Word: fitzgerald
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fears were realized: within a week, a June 19 online article by the New Republic quoted an unnamed U.S. envoy, who was clearly Wilson, alleging that the Administration knew the yellowcake story "was a flat-out lie" but had used it in the prewar claims anyway. Not long after, Fitzgerald alleges, Libby spoke with his deputy about the article, and the two aides discussed whether information about Wilson's trip might be shared with the press. Libby demurred, saying such a move would cause "complications at the CIA," but added that he "could not discuss the matter on a nonsecure...
When Novak's column naming Plame for the first time appeared, all hell broke loose at the CIA. The agency's lawyers launched an internal probe of the leak, and within months the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation. Fitzgerald was appointed to run the case, and the hard-charging prosecutor began interviewing witnesses within weeks. That, according to Fitzgerald, is when Libby began to spin his web. In his interviews with the FBI and later in his testimony to the grand jury, Libby swore that he had first heard about Wilson's wife not from other senior officials...
...course, any plea bargain also has the potential to endanger higher-level officials like Cheney, who is mentioned more than once in the indictment. Fitzgerald's document notes, for example, that Libby flew with Cheney on July 12 to Norfolk, Va., and discussed with some officials on the return trip how to handle the Cooper inquiry--an indication that Fitzgerald has reason to at least investigate a conspiracy that might involve the Vice President. Rove too could be ensnared if Libby cuts a deal. So far, Fitzgerald has declined to detail in his indictment the conversation Libby and Rove...
...evidence that Libby knew Plame was a covert officer, a key test in the 1982 law barring such disclosures. By that logic, Libby could have told the truth about everything he did and still avoided criminal exposure. But other lawyers pointed out that it's easy to forget that Fitzgerald hasn't made public everything he knows. The two senior officials who discussed Plame's employment with Libby may have testified that they warned Libby about the secret nature of her work. "Some things," said a lawyer for one witness, "come out only at trial...
...even as the White House tries to recover, the problems from last week won't go away quickly. Though Rove has not been indicted, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is continuing the investigation, and the situation will once again be under the spotlight on Thursday, when Lewis Libby is arraigned. Because of the roles Rove and Libby played in the CIA leak case, and the White House's sluggish performance in the last weeks, some Republicans are saying Bush needs to get new advisers. Kenneth Duberstein, who served as Reagan's chief of staff, said on NBC's Meet the Press...