Search Results from beSpacific

Judge Orders Release of More VP Cheney Papers on Plame CIA Leak

Follow up to previous postings on Investigation of Plame CIA Leak, this October 1, 2009 news release: "U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the release of records of former Vice President Cheney’s interview with the FBI in the...

New York Times Editorial - Bush Legacy of Secrecy and Consequences

Editorial - Exit Stonewalling: "...E-mail messages that have gone suspiciously missing are estimated to number in the millions. These could illuminate some of the administration’s darker moments, including the lead-up to the Iraq war, when intelligence was distorted, the destruction...

Assertion of Executive Privilege Concerning the Special Counsel's Interview of The Vice President and Senior White House Staff

Assertion of Executive Privilege Concerning the Special Counsel's Interview of The Vice President and Senior White House Staff (July 15, 2008) (added December 29, 2008): "It is legally permissible for the President to assert executive privilege in response to a...

Bipartisan Committee Report Criticizes President’s Assertion of Executive Privilege

"A bipartisan report circulated today by House Committee on Oversight Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Ranking Member Tom Davis finds that President Bush made a “legally unprecedented and an inappropriate use of executive privilege” when he directed Attorney General Mukasey...

Conyers Issues Subpoena to DOJ for Valerie Plame Documents

News release: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) today issued a subpoena to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide to the committee a number of previously requested documents by July 9. The Subcommittee on Commercial and Adminstrative...

Oversight Chairman Urges AG to Provide Plame Documents

"In a letter to the Attorney General, Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Waxman reiterated his request for documents from Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s investigation into the leak of the covert identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson, noting the...

House Oversight Chairman: White House Blocking Fitzgerald Cooperation in Plame Probe

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: "White House objections are preventing Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald from providing the Oversight Committee with records from interviews of White House officials taken during his investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie...

Court Denies Libby's Request to Delay Prison Sentence and President Grants Him Clemency

Follow up to previous postings on Plame CIA leak case, news today that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has unanimously denied I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's request to delay his prison sentence. Grant of Executive Clemency, July...

Special Prosecutor Requests 2 Plus Yr Sentence for Libby

Follow up to previous postings on Plame CIA leak, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald stated in a May 25, 2007 court filing that Libby has "expressed no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, and no recognition that there is anything he should...

House Committee Seeks to Review Security Problems At White House

Follow up to previous postings on postings on the CIA Plame leak and Libby trial, today's announcement from House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman: "Current and former employees of the White House Security Office have reported to Chairman Waxman that there...

Oversight Committee Requests CIA Documents Related to Disclosure of CIA Agent

"Citing concerns that a Senate Intelligence Committee report may be inaccurate, Chairman Waxman asks the CIA for Agency memos related to Ambassador Wilson's February 2002 trip to Niger and the subsequent disclosure of Ms.Wilson’s covert status. Ms. Wilson recently testified...

Hearing Examines Exposure of Covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity

Friday, March 16, 2007 - Disclosure of CIA Agent Identity Hearing Examines Exposure of Covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity: "The Oversight Committee held a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of...

Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity

"Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. At the hearing, the Committee will receive testimony from Ms. Wilson and other experts regarding...

Committee Will Hold Hearing on Disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson's Identity

Follow up to posting on Libby conviction this week, as well as previous links to CIA leak investigation, today news that "Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced a hearing on whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity...

Archive Director Explains Libby Trial Documents on NPR

Follow-up to related postings on Plame CIA leak trial, press release: "The declassified documents introduced as evidence during the trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, provide an almost unprecedented window into Mr. Cheney's own...

Jury Convicts Libby of 4 Out of 5 Counts in CIA Leak Trial

Follow up to previous postings on the Libby indictment and trial, today the jury returned convictions on four of the five counts, including perjury obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Washington Post: Daily Snapshot of the Libby Trial;...

Public Interest Organization Joins Litigation in Plame CIA Leak Case Against Cheney and Libby

Follow up to previous postings on the Plame CIA leak investigation and indictment, today's press release: "Former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband former Ambassador Joseph Wilson announced today that they have engaged the non-profit, public interest organization...

Libby Defense Contends Witnesses "Misremembered"

NBC News reports that in a new filing, "...Libby will argue that, in many cases, it is the government witnesses who have misremembered the facts, and that any errors Libby made in describing the events were the result of "confusion...

Integrity and Accountability in Presidential Pardons Act of 2006

Press release: Conyers Calls for Limits on Presidential Pardons; Cites Need to Ensure Pardons Do Not Thwart Investigations of Administration Misconduct Related postings on Plame CIA leak, investigation and indictment...

Wilson and Plame Sue Libby, Cheney and Rove in District Court

Follow-up to postings related to the Plame CIA Leak Investigation, see the website for the Joseph and Valerie Wilson Legal Support Trust, which also provides a link to the 23 page complaint filed today in District Court for the District...

Article Contends President Directed VP to Clarify Case for War

Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic, by Murray Waas, National Journal, July 3, 2006: "President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter...

National Journal Continues to Explore Ashcroft's Role in Plame CIA Leak Investigation

What Ashcroft Was Told, By Murray Waas, National Journal, June 8, 2006 "Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft continued to oversee the Valerie Plame-CIA leak probe for more than two months in late 2003 after he learned in extensive briefings that FBI...

Two Court Decisions Render Different Outcomes For Journalists

EFF: "A California state appeals court ruled [Apple v. Does, 69 pages, PDF)] in favor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) petition on behalf of three online journalists Friday, holding that the online journalists have the same right to protect...

Questions Arise on Intersection of Novak and Rove's Involvement With Plame Leak

Rove-Novak Call Was Concern To Leak Investigators, by Murray Waas, National Journal: "On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer...

Leaks of Gov't Info: Who Gets Prosecuted and Why

Crime or Privilege? Leaking Classified Information, by Joan Indiana Rigdon, Washington Lawyer, May 2006. "Public discussion of state secrets has come under attack many times in the past, especially during times of war. But now, as the government tries to...

Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss Case Against Libby in CIA Leak

Today Judge Reggie B. Walton rejected (opinion, 31 page pages, PDF) Libby's motion to dismiss the charges against him related to the Plame CIA leak....

Controversy Continues Over Leaks of Classified Intel By Gov't Officials

Prewar Intelligence: Is There A Double Standard On Leak Probes? by Murray Waas, National Journal: "On the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Sen. Pat Roberts was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence...

Press Fights Libby Subpoenas For Expanded Access to Plame Related Documents

Reuters reports that Time, the New York Times, and NBC News opposed attempts by Libby's defense to widen the scope of discovery pertaining to Plame CIA leak documents which may be in the possession of journalists and their respective employers....

Documents Increasingly Substantiate Role of VP In Attacking Wilson

Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report Libby Says, by Murray Waas, National Journal: "Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified...

Court Responds to Public Disclosures of Info in Libby Case

Follow-up to yesterday's posting, New Libby Filing Demands Release of Documents Related to Iraq Intel ["The defense intends to show the jury that the controversy over intelligence failures during the spring and summer of 2003 led certain officials within the...

President Defends Declassification of Pre-War Iraq Intel

Follow-up to April 9, 2006 posting, Reports Substantiate WH Plan to Discredit Iraq War Critic Via Plame CIA Leak, President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University,...

Reports Substantiate WH Plan to Discredit Iraq War Critic Via Plame CIA Leak

Follow-up to April 7, 2006 posting, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, see: today's Washington Post: Prosecutor Describes Cheney, Libby as Key Voices Pitching Iraq-Niger Story: "As he drew back the curtain this week on...

National Security Archive Posts Docs. Actually Declassified by Administration on Iraq Intel

"Only 14 of the full 93 pages of the National Intelligence Estimate that President Bush authorized Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to disclose to New York Times reporter Judith Miller has actually been officially declassified,...

WH Authorized Declassification of Iraq Secret Docs.

Follow-up to posting on April 7, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, from today's Washington Post, Testimony Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak: "...court papers filed late Wednesday night by Special Counsel Patrick...

Waxman Requests Answers on Bush Authorizing Leak of Natonal Security Intel

Press release: "In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Waxman asks for a full accounting of the President's and Vice President's actions in authorizing leaks of classified intelligence about Iraq, while at the same time concealing the President's knowledge of...

Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info

CNN - Court documents: Libby testified that Bush OK'd intelligence leak Smoking Gun: 39 page filing, Government's Response to Plaintiff's Third Motion to Compel Discovery, April 5, 2006 (PDF), US v. Libby. Related postings on Plame CIA leak...

Reports Indicate Case Against Sources of Plame CIA Leak Expands

A series of recent articles name the high ranking government officials who are now the focus of the Plame CIA leak investigation: Libby lawyers finger top State Dept. leaders for CIA leak Fitzgerald Knew Identity of Leaker From Start Related...

Libby Court Filing Names Other Gov't Officials As Source of Plame CIA Leak

As reported by Raw Story tonight, a filing on March 17 by Libby's defense names current and former White House and State Department officials as having leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame prior to Libby's dissemination of the...

Libby's Defense Widens Demand for Documents from Reporters

AP reports that Libby's lawyers have subpoenaed the New York Times, Time magazine and NBC to obtain additional documents from Judy Miller, Matt Cooper and Tim Russert. Related postings on the Plame CIA leak...

Libby Granted Access to Summaries of PDBs - Did Greymail Succeed?

Following-up on two recent postings, CIA Opposes Document Release for Libby Case and Decision on Key Documents in Libby Case Pending Judge's Determination, today U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton granted Libby access to summaries of the President's Daily Briefings...

CIA Opposes Document Release for Libby Case

Following up on recent news that Libby's defense is demanding the release of highly classified White House daily intelligence briefings, AP reports that a CIA affidavit filed with the court strongly opposed the release of these documents, stating in part...

New Filing in Libby CIA Leak Case Heavily Redacted, Revealing Little Info

A 19 page affidavit was filed today in the Libby CIA leak case, by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Previous disclosures related to the case refer to a still unnamed government official who in addition to Libby leaked information on...

Decision on Key Documents in Libby Case Pending Judge's Determination

AP reports that Judge Reggie B. Walton has delayed a pivotal decision on whether Libby's defense may have access to highly classified White House briefing documents. "Walton said he is concerned that Libby's request could "sabotage" the case because President...

Declassifying Gov. Docs. For Libby Defense

Follow-up to postings on Plame CIA leak [see specifically Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006], tonight AP reports: "Vice President Dick Cheney disclosed Wednesday that he has the power to...

Bi-partisan Momentum Builds to Investigate White House In Plame CIA Leak

Follow-up on yesterday's posting, CIA Leak Disclosure and VP - Political Not Legal Ramifications?, another turn on a crooked road: AP reports today that "Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald should investigate Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the CIA leak...

CIA Leak Disclosure and VP - Political Not Legal Ramifications?

Following up on February 9, 2006 posting, Investigation into Plame CIA Leak Involves Other White House Officials, this WSJ free feature, Cheney Role Risks Political Fallout: CIA-Leak Case May Hand War Critics Momentum, But Legal Issues Are Slim - "The...

Investigation into Plame CIA Leak Involves Other White House Officials

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Feb. 9, 2006: "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney...

Legal Documents in CIA Leak Case Confirm Status of Plame

Following up on February 4, 2006 posting, VP Informed Libby About Plame Identity, Michael Isikoff reports The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still Covert. From February 2005 opinion written by U.S. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel (via No Quarter): "As to...

VP Informed Libby About Plame Identity

New York Times: New Details Revealed on C.I.A. Leak Case: "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the...

More Details Emerge on WMD Facts Available Prior to War

Iraq, Niger, And The CIA - By Murray Waas, special to National Journal, Feb. 2, 2006: "Vice President Cheney and his then-Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were personally informed in June 2003 that the CIA no longer considered...

Libby Request for Classified Docs. Triggers More Secrecy

In following this January 20, 2006 posting, Libby Defense Seeks to Widen Document Access in Plame CIA Leak Case, a report by AP today, Libby Wants to Use Classified Evidence: "Their action puts the Libby case on a dual track...

Libby Defense Seeks to Widen Document Access in Plame CIA Leak Case

Following up on previous posting on the Plame CIA leak case, New York Times reports that Lawyers in C.I.A. Leak Case Seek to Subpoena Journalists....

Further Twists and Turns in the Investigation of Plame CIA Leak

Posted today by TIME magazine: What Viveca Novak Told Fitzgerald, by Viveca Novak. Ms. Novak is now apparently on a "leave of absence" from TIME. Related news: Viveca Novak: Another Plame Journo Kept Her Editor in the Dark New York...

Valerie Plame Reported to Have Left CIA Job

Until today, Valerie Plame worked for the CIA's Counterproliferation Division. The investigation into which government personnel were responsible for leaking her identity remains ongoing. Related news: Time Reporter Testifies in Leak Case Rove Lawyer Was Deposed Last Week by Special...

Government Reform Cmte. Chair Refuses Requests to Investigate Plame Leak

"In a letter to Chairman Davis, Rep. Waxman asks the Chairman to explain his rationale (letter, 4 pages, PDF) for rejecting requests to investigate the leak of classified information involving CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and contract abuses at the...

CIA Leak Prosecutor Agrees to Release of Additional Court Documents

Follow up to Media Challenges Withholding Publication of Plame Investigation Documents, November 14, 2005: New York Times, Leak Ruling Has Mystery, 8 Blank Pages Government Response to Motion Motion of Dow Jones & Co. to Unseal Redacted Portion of the...

Second TIME Magazine Reporter Called to Testify Before Plame Leak Grand Jury

AP reports today that TIME magazine Washington correspondent Viveca Novak has been called to testify before the grand jury investigating the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative....

Fitzgerald Files for a New Grand Jury

The investigation into the Plame leak will, despite the prognostications of a range of commentators, in fact move forward and expand, according to today's news that Special Counsel Fitzgerald has requested a new grand jury. According to the court filing,...

Waxman Continues to Pursue Open Congressional Investigation Into Plame Leak

Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - "In a letter to Chairman Davis, Rep. Waxman renews his request for hearings into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Wilson, citing many precedents for congressional oversight occurring concurrently with a criminal investigation." Rep. Waxman's...

Notable Commentary Related to the Libby Indictment

Rep. John Conyers. Jr., ConyersBlog: "The truisms of Watergate are the same: it is not the crime, it is the cover up and, when there is a cover up, there is a crime. And the questions are the same: What...

Prosecutor in Plame Leak Examined Falsified Niger Uranium Report

As reported by UPI today: "NATO sources have confirmed to United Press International that Fitzgerald's team of investigators has sought and obtained documentation on the forgeries from the Italian government. Fitzgerald's team has been given the full, and as yet...

Schumer Asks For Details About Rove-Bush Conversations On Plame

Press release from New York Senator Charles Schumer: "Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer sent the attached letter to President Bush asking him to detail his conversations with his top political adviser, Karl Rove, about the White House's leak of the identity...

Assurance Sought for Public Report on Special Prosecutor's Investigation into Plame Leak

October 11, 2005 - Text of Letter from Reps. Conyers, Harman, Lantos and Holt to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Concerning a Final Report on the CIA Leak Investigation (PDF) "We write to seek your assurance that, upon completion of your...

BCC Offers Concise Chronology of CIA Leak Scandal

Q&A: CIA leak case - A grand jury in the US is investigating the source of a leak that led to the public unmasking of a CIA agent in 2003. Related beSpacific links on the Plame identity leak From the...

Former Federal Prosecutor Explains Violations of Intelligence Identities Protection Act

Exposing the Plame case mistake - "The pundits say the law that protects covert agents' identities won't put anybody away in this investigation. Here's why they're wrong." [LA Times, reg. req'd] Related references: 21 Administration Officials Involved In Plame Leak...

Calls for White House and DOJ to Explain Events in Plame Leak

Press release: "Today U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card asking for an explanation of the so called '12 hour gap' between the time then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales told Card...

Bipartisan Calls for Hearings on Plame Identity Leak

Senators Urge Congressional Investigation Into Leak of CIA Agent Valerie Plame's Name Congress plans to scrutinize Plame-related issues...

State Dept. Memo Identifies Info on Plame as Secret

From the Washington Post (reg. req'd) Plame's Identity Marked As Secret - Memo Central to Probe Of Leak Was Written By State Dept. Analyst: "A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer...

Members of Gov't Reform Cmte. Seek Inquiry Into Plame Controversy

Press release: Reps. Waxman, Hold, and Inslee introduce a resolution of inquiry to require the Bush Administration to provide information about who revealed the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. Statement of Inquiry Resolution text (3 pages, PDF)...

Rove, Prame, Cooper, Time...The Contentious Investigation Continues

From WSJ free content today, Cooper Email Identifies Rove As a Source Related references: from Editor and Publisher as follows: Press Batters McClellan on Rove/Plame Link and More Miller-Cooper Fallout: 'L.A. Times' Tells Reporters Not to Enter Unnamed Names in...

House Resolution Calls for Release of Docs on White House Leak

H. RES. 499, introduced January 21, 2004 by Congressman Rush Holt (see his press release here). From the text of the resolutuon: "(1) the President is requested to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than the date that...