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Your memory betrays you again:
Actually, no it didn't...
In March 2007, Plame addressed the question while testifying before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: "I did not recommend him. I did not suggest him. There was no nepotism involved. I did not have the authority.... It's been borne out in the testimony during the Libby trial, and I can tell you that it just doesn't square with the facts." She described that in February 2002, while discussing an inquiry from the office of Vice President Cheney about the alleged Iraqi uranium purchases, a colleague who knew of her husband's diplomatic background and previous work with the CIA suggested sending him, and that she agreed to facilitate the discussion between her husband and her superiors despite her own ambivalence about the idea.
Plame affair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In 2007, Senator Kit Bond released the entire text of Mrs. Wilson’s February 12, 2002 memo. The memo that led the Senate investigation to conclude that Plame recommended Wilson for the trip. Here is the text of that memo where she referenced a February 5, 2002 CIA intelligence report about Niger, Iraq, and uranium that had been circulating in the previous week:
Iraq-related Nuclear Report Makes a Splash
The report forwarded below has prompted me to send this on to you and request your comments and opinion. Briefly, it seems that Niger has signed a contract with Iraq to sell them uranium. The IC [Intelligence Community] is getting spun up about this for obvious reasons. The embassy in Niamey has taken the position that this report can’t be true — they have such cozy relations with the GON [Government of Niger] that they would know if something like this transpired.
So where do I fit in? As you may recall, [redacted] of CP/[office 2] recently approached my husband to possibly use his contacts in Niger to investigate [a separate Niger matter]. After many fits and starts, [redacted] finally advised that the station wished to pursue this with liaison. My husband is willing to help, if it makes sense, but no problem if not. End of story.
Now, with this report, it is clear that the IC is still wondering what is going on… my husband has good relations with both the PM and the former minister of mines, not to mention lots of French contacts, both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity. To be frank with you, I was somewhat embarrassed by the agency’s sloppy work last go-round, and I am hesitant to suggest anything again. However, [my husband] may be in a position to assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to pursue here. Thank you for your time on this.
The report forwarded below has prompted me to send this on to you and request your comments and opinion. Briefly, it seems that Niger has signed a contract with Iraq to sell them uranium. The IC [Intelligence Community] is getting spun up about this for obvious reasons. The embassy in Niamey has taken the position that this report can’t be true — they have such cozy relations with the GON [Government of Niger] that they would know if something like this transpired.
So where do I fit in? As you may recall, [redacted] of CP/[office 2] recently approached my husband to possibly use his contacts in Niger to investigate [a separate Niger matter]. After many fits and starts, [redacted] finally advised that the station wished to pursue this with liaison. My husband is willing to help, if it makes sense, but no problem if not. End of story.
Now, with this report, it is clear that the IC is still wondering what is going on… my husband has good relations with both the PM and the former minister of mines, not to mention lots of French contacts, both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity. To be frank with you, I was somewhat embarrassed by the agency’s sloppy work last go-round, and I am hesitant to suggest anything again. However, [my husband] may be in a position to assist. Therefore, request your thoughts on what, if anything, to pursue here. Thank you for your time on this.
Are you accepting that she was, at the time Novak published, a covert CIA agent?
Under the law, yes I believe she was considered to be covert.
About what, specifically?
Novak was not told by Harlow her status was covert, or that her identity was classified. He is not allowed to disclose to the public if a person is a covert operative. Secondly, you say it was planned to leak her name to Novak and that he was a patsy. There is absolutely no evidence to support that accusation.
In his testimony to the grand jury, Libby testified that both he and Vice President Cheney believed that Joseph Wilson was qualified for the mission, though they wondered if he would have been selected had his wife not worked at the CIA.[37][38]
Subsequent press accounts reported that "White House officials wanted to know how much of a role she had in selecting him for the assignment."[39]
In his book, Tenet writes "Mid-level officials in [the CIA’s Counterproliferation Division (CPD)] decided on their own initiative to [ask Joe Wilson to look into the Niger issue because] he'd helped them on a project once before, and he'd be easy to contact because his wife worked in CPD."[40]
Too bad for both you and Tenet, that Plame's memo on February 12, 2002 totally contradicts that.
It was established at trial that it was Cheney himself who first told Libby about Plame's identity as a CIA agent, in the course of complaining about criticisms of the administration's run-up to war leveled by her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. And, as Fitzgerald notes: "The evidence at trial further established that when the investigation began, Mr. Libby kept the Vice President apprised of his shifting accounts of how he claimed to have learned about Ms. Wilson's CIA employment."
The investigation, Fitzgerald writes, "was necessary to determine whether there was concerted action by any combination of the officials known to have disclosed the information about Ms. Plame to the media as anonymous sources, and also whether any of those who were involved acted at the direction of others. This was particularly important in light of Mr. Libby's statement to the FBI that he may have discussed Ms. Wilson's employment with reporters at the specific direction of the Vice President."
That's fine and dandy, but what Fitz couldn't establish was that anyone in the Administration was informed in any way that Plame was a covert operative, or that he identity was classified.
Um, the MEMO was stamped SECRET on every page.
Here is the unclassifed, redacted, court released copy:
http://www.nysun.com/pics/31062_1.php
See all of the places it is stamped SECRET.
Maybe Armitage had trouble reading documents, there is a lot of that going around lately too.
I never said the memo wasn't secret... I said that just because it was classified, does not make the identity of the people mentioned in it classified... In fact, here is a screen shot of the memo mentioning plame from your link.
Pay real close attention to what I highlighted in yellow:
You see what I mean?
Even the CIA memo sent to the State Department describer her as a "CIA WMD managerial type" and did NOT say she was a covert operative.
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