The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Armitage: the odds-on favorite to be the leaker of Plame's identity to Woodward
Tom McGuire of Just One Minute has been relentless in his pursuit of the truth of the Wilson-Plame affair. And, more and more, the culprit who probably leaked to Bob Woodward is looking like former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
See first his post from November 20, in which the case for Armitage is made by Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, and highlighted by McGuire:
Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff of Newsweek review the bidding in the Woodward leak mystery, and single out former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as a likely suspect:
So who is Novak's source—and Woodward's source—and why will his identity take the wind out of the brewing storm? One by one last week, a parade of current and former senior officials, including the CIA's George Tenet and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, denied being the source. A conspicuous exception was former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage, whose office would only say, "We're not commenting." He was one of a handful of top officials who had access to the information. He is an old source and friend of Woodward's, and he fits Novak's description of his source as "not a partisan gunslinger." Woodward has indicated that he knows the identity of Novak's source, which further suggests his source and Novak's were one and the same.
If Armitage was the original leaker, that undercuts the argument that outing Plame was a plot by the hard-liners in the veep's office to "out" Plame. Armitage was, if anything, a foe of the neocons who did not want to go to war in Iraq. He had no motive to discredit Wilson.
Read it all, because in the same post McGuire also delves into motive and opportunity.
Then today, based on another story running in the New York Times, McGuire places even more chips on Armitage being the culprit:
Who leaked to Bob Woodward that Valerie Plame was at the CIA?
The NY Times provides a handy pop-up graphic highlighting denials and folks who are "not telling".
The pretty slim "not telling" list consists of Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State and our leading suspect; David Addington, counsel to the Vice President; and Catherine Martin, former public affairs director.
According to Bob Woodward's editor Len Downie, "the source was one who had been interviewed many times for Woodward's 2004 book", according to Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft.
Hmm. Of the three candidates on offer, who would be the most likely fit? I'm staying with Armitage.
If true, the entire house of cards that Joe Wilson and the Democratic Party has built to attempt to attempt to discredit Karl Rove and others may come tumbling down--as it is revealed that it was one the left's own "soulmates" in the State department who outed poor, poor Valerie.
See first his post from November 20, in which the case for Armitage is made by Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, and highlighted by McGuire:
Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff of Newsweek review the bidding in the Woodward leak mystery, and single out former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as a likely suspect:
So who is Novak's source—and Woodward's source—and why will his identity take the wind out of the brewing storm? One by one last week, a parade of current and former senior officials, including the CIA's George Tenet and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, denied being the source. A conspicuous exception was former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage, whose office would only say, "We're not commenting." He was one of a handful of top officials who had access to the information. He is an old source and friend of Woodward's, and he fits Novak's description of his source as "not a partisan gunslinger." Woodward has indicated that he knows the identity of Novak's source, which further suggests his source and Novak's were one and the same.
If Armitage was the original leaker, that undercuts the argument that outing Plame was a plot by the hard-liners in the veep's office to "out" Plame. Armitage was, if anything, a foe of the neocons who did not want to go to war in Iraq. He had no motive to discredit Wilson.
Read it all, because in the same post McGuire also delves into motive and opportunity.
Then today, based on another story running in the New York Times, McGuire places even more chips on Armitage being the culprit:
Who leaked to Bob Woodward that Valerie Plame was at the CIA?
The NY Times provides a handy pop-up graphic highlighting denials and folks who are "not telling".
The pretty slim "not telling" list consists of Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State and our leading suspect; David Addington, counsel to the Vice President; and Catherine Martin, former public affairs director.
According to Bob Woodward's editor Len Downie, "the source was one who had been interviewed many times for Woodward's 2004 book", according to Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft.
Hmm. Of the three candidates on offer, who would be the most likely fit? I'm staying with Armitage.
If true, the entire house of cards that Joe Wilson and the Democratic Party has built to attempt to attempt to discredit Karl Rove and others may come tumbling down--as it is revealed that it was one the left's own "soulmates" in the State department who outed poor, poor Valerie.
