Not too long ago, faithful Lib Lib commenter and True Believer johnh tripped over here to do the Happy Dance over Richard Armitage's admission that he divulged Valerie Plame's identity in a press conference.
However, wingnut triumphalism notwithstanding, the admission (disclosed in Isikoff and Corn's book Hubris ) isn't necessarily the blanket exoneration that is being trumpeted through all the standard outlets. The fine folks at Firedoglake and in particular, emptywheel at The Last Hurrah (who will be publishing a book on the debacle early next year, just in time to keep the miscreants straight for the beginning of the Libby trial) have been keeping much closer, more exacting tabs on the sitch, better than this poor beleagured overworked building-drawer could. emptywheel, in particular, is expressive and succinct:
The cocktail weenie class is still claiming that Armitage's recent confession means that Patrick Fitzgerald's whole investigation is now meaningless. So McCaffrey the MilleniaLab, who likes to clear brush as much as our President, will help me explain it really simple-like, so even the cocktail-weenie intoxicated can understand. There are three reasons why Armitage's confession doesn't affect the value of Fitzgerald's investigation.
- There is ample evidence that Scooter Libby conspired to expose Plame's identity
- There is ample evidence that Libby's lies serve one primary purpose--to hide the fact that Dick Cheney was personally involved in--and may have authorized--the leak of Plame's identity
- Armitage was not the source of the most important information Novak published when he outed Plame
Besides that, as pointed out above, The Scoots has been indicted not for the leak, but for perjury regarding the leak- which you Repubs felt strongly enough eight short years ago to insist that 'even the President is not above the law' (not that I'm arguing he should be, I'm just pointing out that if you felt that perjury by the Pres about a consensual sexual relationship is prosecutable, you certainly should feel that perjury about National Security issues should be pursued).
Novak, in particular, has latched onto the Armitage admission like the vampire he is (changing his story for the fourth or fifth time, depending on how you count), hoping to muddle the fact that he published information about Plame that Armitage didn't- couldn't - have given him.
But ultimately, Armitage being involved doesn't really change the essence of the crime. Conspiracy, you see, is defined by the involvement of more than one person. Armitage was part of the dispersal of information, it seems. But he wasn't the only one. Libby disclosed Plame's identity and status to Judith Miller before Armitage disclosed some of it to Novak. And there's Novak's unidentified second source.
Right now, I'm betting that Fitzgerald has a fair idea of the identities of most of these people, and when they talked with various other people involved. And that he and his team is probably the only ones, other than the planners of the smear, that does. The fact that he hasn't brought indictments against any other than Libby at this point is meaningless. He used a similar tactic to 'flip' a target in the Gambino case, in order to bring charges against the higher ups. And unlike Kenneth Starr, he's not looking for political grandstanding but actual convictions, so he won't bring charges unless he is fairly confident that they stand a good chance of success.
in any case, Libby's trial is scheduled to start jury selection early next year. Fitzgerald's investigation is proceeding, quietly and methodically, based on the observations of Jane and Christy at FDL. Will it result in more charge, indictments, or a breach of security rap? Crap, man, I don't know. How much cover and loyalty can Rove and Cheney command?
But like I told you, John, there's plenty of balloons, and the Holiday Season is on its way.
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