In February 2004, UPI identified two key suspects in the Plame scandal, both of whom work in Dick Cheney’s office. One of the names mentioned was Scooter Libby, the other was John Hannah.
The UPI report quoted one federal law-enforcement officer as saying, “We believe that Hannah was the major player in this.” The same article suggested that the FBI hoped to pressure Hannah, reminding him that he “faces a real possibility of doing jail time,” so he’ll be more inclined to “name superiors.”
Keep this in mind when you consider the story that everyone is talking about.
A senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney is cooperating with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, sources close to the investigation say.
Individuals familiar with Fitzgerald’s case tell RAW STORY that John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John Bolton, was named as a target of Fitzgerald’s probe. They say he was told in recent weeks that he could face imminent indictment for his role in leaking Plame-Wilson’s name to reporters unless he cooperated with the investigation.
Others close to the probe say that if Hannah is cooperating with the special prosecutor then he was likely going to be charged as a co-conspirator and may have cut a deal.
Who’s John Hannah? His name was most prominently in the news in late 2003 when Newsweek reported that Hannah was a “principal point of contact” for (dubious) intelligence generated by the controversial Iraqi National Congress before the U.S. invasion began. In other words, when the White House needed “proof” about Iraqi WMD and connections to terrorism, it relied on defectors’ bogus claims — which were given directly to Hannah — to make the case that the war was necessary.
In the context of the Plame scandal, Joseph Wilson was telling the nation that the information Hannah received was wrong.
Those close to the investigation said in June 2003, Hannah was given orders by higher-ups in Cheney’s office to leak Plame’s covert status and identity in an attempt to muzzle Wilson, who had been a thorn in the side of the administration since May 2003, when he started questioning the administration’s claims that Iraq was an imminent threat to the U.S. and its neighbors in the Middle East. The specifics of who issued those orders and what directives were given were not provided.
In addition to being named as a key player in early 2004 by UPI, Wilson voiced his suspicions about Hannah specifically in his book, The Politics of Truth.
If Hannah did flip, he’s in a position to do a world of trouble for the Bush White House.
Stay tuned.