1 Boring Old Man

emptywheel has an encyclopedia for a mind. Her post today about Waxman’s recent request for unredacted testimony from the Fitzgerald Grand Jury testimony suggests that Rice and Bush talked about the Plame leaks before they happened – that he [and Cheney] were directly involved. emptywheel recalls this set of notes from July 10, 2008 – a meeting with Stephen Hadley, Rice’s Deputy. Cheney, and Libby. It was four days after Joseph Wilson’s op-ed and four days before Novak’s article leaking Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity as a C.I.A. Agent. In the meeting, Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Advisor reports that, "Wilson is declassified." In the margin Libby writes "CP." I presume that it stands for Counterproliferation, the section Valerie Plame Wilson worked for. I read that as that they knew where Joseph Wilson’s wife worked and, if Hadley is reporting on her declassification, that she was "classified" [couvert]. I can think of no reason to declassify her except to prepare for her identity being leaked. The other possibility would be that Hadley was referring to Joseph Wilson. But why would he be declassified? The guy had just openly written an op-ed in the New York Times about his trip. Hadley then says that "We haven’t started to declassify the N.I.E." I take that as meaning that the declassification of this document was in the works, again, in preparation for a leak.

Next Hadley reports that Condi Rice, National Security Advisor, had spoken with President Bush who says he is comfortable. The context seems clear. President Bush is comfortable with leaking Valerie’s identity and the N.I.E.  I’m not sure of my handwriting analysis here, but I think Hadley says "Number 2 – it’s better if on leak N.I.E." or possibly "No question it’s better if [we] leak N.I.E." I’m not staking my future as a handwriting analyst and shorthand translation expert on this, but I read this as saying it would be better to leak both things at the same time. But more than that, it’s right after quoting Rice’s talk with the President. So it’s reasonable to assume that this is what Rice reported that the President said/thought [It might be what Hadley is saying he (Hadley) thinks, but that wouldn’t fit the reporting mode of the rest of what he says]. That would mean that Bush was in on and authorizing both things – leaking Plame’s identity and the N.I.E.

Finally, Vice President Cheney says, "Anything less than full and complete disclosure is a serious mistake." I presume he’s agreeing that both things must be leaked. My reading of these notes suggests that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, Deputy  Stephen Hadley, and Scooter Libby were all fully informed of and complicit in the plan to leak Valerie Plame’s C.I.A. Agent identity and the National Intelligence Estimate in order to discredit Joseph Wilson’s New York Times op-ed of four days before. By the time of this meeting, Libby had already twice discussed Plame’s identity with reporter Judith Miller [June 23rd and July 8th] and he might have already been told by Karl Rove of Robert Novak’s coming article "outing" Plame. I presume that Armitage was a "loose cannon" who leaked Plame’s identity on his own, without being in on the plan being concocted in Cheney’s office.

It makes little sense with as much conversation as was passing back and forth that this was anything but a plan concocted by the lot of them to cover their tracks about the very shaky case they had for invading Iraq – the WMD’s. Apparently, they "hoped" Hussein had WMD’s, but he didn’t. They had gone way out on a limb to justify this invasion, and their rationalization for doing it had evaporated. As has been the case throughout this eight years, our worst case scenario seems to be absolutely true. Bush’s admission to McClellan that he had authorized declassifying the N.I.E. and it’s leak was confirmatory, but his authorization of leaking Plame’s identity is something Condi Rice knows. That’s who Waxman is after. That’s what emptywheel is talking about in her post. Many question being still obsessed about the case of Valerie Plame, now approaching five years old. If a program called "cold case files" can run on cable, why not? It’s an "unsolved mystery"…

July 10, 2003
Meeting: Vice President Cheney, Stephen Hadley, Scooter Libby:
Stephen Hadley reports from the Military and the C.I.A. Director, George Tenet, that Valerie Plame Wilson, Joseph Wilson’s wife, who works in the C.I.A. Counterproliferation Section has been declassified. We haven’t yet started to declassify the National Intelligence Estimate. Condi Rice has spoken to the President who is comfortable with the plan and says there’s no question it’s better if we leak the National Intelligence Estimate too. Cheney responds that anything less than full and complete disclosure is a serious mistake.