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Home Front: Politix
Novak's Response to Armitage's "Deception"
2006-09-14
When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week that he was my source three years ago in revealing Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA employee, the former deputy secretary of state's interviews obscured what he really did. I want to set the record straight based on firsthand knowledge.

First, Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he "thought" might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear that he considered it especially suited for my column.

An accurate depiction of what Armitage actually said deepens the irony of his being my source. He was a foremost internal skeptic of the administration's war policy, and I had long opposed military intervention in Iraq. Zealous foes of George W. Bush transformed me, improbably, into the president's lapdog. But they cannot fit Armitage into the left-wing fantasy of a well-crafted White House conspiracy to destroy Joe and Valerie Wilson. The news that he, and not Karl Rove, was the leaker was devastating for the left.
Posted by:Bobby

#9  In fact, I heard him say that on the radio, but only after Scooter got screwed.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-09-14 14:55  

#8  Then he could call the white house and say I told Fitzgerald how told me about Plame, no ?
Posted by: wxjames   2006-09-14 14:54  

#7  IANAL either, but I believe he can order him to keep silent about what he spoke to the Grand Jury about. Failure to do so is obstruction of justice. It makes sense as a way to prevent people from coordinating testimony through the press.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-09-14 13:43  

#6  I am no lawyer, but I don't believe Fitzgerald can order Novack to keep silent. According to what law ?
Posted by: wxjames   2006-09-14 12:57  

#5  Novak was publicly silent at Fitzgerald's order. We don't know what he told Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald never threatened him with the slammer, Judith Miller kept a cell warm for weeks. I suspect Novak and Armitage are the tip of an iceberg. Could be wrong, but it's the only thing that makes Fitzgerald's actions rationally explicable.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-09-14 11:41  

#4  Even though it appears Novak spilled his guts early in the investigation, he remained publicly silent through this whole folly hiding behind his version of “journalistic integrity”. Yet now he chastises his confidential source for not coming forward. Ironically, even Novak would agree that Armitage, as a confidential source, wasnÂ’t under any obligation to do so. In fact, before the public revelation, he said as much on numerous occasions. But because early on some “partisan Democrats” (aka Bush-haters) jumped the gun and made all kinds of unsubstantiated assertions he believes accepted ethical standards should have suddenly changed. For good ole Bob it wasnÂ’t his own silence, or his column itself, that caused “intense pain” or “enabled” false accusations. NopeÂ…it was his source. Novak once again proves himself to be a pompous self-promoting toad void of dignity.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2006-09-14 11:33  

#3  Yes, it says that McCain can't be allowed to win the nomination in '08. I haven't been active in Republican politics beyond making contributions but I might change that if I thought I could have the tiniest chance of helping to keep this guy far, far away from the presidency.
Posted by: Jonathan   2006-09-14 10:06  

#2  now he's a foreign-policy advisor to McCain for his campaign in '08. Sez something, doesn't it?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-09-14 08:45  

#1  "Armitage's silence for the next 2 1/2 years caused intense pain for his colleagues in government and enabled partisan Democrats in Congress to falsely accuse Rove of being my primary source."

I couldn't give so much as a candy-coated crap for Armitage's colleagues in government; and Karl Rove is a big boy and perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

But the real damage cause by Armitage and his ilk is that because of this "Plamegate" nonsense, support for America's cause has been weakened at home and abroad, probably beyond repair; and America's enemies, foreign and domestic, have been emboldened.

Too bad we can't just hang the sonofabitch.



Posted by: Dave D.   2006-09-14 08:42  

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