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MoveOn Watch: MoveOn Caught in Deceptive Cover-Up!

The MoveOn e-mail reads “Indicted! White House Caught In Iraq Cover-Up”. Except one thing, the investigation has absolutely nothing to do with Iraq.

Here is the text of the memo that empowered Fitzgerald as to what he can investigate:

Dear Patrick:
At your request, I am writing to clarify that my December 30, 2003, delegation to you of “all the authority of the Attorney General with respect to the Department’s investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA employee’s identity” is plenary and includes the authority to investigate and prosecute violations of any federal criminal laws related to the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, your investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; to conduct appeals arising out of the matter being investigated and/or prosecuted; and to pursue administrative remedies and civil sanctions (such as civil contempt) that are within the Attorney General’s authority to impose or pursue. Further, my conferral on you of the title of “Special Counsel” in this matter should not be misunderstood to suggest that your position and authorities are defined and limited by 28 CFR Part 600.

You can read all the documents from the investigation here, but you’ll quickly notice that whether the administration lied or not has NOTHING to do with this investigation. The investigation is SOLELY in relation to the alleged outing of a CIA agent. Coincidently no one has been charged with that. The motivations for going to Iraq, what was said and not said, what intel might have been twisted, and so on, are no where near the scope of this investigation. At all.

MoveOn, so desperate to spin this is making this investigation something that it is not. Such attempts at deception indicate that they have to resort to deception and lies because they have no other points. They are trying to make a Watergate where it does not exist.

The e-mail is attached with only parts that might identify the email I subscribed with removed.

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Subject: Indicted! White House Caught In Iraq Cover-Up

Dear MoveOn member,

Today, the Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States was
indicted by a federal grand jury.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a Republican appointee, announced
that Lewis “Scooter” Libby lied to a grand jury, lied to FBI agents and
obstructed an investigation into the White House cover-up of the lies that
led our nation to war in Iraq. Libby has now resigned. Top White House
advisor Karl Rove remains under federal investigation.

This is one of the biggest scandals to rock the White House in America’s
229-year history.

But The New York Times reported that the Bush spin machine will resort to
“attacking any criminal charges as a disagreement over legal
technicalities.” [1] The battle over public opinion begins today. We must
remind the country that this scandal isn’t about a “technicality”–it’s
about a White House scheme to cover-up the lies that led our nation into
one of the most deadly foreign policy blunders in our nation’s history.

Can you write a letter to the editor to remind folks that there’s no
graver crime than misleading a country into war, and then covering it up?
Our tool makes it easy to write to your local paper:

Today’s indictment says Libby illegally obstructed the investigation into
the White House outing of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame Wilson.
The ongoing investigation of Karl Rove revolves around the same charge.

So why did the White House leak a CIA agent’s name? To punish her husband,
a former ambassador who had gone public with evidence that the Bush
Administration lied about WMD and nuclear threats in the run-up to war in
Iraq.

Here is a primer on what happened:

The 2003 Bush State of the Union: President Lies About Iraq Nuclear
Capability

* In his January 2003 State Of The Union, President Bush made his case
for war in Iraq. He included this now-infamous 16-word deception about
Iraq’s nuclear capability: “The British government has learned that
Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from
Africa.” [2]
* But the White House had known for nearly a year that this claim was
false. In February 2002, the CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson
to Niger to investigate the unsubstantiated claim that Saddam Hussein
tried to buy uranium from Niger for use in nuclear weapons [3].
* Wilson had discovered that the claims were bogus and documents used to
support the claims had been forgeries. He reported this to the CIA,
and the CIA told the White House [3].

Why Did The President Ignore Wilson’s Findings And Lie? It’s About Iraq

* Why did President Bush use the discredited nuclear claims in his
January 2003 State of the Union Address to make the case that Iraq was
a nuclear threat? They wanted to invade Iraq.
* A CBS News polling report in late 2002 made clear, “there is no
consensus on adopting a pre-emptive strike policy in general–except
where a nuclear attack against the United States is
contemplated…” [4]
* Only well after the war had begun would the Washington Post report on
“a pattern in which President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their
subordinates…made allegations depicting Iraq’s nuclear weapons
program as more active, more certain and more imminent in its threat
than the data they had would support. On occasion administration
advocates withheld evidence that did not conform to their views.” [5]

Wilson Strikes Back–Exposes Bush’s Lie In Lead-Up To War

* Six months after the President’s 2003 State of the Union Address, as
Bush’s WMD and nuclear claims began to unravel, Wilson went public and
exposed the Bush Administration’s false nuclear claims in a New York
Times op-ed [6].
* The full July 6, 2003 op-ed, “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” can be
read here: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1070
* The White House saw Wilson as a major threat. According to the Los
Angeles Times, “Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff was so
angry about the public statements of former Ambassador Joseph C.
Wilson IV, a Bush administration critic married to an undercover CIA
officer, that he monitored all of Wilson’s television appearances and
urged the White House to mount an aggressive public campaign against
him, former aides say.” [7]

White House Retaliates–Outs Valerie Plame Wilson As CIA Agent

* The week after Wilson’s op-ed in the New York Times, “two senior
administration officials” were cited by conservative columnist Robert
Novak in his column outing CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson [8].
* The White House Iraq Group (WHIG), originally formed to sell the war
to the public, “morphed into a virtual hit squad that took aim at
critics who questioned its claims.” [9] WHIG was run out of Vice
President Cheney’s office, and included Cheney’s Chief of Staff
“Scooter” Libby, top Bush strategist Karl Rove, and other top Bush
administration officials.
* Not only did this leak end Valerie Plame Wilson’s 20-year career as a
CIA covert agent, but it also exposed a longstanding CIA front
company, Brewster Jennings & Associates, where Plame worked and put at
risk many of the undercover agents who had worked with Wilson in the
past [10].

Today’s Indictment–White House Official Obstructed Investigation Into The
Lie

* Today’s indictment says Libby illegally obstructed the investigation
into the White House outing of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame
Wilson. He also was charged with perjury and making false statements
to FBI agents. The ongoing investigation of Karl Rove revolves around
the same issues, among possible others.
* Former President George H. W. Bush was right in 1999 when he said, “I
have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by
exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most
insidious, of traitors.” [11]
* Former Republican National Committee Chair Ed Gillespie was right when
he said, “I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of
an undercover CIA operative–it’s abhorrent, and it should be a crime,
and it is a crime.” [12]

The American people must know this important truth: Today’s indictment is
about a cover-up of the lies that led our nation to war in Iraq.

Please write a letter to the editor to remind people that this was crime
against our entire nation, and could not be more serious. This letter tool
makes it easy.

Thanks for all you do.

–Tom, Jennifer, Adam, Carrie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, October 28th, 2005 [1] “Republicans Testing Ways to Blunt Leak Charges,”
New York Times,
October 24, 2005

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1071 [2] “Rice: 16 words dispute ‘enormously overblown,’”
CNN, July 14, 2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1072 [3] “Cast of Characters Grows in CIA Leak Drama,”
Associated Press,
October 24, 2005

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1073 [4] “Poll: Don’t Go It Alone On Iraq,” CBS News,
September 7, 2002

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1074 [5] “Depiction of Threat Outgrew Supporting
Evidence,” The Washington
Post, August 10, 2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1075 [6] “What I Didn’t Find In Africa,” New York Times,
July 7, 2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1070 [7] “Bush Critic Became Target of Libby, Former Aides
Say,” Los Angeles
Times, October 21, 2005

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1076 [8] “Mission To Niger,” syndicated column, July 14, 2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1077 [9] “Prez Iraq team fought to squelch war critics,”
New York Daily News,
October 19, 2005

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1015 [10] “Leak of Agent’s Name Causes Exposure of CIA
Front Firm,” October 4,
2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1079 [11] Remarks By George Bush, 41st President of the
United States, At the
Dedication Ceremony for the George Bush Center for Intelligence, April 26,
1999

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1080 [12] Hardball With Chris Matthews, September 30, 2003

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1078

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Thanks to Wizbang, TMH

October 29th, 2005 Posted by John Bambenek | Law / Legal Issues, Libby, Military / War, MoveOn Watch, National, Plame, Politics | 2 comments