Month: October 2005

If you get MSNBC, turn it on now. At the top of his show, Chris Matthews said that he just learned that — against the advice of their staffers and counsel — both Vice President Dick Cheney and his top aide Scooter Libby withheld critical documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004, as the committee was investigating pre-war intelligence.

I haven’t stopped to see if there are corroborating print stories, but would appreciate your help in finding out. At the moment, they’re airing a report about the Miers withdrawal. Matthews’ blockbuster lead surely comes after this.

Update [2005-10-27 17:17:58 by susanhu]: Thank you for the link, Maynard! From the National Journal:

Cheney, Libby Blocked Papers To Senate Intelligence Panel

By Murray Waas, special to National Journal

© National Journal Group Inc.

Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005

Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources. …

This was an excellent interview by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yesterday, with the honest, frank, informative responses that we’ve come to know that Larry Johnson will always provide.

Johnson revealed far more than I knew about the danger that Valerie Plame Wilson has faced.

And Johnson answered a question about the photograph of Valerie in Vanity Fair — the phot had given me concern, and I’m glad Larry responded as he did. Crooks & Liars has the video.

BLITZER: For more on the damage that may have been done by the leak,
I’m joined now by former CIA officer Larry Johnson. He was a classmate of the outed operative Valerie Plame at the CIA’s training school way back.

How many years ago was that, Larry?

LARRY JOHNSON, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: Nineteen-eighty-five, September.

BLITZER: So, you were basically with Valerie Plame…

JOHNSON: Right.

BLITZER: … in that training. How long does that go, a year or so?

JOHNSON: For me, it went a year. For Valerie, she was on what they called the extended program, because she was young. She had just come out of college. She was 22.

BLITZER: So, they basically teach you how to be a spy. JOHNSON: They — yes. And they expose you to a whole variety of training, paramilitary activities, field tradecraft, the — the whole nine yards.

BLITZER: Did you get to know her quite well or not at all — you know, not at all during that year that you overlapped?

JOHNSON: I knew her well enough to know that she was a good professional. But she was a single 22-year-old. I was a married 30- year-old guy. So, we kept our distance. It was a professional relationship only.

But the thing that distinguished her at that time was, she was very mature, very professional, not at all a goof-off. And — and she took her job seriously.

BLITZER: Now, in order for any charges, an indictment, to really have weight, I think what everyone wants to know is, was there serious damage done to U.S. national security? And I have been trying to find out if the CIA actually did a postmortem, a damage assessment. You have been looking into that as well.

JOHNSON: Now, CIA did a postmortem. There’s no way that they could not have. They have not delivered any written report to Congress, to the House or Senate Intelligence Committees.

But what they done with this report, they had to do it internally, because…

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Is there a piece of paper there that’s written?

JOHNSON: Yes. There will be a written — there’s a written document within the CIA. There has to be, because every time that someone like this is outed, it’s not just the person. In this case, it’s the front company. It’s other NOCs who may have been exposed.

Continued below:

The right to vote is one of the most important rights we have as citizens of the United States of America. It is a right that is the foundation of our great democracy. It is the vehicle that we use to express our concerns, and an invaluable tool we have in voicing our desires. Many aspects of our government are dependent on our collective voting. Most importantly the election of our local, state and federal officials who govern our society.

     Throughout the history of our country, there have been many assaults on our voting rights by those who do not want to see liberty given to all. The 15th amendment was passed in order to ensure that all Americans would be able to exercise their right to vote. Opponents of democracy prevented many Americans from voting through legal loopholes, and it required the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure that the voting rights of everyone were secure. Many provisions of the Voting Rights Act are set to expire in 2007. The current administration seems ambivalent to the fact that many Americans will be subject to restrictions and limitations to their right to vote. Irregularities in recent elections in such places such as Florida and Ohio have many people concerned with the government’s commitment to the voting rights of all Americans.

     As a congressman, I will fight for universal suffrage. The government must restore confidence in the democratic process. The expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act must be renewed. I am also in support of paper trails for electronic voting machines. Only when we can guarantee that all votes are counted can we have complete confidence in our system. If we are to remain the model of democracy for the world, we must correct the problems that exist today. The indifference that our elected officials are showing in this area is inexcusable, and I will do all that I can to make sure we all are treated equally as citizens.

Dr. David Gill

For all you blowhards! … Just joking. But, did you know that — just as there is the “tomb of the inflatable pig” in Paraguay, there are inflatable bras, and numerous other inflatable unmentionables — there’s also innovation in how you can inflate your tires? Treehugger suggests that you’ll pollute less — and save gas mileage — if you inflate your tires with nitrogen. Who knew. And it turns out that — it figures that a “blue” company would be hip to this — COSTCO puts nitrogen in the tires of its customers!