Cheney and Libby’s little chat

October 25, 2005

Last week we learned that the president knew about the Plame leak (and the Plame leakers) all along. Today, we learn the same about Dick Cheney.

I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, first learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.

Notes of the previously undisclosed conversation between Mr. Libby and Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003, appear to differ from Mr. Libby’s testimony to a federal grand jury that he initially learned about the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, from journalists, the lawyers said.

The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation, for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White House to learn about Ms. Wilson’s husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was questioning the administration’s handling of intelligence about Iraq’s nuclear program to justify the war.

Lawyers involved in the case, who described the notes to The New York Times, said they showed that Mr. Cheney knew that Ms. Wilson worked at the C.I.A. more than a month before her identity was made public and her undercover status was disclosed in a syndicated column by Robert D. Novak on July 14, 2003.

Mr. Libby’s notes indicate that Mr. Cheney had gotten his information about Ms. Wilson from George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, in response to questions from the vice president about Mr. Wilson.

There’s a lot to digest here, but this NYT report reemphasizes why there’s so much panic at the White House. Here’s a rundown of why this news is so significant:

* Libby reportedly testified to the grand jury that he learned about Plame from reporters. That appears to have been untrue, contradicted by his own hand-written notes.

* Cheney had previously insisted that he didn’t know or care about Joseph Wilson, but his denials came just a few months after the VP requested and received a briefing on Wilson’s trip to Niger from the CIA.

* The NYT report said Cheney “was interviewed under oath by Mr. Fitzgerald last year.” As far as I can tell, this is the first time we’ve learned this. (Update: the Times ran a correction; he wasn’t under oath.)

* If Cheney knew about Plame and the leak all along, and he chatted with his top aides about it, what did he tell Fitzgerald about his knowledge when the two chatted last year?

* It’s odd that Cheney claims to have learned about Plame from then-Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet. As Larry Johnson explained, “[I]t is highly unlikely that George Tenet showed up at the White House and just happened to know the name of Valerie Plame. Someone at the White House asked for it first.”

* Cheney and Libby apparently talked about Plame before the leaks started. By any chance, did Cheney personally encourage his top aide to leak the information?

Update: Readers shouldn’t miss this comment.

I continue to believe (and, I admit it, hope) that Bolton comes into this somewhere. I keep thinking about all the documentation the senators on the SFRC wanted to see during the Bolton confirmation hearings, and that were denied to them. And about Voinovich’s veiled references to information about Bolton that he could not reveal.

I think he’s part of the chain that brought us to this point.

  • This is so juicy I can hardly stand the waiting anymore. I strongly hope that Cheney did something punishable while he was under oath; till now I had assumed he’d weaseled out of anything by testifying free of oath-taking. What a fun time to be a Democrat.

    Hardly apropos, but I have to get this in somewhere: there will be nationwide protests when the reported Iraq death toll hits 2,000 (it’s now 1,999).

  • My contribution to Fitzmas, to the tune of ‘Let It Snow’:

    Re-pub-li-cans are so spite-ful
    Which is why Fitz-y’s so fright-ful
    So while all their heads hang down low
    Let em roll, let em roll, let em roll

    The White House is fond of lyin’
    That’s not yel-low cake their pilin’
    They let secu-ri-ty se-crets flow
    Let em roll, let em roll, let em roll

    Fit-zy’s brought on a real good fight
    They’re all looking for someone to blame
    He’s got their nutsacks clenched oh so tight
    wish they never had heard of her name

    Bush, Che-ney, Lib-by and Rover
    Wish they had one-big do-over
    Indictments will take their toll
    Let em roll, let em roll, let em roll.
    Have no soul, love the mole, let em roll.

  • On Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on Saturday they were pleading with Patrick Fitzgerald to make an indictment – they said they’d made Martha Stewart jokes for a year after hers and with this they could coast for the rest of the decade. 🙂

  • Last week it appeared that the White House strategy was to throw Libby to the wolves to keep Karl and the rest out of trouble. Would it surprise anyone if old Scooter said, ‘Screw you guys!’ and showed up at Fitzgerald’s door with his notebook that he just happened to find in the back of his desk when he was looking for a bag of Cheetos?

    Ahhh, the eternal loyalty of the morally bankrupt. Such sweet, sweet satisfaction.

    Now Cheney is trying to finger Tenet as the original source. Will Tenet try to pass the buck yet further, or maybe find some notebooks of his own? Pass the popcorn, the show is just starting to ramp up.

  • Curmudgeon–I been saying here for at least 2 weeks that Libby will be singing like a canary by the end of the month. Most think not–that a Swiss bank account will keep his mouth shut. I don’t think he wants to go down alone on this, and probably can work a real sweet deal if he rats out the veep.

  • One thing, there is nothing wrong with Cheney talking to Libby about this, that is unless he did so with the intention Libby would use her [name] in a plan to discredit Wilson which is not difficult to imagine; proving it is another matter.

    Even if they did not know she was covert it demonstrates their incompetence. Moreover it is inconceivable Tenet would “out” one of his agents. Now if he did tell Cheney she was covert I would assume he did so not knowing she would become their object of ire. If I remember correctly, Tenet was the one who originally asked for an investigation.

    In any case they are getting what they deserve. Whatever the outcome, even if Rove & Libby are not indicted and decide to stay in office will only further the distrust in the public’s mind.

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