The Political Chase

Vandehei’s Statement Incorrect

False alarm. Jim Vandehei misspoke last night (see here and here). The Washington Post corrected the statement this morning.

Lawrence, Kan.: Did Jim VandeHei misspeak on Hardball when he attributed Rove’s knowledge of Valerie Plame to Hadley?

Peter Baker: Thanks for the question. Jim informs me he did misspeak. He meant to say chatter between Rove and Libby, not Hadley. That’s the trick with television, it’s hard to correct. Appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight here.

Firedoglake has some commentary related to the error.

Jim Vandehei’s Statements on Hardball

Previously, I noted that Jim Vandehei, of The Washington Post, stated on last night’s Hardball show, that Stephen Hadley told Karl Rove about Valerie Plame Wilson. Hadley is the Deputy National Security Advisor and was (is?) a member of the White House Iraq Group.

MSNBC has finally published the show’s transcript, from which the following is taken:

MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you one thing. One thing watching this thing from a bit of a second-degree look, it seems to me there’s interesting in the dates. The very day, July 12, I believe, that Scooter Libby is accused of telling two reporters about this. That is Matt Cooper and his favorite reporter, Judy Miller.

The day before that, Karl Rove now apparently told Matt Cooper. So, it looks like these two guys were working together to put this story out, right, Jim?

VANDEHEI: That’s always been — it’s always –

MATTHEWS: I mean, just from the looks of it.

VANDEHEI: That’s what it looks like and we do know from the indictment of Scooter Libby that there certainly was a conversation between Libby and Rove where it was mentioned that Bob Novak, no relation to Viveca, was making phone calls and asking about Valerie Plame. And that they discussed it.

We still don’t know exactly where Karl Rove originally learned about Valerie Plame. That’s still one of the mysteries. We know one of them he had heard it from Hadley as just sort of chatter inside the office, but he had learned it earlier from some other place. And we still don’t know where that is.

MATTHEWS: We’ll be right back with Norah O’Donnell and Jim VandeHei.

Jeralyn Merritt and Firedoglake were right.

I have not read the entire transcript; I just confirmed what was quoted in Jeralyn’s post.

More later…

Update: Handehei made a mistake last night. See this post for correction.

Sen. Dorgan Returns Abramoff’s Money

Sen Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is returning Abramoff’s money.

Dorgan received $67,000 in donations from Jack Abramoff and has decided to return it “in response to Associated Press reports that he collected the tribal money around the time he took actions favorable to those Abramoff clients” I wonder why he didn’t return before the AP reports.

Dorgan is the ranking Democrat on Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which is investigating Abramoff and his compadres “business” activitites.

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Investigator Has Evidence of Renditions

The AP reports a Swiss investigator has evidence that prisoners were renditioned to and between European countries. [Emphasis added.]

"Legal proceedings in progress in certain countries seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for any legal standards," lawmaker Dick Marty said in a written report summarizing his investigations so far.

Marty added that "information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries."

He was critical of the United States for not formally denying the allegations. He said he "deplores the fact that no information or explanations" were provided by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who faced repeated questions about the CIA prison allegations on her recent visit to Europe.

Late update: CNN just edited their report to include the following:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced repeated questions about the allegations during her recent trip to Europe but denied that the United States used European airspace or airports to transport detainees to countries where officials believed they would be tortured.

Rice also denied that U.S. personnel engaged in torture, saying that U.S. interrogators abided by the Geneva Conventions.

The U.S. State Department contended as recently as last week that suspected terrorists are not protected by the Geneva Conventions because they are not prisoners of war.

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We’re Winning

Yesterday, George Bush said, "We’re making steady progress."

Reuters at 10:28 a.m.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen assassinated a high- profile Sunni Muslim politician on Tuesday, a stark reminder of dire insecurity two days before Iraqis vote for their first full-term parliament since Saddam Hussein’s fall.  

Reuters at 11:12 a.m.

BAGHDAD - Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their patrol struck a makeshift bomb northwest of Baghdad on Tuesday, the military said in a statement. 

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Scissors and Screwdrivers

I must be an idiot, because I fail to understand this.

A top U.S. security official acknowledged on Monday that small scissors and screwdrivers can be used as weapons aboard aircraft but defended the government’s decision to again permit them on airline flights.

Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for transportation security, responded to an avalanche of criticism. He told a Senate hearing the agency could better spend its time looking for explosives rather than conducting time-consuming searches of carry-on bags for small items that he says no longer pose a threat.

"I am sympathetic to the fears of some passengers and crewmembers who are worried about their personal safety. The fact is that scissors and tools can be used as weapons," Hawley said.

But Hawley countered that there are "thousands of items" that passengers can carry on planes that can be used to harm someone - including pens, pencils, credit cards and soda cans.

"Clearly if someone is intent on causing personal injury, a prohibition on small scissors and tools will not stop them," Hawley said. "It’s not about scissors; it’s about bombs."

Almost 3,000 people died when the World Trade Center crumbled into dust as a result of pocket knives. And, small ones at that. I believe it’s about funding and not about methodology or devices. The TSA doesn’t have sufficient funds or is not allocating funds properly to provide for adequate inspection.

Why did we even bother to have the 9/11 Commission do an investigation?

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Good Example

This is a perfect example of what I noted in the post below. The Justice Department is having crumpets and tea with Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) former chief of staff, Will Brooke. Brooke left Sen. Burns’ office for a position in Abramoff’s firm.

Some Thinking on the Abramoff Graphic

Yesterday I briefly wrote about the Jack Abramoff graphic. The graphic can be misleading and there are many important things missing. First, not everybody listed on the chart is a crook just because they received money from Abramoff. Second, Abramoff had a lot of activity that is not shown on the graphic (shouldn’t be given the nature of the graphic). Third, the graphic is limited to the top 20 beneficiaries that are/were elected officials.

To keep this as simple as possible, it is not illegal to contribute to an individual’s campaign fund, but that is qualified by there can’t be any illegal activity related to it. There cannot be any quid pro quo as a result of the contribution. For example, George Bush receiving funds by no means automatically taints the president. It may not be positive for his public image, simply because of Abramoff’s background. I’m certain there are many people listed on the graphic that have done nothing wrong relevant to laws or ethics policies and guidelines.

The sources of information for this graphic are from agencies where contributions were recorded; it does not reflect money or other gifts (many substantial) that were not reported to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), etc. Moreover, it does not provide information on House or Senate staffers, which is a significant percentage of Abramoff’s woes. Several former and current aides are in serious hot water due to their alleged activities associated with Abramoff.

Finally, the graphic does not come close to portraying how much Abramoff and his partners illegally handled his clients.

The graphic tells a lot, but it’s not representative of the whole and being named on the graphic does not represent guilt by default. I would not want my name on that chart whether I had done anything or not because there are many that will assume absolute guilt by association. Moreover, if I had received contributions from Abramoff, I would be returning those funds, if they had not been returned already.

I wanted to make sure I did not confuse anyone into thinking everybody on the graphic is guilty of a crime. Also, note there are several not on the graphic that have committed crimes.

Stephen Hadley Told Rove About Plame

TalkLeft conveys from Firedoglake that Washington Post reporter Jim Vandehei let the cat out of the bag on Hardball tonight. Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told Karl Rove about Valerie Plame Wilson.

Hardball does not release a transcript until the day after the show runs, therefore it is not available as of this post. The following is copied from Jeralyn’s post (ed. note: reference via Lexis.com). Quoting Vandehei:

We still don`t know exactly where Karl Rove originally learned about Valerie Plame. That`s still one of the mysteries. We know one of them he had heard it from Hadley as just sort of chatter inside the office, but he had learned it earlier from some other place. And we still don`t know where that is.

I watched Hardball tonight, but obviously Vandehei rolled that out during that brief period of time I was comfortably “watching” with my eyelids closed. Jeralyn puts her spin on the logic behind Vandehei’s statement. Check it out while waiting on MSNBC to publish the transcript.

Click here or here for full coverage on Plamegate. A full timeline of the CIA leak is here.

More to follow after reading the transcript or other developments — whichever comes first. If you have any tips, please let us know.

This should raise the buzz index considerably tomorrow. Film at 11:00.

Update: Handehei made a mistake last night. See this post for correction.