While You Were Watching Katrina (Village Voice Re: Plame / Congress)

[struggle4progress]

House Republicans derail probes of Plame affair

by Murray Waas
September 16th, 2005 3:10 PM

Republicans on three separate congressional committees this week derailed three formal "resolutions of inquiry" by Democrats that would have required the Bush administration to turn over sensitive information and records relating to the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Had the resolutions of inquiry been adopted, they would have led to the first independent congressional inquiries of the Plame affair, and perhaps even the public testimony of senior Bush administration aides such as Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, and I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, about their personal roles.

As things currently stand, a special prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, continues to conduct a grand jury investigation of Rove, Libby, and other White House officials, but the public has gained scant insight into what, if anything, that inquiry has uncovered.

Votes on all three House committees this week were along strictly partisan lines. The House Select Committee on Intelligence voted 11-9 on Thursday to adversely report H. Res. 418, which would have opened a formal inquiry by Congress of the Plame affair. The House International Relations Committee voted 26-21 against the same resolution one day earlier. And the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-11 on Wednesday as well against launching an inquiry. <snip>

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,waas,67952,2.html

[zalinda]

1. Yeah, but isn't this a good thing?

Didn't Fitzgerald ask that he continue doing his thing without congressional hearings? And, do we trust him?

zalinda

[JanusAscending]

2. NO, I"M SORRY, NOT ALL OF US ARE IGNORING THIS!!!

Maybe you missed the posts yesterday discussing that it was a GOOD THING not to have "resolutions of inquiry" by the congressional committees. The reason being.......if they were to testify, it could possibly be cause to give them IMMUNITY from prosecution!! ( Remember Ollie North?) The prosecuter has requested that the congress not open investigations, as he is only weeks away from completing his.This would jeapordize his case!!! So PATIENCE ALL!!! Let him FINISH BUSHCO for us!! Just hope that when the idiots realize that indictments are coming down, they don't change their minds, and decide to hold them!! SHHHHHHHH!!!

[struggle4progress]

3. Village Voice's article title, not mine

But in more direct response to your remarks: the actual effect of any congressional inquiry depends, of course, on what the congress actually does; in the case you recall, Ollie was explicitly given immunity by congress, at best another example of idiotic behavior by people who should have known better and perhaps simply deliberate congressional collaboration with the criminal thugs who had the run of Reagan's White House.

I must admit I am rather cynical about Republicans as a group, today: I do not consider it likely that the congressional Republicans are killing these investigations for any reason other than that they habitually circle the wagons around Bush whenever the possibility of partisan advantage suggests they should do so.

Not do I believe I have any really good reason to be optimistic about Fitz, no matter how many people gush about how wonderful he is: his circle has apparently been floating trial balloons in recent weeks to gauge public reaction to the thesis that absolutely no crime has been committed, which suggests he has decided against prosecution and is simply seeking an exit strategy.

[Skittles]

4. what's that you say?

do you have any links about those trial balloons? I must say I would be sorely disappointed to think he has taken all this time and he turned out to be a freaking stooge.

[pushycat]

5. I would like to see a link also - here's hoping Fitzgerald is for real..

He must have gathered quite a lot of information by now, and I am interested to know some of it. Sure hope we as a country will benefit from this man's work. Sooner rather than later.

[struggle4progress]

6. A week or two back, there was a great rash of links like the following:

Legal Experts Call Current Law A Poor Fit for Leak Prosecutions

Submitted by editor4 on September 7, 2005 - 2:17pm.
By Christopher Lee
Source: Washington Post

Convictions for leaking sensitive government information to the media are almost as rare as sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Only twice have government employees gone to prison for such misdeeds. And legal experts say prosecutors will have a hard time putting away anyone in the administration for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in the revelation of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.

The bar for breaking the 1982 law is high. Whoever makes the disclosure must know that the person was a "covert agent" and must intentionally reveal the agent's identity to someone not authorized to know it. <snip> http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/911


This is pure spin, of course -- and wanders into the bizarre terroritory of considering embezzlement as the final charge. These stories were promptly followed by a collection of links like the following:

CIA leak probe may be nearing end
Thu Sep 8, 2005 7:18 PM BST

... lawyers close to the investigation say there are signs that the 20-month-long inquiry could be wrapped up within weeks in a final flurry of negotiations and legal manoeuvring ... http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-08T181843Z_01_BAU865896_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BUSH-LEAK.xml


Perhaps I am too cynical, or perhaps I am simply insane, or perhaps I am getting too old to enjoy the emotional roller-coaster of hope followed disappointment, but I am understand these stories as follows: there's pressure for a quick wrap-up, with a surprise twist that will make me slack-jawed with disbelief that these jerks are once again getting away with murder ...

[TheStates]

7. The purpose wasn't to conduct the inquiry.

The purpose was to force the executive branch to be over-seen by congress.

Conyers and the democrats knew the legislation would be blocked on party lines, but they still wanted them to vote on it and the GOP looks awfully defensive and shook up for blocking it. They got their testimonies on record. This is the democratic offensive strategy, going on the full offensive beginning the year 2006 today.

Plus, if for any reason the inquiries were passed through, they could over-see the justice department to find out why the investigation was stalled for so long. And force Ashcroft to testify at a hearing. These were all things they intentionally wanted.