"I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who expose the names of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors". --George H.W. Bush
Valerie Plame, under oath: "I was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency... My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior government officials in both the White House and the State Department. The harm that is done when a CIA cover is blown is grave. . . . Not only have breaches of national security endangered CIA officers, it has jeopardized and even destroyed entire networks of foreign agents...
The rightwing propaganda machine of lies crumbles.
The right-wing, aided by the mainstream media, have engaged in an unhalting effort to spread false claims that Plame was not covert, despite the fact that the CIA, Plame’s former colleagues, and Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald have all previously reported that she was covert. The conviction of Scooter Libby only intensified conservatives’ efforts to further propagate their lie [...]
We await their apologies and statements of correction.
UPDATE: On September 30, 2003, National Review editor Jonah Goldberg claimed, "Wilson’s wife is a desk jockey and much of the Washington cocktail circuit knew that already." But today Plame rebutted Goldberg, stating, "It was not common knowledge on the Georgetown cocktail circuit that everyone knew where I worked."
And the Bush Administration had its hands all over this, our very own government outing a covert agent for political reasons. How can these people sleep at night?
Of course, Valerie Plame is talking about Robert Novak printing her name in his column. That's what her husband Joseph Wilson said when he came in on the morning Novak's column was published, July 2003. Today, Valerie Plame Wilson spoke in public before Rep. Waxman's committee, describing the day her husband came in and dropped the newspaper on the bed and said: "He did it."
When Rep. Dennis Kucinich questioned Ms. Plame, one answer jumped out. He asked if covert agents were identified very often. Plame said, not that I'm aware, especially not by their own government.
A full accounting of Valerie Plame's testimony including responses to the committee's questions at the Washington Post.
Firedoglake has live blogging of full testimonies today in the CIA Agent Disclosure hearings, starting with this post. After six years of a rubberstamp Congress, we are at last seeing true oversight.
Meanwhile, I check out wingnuts blogs and they insist Valerie Plame was exposed as the liar in her sworn testimony. My God, you pathetic people. The truth is staring you in the face. The most insidious of traitors have been exposed and all you care about is smearing this woman.
Get your head out of your ass, stop clinging desperately to your mindless, uninformed, parroted talking memes and demand accountability from the people who betrayed a public servant who dutifully served her country. Demand full hearings and investigations of the people who did nothing, NOTHING to account for this appalling, sickening breach of national security:
Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House, told a congressional committee today that he was aware of no internal investigation or report into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame.
The White House had first opposed Knodell testifying but after a threat of a subpoena from the committee yesterday he was allowed to appear today.
Knodell said that he had started at the White House in August 2004, a year after the leak, but his records show no evidence of a probe or report there: "I have no knowledge of any investigation in my office," he said.
Rep. Waxman recalled that President Bush had promised a full internal probe. Knodell repeated that no probe took place, as far as he knew, and was not happening today.
Knodell said he had "no" conversations whatsoever with the president, vice president, Karl Rove or anyone about the leak.
