid explanation" of their conduct with regard to the leaking of Plame's identity as a CIA agent, Kristof insisted.

If, after observing this administration for over six years, Nicholas Kristof thinks that the president and vice president are going to suddenly be overcome by conscience and tell all because he has put his foot down, then Nicholas Kristof is downright adorable.

The trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was merely a snapshot view of this administration in daily action; but incomplete as it was, it nevertheless starkly revealed what many had known all along: that the most powerful officials in the United States government -- including, but not limited to, the vice president, the vice president's chief of staff, the deputy secretary of state, the president's press secretary, the president's chief of staff, and, yes, the president himself -- had responded to the barrage of criticism being aimed at their fictitious case for war in the spring and summer of 2003 by focusing their sights on a man and woman who had devoted their lives to public service.

Such people -- those who will use the highest offices of the United States government to protect themselves and their prospects for reelection by whatever means they deem necessary, regardless of the damage they leave in their wake -- are not going to confess to anything ... ever.

Indeed, in answer to questions from a reporter about this very issue on Feb. 14, President Bush explained helpfully, "I'm not going to talk about any of it." We will surely all expire if we hold our collective breath waiting for the president to change his mind about this (or anything else, for that matter). Fortunately, we do not need to hear what Bush and Cheney have to say about "it" right now.

Nor do we have to wait for the outcome of any further investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, even though it is entirely possible he and his eminently capable prosecutors Peter Zeidenberg, Debra Bonamici and the rest of their team will continue to explore possible criminal activity on the part of Vice President Cheney and others. A continued investigation would, in fact, be both appropriate and warranted, given the abundant evidence of Cheney's wrongdoing.

As Fitzgerald implied on the day he announced the charges against Scooter Libby, however, the criminal justice system is not designed to address all the issues raised by the CIA leak affair, perhaps not even the major ones.

The Libby case was not, Fitzgerald said, as he announced the indictment, about the validity or honesty of the president's arguments for an invasion of Iraq. In fact, the Libby case was not even about the conduct of other members of the administration; it was solely about I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and whether he obstructed a grand jury investigation, lied to federal agents, and then lied to a grand jury.

Despite the spin immediately set in motion by Libby's cadre of supporters, Fitzgerald was not suggesting that the charges he was leveling were trivial, nor was he presuming to sanction the conduct of the Bush administration in the runup to the war. As a seasoned prosecutor, he was merely making a simple, but necessary, point about the nature of criminal charges and the laws that govern them.

The laws of perjury and obstruction of justice exist to vindicate an important government interest in the integrity of grand-jury proceedings. Once such charges are brought, however, they raise but a single issue: Is there proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual or individuals charged committed the conduct specified in the indictment?


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Elizabeth de la Vega is a former federal prosecutor with more than 20 years of experience. During her tenure, she was a member of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Chief of the San Jose branch of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. Her pieces have appeared in the Nation magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon. She writes regularly for Tomdispatch.com. She is the author of United States v. George W. Bush et al. She may be contacted at ElizabethdelaVega@Verizon.net.

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View:
They'll walk
Posted by: ronhacker on Mar 1, 2007 4:15 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This gang of thieves, liars, and fools will walk just like the thieves, liars, and fools before them; Nixon, (pardoned), Reagan, (Iran-Contra), Bush Sr, (pardons, savings and loan, Panama, the list for him could fill a book, oh that's right there have been many). Until these people are held accountable they will continue to lie, and steal. These liars, thieves and fools have caused so much death and destruction the whole world is turning against us.
Ron
www.ronhacker.com

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Plame is and was a nobody Posted by: bloggeddowninMKE
» RE: Plame is and was a nobody Posted by: 1984NOW!!!
» RE: Plame is and was a nobody Posted by: Robert Veasey
» Paul Wellstone, remember? Posted by: fourarrows
The fix is in
Posted by: alibaba on Mar 1, 2007 4:22 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The fact that it is taking this long for a jury to decide this case is very worrisome. I followed the trial a little bit but it seems to me that a reasonable person would have to believe that Libby forgot something that he was talking to reporters about days earlier in order to find him not guilty.

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Fat chance
Posted by: paschn on Mar 1, 2007 5:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hi Drones,

That peckerwood's gonna walk either scott free or pardoned by his buddies and you're all gonna let em get away with it.

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This could be just our reason to begin an investigation of this presidency's endless crimes.
Posted by: Lord Ichmael on Mar 1, 2007 5:50 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Well, I was certain from the start that Bush and Cheney were personally involved in the actual leak; that that has been confirmed could be the nail in this administration's coffin (unless the Republicans and DINOs [Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, etc.] in Congress take the Fifth and/or the Democrats still won't grow vertebrae, both of which are very likely, unfortunately). Even the Watergate scandal, which forced Nixon to resign, was not actually ordered by him; he only heard of it afterwards from his co-conspirators (but he still covered it up as everyone knows). If they actually end up being held accountable for this, it could easily be grounds for impeachment. This might just be wishful thinking on my part, but maybe this revelation would justify investigating and punishing this administration of personifications of evil for at least some of their other hundreds if not thousands of crimes. I think Cheney and Bush, if they end up nuking Iran, will go down in history as leaders that would make Adolf Hitler look good in comparision. They might be considered that anyway if their efforts to reduce emissions of reports about global warming ends up with the worst-case scenario, or even the... average-case scenario. And a few years ago I didn't think anybody could be REMOTELY as thoroughly morally bankrupt as these Nazi-esque chickenhawk war-profiteering criminals. How foolish of me.

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Stand up and be counted
Posted by: amazed again on Mar 1, 2007 5:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I hope that the people who have been the most severely damaged by Bush and Co's lies ( The innocents caught in the cross fire, the citizens of Iraq) are able to read this or have it passed on to them.

I suggest that they need to collectively take their outrage to the international court system, as they have been far more seriously damaged, above and beyond Valerie Plame, as much as I sympathise with her plight.

I really do not know how this would work but I realise that readers of Alternet would have some Ideas about how to put this in place. I don't believe that the Iraqi puppet Government has all the say, and we Citizens have a voice to encourage those who to this day are still suffering to stand up before the highest courts in the world and bring justice for themselves.

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Scooter is just the sacraficial pig for the most corrupt government on the planet.
Posted by: disenfranchised on Mar 1, 2007 6:39 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I hope he gets jail time. Beyond that, I understand Speaker Pelosi's need to do the work of the people that will undo some of the abuse and neglegence of the Republican Congress. However, the world, the citizens of the U.S., and I require that Bush, Cheney, and their henchmen be held accountable for thier crimes. If that does not happen, then we can expect more of the same and we cannot afford the abuse of our military, economy, and culture that will otherwise surely continue.

IMPEACHMENT SHOULD NEVER BE TAKEN OFF THE TABLE!

The Republican party has applied corporate ethos, validated through fearmongering, to destroy a once-great nation. We must regain our integrity and the only route is through the rule of law. I hold little hope for that happening.

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Libby is a waste of time
Posted by: DougScott on Mar 1, 2007 7:09 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Considering the following Bush adminstration deceptions, why would any reasonable journalist think Congress could learn something thruthful about the treasonous White House bastards?

So-called Iraqi WMDs
"Immediate" threats
Yellow-cake uranium
Aluminum tubes
Mobile biological weapons labs
Ties to Al Qaeda
A 9/11 connection
The Valerie Plame/CIA leak case
Secret overseas prisons
Torture
Warrantless wiretaps of United States citizens
Phony Al Qaeda plots
False claims that the America is safer now from terrorism than before 9/11
Concealing the real cost of Gulf War 2
Understating Iraqi civilian casualties
Embellishing U.S. successes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Misrepresenting the only wartime tax cut in American history
Economically betraying senior citizens, the middle class and working poor
Downplaying global warming
Claiming wounded GIs got the best treatment possible at Walter Reed
Preventing the coffins of returning GIs from being seen by the public

Hugh E. Scott, creator/editor of www.King-George.biz -- the only website with hardcopy proof of White Corruption.

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Paul in Homer
Posted by: paulmccollum527 on Mar 1, 2007 8:39 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great article. Lets get moving on incouraging Waxman and the House Oversight Committee.... to start a full on congressional investigation. Alternet, Move On, lets go!!!

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Expose the CIA
Posted by: peacemeow on Mar 1, 2007 9:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The best thing Libby and Cheney have done in their political careers has been to expose a CIA operative. Americans may think that the CIA is supposed to produce "honest intelligence," but the Iranians know well the history of the CIA's overthrow of Iranian democracy in 1953. We need more exposures of the CIA, before George & Hillary start their war on Iran.

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Palli
Posted by: palli on Mar 1, 2007 10:05 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Take it away, Waxman, Rankin et al.
Chalmbers said the other day: "If impeachment is off the table, democracy is off the table."
If Waxman has to keep providing the proof before the Judiciary Committee can begin I hearings. So be it. But get a move on before all is lost.
When will these "loyalists" stop being loyal to a party and start being loyal to the nation?

What more do we need to understand the gravity of Langston Hughes' words "... Let America be America again/the land that never was/but must be..."?

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Future wars of choice
Posted by: eddie torres on Mar 1, 2007 10:34 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
De la Vega aptly describes the problem and maybe some US journalists will begin to see the light of dark: "it is Congress that is both entitled and obligated to oversee the conduct of the Executive Branch... and their stable of White House staffers, lobbyists, Republican operatives and other surrogates."

America's next problem: disciples of Rove-Cheney like Armitage, Duberstein, Powell, Hadley, Poindexter, and Ashcroft launching wars of choice in 2020.

Congressional investigations into the political handling of the Vietnam War (Gulf of Tonkin, Operation Phoenix, etc) resulted in no generals dismissed and no White House / DoD officials banned from government service.

Many resurfaced 15 years later to run Iran-Contra.

Congressional investigations into the political handling of the Iran-Contra Affair resulted in one colonel dismissed and no White House / DoD officials banned from government service.

Many resurfaced 15 years later to run Iraq and Patriot.

Congressional investigations into the political handling of the 2003 Iraq invasion have a chance to break the cycle of clownery and larceny.

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Coincidence Theorists
Posted by: plunger on Mar 1, 2007 10:59 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Given all that has been revealed about the lies that were told to justify a war, you'd need to be a Coincidence Theorist to read that just one year prior to 9/11, the PNAC TERRORISTS were calling for a "New Pearle Harbor" to serve as the essential pretext to justify the conquest of the Middle East on Israel's behalf - and then it happened - right on schedule, with plans drawn up and troops deployed - and the Energy Planning Meetings to divvy up the oil fields of Iraq - all before 9/11 - all just a coincidence.

Stop avoiding discussion of the PRETEXT.

9/11 was the PRETEXT.

Knowing what you now know about Cheney, do you actually believe that he didn't have a direct role in 9/11 (particularly in light of Norm Mineta's testimony to the 9/11 Commission)?

Cheney did 9/11.

Is there any more important story than this?

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» Cheneybot 3 did 9?11 Posted by: eddie torres
YOU BETCHA!
Posted by: mdruss42 on Mar 1, 2007 11:29 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
AND THE EASTER BUNNY WILL BE BY SHORTLY.

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Once again: the article doesn't answer the question
Posted by: Guy on Mar 1, 2007 11:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Once again we have an article from Alternet that recaps all the stuff we already know (=preaching to the choir). The article's title is "How to make them come clean..." Does it tell us? No. That's what I want to know. I already know they are the biggest bunch of crooks the Fed Gov't has ever seen, now how to make 'em fess up.

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Bush Cheney Frauds and Deception
Posted by: Unum on Mar 1, 2007 12:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What I don't understand about the whole Congessional approval for military force in Iraq is since the approval was obtained based on lies, why can't we appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and declare it null and void?

It's similar to a contract which was obtained through false pretenses, once proven, stands null and void.

Any one out there have an answer?

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America is broken, like an egg.
Posted by: ErHoff on Mar 3, 2007 6:00 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Does anyone really 'expect' justice to be delivered or attempted in this government? The Democrats are simply Republican-Lite! In my own district I have Democratic Congressman Hinchey who thinks Osama bin Laden is the perpetrator of the attacks of September 11, 2001. I also have two Senators, Clinton and Schumer, who rubber stamp Bush confirmations and all not only buy into, but also expect me, to buy into the Phillip Zelikow 9-11 Whitewash Commission Report.

We have Republicans in government who would halt government to investigate a blowjob, and then look the other way when those in the administration who abuse their security clearances compromise the work and life of the honorable Valerie Plame.

No longer is the Intelligence community in the business of producing assessments of real world situations, but rather fixing Intel for the oligarchic administration. Inside and out the importance of Humint is known yet we allow our own to compromise our Intelligence assets in a way that our enemies could only dream of.

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IS NOT EQUIPPED TO POLICE ITS OWN CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.

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Indict Novak
Posted by: Byronik on Mar 5, 2007 5:10 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It doesn't matter how Novak knew. It doesn't matter if somebody else published it first. Novak broke the law by naming Plame. How come he gets away with it?

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Unum
Posted by: Unum on Mar 5, 2007 12:41 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I can't believe a man can be impeached for a blow job but can't be for killing thousands of innocent people, kidnapping and torturing innocent people and bringing the planet to its demise if not from natural catastrophes but from nuclear fall out.

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