David Wurmser follows John Hannah’s lead

October 19, 2005

Few outside Patrick Fitzgerald’s office know what’s going to happen next, but in the meantime, experiencing schadenfreude from watching the once-arrogant Bush gang cringe is almost inevitable. The Chicago Tribune quoted one senior administration official saying the reports about possible indictments have been “like Novocain,” apparently because of their numbing effect on the White House. “Everyone’s trying to act like normal, but it’s not,” the official said. It seems to be a common sentiment. A “key” Bush official told NY Daily News, “I’m very concerned it could go very, very badly.”

And as if John Hannah’s decision to cooperate with Fitzgerald didn’t cause enough anxiety, Raw Story reports that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, is working with prosecutors as well.

A second aide to Vice President Dick Cheney is cooperating with the special prosecutor’s probe into the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, those close to the investigation say. […]

Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney’s office to discredit the agent’s husband. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war.

Wurmser, Cheney’s Middle East advisor and an assistant to then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton, likely cooperated because he faced criminal charges for his role in leaking Wilson’s name on the orders of higher-ups, the sources said.

According to those familiar with the case, Wurmser was in attendance at several meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), a little-known cabal of administration hawks that formed in August 2002 to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Those who say they have reviewed documents obtained in the probe assert that the Vice President was also present at some of the group’s meetings.

Before becoming a top Cheney aide, Wurmser served as a “special assistant” to John Bolton. And like Hannah, Wurmser was cited in Joseph Wilson’s book as someone he believed to be involved with the Plame leak.

Drip, drip, drip…

Be VEWWY qwiet. We’w hunting twaitors.

heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh

  • All this stuff coming from the WH about how “bad” it is is setting off my alarm bells. Set up expectations for a Cheney resignation and when it’s just Rove and Libby (or more likely it’s just Libby), WH can declare victory.

  • Bubba – HAH!

    These two aides, lets hope that they just don’t happen to be in a car together that just happens to…. WAIT, me sorry. No crazy conspiracies allowed here…we ARE dealing with fellow adults of a civilized humane society, yes. Yes? Ahem…hello? Yes??…

  • Ugh a healthy dose of paranoia is never bad when dealing with these guys. However the rosier possibility is that the rats are beating each other up in an attempt to get off the ship before it goes down. Inside the bubble all they feared was Bush’s hissy-fits and being fired. When the bubble pops they will have to explain themselves. Why not start doing that now. “It was all Dick and Scooters fault!” “Rove did it!” “I’m jus tthe undersecretary to the blah blah blah.

    Some of these people are career bureaucrats who put up with Bush’s crap. Now they have a chance to get back at them!

  • I agree with Ugh. I’ve been feeling for a while now that this thing might just turn out to be less than what the left side of the blogosphere is hoping for. I’ve been disappointed before and I don’t want to be disappointed again. Therefore, I’m lowering my expectations. It’ll be great if this scandal blows up the Bush administration but I’m just not counting on it.

  • Bubba, under ordinary circumstances I’d be with you on that. The Bush gang has been extremely smooth in manipulating expectations. Today, I am not with you. The botched handling of the Miers nomination, which only gets worse each day, suggests that W is now really in charge and way in over his head. That doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t bounce back, but in the short run, i.e. until Fitzgerald speaks, I believe we are seeing real dysfunction.

  • All this causes me to ponder the question. What was in those NSA intercepts that the WH wouldn’t turn over during the Bolton confirmation hearings?

  • Well, there’s Cheney’s knee and his cane and his heart and… 2008. It would be classic if they were building a victory out of the shards of this mess for an incumbent to sweep the next presidential election — the incumbent, according to rumor, being Condi.

  • I certainly hope the gang gets a big smack upside the head, guess we’ll have to wait and see (it’s looking like next week at the earliest).

    It’s this “Fitzmas” thing that’s also bothering me too. Just remember, on Fitzmas you can get the all the toys you ever wanted, or you can get a nice sweater set; I’m setting expectations on the sweater set.

  • I share Ugh’s concern, as I noted the other day. But to go through all this, to jail reporters, makes it more likely fitzgerald will be indicting something more than small fish. Not that it will happen, but odds are he has something bigger in his sights. We just have to wait and see. And with that said, anyone think Libby will turn tail and sing like a canary before the end of October?

  • Hey bubba. Scooter will never sing. He’ll be promised a Swiss bank account and/or a plum job for him and his family at Halliburton or Betchel or Knudsen-Morrison. His “cooperation” will be bought.

  • Like Wurmser, John Hannah also came out of Bolton’s shop. I definitely want to purchase Bolton’s square in the office indictment pool!

  • I’m with smiley’s sunny disposition on this.
    The rumors are flying now. So far, Fitzgerald
    handed down his indictments today, and
    Cheney resigned, while Bush nominated
    Condi for VP, and Bush exploded over
    Rove’s role a couple of years ago. The
    lid’s come off from the force of roiling,
    baseless rumors.

    My experience in life is that as rumors
    expand, the truth shrinks.

    So I’ll be surprised if even Libby is indicted,
    and if so, I bet the case is as weak as that
    against Delay.

    And how are you ever going to fill a jury
    box with twelve people, none of whom
    are hardcore Bush supporters, somewhere
    around 35% of the nation? Remember
    O.J. Simpson? These people wouldn’t
    convict a Republican anymore than
    fundamentalists would accept evolution.
    Actually, they’re pretty much the same
    people.

    Sorry for the pessimism, but that’s my
    read at this point. Nothing will bring
    this gang down. Nothing. Even if we
    pick off Libby and Rove and send them
    to jail. What’s that do? Nothing.

  • Bolton seems to be near the center of the storm. Did W install him at the UN believing that this would confer diplomatic immunity on him?

  • The big news is the story that Bush knew of Rove’s involvement
    in the leak 2 years ago. If that’s true, he’s been lying to the
    American public for 2 years, and also very probably lied in his
    interview with Fitzgerald – that’s a felony on its own, and also
    strong evidence for conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

    Bush will have two choices: either resign to Crawford with a
    pardon from his successor; or else spend 3 years as the
    lamest of lame ducks with a Howard Baker-style chief of
    staff running the show, and fighting a civil suit from Wilson.

    The successor has to be someone from outside the Bush/
    Cheney circle, just too many scandals there. And it needs
    bipartisan support, which is tricky after the vicious battles
    of the last few years. Maybe McCain can manage it. But
    it’s going to be ugly the next few months.

  • I also heard this Wurmser character specially designed a javelin to fit with LaMar’s limp-wristed throwing style, most definitely a violation of inter-fraternity competition rules. I’ve been pissed about that since ’86.

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