Truespeak

Today, one day after his press secretary Scott McClellan declared that everyone who worked in the White House had the confidence of [George W. Bush], Georgieboy himself declined to offer the same endorsement.

President Bush passed up a chance Wednesday to express confidence in senior aide Karl Rove in a political fight over a news leak that exposed a CIA officer's identity. The lack of endorsement surprised some White House officials who had been told Bush would back his embattled friend.

Hmmmm. Maybe he's trying to distance himself so that he's not splattered when the shit hits the fan (and it's going to hit).

There's been a lot of parsing of words lately over what exactly took place. Did he out her? Was she covert? Was he the original source? Yada yada yada. But here's the way I've been rationalizing it. For an agent to be considered covert, she must have served undercover while over seas within the last five years. Well, that's easy enough to check. I'm sure the CIA has records on that, so apparently she must have been otherwise there's no reason for the investigation to continue, right? If there were any truth to the notion that Valerie Plame wasn't covert, the investigation would have been over long ago and old Judith Miller wouldn't be in the stripey hole. So clearly a crime was committed by someone somewhere at sometime, right?

All along, I've thought this was a pretty cut a dry case of someone outing a CIA agent. That is until I read this diary over at dailyKos.

This case isn't about identifying a covert agent, and hasn't been for a long, long time.  It's about disclosure of classified information which is a violation of the Espionage Act and a more serious crime.  It happens that the classified material (primarilly an "INR"  Report by the CIA regarding the possibillity that Saddam was attempting to obtain urainium yellowcake and Joe Wilson's trip to Niger) was used by the administration to discredit Wilson by pointing out what they say was his wife's role.  But that identification is NOT what Fitzgerald is after.  Someone leaked the contents of that classified file all over town trying to get ahead of Wilson's story.
[.....]
That's why the phone records of Air Force One were so crucial.  The CIA file was taken on Bush's trip to Africa (with Powell, Rice and others) the day after Wilson's Op Ed piece was in the NYT.

That's why Jeff Gannon is as important as Novak.  Gannon says himself that the contents of that memo were shared with him.  It's on his website right now.  He also says that the FBI came to talk to him about just that (and he later testified before the GJ).  

That's why Judy Miller is in jail and she didn't even write about the story.

And that's why all the fragile facts that go into making a case under the CAIPA (was she covert, did he disclose her name, was it "knowingly", was the gov actively trying to keep her covert, etc...)  DON'T MATTER. And that the RNC is peddling the "additional comments" that have been entirely refuted and weren't even included in the Intelligence Committee's report JUST DOESN'T MATTER.  Someone (and you know damn well know who) leaked classified information that has a direct impact on national security to reporters (and gay prositutes) PERIOD.  Thats why all the judges are horrified including one who is sympathetic to protecting a reporter's privelege.  And Fitgerald would never go this far if he had to rely on all the flimsy bullshit that's framing the public perception of this issue right now.  If he can tie Rove to disclosure of the information that's in that INR memo, the ballgame is over.

Well now, that puts things in a rather different light. This is definitely an angle I hadn't seen but very clearly a possibility.

But you know what? I'm not really concerned about how or why. All I want is to see that slimy little fucker Rove kicking and screaming and pissing his pants as the police drag his handcuffed ass out of the White House. Anyone else (Ari, Scotty, Scooter, etc.) would just be icing on the cake. I can hardly sit still.