"I Did Not Have Leaks with That Woman"
October 9, 2003
The Democrats are in March Hare mode. Having been mute ever since, "...Lippo operative John Huang’s access to classified material at Clinton’s Commerce Department; the disappearance of subpoenaed documents, such as (Hillary’s) billing records; the Travel Office firings; the FBI investigation of Billy Dale; the nine hundred FBI files being illegally reviewed by Craig Livingstone; the obstruction of the FBI’s investigation of Vince Foster’s office; the felonious solicitation or receipt of campaign donations by Vice President Al Gore and (Hillary’s) chief of staff, Maggie Williams; the presidential audience accorded ‘hustler’ Johnny Chung. And so on and on, and on," the Dem’s have finally recovered from a decade of laryngitis. Although they now seem to be suffering from amnesia.
From the sanctum of hypocrisy, "Senate Democrats, led by Charles Schumer of New York, called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the case involving the leaked identity of the CIA operative and wife (Ms. Plame) of Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador." As initially reported by the Washington Post, "two top White House officials called a half-dozen journalists to reveal that she was a CIA agent soon after her husband disputed White House claims of Iraq trying to buy uranium in Africa." Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, for those who may not remember, fathered the "16 Words" controversy.
During his January 28, 2003, State of the Union address, President Bush said, that (count all 16 words) "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Post facto, Wilson rebutted that, "he had determined on a mission to Niger last year that there was no clear evidence that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium ore for possible use in a nuclear weapon." This country needs a good cigar.
At Vice President Dick Cheney’s request, Wilson was sent to Niger by the CIA to verify a U.S. intelligence report about the sale of yellowcake uranium to Iraq. Wilson’s extensive eight day investigation (which employed the sophisticated covert tactic of "drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people") concluded it was, "highly doubtful that any such transaction ever took place." Subsequently, Wilson proffered, "I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." Ipso facto ...out of a 5492 word State of the Union address, Wilson exposed 16 out of context words as a lie.
Wilson has been and continues to be a large donor to Democratic campaigns. Federal Election Commission records show $1000 donations to both John Kerry for President Inc. and HILLPAC (short for Hillary’s political action committee). Several thousand dollars were also donated to Gore 2000 Inc. Well, at least he’s non-partisan.
The Democrats, including senator Schumer, are outraged by the alleged disclosure of Wilson’s wife as a CIA operative, "When was the last time that a covert agent's name was leaked, jeopardizing that agent's life, the life of that agent's network, of informants and the security of this country?" Anybody remember John Huang, the Riadys or Johnny Chung? Oh yeah, that’s right...the Clinton administration didn’t leak the name of a CIA operative—they only gave their Chinese campaign donors America’s nuclear and ballistic missile secrets.
Schumer, in a letter to the FBI, demands, "I request that you immediately launch an investigation to determine the source of this information and assess whether there is enough evidence to refer the matter for criminal prosecution." The senator was oddly quiet when former president Clinton compromised national security to the China Resources Holding Company, "a Beijing government-owned corporation known by U.S. intelligence to provide cover for Chinese intelligence-gathering operations...." But Clinton and the Dem’s did receive millions in campaign "donations" from their Chinese friends and, after all, it was only about sex.
There is no gored ox that screeches like a Democrat. And there seems to be no politician that evades controversy like a Republican. For eight years America was the victim of an administration that committed serial: perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and the sale of national security for campaign donations. For eight years the Dem’s on the hill suffered from laryngitis. For those same eight years, the Republicans fought back like wet noodles.
One may only hope that, in this instance, the Republicans simultaneously ignore the amnesic Democrats and allow the justice department to thoroughly investigate this allegation.
Unlike the obfuscation and obstruction of the Clinton administration, Bush counsel Alberto Gonzales ordered all White House staff that, "You must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the (Justice) department's investigation." This includes telephone logs, e-mails, notes and other documents. The President’s position is, "This investigation is a good thing."
Perhaps the Dem’s can’t shake the memory of Clinton’s administration using the FBI and IRS to seek out and destroy political enemies. But, the fact that "the investigation is being done by FBI agents in the counterintelligence division, based at the FBI Washington field office, and overseen by 11 career prosecutors in the counterespionage section of the Justice Department's criminal division," should satisfy any reasonably honest person. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman {pause, gaze averted} Ms. Lewinsky"...like I said...any reasonably honest person.
This is banal Democratic political posturing. As Tom DeLay, R-Texas notes, "Surprise, surprise, they are calling for a special counsel. My goodness, it must be in their political handbook, their campaign handbook." Too bad those same Democrats were deaf, dumb and blind when Wen Ho Lee heisted 400,000 files from the nation’s top nuclear weapons lab. But then again...that was only about sex.
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