The Political Chase

Meirs Withdrawal?

TalkLeft says Bush gave Senators a way out of nominating Harriett Miers and keep his tough reputation at the same time.

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Speculation on Bush’s Camp David Meeting

I cannot attest to the credibility of what Capitol Hill Blue reports here, but (1) he is direct on some statements that have been generally ambiguous and (2) has info I have not seen reported anywhere else. This is all from the Camp David meeting this weekend.

With indictments expected against Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Richard Cheney’s chief of staff, and possibly White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, Card told Bush that both will have to resign if the administration is to salvage any chance of recovering from the scandal.

“We’re hip deep in this and the sharks are circling,” Card told the President.

According to multiple White House sources, Card laid out a detailed scenario of White House involvement in a staff-directed campaign to destroy administration critic Wilson. That scenario includes:

• A concentrated effort directed by Libby to monitor Wilson’s travel, speeches and activities and develop talking points to attack his credibility and plant false stories about the Ambassador’s activities, statements and motives. Libby’s plan included “outing” Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative. Card told Bush he believes Vice President Cheney was aware of Libby’s activities.
• Approval of the program by Rove who helped spread the information to “administration-friendly” reporters, including conservative columnist Robert Novak and New York Times reporter Judith Miller who has since publicly admitted helping spread false administration-based information claiming the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a claim now discredited.
• Attempts by White House personnel to cover up administration involvement in the Plame affair, including Rove-directed public statements by press spokesman Scott McClellan claiming “no White House official is involved” in the leaking of Plame’s name.

Okay, so (1) Libby is the main guy; (2) Card implicates Cheney; (3) Rove gave political approval and participated in the plan; and (4) McLellan was directed to lie (knowingly or unknowingly).

Assuming the above is true, and written within context, it is implied that George Bush did not know the details of Libby and Rove’s activities, only that they occurred but at a some high level basis. If Bush knew the specifics, then why did Card waste the president’s time reiterating what he already knew.

Comparing Doug Thompson’s (Capitol Hill Blue) statements, with Tom DeFrank’s report a few days ago, something is not right, logic does not apply, there are disconnects, whatever. DeFrank reported Rove told the president about his involvement (detail not provided) in 2003 and that the president has given Rove a hard time for two years. So, either the president did not press Rove for more information, which is hard to believe especially knowing Bush belabored the point for two years, or Rove lied to the president and did not identify Libby as the ring leader and the possibility of Cheney’s interest in the matter.

I do not know anything about Thompson. He did not provide specific references/sources in his piece other than the anonymous variety, therefore faith is his source. Thompson’s background indicates he’s not a newbie to the world of journalism. I would appreciate any additional info others may have.

Greenspan replacement announced

Moments ago, Bush announced he has selected Ben S. Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

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The Law

A few reference items to consider in the interim or afterwards.

• Obstruction of Justice
• Perjury (before grand jury)
• Subornation of Perjury
• False Statement to A Federal Official

Thanks to TalkLeft.

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J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon are Back

FBI Papers Indicate Intelligence Violations

The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some U.S. residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to previously classified documents to be released today.

Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicate that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but are largely hidden from public view.

Letters Show Frist Notified Of Stocks in ‘Blind’ Trusts

From the Washington Post:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was given considerable information about his stake in his family’s hospital company, according to records that are at odds with his past statements that he did not know what was in his stock holdings.

Managers of the trusts that Frist once described as "totally blind," regularly informed him when they added new shares of HCA Inc. or other assets to his holdings, according to the documents.

Things don’t look so well for Senator Frist either.

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Perjury in espionage investigation - just a technicality

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) on “Meet the Press” today said she hoped “that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.” [Emphasis added.]

Just a little technicality — perjury in an investigation of violating the espionage act by the most powerful people in the White House. No big deal.

Russert reminded the Senator, that Republicans viewed perjury related to a sexual escapade as a very big deal.

For the party so committed to “values,” they seem to have a hard time bringing those values to the forefront.

Chalabi to return to the nest

Remember Ahmad Chalabi? If not, here’s a little refresher from Time that was released today.

He was once the Bush Administration’s favorite Iraqi exile. His group, the Iraqi National Congress, provided all sorts of wondrous reports about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (some of which Judith Miller disseminated in the New York Times). He convinced certified hardfellahs like Vice President Dick Cheney that American troops would be greeted in Baghdad with flowers and candy.

Chalabi pulled a big one over Bush and Cheney, especially Cheney. Chalibi wanted Bush and company to send him back to Iraq on angels’ wings and that they did. When that brilliant bunch in Washington finally figured out they had been duped, it was no longer crumpets and tea at the White House for Chalabi. Time’s version:

Wrong, of course. And when the Iraqis proved to be just a bit less welcoming than Chalabi had predicted, and no wmd were found, he fell hard. By the spring of 2004, Chalabi’s home was raided by U.S. forces. His associates were suspected of fraud, torture, kidnapping and misuse of U.S. funds. Chalabi was suspected of spying for the Iranians. But nothing much came of that. Chalabi soon leveraged American disapproval into Baghdad street cred and a burgeoning career as a leader of the Shiite coalition. He currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister in Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s government.

Rove’s soon to be departure will not be the removal of Bush’s brain. He’s already lost it. Chalabi is coming back for a little visit courtesy of Treasury Secretary John Snow.

Lunacy abounds the White House. Here’s the article.

Dobson to Capitol Hill

It looks like James Dobson will  be extended an invitation to spill the beans on his super-top-secret, whispered from the White House, information that imminently qualifies Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.

From the Washington Post:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to summon a leading conservative Christian to explain the private assurances he says he received from the White House about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, the committee’s chairman said yesterday.

Testimony by Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson would heighten the political and religious overtones of the already-high-stakes confirmation hearing for Miers, scheduled to start two weeks from today.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that his panel is likely to require Dobson and perhaps others to testify about such purported conversations. Asked on CBS’s "Face the Nation" whether the committee will "bring some of these people who said they were told things that perhaps they shouldn’t have been told, like Mr. Dobson," Specter replied: "my instinct is that they’ll be called. And the American people are entitled to clarification."

Where’s Liddy when you need him? George has got to do something about all those leaks. Oh yeah, there’s a guy…Fitzgerald I think…he’s probably got a plumber’s wrench in his tool kit.

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