Attention shifts back to Rove
Prezident Bush may have thought he could escape Rovegate and the scandal erupting over the outing of Valerie Plame - but he couldn't.
It's been reported that the President made his announcement of his intention to nominate John Roberts to the Supreme Court early just to get his chief advisor and strategist out of the headlines.
Unfortunately for Bush, it isn't working. The Washington Post has a new story this morning on its front page, entitled "Plame's Identity Marked As Secret" (Memo Central to Probe Of Leak Was Written By State Dept. Analyst):
Kos asks this question, and then answers it:
So they're retaliating. Kind of like how Deep Throat (the FBI's Mark Felt) worked to help bring down the corrupt Nixon administration by sharing information with Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
It's been reported that the President made his announcement of his intention to nominate John Roberts to the Supreme Court early just to get his chief advisor and strategist out of the headlines.
Unfortunately for Bush, it isn't working. The Washington Post has a new story this morning on its front page, entitled "Plame's Identity Marked As Secret" (Memo Central to Probe Of Leak Was Written By State Dept. Analyst):
A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.Uh oh. Rove is back in the news spotlight again.
Plame -- who is referred to by her married name, Valerie Wilson, in the memo -- is mentioned in the second paragraph of the three-page document, which was written on June 10, 2003, by an analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), according to a source who described the memo to The Washington Post.
The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.
Kos asks this question, and then answers it:
So who is singing to the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post? This piece cites "two sources familiar with the investigation." The special prosecutor has been leak-free thus far, and would likely try to stay that way (especially one who has shown as much contempt for the press as this one).No surprise there. One has to imagine that the intelligence community - particularly the CIA - is irked that Bush and his administration cronies place politics above national security, and are willing to expend or blame members of the intelligence community to advance their political agenda.
The Rovians, who have leaked like sieves (most of it lies), aren't going to leak this golden nugget. Powell? He did his damage yesterday, placing the memo right on the White House's lap. So who's left?
It's the CIA. Funny how those guys don't like their covers blown.
So they're retaliating. Kind of like how Deep Throat (the FBI's Mark Felt) worked to help bring down the corrupt Nixon administration by sharing information with Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
