The BRAD BLOG

Many are now speaking of the '12-Hour Gap' between the time White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales was told by the Department of Justice about the official investigation into the unprecedented outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame and the time he "officially" notified the White House to preserve all documents relating to the investigation.

We now know, of course, that Gonzales first told White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card about the investigation the night before he gave "official" notice to the White House, thus giving them a full 12 hours heads-up before "shredding" evidence would be in official violation of the DoJ order.

Since that matter came to light on Sunday, we've also learned the '12-Hour Gap' was as likely a full '3-and-a-half Day Headstart', since MSNBC had reported on the investigation some 84 hours prior to Gonzales' giving "official" notice to the White House.

And today, we're now reminded, vis a vis a letter from several Judiciary Committee Democrats, that the DoJ had actually spent a total of 67 days before answering the official CIA request for an investigation into the matter!

Back in February of '04, Josh Marshall reported on a letter sent by the CIA on January 30, 2004 in reply to Rep. John Conyers' (D-MI) request for information related to the outing after he had requested the DoJ appoint a Special Prosecutor in the matter (eventually, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to the case).

Today, Conyers and nine other Democratic members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the DoJ's Inspector General, Glenn A. Fine, asking for an investigation into both that '12-Hour Gap' and what appears now to have been a full 67 Day Gap between the time the CIA had first requested a DoJ investigation, and the time the DoJ actually began one!

In today's letter to DoJ Inspector General, Glenn Fine, the Congressional Democrats point out that Gonzales did not follow the practice for such matters (Jesse of Stakeholder has the full text of the letter):

For example, this twelve hour head start is a clear and troubling departure from Department practice. When White House contacts with Enron became essential to that investigation, then-Deputy Attorney General Christopher Wray immediately directed the White House to preserve all e-mails, memos, notes, letters and other documents from Enron employees or "any individual acting officially or unofficially, directly or indirectly on behalf" of the company. Less than an hour after receiving the directive, Mr. Gonzales issued an "administrative alert" directing officials to comply.

Equally as disturbing, however --- perhaps even more so --- is the information detailed in the letter concerning the DoJ's footdragging after being notified by the CIA of the outing of a covert agent! (A copy of the entire original letter from the CIA to Conyers from January 2004, detailing the following, is at the end of this article).

The key points on this are outlined in today's letter:

1. On July 24, 2003, a CIA attorney left a phone message for the Chief of the Counterespionage Section of the Department of Justice noting his concern with recent stories apparently exposing the identity of Valerie Plame, an employee of the agency working under cover. There was apparently no response from the Department.
2. On July 30, 2003, the CIA reported to the Criminal Division of the DOJ a possible violation of criminal law concerning the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. There was apparently no response from the Department.

3. The CIA again transmitted their concerns by facsimile on September 5, 2003.

4. On September 16, in accordance with the Agency's standard practice in these matters, the CIA advised the Department that it had completed its own investigation of the matter, provided a memorandum setting forth the results of the investigation and requested that the FBI undertake a criminal investigation of the matter.

5. Finally, on September 29, 2003-sixty-seven days after the initial concerns were expressed by CIA employees --- the DOJ responded and advised the CIA that the Counterespionage Division had requested that the FBI initiate an investigation of this matter.

Thus, it appears, that not only did DOJ personnel countenance a 12-hour delay in notifying White House staff to preserve all records (while the White House Chief of Staff was given a heads up of the existence of the investigation), but that the DOJ also appears to have ignored repeated entreaties from the CIA to initiate a law enforcement investigation into this matter several months before hand. We would therefore urge you to examine the extent that this course of conduct and other delays by the Department are consistent with standards of prosecutorial conduct and integrity.

And here is a copy of the original letter sent from the CIA's Director of Congressional Affairs, Stanley M. Moskowitz to John Conyers in response to his initial inquiry...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

FLASH UPDATE: Jim Marcinkowski just added to guest list for tomorrow night's BRAD SHOW!

Jim Marcinkowski, former CIA case officer, gave some remarkable testimony at today's Joint Democratic House/Senate Hearings on Karl Rove's TreasonGate. He described the leak about Valerie Plame's identity and its subsequent coverup by the White House as "a disservice to our country," resulting in an "increase in the risk to the people of the United States."

Blasting those attempting to protect themselves with attacks on Ambassador Joe Wilson and others trying to sound the alarm bell about what this Administration has done, Marcinkowski said those who would "shine up your American Flag lapel pin and fix your patriotism to your sleeve, [should] think about what impact your actions are gonna have on the security of the American people."

The resulting message he says is sent around the world: "Politics in this country does indeed trump National Security."

Crooks and Liars has the video of his testimony.

ConyersBlog has more details on today's proceedings.

Here are a few of the stunning key passages from Marcinkowski's testimony:

Each time the leader of a political party opens his mouth in public to deflect responsibility, the word overseas is loud and clear: Politics in this country does indeed trump National Security.

Each time a distinguished ambassador is ruthlessly attacked for the information he provides, a foreign asset will contemplate why he should risk his life when his information will not be taken seriously.

Each time there is perceived a "political success" in deflecting responsibility by debating or re-debating some minutiae involved in this case, such actions are equally effective in undermining the ability of this country to protect itself against its enemies because the two are indeed related.

Each time the political machine, made up of primetime patriots and partisan ninnies display their ignorance by deriding Valerie Plame as a mere "paper pusher" or belittling the varying degrees of cover used to protect our officers or continuing to play partisan politics with our national security, it's a disservice to this country.
...
So may fool the American public by distracting minutiae, but your not doing it for people overseas. They know better.

Those who would advocate the "I'm okay, you're okay" politics of non-responsibility should think about the impact of those actions on our foreign agents.

Non-responsibility means: "We don't care." Not caring means a loss of security. A loss of security means the loss of an agent. The loss of an agent, means the loss of information. The loss of information means an increase in the risk to the people of the United States.

There's a very simple message here: Before you shine up your American Flag lapel pin and fix your patriotism to your sleeve, think about what impact your actions are gonna have on the security of the American people.

Think about whether your partisan obfuscation is creating confidence in the United States in general and in the CIA in particular. If not, a true patriot would just simply shut up.

Those who take pride in their political ability to divert the issue from the fundamental truth, ought to be prepared to take their share of responsibility for the continuing damage done to our national security.

When this unprecedented act first occurred, the President could have immediately demanded the resignation of all persons even tangentially involved. Or at a minimum he could have suspended the security clearances of those persons and placed them on administrative leave. Such methods are routine across the country in every police department in every American citizen understands that.

That would have at least sent the right message around the globe that we take the security of those risking their lives on behalf of the United States seriously.

Instead, we have flooded the foreign airwaves with two years of inaction, political rhetoric, ignorance and partisan bickering.

That's the wrong message.

In doing so, we have not lessened, but increased the threat to the security and safety of the people of the United States. And we've done since the time of this first breach of trust.

I thank you.

UPDATE: Looks like David Corn also has both the transcript and additional info and thoughts on today's hearings.

RAW STORY has the testimony from Valerie Plame's CIA colleague Larry C. Johnson who sets out to "correct a malicious and disingenuous smear campaign that has been executed against a friend and former colleague, Valerie (Plame) Wilson."

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