Entries by emptywheel

The FISA Fix and Obama’s Profile In Courage Leadership Moment

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The desperate push on FISA by the Bush Administration, complicit and subservient Republican Congressional leaders, and their telco partners is about to explode onto the forefront again. We are either a nation of laws that protects citizens and their right to seek redress for being wronged by their government and it’s agents, or we are a nation of self serving men like George Bush and Dick Cheney that can do, and get away with, whatever illegal and immoral acts they desire. Barack Obama could put an end to this today if he wanted. It is time for a Profile In Courage.

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Four News Outlets and the Libby Exoneration

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Scottie McC describes his reluctant efforts on October 4, 2003 to exonerate Libby this way:

“Were you involved in the leak in any way?” I asked him.

“No, absolutely not,” Scooter replied.

“All right,” I said. “I plan to tell reporters that you did not leak the classified information, nor would you condone doing so.

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Scottie’s Briefing

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How does Scottie’s September 29, 2003 briefing match up with his description of it? Not badly–but there are some key differences in what he reported in his book and what he said in his briefing.

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Scottie to Conyers: It’s a Date!!

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According to Roll Call, Conyers has cordially invited Scottie McC for an HJC chat on June 20 (h/t egregious).

“I have extended an invitation to Mr. McClellan to testify before the Judiciary Committee after discussions between Committee staff and his attorneys,” Conyers said. “In his book, Mr. McClellan suggests that senior White House officials may have obstructed justice and engaged in a cover-up regarding the Valerie Plame leak.

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Scottie McC’s Chronology: September 29

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I showed that Scottie McC’s chronology obfuscate some important details about conversations on September 27. In this post, I’ll show what that means for his description of the events of September 29, the day when Bush told him that Rove did not leak Valerie Wilson’s identity.

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Scottie McC’s Chronology: September 27

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I said yesterday that Scottie McC was still protecting Bush–either deliberately or out of blind faith. One of the areas where that’s apparent is in his discussion of efforts to have both Rove and Libby exonerated in fall 2003. Scottie McC presents some significant new details about discussions of the leak within the White House just as DOJ started the CIA leak investigation. But he presents a chronology that downplays the degree to which those White House discussions were a reaction to public news that the DOJ had already started a probe.

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