A week ago we learned about new evidence confirming that Richard Cheney directed the Bush administration's disclosure of Valerie Plame's covert CIA status…..
A document filed in federal court this week by the Justice Department offers new evidence that former vice president Richard B. Cheney helped steer the Bush administration's public response to the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's employment by the CIA and that he was at the center of many related administration deliberations.
The administration's discussion of Wilson's link to the CIA was meant to undermine criticism by her husband of administration allegations that Iraq attempted to acquire uranium, a matter that her husband had probed for the CIA, according to testimony presented in a 2007 trial.
A list of at least seven related conversations involving Cheney appears in a new court filing approved by Obama appointees at the Justice Department.
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The declaration also said Cheney had helped resolve disputes about "whether to declassify certain information," including portions of a National Intelligence Estimate related to Iraqi weapons programs that Libby leaked to then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
And now today, the NY Times headlines this…"Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of CIA Project"
The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
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The disclosure about Mr. Cheney’s role in the unidentified C.I.A. program comes a day after an inspector general’s report underscored the central role of the former vice president’s office in restricting to a small circle of officials knowledge of the National Security Agency’s program of eavesdropping without warrants, a degree of secrecy that the report concluded had hurt the effectiveness of the counterterrorism surveillance effort.
Taking a wild guess……doesn't it look like when it comes to illegal and potentially illegal behavior coming out of the Bush White House that The Dick is in the center of all of it?
It's being said that the "secret counterterrorism program", knowledge of which was kept from Congress by Cheney for 8 years, was an Assassination program, which, if true, would be yet another illegal and secret program either planned or perpetrated by the Terror Twins.
I know that nothing will come of any of this information. Nancy Pelosi tipped us off early about the extent of the rot on Capitol Hill when she said repeatedly during the Bush regime, "impeachment is off the table." The "change" president, Barack Obama, is doing everything in his power to help conceal Bush/Cheney crimes…so we can all look "forward" rather than backward.
At this point, I don't believe that any forthcoming evidence would make a bit of difference. The skeletons of Bush and Cheney's neighbors could be found in their closets with signed confessions by the Terror Twins attached to the rib cages……and no criminal investigation or criminal charges would result.
We're at a dangerous crossroads in American history. Similar events during the Nixon administration led to a presidential resignation to avoid prosecution. That was a different time. Yes, we had partisanship then too….but there were Congressional representatives that possessed character and integrity.
It is truly bizarre to see the amount of evidence now out in the open that indicts Bush and Cheney….and yet not one move by anyone to hold these two very obvious criminals to account for their actions.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
On the Plame stuff – How can you call it "overwhelming evidence" when we don't even know what the evidence is ? Those conversations remain secret. But we have known for years that Cheney wanted to discredit the liar Joe Wilson. That isn't new.
On the concealment of the unstated CIA program – I read that the program was only in the development stages and wasn't ever implemented. I'm sure the CIA doesn't inform Congress about everything they are thinking of doing. They should only inform Congress of what they are doing or what they are about to do. That could explain the whole thing, but I still want more info.
What you failed to mention is that the Obama administration is on board with the same policies of secrecy. Obama is even threatening his first veto over expanding CIA briefings to Congress. Nothing has changed.
Correct. Lawlessness in the federal government has been institutionalized.
oh yes rev it is lawless to protect the country. It is the job of the president to do so-that is propect us.It is easy to say during campaigns how evil the incumbent government is so corrupt and evil UNTIL the candidate becomes the new incumbent. The copperheads during the civil war liked doing the same thing. What will you liberals do if we are hit again-lets just welcome the enemies of our country to govern us.Those new governors will jail or execute LIBERALS first.
"It's being said that the "secret counterterrorism program", knowledge of which was kept from Congress by Cheney for 8 years, was an Assassination program, which, if true, would be yet another illegal and secret program either planned or perpetrated by the Terror Twins."
I know you weren't trying to spread things that weren't true Rev. You weren't sure about the facts but in true MSNBC form. You were "just sayin", right. You and I both know how the media distorts things. We need truth not back fence gossip.
Doesn't Kings theory have just as much validity as your conspiracy theory? In fact it make more sense. If you have a manager in your business he doesn't always bring all of his ideas to the boss. But in MSNBC fashion you have found the "twins" guilty without all of the evidence. If the evidence comes out then prosecute them, but wait until we are sure before making insinuations.
Good thoughts Martin.
Mr. King,
Perhaps it would be helpful if you could explain why you call Joe Wilson a liar. You must know that he is a honored diplomat with first hand knowledge of the region. The "yellowcake" document he was investigating was such a poor forgery that it even had the wrong names "signed". As we know now, the administration was willing to torture people for the rationale of invading Iraq. Outing a CIA agent is just more of the "dark side" that Cheney was working.
Martin and averagejoe5,
If you can still believe that the Bush administration was "protecting the country", I feel for you. You are either among the most naive people on the planet or so scared you can justify anything.
This is untrue….
" I read that the program was only in the development stages and wasn't ever implemented."
You may have read a lot of things. Panetta had to shut the program down immediately upon discovering it. That's not in dispute. What that means is that the Assassination program was still fully operational, awaiting a call from the President.
Withholding that from Congress is a felony. Attempts to cover-up a felony are crimes of obstruction of justice. And that's only on this one charge.
And average….almost all of this stuff has been known for 7 or 8 years now, I heard about the assassination program a long time ago. But even now with the evidence coming out to corroborate the long known about program, you still don't believe it. What I'm telling you is what Panetta said and did. What King is telling you is spin.
I haven't read anything that said it was "fully operational," Reverend. I also don't see how a VP helping steer a "public response" to any controversy or being at the "center of deliberations" is shady in any way.
You've still got nothing.
You start your lawnmower when given the okay to do so. The f*cking lawnmower is "fully operational" even though you haven't cut one f*cking blade of grass.
In order to take the f*cking lawnmower out of "fully operational" mode, you must shut the lawnmower the f*ck down.
Replace lawnmower with the assassination program and Cheney starting the lawnmower. Panetta shut the mower off. Should be good to go.
And your "public response to any controversy"…..response is a bit rich. Joe Wilson scared Cheney when he told the truth in the op-ed. Cheney knew Wilson's wife was CIA. Cheney got Junior to declassify material which Libby leaked to the press resulting in the outing of Valerie Plame. The CIA said she was covert…..and you guys say the CIA never lies, so…
And, that's not a "public response". That's a crime. Fitzgerald said openly that Libby obstructed his investigation and placed a "cloud" over the entire VP's office.
The f-word only detracts from whatever point you're trying to make, Reverend. And if you're trying to appear macho, using the asterisk undercuts your purpose as well.
When I wrote "public response" I was simply quoting the "overwhelming evidence" you provided. You're right–as overwhelming evidence it is a joke.
Cheney never started any lawnmowers as far as I can tell. I think you need to come up with something that sticks to the ribs, as they say.
Rev,
We now know that the CIA program to take out Al Qaeda leaders with special-ops forces was never used, and was only brought up in internal discussions from time to time. The more I hear about this, the more I think it's a much-ado-about-nothing manufactured political mini-drama. From what I read today in the WSJ, several CIA officials think the same thing. At this point, I'm wondering more about why Panetta cancelled the program out-of-hand the first day he heard about it than I am about why Congress wasn't informed. According to the WSJ, the CIA was instructed to inform Congress if it was decided the program would be used.
I wonder if Congress is briefed before every one of those Predator drone strikes inside Pakistan ?
We have now heard what the CIA spin will be. That's what we've heard.
It's ridiculous to say that the "program" was about killing al-Qaeda guys….we are at war with al-Qaeda. That explanation is a diversion.
Panetta wouldn't have ended the program immediately…if the program was about killing al-Qaeda guys.
The program was about political assassinations including Americans.
Wheee!
lol, larry, your post captured my thoughts exactly when I read the Rev's post.
Huzzah!
Let's see….the AUMF to go after al-Qaeda passed 8 years ago….and as far as I know, it's still in effect.
So Whee and Huzzah think when neo-con protecting apologists say that Cheney's secret assassination program targeted al-Qaeda members, that's the final word and any other explanation is just silly.
What sense would it make to keep an assassination program against al-Qaeda leaders secret and hidden from Congress…..when Congress had already authorized the killing and capturing of al-Qaeda members?
That's right, it doesn't make any sense.
I can't figure out who is more dishonest…..the neo-con Republicans who committed the treason….or those who sit back and giggle, hoping the neo-cons get away with all their crimes.
I remember the pentagon program called Able Danger. That fell off the radar in a nano-second
You just provided a very good justification for not telling Congress about it, Reverend–they had already authorized it.
Do you think FDR was right when he said he would make the decision and let congress catch up later?
average….That's why the Act of 1947 was passed that's still in effect today, making it illegal to withhold secret stuff from Congress.
larry….I provided a good justification for the Cheney secret program NOT consisting of assassinations of al-Qaeda. There's more to it than that.
It's clear at the executive branch level……conservatives think presidents are above any existing law, liberals don't. With the exception of blowjobs.
Rev says, "The program was about political assassinations including Americans."
And off we go, to infinity and BEYOND !!!
Crackpot conspiracy theory #1235.
Rev calls it silly to think that the program that gets leaked was meant to do what it was designed to do.
It's NOT silly to think that if the program is designed to kill Al Qaeda, that it actually is meant to assassinate Americans.
Rev, did you hear that NASA just erased all the moon landing tapes because they were afraid we'd find out that it was all faked?!
Our military and intelligence people were given the go-ahead to kill al-Qaeda members with the Authorization to Use Military Force resolution which passed Congress quickly after 9-11. I don't think there's any disagreement on that.
It is not credible, therefore, to think that Cheney's secret program was intended to only kill al-Qaeda members. That would have been redundant.
The program Cheney ordered is still classified….we only know that it existed and Congress didn't know about it.
Spin is everywhere, naturally, but from my reading, it looks like Cheney had an assassination group designated to target ANYONE, including Americans who were "terrorist supporters."
We'll probably never be allowed to find out the truth. State secrets and all.
Lol, what were you reading?!
Everything.