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Jewish World Review Oct. 31, 2005 / 28 Tishrei, 5766 Valerie Wilson investigation: Weird & puzzling By Tucker Carlson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
There's a lot we still don't know about the Valerie Wilson investigation, but here are a few things that strike me as especially weird and puzzling:
How could Scooter Libby have done something so stupid? In his press conference Saturday, Pat Fitzgerald laid out this case: Libby told the FBI and the grand jury that he first heard Valerie Wilson's name from Tim Russert. But, said Fitzgerald, this is a lie. Libby had at least seven conversations about Valerie Wilson in the weeks before he spoke to Russert, including a conversation with Dick Cheney described in hand-written notes that Libby took and then gave to the special prosecutor.
Let's assume Fitzgerald's account is accurate. This means Scooter Libby must have a death wish. There's no other explanation for behavior this reckless and clumsy. Libby is famous as one of the most careful and meticulous lawyers in Washington. He spent years in private practice representing high-power clients like Marc Rich. I had dinner Friday with one of Libby's former clients, who described Libby as "maddeningly precise." Libby is not, in other words, the sort of person who would lie under oath, then hand over notes to the prosecutor revealing his lie.
Yet that is exactly what he appears to have done. Some have said that Libby must have been trying to cover up for his boss, Dick Cheney. But getting caught in a lie this stupid doesn't help Cheney; it hurts him. None of this makes sense. Something else is going on here. I hope we find out.
And here's another thing I find odd: Pat Fitzgerald gave us all a long lecture this afternoon about the grave harm leaks like this do to America. "National security was at stake," he said. But when a reporter asked Fitzgerald how the leak of Valerie Wilson's name had hurt the country, he refused to answer.
No wonder. As Andrea Mitchell reported on MSNBC later, the CIA did a damage assessment after Bob Novak's column on Valerie Wilson appeared. The finding? Apparently the leak did not cause damage to national security.
If Patrick Fitzgerald believes the leak of Valerie Wilson's name constitutes a crime, he ought to indict someone for it. Otherwise, he ought to spare us the lectures.
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© 2005 Tucker Carlson |
Mitch Albom | ||||||||||||
