Is Senator Sesssions the Fred Thompson of the Bush Scandals?

The BoGlo has a great story out today about what a slime Fred Thompson is. While he served as a minority counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee, Thompson was feeding Nixon’s lawyer information so Nixon could take "appropriate action."

"Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decidedto call Fred Buzhardt at home" to tell him that the committee hadlearned about the taping system, Thompson wrote. "I wanted to be surethat the White House was fully aware of what was to be disclosed sothat it could take appropriate action."

Armstrong said he andother Democratic staffers had long been convinced that Thompson wasleaking information about the investigation to the White House. Thecommittee, for example, had obtained a memo written by Buzhardt thatDemocratic staffers believed was based on information leaked byThompson.

The story confirms a lot we already know about Thompson–he’s the kind of corrupt thug that BushCo could well choose as their chosen successor.

But I’d like to ask a different question. Is Senator Jeff Sessions–or one of his staffers–the Fred Thompson of the Bush Scandals?

Another Disappearing Republican Front Group

Remember the way that Thor Hearne tried to hide any traces of his American Center for Voting Rights, just as the media started to realize that it was a Republican front group designed to popularize ideas with no basis in reality, but which would be key tools to Republican dominance?

Well, the same is happening with Italia Federici’s organization,  Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. The Hill reports that the organization is all but disappearing.

But, if the council’s website is any indication, it couldn’t surviveher guilty plea in federal court last month for obstruction and taxevasion. Federici’s sometime-boyfriend, former Deputy InteriorSecretary J. Steven Griles, was also sent to prison last week for 10months.

A visit to the group’s site now yields: “This site is temporarily unavailable.”

Foryears, the site had served as a source of talking points for those outto defend the environmental record of President Bush and Congress, whenit was run by Republicans. It cited philosophical ties to TheodoreRoosevelt and proclaimed, “President George Bush has made great stridesin protecting and improving the quality of America’s land, air andwater.”

For those who like to track disappearances, here’s the website. I think Sierra Club ought to see if it can buy the domain name–just as Read more

Liberate Libby’s PSR

Say, did you notice who wrote the talking points for Tony Snow’s press briefing yesterday? The Probation office (only Snow makes the same mistake I did when I first talked about this, calling it the parole office–though I guess if you work for the guy who simply disappears all prison sentence, parole might come more easily to the tongue).

MR. SNOW:  Well, keep in mind that there is still — he doesrespect what the judge said, but he also respects what — I think if youtook a look at the trial record, at what the parole commissionrecommended, that what the parole commission recommended was highlyconsistent with what the President thought was an appropriate punishmenthere.

Q    Well, no, they talked about 16-plus months.

MR. SNOW:  No, that is — there’s a range of — what you’re takinga look — this gets very complicated.  You have obstruction of justice,and then you have mitigating factors that bumps it down.  And the bumpdown gets you, according, again, to the parole commission, to an areawhere it would be appropriate, it would be within acceptable guidelinesto have such things as home detention or probation.  Probation issomething that is going to be required in this case.

[snip]

MR. SNOW:  What I said was with the jury system.  But also, whatthe President did is also consistent with guidelines.  You need tounderstand the guideline argument better.  The question is, what are youusing as your baseline?  And the parole commission, which does this fora living, had recommended guidelines —

Q    But they recommended —

[snip]

Q    Does he think prison for perjury is excessive?

MR. SNOW:  — as did a parole board.

Over and over, Snow claims the "parole board" recommended precisely the same punishment that Bush ultimately decided upon, probation (though, as the surprisingly spiney press corpse point out, Snow has to assume that Libby would have been granted every single downward departure floated in the presentencing report).

I find it unbelievably suspicious that Snow is relying so heavily on the PSR to justify Bush’s action–because it appears to have been a complete hack-job, making arguments that embarrassed even Libby’s lawyers. So I’d like to call for publication of the PSR (with redaction of all the personal information save the financial information used to support some of its arguments, as noted below) so we can see the embarrassing logic behind Bush’s current justification for wiping away Libby’s prison sentence.

Is this the Evidence that Libby Knew Plame Was Covert?

I found something nifty today when I was playing around in all my Libby Trial evidence. It’s either evidence that Libby knew Plame was covert … or it’s evidence that OVP went to some lengths to protect Dick and Bush. This involves a rethinking about the exchange from the Libby trial when Fitzgerald questioned Addington about the bogus stamp OVP used on lots of Libby’s notes. Here’s the passage in question:

Q Now, I wanted to talk now focus on the stampabove it that says "treated as crossed out, declassified." Now, is there such, first of all, I want to come back to "treated as," but do you know what it says underneath treated as?

A It says treated as top secret/S.C.I. all in caps…

[snip]

Q What does S.C.I. stand for?

A Sensitive Compartment Information is information that deals with intelligence sources and methods in the President’s executive orclassification. Executive Order 12958 authorizes the Director of NationalIntelligence to put specially sensitive information in a Sensitive Compartment Information. It has entire controls for dealing with that type of information. Fewer people have access to it.

Q Now, the words "top secret" or "S.C.I." are those classifications that are assigned to classified documents?

A Top secret is a classification, and the Sensitive Compartment Information is special accessrule. It is not technically a clearance.

Q What about, have you seen documents, can they be properly classified as treated as top secret/S.C.I.?

A I had never seen a stamp treated as top secret/S.C.I. beforedocuments were produced to me with that stamp on it.

Q Is that in fact a proper classification?

A The present Executive Order on classified national security information doesn’t use that phrase. [my emphasis]

This part I’ve treated before. Fitzgerald has basically gotten Addington to admit that this "treated as" stuff is a bogus classification. Fitzgerald then points out that, on the letter he wrote accompanying this document, Addington explained that the note came to him with the stamp, "treated as Top Secret/SCI" on it.

Q When you transmitted this document to the Government, if could bring up Government’s Exhibit 507, Page 2, Page 1, sorry. If we could focus down to the last paragraph of the page and just, and does that describe the document we just looked at Page 002919?

A I think that was the document number on it, yes.

Then, Fitzgerald tries to get Addington to quantify how many of the documents turned over to investigators included the treated as Top Secret/SCI stamp. Addington refuses to do so.

Q Do you recall seeing any other document in that production that said "treated as topsecret/S.C.I.?"

A I don’t recall, but I don’t know how many documents. I wouldn’t necessarily remember sitting here.

Reverting back to his prior line of questioning, Fitzgerald gets Addington to provide details about who was stamping these documents with the bogus stamp.

Q Just a question yes or no, did you put that marking in there?

A No, sir.

Q Do you know when, how and who did from personal knowledge?

A On this particular page, no. ButI can say that, in the course of production, there were situationsin which I received in production copies of handwrittennotes of Mr. Libby’s that were marked treated as top secret/S.C.I. or treated as secret/S.C.I., various stamps saying treated as someparticular classification. That one, the government came back later and said giveus the originals and the originals were produced. They would not have that marking on it. From that I would conclude that the documents were taken from his file, provided by his staff, Xeroxed and stamped. However, this onelooks like it was stamped right on the original by someone. [my emphasis]

The Off the Record Club Weighs In

Say, does anyone remember the Off the Record Club? It was one of the most interesting details revealed at the Libby trial–that there’s this group of GOP-lobbyist-hacks who meet monthly and serve as an on-call damage control group for the Republicans.

But [Richard] Hohlt‘s more significant role may be his leadership of a secretivesocial group of GOP heavy hitters and, occasionally, White Houseofficials, who convene to smoke cigars and mull over politics. Thegroup’s name: the Off The Record Club. Hohlt is the club’s "keeper ofthe flame," says one participant who, like others contacted for thisstory, didn’t want to be named because it violates the group’s rules.Each month or so for more than 15 years, Hohlt has booked a room at aposh Washington hotel or restaurant and invited the guests for dinner.Among the regulars, according to three participants: fellow lobbyistsKen Duberstein, Charlie Black and Vin Weber. Rove and White House chiefof staff Josh Bolten "have both attended these meetings on occasion,"says a White House spokesperson.

[snip]

The club,participants say, helps the White House with damage control—theyprodded GOP pols to back the president’s post-Katrina cleanup—andthinks up ways to get the party’s message across to the press. [my emphasis]

I haven’t forgotten what the Off the Record Club is. I particularly remember that there is a good deal of circumstantial evidence thatthe leak of Plame’s identity got laundered right through the group. Ken Duberstein set up the meeting between Bob Novak and Richard Armitage and then, when the shit started hitting the fan in the fall, he made some kind of obstructive call to Bob Novak. And Richard Hohlt seems to have pressed Novak to write a story on Plame; once Novak wrote that story, Hohlt gave a copy to the White House, three days before the story’s publication. Right there, right at the heart of the leak case … remarkable. You might call it the "Leak in a Box Club."

emptywheel Explains Again and Again and Again about Obstruction of Justice

Here’s my Guardian column explaining all the involvement of Cheney and Bush in the Plame outing–which explains why Bush didn’t want Libby to lose his ability to refuse to testify.

On June 9, 2003, just one day after his national security advisor,Condoleezza Rice, got beaten up on the Sunday shows for claiming no onein the administration knew that the Niger intelligence was bunk, GeorgeBush expressed concern about the allegations. Scooter Libby passed onthat concern to vice president Cheney. Bush’s concern set off a chainof events that ended up in the outing of a CIA spy, Valerie Plame, andthe indictment and conviction of Scooter Libby.

Yesterday, George Bush attempted to preventthat chain of events from continuing any further. He commuted ScooterLibby’s 30-month sentence. Rather than serving time in jail, Libby willremain free, with a fine and probation as the only remainingpunishments for lying and obstructing a criminal investigation. But thereal effect of Bush’s actions is to prevent Libby from revealing thetruth about Bush’s – and vice president Cheney’s – own actions in theleak. By commuting Libby’s sentence, Bush protected himself and hisvice president from potential criminal exposure for their actions inthe CIA Leak. As such, Libby’s commutation is nothing short of anotherobstruction of justice.

[snip]

There are many unanswered questions about the roles of the president,the vice president, and Libby in the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity.Did Bush really ask Libby to take the lead on all this? Did thepresident declassify Plame’s identity so Libby could leak it to thepress? Did Cheney learn – and tell Libby – that Plame was covert? Thosequestions all point squarely at Bush and Cheney personally. But becauseof Bush’s personal intervention, he has made sure that Scooter Libbywon’t be answering those questions anytime soon.

And here’s a link to my appearance on Democracy Now this morning.

 

75 out of 1131

I will return to the Libby commutation, I promise. But like Josh, I think this IG report is very very important–perhaps as bad as Nixon on steroids.

To review what I presented yesterday just as the Libby thing was exploding, DOD’s IG has released its report on the CIFA and TALON domestic spying program. By far the most disturbing thing is that USNCO, which had a database full of incident reports on the activities of American citizens, seems to have disappeared the entries in that database on November 30, 2005, then disappeared the whole thing in June 2006. The dates are significant because the first date was just two days after Duke Cunningham signed his plea agreement. And the second date was just a month after DOD and HPSCI started investigations into the CIFA/TALON program. Since there is no explanation of how or why the database was destroyed, it sure seems like it may have been hiding data they didn’t want discovered in any investigation.

Today, I’d like to highlight how DOD’s IG justifies the database and avoid claims that the program illegally spied on American citizens. The report states:

Our detailed review of 1,131 TALON reports removed from the CIFA database showed that 263 reports pertained to protests and demonstrations. Of the 263 reports, 157 reports discussed actual actions or events that occurred. Further, 75 of the 157 reports on actual actions or events resulted in reported arrests, required court appearances, violence, destruction, and police intervention. The 75 TALON reports demonstrate that they are necessary to inform local commanders of protests and demonstrations planned for their vicinity for law enforcement and force protection purposes, and not as intelligence information.

The Only Thing Clinton Hid was a Blow Job and a Soggy Cigar

Digby’s all over Tim Noah’s latest idiocy.

Clinton was impeached and he faced the music.  He was tried and acquittedaccording to the rules of the constitution. Bush, on the other hand,just used his plenary power to commute a sentence to cover his own baddeeds and keep one of his own aides from having to pay the price forhis crimes. He has used his power for this one man when he has been the stingiest president in history for pardons and commutations.

There’s just two things I’d add. First, Noah, like everyone else who supports Bush’s commutation, is ignorant of basic facts in the case, and basic facts of law. First, as Team USA demonstrated, the Probation Officer ignored mandatory enhancements when it recommended 15 months to Libby. Once Walton put in the mandatory enhancements, 30 months was in fact the minimum in the range. So Libby, in fact, was sentenced to the minimum recommended sentence for his range. Second, it is not "routine" for someone to get bond pending appeal. Again, as Team Libby demonstrated, Congress has made it clear that the "routine" should be that a convicted felon go straight to prison. Ignorance, Tim, is not a sound basis for a Read more

Some Questions Congress Might Ask

Well, folks, we’re down to congressional remedies and public opinion if we’re going to hold Cheney responsible for outing a CIA spy. To that end, here are some questions I suggest HJC pursue:

Did Bush ask Libby to take the lead in responding to Wilson’s allegations on June 9, 2003? How did Libby learn of Bush’s concerns about the allegations? What did Bush say to Libby? Is this conversation why Vice President Cheney, in October of the same year, effectively said that the President had asked Libby to stick his neck in a meat grinder?

What classified documents did Cheney see when he was at the CIA researching Wilson’s trip? Were any of those documents written by Valerie Plame? If so, did those documents identify Plame by pseudonym or cryptonym, making it clear that Plame was covert?

Did Bush unilaterally declassify Valerie Plame’s covert identity and the CIA report on Wilson’s trip? Did Cheney ask him to specifically?

What did Cheney and Libby mean when they told Craig Schmall, on July 14, 2003, that Bob Novak’s column outing Valerie Plame "wasn’t his problem"? Did they know, already at that point, that it was somebody’s problem?

When and where did Libby tell Cheney that he Read more

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