Everyone remembers Bob Woodward's very disparaging comments regarding Patrick Fitzgerald's conduct in the CIA Leak Investigation. Well,
Laura Rozen has some interesting thoughts:
I just--was struck-during the time period when Miller was released from jail and we learned more about the kind of free rein she had at the NYT, that who was the one other journalist in America who had that kind of relationship with their paper where they could essentially do whatever they want? And it was Bob Woodward.
Miss Run Amok, meet your soul-mate.
Hang on, it gets pretty intriguing:
Woodward had shown himself to be a far more consummate pro than Miller throughout the years. No doubt. But the thing that struck me, was what I
heard from a Hill source researching another story several weeks back, concerning Woodward's relationship to people in power that, like Miller's, had an almost quasi official or chosen quality to it.It concerned what was obvious to them about Woodward's "Bush at War": that it was
full of highly classified information the Bush administration had apparently passed to Woodward because they thought it would make Bush look good.
Some Senators had actually tried to get this referred to the CIA for another possible investigation, but it didn't go anywhere, because the CIA recognized that someone very high up in the Bush administration had authorized theses leaks to Woodward. (Very high up).
As I understand there is a papertrail about this series of requests and the responses they got...Woodward sort of had a de facto security clearance with the top levels of the Bush Administration.
So there we have it. Mr. Woodward, trading on his very trusted public persona, ingratiates himself with the White House and they in turn show him classified secrets. And IN THIS, THE MOST SECRETIVE ADMINISTRATION EVER. This is Judy Miller all over again, and one has to wonder how the Washington Post is going to deal with this mess.
Woodward's stature is undoubtedly greater than Ms. Miller's. But once again, we have a "journalist" who poses as an objective, ethical icon, who doesn't hesitate to smear Patrick Fitzgerald whenever possible. He called the Special Prosecutor a "disgrace" on Hardball a few months back. He dismissed Fitzgerald's investigation as insignificant on Larry King. And he did all this while withholding important information pertaining to the case.
Hell, even Michael Isikoff, who was on Larry King that night whispered in the talk show host's ear, asking him to ask Woodward what he knew. So many people on this website have criticized Tim Russert and Chris Matthews for asking guests what they knew of the investigation, while they themselves had been called by Fitzgerald, but they didn't trash the Special Prosecutor.
Woodward just hit an all time low. I wouldn't trust anything he had to say after his glowing tome on Bush. I KNOW that he can't be believed about anything with respect to this case.