The Note
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 29 —<br> -- Today's Schedule (all times Eastern):
—8:00 am: Senator Joe Lieberman attends a campaign breakfast fundraiser, New Haven, Conn.—8:30 am: Reverend Al Sharpton participates in the second part of his endorsement interview with the National Education Association, D.C.—9:40 am: Off-camera White House press gaggle with Scott McClellan—11:00 am: Congressman Dennis Kucinich has a breakfast meeting with the members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, Westwood, Calif.—12:00 pm: Reverend Sharpton speaks at the Baptist Minister's Convention, D.C.—12:00 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a campaign fundraising reception, Bridgeport, Conn.—12:00 pm: House convenes for a pro forma session—12:15 pm: On-camera White House press briefing with Scott McClellan—1:00 pm: Senate convenes for morning business—2:00 pm: President Bush meets with members of the 2003 Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, White House—2:30 pm: Senator John Kerry holds an event with the International Association of Fire Fighters, Manchester, N.H.—2:30 pm: Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar holds a press conference to discuss the Iraq supplemental appropriations, Capitol Hill—3:00 pm: Maria Shriver speak to local businesswomen, Santa Barbara, Calif.—3:15 pm: Governor Gray Davis discusses California's healthy families program with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Santa Monica, Calif.—3:25 pm: General Wesley Clark greets supporters gathered for "The General's Assembly" at Woolridge Park, Austin, Texas—3:30 pm: President Bush signs the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, White House—5:00 pm: Governor Howard Dean participates in "Dr. Dean's National House Call," Los Angeles—5:00 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a campaign fundraising reception, Danbury, Conn.—6:30 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a campaign fundraising reception, Old Greenwich, Conn.—8:00 pm: General Clark speaks at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas—8:00 pm: Senator Lieberman attends a campaign fundraising reception, Stamford, Conn.—8:00 pm: Arnold Schwarzenegger holds an "Ask Arnold" town hall forum, Fresno, Calif.—10:00 pm: State Senator Tom McClintock speaks to the Sun City Republican Club, Roseville, Calif.—11:00 pm: Governor Davis participates in a town hall forum sponsored by Univision, Los Angeles
NEWS SUMMARY
Everyone take a deep breath.
The Bush people will say "you don't really mean it," and the Clinton people will say "oh, NOW you say that," but before every member of the Gang of 500 collectively decides to which noun to attach to the suffix "gate," let's slow down and evaluate how you BosWash elites can do the right thing on this Wilson story.
Back when The Note was young, we used to get all jazzed up whenever we saw shoe-is-on-the-other-foot hypocrisy by one party or the other on Washington/White House scandals.
But, over the years, as we have become as wizened as Ed Walsh's pinkie, we raised the bar for what outrages us.
Still, every so often we trot out our "imagine if Clinton did that … " question, and this is such a case.
Remember — revealing the names of agents has been a Daddy Party/Mommy Party split for years, as part of the "national security versus civil liberties" debates of the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
Imagine if a major newspaper reported that the CIA wanted the Clinton Justice Department headed by an attorney general whose former political consultant is now the president's top political adviser to investigate if the White House improperly revealed the name of an agent for apparently political purposes.
We are in the phase of the story in which reporters are mostly going to the Chuck Schumers of the world to let them express moral outrage.
But what happens when the press goes to the Duncan Hunters of the world (long-time defenders of the importance of protecting the names of agents)?
What will Rush Limbaugh say about this?
And will the Democratic Party see this as a "when your opponent is shooting himself in the foot … " situation? Or will they pile on?
It's probably going to remain irresistible to end-of-quarter fundraising presidential Democrats.
As we all know, there are two kinds of White House scandals: those in which the president's party circles the wagons, opposes any investigation, and downplays every aspect of the controversy, and ones in which a Howard Bakerian "what did the president's men do and when did they do it?" question makes it a bipartisan horse of a different color.
If you haven't read the original Wilson/ Washington Post story that escalated this from NBC's Web report on the referral to Justice to the mega position it is in now, read the entire Mike Allen/Dana Priest extravaganza — one of the most memorable pieces of White House journalism produced in the Bush era. LINK
The keyest parts:
"Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife."
"'Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge,' the senior official said of the alleged leak. … "
"The official would not name the leakers for the record and would not name the journalists. The official said there was no indication that Bush knew about the calls."
"It is rare for one Bush administration official to turn on another. Asked about the motive for describing the leaks, the senior official said the leaks were 'wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility.'"
There is more, of course, than the Wilson matter going on. But there is lots more on that below.
There's other trouble brewing for the administration on Iraq, as they try to get the $87 billion approved.
There's that letter from House Intelligence saying we need more humint, broken by the Washington Post ; there's the Washington Post today taking yet another whack at the Cheney Prague-Atta claim; and Doug Jehl's lead New York Times story (which we are sure Judy Miller will read with great interest) suggesting some of the U.S. government Iraqi dissident sources haven't been so accurate.
And on the Democratic side, the kind of bickering to which we have all become inured had quite a weekend.
Gephardt and Kerry versus Dean on Medicare and consistency.
Edwards versus Clark on the profit motive.
Dean versus Clark on Democratic bona fides.
Clark's spokespeople versus Clark's spokespeople on criticizing other candidates.
More on all that below too.
The Democratic National Committee meets in D.C. from Thursday to Saturday, and the presidential candidates are expected to make appearances.
President Bush will meet with members of the 2003 Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils and sign the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act in separate events at the White House today.
On Tuesday, he travels to Chicago for a lunchtime fundraiser and a meeting with business leaders. He also has a another fundraiser in Cincinnati on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, the president meets with the prime minister of Pakistan and later signs the appropriations act for the Department of Homeland Security at the White House.
On Thursday, the president will make remarks at the White House to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month.
On Friday, the president will make remarks on the economy and attend a fundraiser in Milwaukee. President and Mrs. Bush will attend the 2003 National Book Festival Gala at the Library of Congress in D.C. on Friday evening.
General Clark campaigns in Austin, Texas, this morning, where he will attend a fundraiser at the home of advertising executive Roy Spence.
Clark also greets supporters in Woolridge Park in Austin, and he later speaks at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Clark campaigns in D.C. on Tuesday, meeting with congressional members on Capitol Hill.
He campaigns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, attending a fundraiser at producer Norman Lear's house co-hosted by comedian Larry David. He also will campaign with Governor Davis on Wednesday, and possibly appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Senator Kerry holds a press event this morning with members of the International Association of Fire Fighters in Manchester, N.H. He campaigns with nurses in D.C. on Tuesday. He fundraises on Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
He campaigns in Iowa on Thursday. He's back in D.C. on Friday.
Governor Howard Dean participates in "Dr. Dean's National House Call" in Los Angeles today.
He campaigns more in California tomorrow in Riverside and Los Angeles. He is scheduled to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday. He begins a four-day, eight-city "Generation Dean" tour on Friday.
Congressman Gephardt participates in "Gephardt Parties Across America" on Tuesday.
Senator Edwards attends a breakfast fundraiser this morning in Austin, Texas. He attends a meet-and-greet in New York City on Tuesday.
Senator Lieberman fundraises in Connecticut today, in New York tomorrow, and on Thursday in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania. He will attend the DNC meeting in D.C. on Friday.
Senator Graham attends fundraisers in Los Angeles today. He will attend what the campaign calls their largest dinner fundraiser of the campaign so far later in the week at the Biltmore in Miami.
Congressman Kucinich has breakfast this morning with members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Westwood, California.
Reverend Sharpton meets with the National Education Association this morning and addresses the Baptist Minister's Convention this afternoon in D.C. Sharpton celebrates his birthday on Thursday and attends the NAACP of South Carolina meeting on Friday.
Ambassador Moseley Braun is in Chicago today and has no public events announced yet for the week.
In the recall:
Governor Davis meets with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to discuss California's healthy families program this morning in Santa Monica. Later, he participates in a town hall forum in Los Angeles sponsored by Univision.
Lieutenant Governor Bustamante has no public events scheduled for today.
Arnold Schwarzenegger holds an "Ask Arnold" town hall forum today near Fresno. He campaigns in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Maria Shriver will speak to local businesswomen in Santa Barbara today.
State Senator Tom McClintock speaks tonight to the Sun City Republican Club in Roseville, California.
Wilson is more than a volleyball:
This morning, ABC News producer Andrea Owen happened to find herself near Karl Rove (who was walking to his car), and an ABC camera.
Owen: "Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?"
Rove: "No."
At which point, Mr. Rove shut his car door as Ms. Owen asked, "What is your response to the fact that Justice is looking into the matter?"
At the White House gaggle, Scott McClellan said that disclosure "particularly of this nature is a serious matter," and it should be pursued to fullest extent possible. The Justice Department, he said, is the appropriate agency to do that. No information has been brought to the attention of the White House beyond press accounts.
"Should the leaker be fired?," he was asked. On third inquiry Scot said "If a source leaked information of this nature, yes."
As of this morning, the White House hadn't heard from Justice.
It might not be fair and it might not be right, but 480 members out of the Gang of 500 have the same theory about what happened, and The Note's strong belief in the First Amendment makes us duty bound to tell you about this operating premise.
Based on the original Novak story; on the language in yesterday's Washington Post story; on the "kind" of people Novak talks to; on the prophetic warnings of Wayne Slater; and on the fact that CIA agents have memories and the capacity to hold grudges nearly as long as the Bush family — based on all that, here's what people are thinking:
Two White House officials lashed out at Wilson, hoping to smear him in the minds of enough elite reporters to discredit him before his platform grew. They didn't want his wife's name out there in the public domain, so much as they wanted it in the brains of gatekeeping reporters.
Again, it might not be right or fair, but we dare you to find a member of the Gang who doesn't think the Post 's source was someone familiar with George Tenet's thinking.
No one was able to (or probably will be able to) match the Post quotes — so news organizations this cycle were left either ignoring them or quoting them. But make no mistake — it is those quotes that set this story on fire.
Since several of you have asked: the THEORETICAL reason the White House would have had to try to nip Wilson stories in the bud by putting out the fact that his wife is a CIA operative would be to try to discredit Wilson by saying he only got the assignment because of his wife, and that he would have been too captive to the CIA mindset on (read: against) the war.
Wilson on Good Morning America admitted that he got a bit carried away in his froggy speech in naming Rove.
One veteran of the Clinton legal controversies asks all these questions, some of which were addressed at the gaggle:
Has President Bush made clear to the White House staff that only total cooperation with the investigation will be tolerated? If not, why not?
Has he insisted that every senior staff member sign a statement with legal authority that they are not the leaker and that they will identify to the White House legal counsel who is?
Has Bush required that all sign a letter relinquishing journalists from protecting those two sources? Has Bush said that those involved in this crime will be immediately fired? If not, why not?
Has Albert Gonzalez distributed a letter to White House employees telling them to preserve documents, logs, records? If not, why not?
Has Andy Card named someone on his staff to organize compliance? If not, why not?
White House officials who might have legal or political exposure on this are going to have to decide whether to hire lawyers or not, and the White House counsel's office is going to have to decide what legal help they can and should provide to officials if and when the DOJ wants to talk to them.
That means that the '90s practice of every Washington bureau of calling members of the bar to see who has hired whom is about to heat back up. The first one to report someone hiring a criminal lawyer wins a prize, as does the first person who develops that lawyer as a source on all this.
A reminder that students of recusal politics will have to consider the Rove-Ashcroft history: LINK
Note to MSNBC on TV and Nightly producers who were on duty on Saturday: You really should check out the MSNBC Web site — it has good stuff, and sometimes breaks news.
All of today's stories, eating the dust of the Post 's Sunday story:
New York Times : Carl Hulse and David SangerLINK
Washington Post 's Mike Allen, taking a second-day victory lap with a phony lead.LINK
Howie Kurtz on the media angle.LINK
The Wall Street Journal 's Cloud, Hamburger and Fields have a very balanced story.
The Los Angeles Times' Richard Schmitt doesn't advance the story any, but he brings his Los Angeles Times readers up to date. LINK
USA Today : Barbara SlavinLINK
Boston Globe : Mary Leonard and Bryan BenderLINK
Dictionary.com: frog march. LINK
The politics of national security:
Washington Post 's Dana Priest and Glenn Kessler report that Vice President Cheney, "the administration's most vociferous advocate for going to war with Iraq," continues to suggest that an Iraqi intelligence agent met with a 9/11 hijacker in Prague, "the single thread the administration has pointed to that might tie Iraq to the attacks." LINK
"Neither the CIA nor the congressional joint inquiry that investigated the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon found any evidence linking Iraq to the hijackers or the attacks. President Bush corrected Cheney's statement several days later."
"The vice president's role in keeping the alleged meeting in Prague before the public eye is an illustration of the administration's handling of intelligence reports in the run-up to the war, when senior officials sometimes seized on reports that bolstered the case against Iraq despite contradictory evidence provided by the U.S. intelligence community."
The Boston Globe 's Mary Leonard and Bryan Bender write that the White House "scrambled yesterday to answer fresh attacks on the credibility of its case for toppling Saddam Hussein … " LINK
"The CIA defended itself against charges by two congressional critics that there were 'significant deficiencies' in the intelligence community's ability to gather information on Iraq before the U.S.-led war," the AP reports. LINK
The New York Post 's Deborah Orin argues that the Iraq war has strengthened U.S. credibility around the world. LINK
USA Today 's Kathy Kiely previews what's expected to be some heated debate this week on the Iraq reconstruction costs. LINK
