In light of the
latest leak and the
almost latest leak, I wanted to go over all this once more with an eye to what was going on with Rove's conspiracy buddies.
Here, Texas Democrat and I and a few others have been working on Hadley, and I wanted to give an overview with the new info -- hopefully it will trigger some connections. This builds on
Volvo Liberal's diary, and I also want to note the comments of drsmith131 there, and pollyusa on terri's thread, who are way perceptive.
Update [2005-7-16 9:56:46 by MarkC]: I've added lilnubber's BBC story to 7/9/03, which shows that CIA began the concerted attack earlier. Clearly, 7/9/03 is the day that the fan really started getting hit. Update [2005-7-16 13:45:3 by MarkC]: drsmith131's correction added
[timeline after fold]
Below is a timeline of reporting about Hadley and the implosion of the SOTU claims about Yellowcake. There are several new things to watch for:
- There is a leak war going on between elements in the WH and the CIA. The major battles in that war are Wilson's article, Tenet taking responsibility for the SOTU, Hadley taking responsbility for the SOTU, and Tenet requesting the DOJ investigate Novak's leak.
- By not looking at the Plame "outing" in isolation, but instead in its political context, the motive behind it (and who may have done it) is potentially clearer. In particular, in the context of the battle against the CIA, the leak was likely part of a strike at the CIA itself.
- Judith Miller actually does co-write an article that deals with these issues. She may still have spread the information, of course, but contrary to what I've always read, there is some reporting that she might be refusing to reveal sources about.
- The State Department memo seems to have been background on Wilson developed after Kristoff's May 2003 column. It gets circulated at the WH and then shopped to reporters when WHIG needed to answer the Wilson piece.
2/2002 Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger
10/7/2002 Tenet gets Hadley to remove reference in a Bush speech to Hussein trying to buy uranium in Africa
1/28/03 Bush gives SOTU with the 16 words: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
5/6/03 Kristof vaguely mentions Niger mission in New York Times column
6/10/03 State Department memo written for under secretary of state for political affairs that identifies Plame as CIA
6/12/03 First public report on Wilson's trip, Wilson later identified as source
Walter Pincus, "CIA Did Not Share Doubt on Iraq Data; Bush Used Report Of Uranium Bid"
The Washington Post
"...the CIA in early February 2002 dispatched a retired U.S. ambassador to the country to investigate the claims, according to the senior U.S. officials and the former government official, who is familiar with the event. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity and on condition that the name of the former ambassador not be disclosed."
7/6/03 "What I Didn't Find in Africa" by Joseph Wilson published in The New York Times
7/7/03 Most of White House goes to Africa, Armitage makes sure Powell has copy of INR memo of 6/10/03
7/9/03 WH damage control in full swing, first report in press of Wilson's visit that reflects discussion by WH, Rove confirms Plame identity to Novak
Alden, Dinmore, Harding and Wetzel, "Bush under fire over Niger uranium connection"
Financial Times
A picture also emerged yesterday of how a special envoy's investigation showing that there was no truth in the Iraq-Niger reports were overlooked by the Bush administration. Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador, went last year to Niger at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency to assess the reports of an attempt made by Iraq to buy uranium. He reported back to the CIA that the reports appeared to be false.
People in the Bush administration say that George Tenet, the director of Central Intelligence, had been unaware that Mr Wilson was sent to Niger and senior figures at the National Security Council, such as Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser and her deputy Stephen Hadley, did not see the reports containing his conclusions.
Update [2005-7-16 9:56:46 by MarkC]:
via lilnubber, the BBC is also getting CIA leaks designed to place the blame firmly on the WH:
But the CIA official has said that a former US diplomat had already established the claim was false in March 2002 - and that the information had been passed on to government departments, including the White House, well before Mr Bush mentioned it in the speech.
But a former US diplomat, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, went on the record at the weekend to say that he had travelled to Africa to investigate the uranium claims and found no evidence to support them.
Now the CIA official has told the BBC that Mr Wilson's findings had been passed onto the White House as early as March 2002.
7/10/03 Rockefeller accuses Rice and Hadley of forcing Tenet to take blame
Alden and Harding, "Bush aides 'never aware' CIA envoy found Niger reports untrue"
Financial Times
The top people at the National Security Council were also said by a White House official to be ignorant of Mr Wilson's findings. Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, her deputy, and Bob Joseph, the director for counter-proliferation, did not see Mr Wilson's findings, the official said.
Democratic Senator John Rockefeller of Virginia, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said yesterday that Mr Tenet and the CIA "have been made to take the fall to shield the President and his advisers". The very public role of Ms Rice in putting the blame on Mr Tenet was "dishonourable", he said in the Los Angeles Times, adding that he guessed she "had a lot more to do with this mistake than Tenet did".
7/11/03 Cooper talks to Rove on "double super secret background" then Rove reports to Hadley that he has fended off Cooper. This, as Tenet officially takes blame for failing to adequately vet SOTU
NB:Tenet reneges on this in front of a Senate committee on 7/16/03, and it turns out that Alan Foley was the CIA officer who agreed to the "According to the Brits" compromise language
7/13/03 Source reveals October speech revision that proves CIA had warned White House earlier, Senior official leaks Hadley as WH sacrifice
Pincus and Allen (w/Milbank credit) "CIA Got Uranium Reference Cut in Oct.; Why Bush Cited It In Jan. Is Unclear"
The Washington Post
Tenet argued personally to White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley, that the allegation should not be used because it came from only a single source, according to one senior official. Another senior official with knowledge of the intelligence said the CIA had doubts about the accuracy of the documents underlying the allegation, which months later turned out to be forged.
Administration sources said White House officials, particularly those in the office of Vice President Cheney, insisted on including Hussein's quest for a nuclear weapon as a prominent part of their public case for war in Iraq.
Officials said three speechwriters were at the core of the State of the Union team, and that they worked from evidence against Iraq provided by the National Security Council. NSC officials dealt with the CIA both in gathering material for the speech and later in vetting the drafts.
7/14/03 Novak leaks Plame identity, says administration officials claim Wilson's wife sent him
Novak: "The Mission to Niger"
Chicago Sun Times
Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me his wife suggested sending Wilson to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him.
O'Clery "Tenet considers position over Bush 'mistaken' claim"
The Irish Times
Administration officials acknowledged at the weekend that Mr Tenet had personally intervened with the White House in October to remove similar language from a speech Mr Bush delivered in Cincinnati on October 7th.
On that occasion he spoke with Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, to warn him against having Mr Bush declare that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium from Niger, the officials said.
7/15/03 Tenet continues offensive trying to focus blame on Rice and WHIG
Priest and Milbank (w/Pincus credit) "President Defends Allegation On Iraq; Bush Says CIA's Doubts Followed Jan. 28 Address"
The Washington Post
Rice was asked a month ago about Bush's State of the Union uranium claim on ABC's "This Week" and replied: "The intelligence community did not know at the time or at levels that got to us that there was serious questions about this report." But senior administration officials acknowledged over the weekend that Tenet argued personally to White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley, that the allegation should not be used in the October speech, four months before the State of the Union address.
CIA officials raised doubts about the Niger claims, as Tenet outlined Friday. The last time was when "CIA officials reviewing the draft remarks" of the State of the Union "raised several concerns about the fragmentary nature of the intelligence with National Security Council colleagues," Tenet's statement said. "Some of the language was changed."
7/22/03 Update [2005-7-16 13:45:3 by MarkC]: drsmith131 notes that Hadley takes responsibility for ignoring CIA memos, see [WH http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030722-12.html] website.
7/23/03 Miller contributes to New York Times story that relates how on 7/13 the White House "fingered" Tenet
Sanger with Miller "National Security Aide Says He's to Blame for Speech Error"
The New York Times
The deputy adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, a critical behind-the-scenes player in the Bush White House, told reporters that while he received the memorandums before the president gave a speech about Iraq in October, he had no memory of the warning three months later when the issue came up again in the State of the Union address. He said the two memorandums had been discovered in the last 72 hours.
Looking shaken, he said, "I should have asked that the 16 words be taken out" of the State of the Union address, and added, "I failed in that responsibility."
Mr. Hadley's account of events today once again shifted the White House explanation of events. Two weeks ago, Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, said the C.I.A.'s concerns about the quality of the intelligence before Mr. Bush's October speech in Cincinnati were resolved by changing the president's language in the State of the Union address.
Today Mr. Hadley said, in fact, that nothing had been resolved. Had he recalled the warnings describing "some weakness in the evidence," the line would have been stricken, he said.
Mr. Hadley's acceptance of the blame seemed likely to fuel the calls for an investigation in Congress. But it also appeared to be part of an effort to end an open feud between the C.I.A. and the White House over who was responsible for the State of the Union imbroglio. Ten days ago the White House fingered the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, who accepted partial blame the next day in a statement that said he had never read the draft of the speech that was sent to him.
So that's the saga with a focus on Hadley's group vs. CIA as seen through the eyes of the Washington press corps that have had to testify about the leak. Now, I'm not saying that Hadley did it, but submit that it looks like he could be being offered up as the scapegoat for the second time by Rove. I'm also not saying that the Miller story is reason she is in jail, but there are interesting references to a leak (the White House "finger" on the CIA) that might have been broader than simply the info reflected in the story.