John Hannah, David Wurmser And Valerie Plame
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Breaking News, The War On Terrorism, WarThe Plamegate story keeps heating up.
New information from Raw Story suggests that neither Rove nor Libby actually leaked Plame’s name. No, they may have ordered subordinates to do it. And I seriously doubt that either Rove or Libby thought the would-be fall guys would turn state’s evidence.
Well, think again guys.
Late Monday, several sources familiar with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s probe said John Hannah, a key aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the architects of the Iraq war, was cooperating with Fitzgerald after being told that he was identified by witnesses as a co-conspirator in the leak. Sources said Hannah was not given immunity, but was likely offered a “dealâ€Â? in exchange for information that could result in indictments of key White House officials.Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney’s office to discredit the agent’s husband. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was one of the most vocal critics of the Iraq war.
[...]
The sources say that Hannah and Wurmser were given orders by senior officials in Cheney’s office in June 2003 to leak Plame’s covert status and identity in an attempt to muzzle Wilson. The former ambassador had been a thorn in administration’s side since May 2003, when he began questioning claims that Iraq was an imminent threat to the U.S. and its neighbors in the Middle East.
Want to hear something weird? This seems to have been foretold by Joe Wilson:
“In fact, senior advisers close to the president may well have been clever enough to have used others to do the actual leaking, in order to keep their fingerprints off the crime,� Wilson writes.“John Hannah and David Wurmser, mid-level political appointees in the vice-president’s office, have both been suggested as sources of the leak …Mid-level officials, however, do not leak information without the authority from a higher level,� Wilson notes.
The Mighty Middle says it for me:
People don’t start rolling over for prosecutors unless there is jail time on the table. They wouldn’t be flipping if Fitzgerald was threatening them with a tongue lashing. Someone is scaring these guys with visions of 8×5 cells and roommates covered in gang tats.
If the above allegations prove to be true, expect this Administration to be rocked at its very foundation. And if the above allegations prove to be true, the architects should pay a hefty penalty.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 and is filed under Breaking News, The War On Terrorism, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 19th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
Why Are We Investigating Leaks?
I thought Watergate and the publication of the Pentagon Papers settled this issue: The public’s right is paramount. Who will answer?
The Moderate Voice? The Left Coaster? Donklephant? Mahablog? Simbaud? Big Brass Blog? DCCC? Anyone?