Napolitano claimed unnamed Fox colleague said Wilson introduced Plame as "my CIA operative wife"
On the October 31 broadcast of the nationally syndicated radio show The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, guest host Andrew P. Napolitano -- who serves as Fox News' senior judicial analyst -- cited "at least one" of his Fox News colleagues who Napolitano said claimed to have been present at a party where former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV introduced Valerie Plame as "my CIA operative wife." Napolitano used this anonymous claim to question whether Plame "was, in fact, undercover" when her identity as a CIA employee was allegedly leaked to syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, who published it in a July 14, 2003 column. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was indicted on October 28 for obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements in connection with the leak investigation.
Napolitano did not explain why his mystery Fox News source has not publicly reported the story. Nor did he explain the apparent discrepancy between this claim and the Libby indictment, which states: "At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie [Plame] Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson's affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community."
From the October 31 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:
CALLER: I have a couple of questions. Number one, over the weekend I believe it was here, it was in the news that her husband -- this Valerie Plame's husband -- used to introduce her as "my CIA operative" at cocktail parties.
NAPOLITANO: Well, you're right that it was reported. You are also correct that there have been many reports of that. Without naming names, I will tell you that at least one of my Fox News colleagues told me that he was present at a party where she was introduced as "my CIA operative wife."
CALLER: Correct.
NAPOLITANO: So the issue is: Was she in fact undercover at the time Novak wrote the article, or had she been outed by her own husband?
Napolitano is one of several Fox News personalities and guests have made this charge repeatedly following Libby's October 28 indictment. They have not, however, provided any basis for it. On the October 28 edition of Fox News' DaySide, Napolitano claimed that no one was indicted for leaking Plame's identity because special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald "doesn't see what the statute requires him to prove for the outing, which was that she wasn't already out, that she was, in fact, an undercover agent. Look, those who live in Washington, D.C., know that she was on the arm of her husband on many occasions and was introduced by him as 'my CIA agent wife' long before the Bob Novak article appeared."
Later in the show, radio host and former Nixon administration official G. Gordon Liddy repeated the claim, declaring -- as Salon.com noted -- that Plame "had been outed by her husband numerous times. He would go to parties, and she'd be on his arm. Say, you know, 'Meet my CIA wife.' "
That evening, on the October 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson, host Gibson asked Napolitano why Libby had not been indicted for leaking Plame's identity. Napolitano suggested that a "relative" may have previously said of Plame: "This is my CIA wife." Gibson agreed, explaining that "Wilson has introduced his wife as 'my CIA wife.' "
From the October 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson:
NAPOLITANO: It's the question of the day, John, and it was put to the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, no less than three times by three different reporters in the press conference that he held just a few hours ago, and he didn't answer it directly, except to say, this is a very difficult charge to prove. Now, why is he saying that? Because the statute requires in order to convict someone of that, you must prove that they, in fact, have not been outed before, like by a relative who says --
GIBSON: Like a husband.
NAPOLITANO: -- "This is my CIA wife." Right. And that the government --
GIBSON: And we actually know that's happened. Joe Wilson has introduced his wife as "my CIA wife."
NAPOLITANO: To many people in Washington, D.C. And the government has to be taking continuous, affirmative steps to maintain her undercover status. She had a desk job, and she drove back and forth to Langley [CIA's Virginia headquarters].
GIBSON: But, he says she was covered. And that's the basis for the indictment against Libby, such as it is.
In a subsequent segment on the same edition of The Big Story, former CIA operative and frequent Fox News guest Wayne Simmons repeated the claim, again without any supporting evidence:
JANE SKINNER (Fox News Live anchor): But it sounded like from Fitzgerald today, he was saying that perhaps she was outed, that just that threshold is so high in that law that they may not be able to meet it in this case. But he was obviously clearly upset over the fact that Valerie Plame's name should not have been out there.
SIMMONS: Well, listen, then they should go talk to Joe Wilson. He used to waltz her all over Washington and introduce her as "my CIA wife." So this is not something new. If they're going to -- you know, if they want to end that, then let's go back and talk with Joe and say, "Joe, gee, you really shouldn't have done that." But to manufacture these charges that someone outed his wife, that's preposterous.
On October 30, the Times of London (a British newspaper owned by Fox's parent company, News Corp.) echoed the charge, attributing it to unnamed "insiders" and, like Fox News, failing to provide any supporting evidence:
The White House has tried to fight back. Wilson and his wife, insiders like to point out, are no clear-cut heroes. In Washington circles, they say, Wilson was known to introduce Plame proudly at parties as "my CIA wife" and thus could be said to have broken her cover himself.
On the October 31 edition of CNN's The Situation Room -- several hours after Napolitano's appearance on The Radio Factor -- host Wolf Blitzer interviewed Wilson. When Blitzer asked Wilson if he had publicly referred to Plame as "my wife, the CIA agent" at cocktail parties, Wilson responded, "Of course not."
From the October 31 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: Did you ever go around in cocktail parties -- because this has been alleged against you as well -- before the Robert Novak column and boast "my wife, the CIA agent," "my wife works for the CIA"?
WILSON: Of course not. First of all, I have 5-year-old twins, and so we don't go to very many cocktail parties. You've seen me at precisely one in the many years that we've been in Washington together. And that was actually a book party. And you did not see my wife there, and you didn't hear me say anything about my wife at that party.
BLITZER: How well known was it that she worked for the CIA before the Novak column?
WILSON: It was not known outside the intelligence community. The day after the Novak article appeared, my sister-in-law, my brother's wife, turned to him and asked him: "Do you think Joe knows this?"
Though Napolitano and his Fox News colleagues have yet to reveal the source of their claim, it may have evolved from the similarly unsourced rumor that Plame's CIA employment was well known on the Washington, D.C. "cocktail circuit." For example, Republican attorney Victoria Toensing and co-author Bruce W. Sanford advanced this theory in a January 12 Washington Post op-ed, stating: "If it were known on the Washington cocktail circuit, as has been alleged, that Wilson's wife is with the agency, a possessor of that gossip would have no reason to believe that information is classified." The Toensing and Sanford op-ed did not give any indication of who was doing the alleging.
As Media Matters for America has noted, a July 15 Washington Times article quoted former CIA operative Fred Rustmann, who supervised Plame for one year early in her career and retired from the agency in 1990 -- more than a decade before Plame's identity was allegedly leaked. According to The Washington Times, Rustmann asserted that Plame's CIA employment was not a secret: "Her neighbors knew this, her friends knew this, his [Wilson's] friends knew this." But the article mentioned only one of Plame's neighbors by name: David Tillotson, who told The Washington Times that he "absolutely didn't know" Plame worked for the CIA. Nevertheless, without naming a single neighbor who knew of Plame's CIA employment, The Washington Times subsequently published editorials on July 19 and July 26, and a news article on July 25 claiming variously that "most," "numerous," and "several" of Plame's neighbors knew about her work.
An October 26 Los Angeles Times article quoted Tillotson as saying he told FBI investigators he socialized with Plame and Wilson and "had no idea" about Plame's CIA employment:
The agents "made it clear they were part of the Fitzgerald investigation, and they were basically tying up loose ends," said David Tillotson, a lawyer and neighbor who was among those interviewed Monday.
"They really only had one interest, and that was to know whether Valerie's identity, on what she did for a living, was known prior to the Novak article. It seemed they were trying to establish clearly that prior to the Novak article she was not widely known on the cocktail circuit," Tillotson said.
"And I pointed out, we were good friends, we socialized with them, and we just had no idea" until her status was made public in the Novak column, Tillotson said. "To that moment, we had no idea whatsoever that Valerie did anything for the government."
Several of Plame's other neighbors have told journalists and the FBI that they did not know she worked for the CIA before Novak wrote about it.
There are too many unnamed sources in this saga.
Napolitano unnamed source that says Wilson introduced his wife as "my cia wife."
Ensor from CNN claiming unnamed sources say Plame did not suggest her husband for the trip.
MMFA using Washington Posts unnamed sources to say CIA did not pick Wilson based on Plame's suggestion.
I don't see any reason why there should be unnamed sources on any of these aspects of the story. Every source should be able to be named since there is no whistle blowing, no crime committed, just facts interesting to the case. So why the unnamed sources?
If Wilson's status as a CIA operative was classified, then perhaps the status of her superiors who arranged the meeting are also classified.
For the record, I'll admit that the CIA is not the most forthcoming organization in the federal government. You'd think they were trying to hide something, eh?
Amazing the crap that comes out of these people when not under oath !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does anyone honestly believe that before Plame’s identity as a CIA agent was made public that she and her husband would go to parties and he would introduce her as “my CIA operative wife”? Besides the fact that is sounds idiotic to say as an introduction (without the leaking of her status already having occurred as being reason for the flippant introduction) I imagine they would have gotten some mighty odd looks.
And if “everyone” knew it, how come Fitzgerald couldn’t seem to find these people outside the security clearance who did?
And I’m sorry does it even pass the smell test that an unnamed source at a right wing news company would be a reliable source on this subject.
Just the fact that it is coming out of FOX News should make it suspect...
If all we have to do is say we heard some anonymous person say something at a party, we can all have some fun!
I was at a cocktail party when an anonymous person said, "That's Wilson's wife, the CIA secret op that Karl Rove told me he is going to revealed out of pure spite. Can you pass the cocktail weenies? Thanks."
This is just an example of a lie repeated often enough that it becomes an "everybody knew it". Can you say "White House vandalism"?
These people have been systematic liars from the day Bush took office.
WILSON: Of course not. First of all, I have 5-year-old twins, and so we don't go to very many cocktail parties. You've seen me at precisely one in the many years that we've been in Washington together. And that was actually a book party. And you did not see my wife there, and you didn't hear me say anything about my wife at that party.
this should be easily verifiable (not that i think it needs to be verified) and thus would prove that the claim that wilson himself outed his wife is pure republican talking points BS.
I think this is what Joe Wilson said to Wolf Blitzer if I recall. Wolf was present at the party. He did not deny what Wilson said. This tells me it is verified by Wolf at that interview.
You know, it's one thing to lie -- oops, I mean spin -- but come ON, these guys aren't even trying. It reminds me of clumsy Soviet-style disinformation.
"My CIA operative wife." Jeez, does ANYONE believe it? Or is it only meant for the 124 stupidest Republicans who donate money?
Wonder if anyone at FOX is actually competent to act as a juror if called upon for that civic duty ??????
Terrific article! I love the part where they proved that all these people aren't telling the truth.
Oh wait.
"my CIA operative wife"
Come on. Does that really sound like something someone would say? Sounds like a bad sitcom.
"my CIA operative wife" Come on. Does that really sound like something someone would say? Sounds like a bad sitcom. by brabantio
***
I agree. The only way I could imagine him saying something like that is if AFTER the outing he was joking with someone and being flippant. But considering the source I have my doubts the conversation even took place.
"The only way I could imagine him saying something like that is if AFTER the outing he was joking with someone and being flippant."
Yes, that I can certainly see. Before the Novak column if anyone were to introduce someone that way I can only imagine the response would be "ummm, ok", and I know I would think "Is he kidding? Why do I need to know that?". Are we supposed to believe that Ambassador Wilson is this desperate to impress people at cocktail parties, or what? After the column, of course, it would make a lot more sense, and if the story has any basis in truth it probably comes from confusing dates.
epiphone83 - Friday November 4, 2005 07:19:40 PM EST -
Once again another rightwinger trying to reverse the burden of proof, FOX made the allegation, its THEIR obligation to cough up the proof, proving a negative is virtually impossible unless he could either prove he didnt go to any parties or had video of every second he spent AT parties it cant be done. FOX made the claim its THEIR burden of proof
FOX has officially descended into a pure propaganda network. Their laughable attempt to present dis-information as news should mark them as completely devoid of any kind of news gathering or news analysis skills.
Given the responsibility of these propaganda-news outlets for uncritically supporting this administration in it's now clearly unjustified invasion of Iraq and the subsequent death of thousands of people, how can the "news" people at FOX live with themselves? If I thought that, through inaction, the organization I worked for and helped succeed, was responsible (even in part) for the deaths of innocent people, I would resign.
Again, how do the people at FOX sleep at night knowing these facts.
This is no joke. If he has info that Plame was compromised before Novak, he should be forced to say who told him.
I had posted this on Sunday Oct 30th as Blitzer had Haig on the ropes as to when this occured. Haig mumbled some in audible crap and BLITZER went on to some other subject. I am thinking Napolotanos info came from this interview not any collegue at Fox. Haig declined to give any follow up info..just as Napolitano did. Amazing !
re:CNN: HAIG QUOTES WILSON CALLING HIS WIFE "HIS LITTLE CIA GIRL"
Haig is being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on the Plame outing and Haig states "Wilson called his wife "his little CIA Girl"! When pressed on it by Blitzer "poooooooof more inane rhetoric" and Blitzer let him off the hook. I tried searching for the transcript of this segment but had no luck. any suggestions? I realize Haig is dementa this is over the top.
by justramsg@aol.com - Sunday October 30, 2005 01:48:10 PM EST
Can we get David Bowie to rewrite his top ten hit "China Girl" with the words "My Little CIA Girl" She said Shhhhh.
Daily Show can you smell the humor?....
Smell test? Cripes this doesn't even pass the hear test.
As if anyone would introduce ANYONE as their CIA wife. My God these people have NO ETHICS at all. They lie like it was just another sentence.
No shame, no honor, no dignity.
Weren't Freepers and Goopers supposed to be all about that?
God what horrible people. I can only hope a good candidate slams these people into the ground and does it hard.
Indict Joe Wilson for outing a CIA operative!
i would expect that libby's attorney will be interviewing this gentleman, to get the name of the person that told him this. ok, probably not.
but, and this is a really, really big but, who cares what this twit says? a jury will never hear it.
Hmm, I"m not sure...how many ways can one spell lie?
Napolitano, despite his Princeton credentials, is just one more Murdoch/White House tool. Recently, on The Big Show, he was, yet again, a source of misinformation. Gibson was making light of a brochure, developed by the Brady anti-gun lobby, which is being given to European tourists when they arrive in Florida in order to warn them about trigger happy Floridians (who might not like them there furiners). Napolitano said that the claim was exagerrated as the Florida gun law only pertained to people being "threatened" on their property. Turns out that the law is pretty much a carte blance to anyone feeling "threatened" anywhere (which means that a traffic accident could end up with some serious consequences if you know what I mean!) Thanks to Media Matters, News Hounds, Think Progress, etc, etc, the emperor and his court are being denuded. OncePoor has obviously swallowed the propaganda. The myth about Berger putting documents in his pants and shoes started with Murdoch's NY Post and has been totally discredited. Word to Goebbels (whoops, Murdoch) - you can't fool all of the people, all of the time.
Mr. Napolitano, I know that you may not grasp the complexities of this issue, but Libby is accussed of committing perjury to a Grand Jury. He is guilty or innoncent, based on whether or not he lied. Even if Plame previously took out full-page advertisements in the NYT announcing her employment situation, that has nothing to do with the innocence or guilt of Libby.
However, one might wonder why Libby would lie (assuming he actually did) if there was no crime committed and Plame was known by ALL those unnamed Fox workers as a CIA agent?
Part of the new Fox TV Fall 2005 line-up:
"My CIA Wife" starring Britany Spears as Val Plame, Justin Timberlake as Joe Wilson, and Jason Alexander as deep cover agent "Beaver Hunter".
So, which lie is less believable. Mine or theirs?
I hate to disagree with your characterization that includes Brittney Spears etc. A good try.
I think the "washington cocktail party circuit" is best compared to the keg party gone out of control in the movie "Sixteen Candles".
I see Ann Coulter in the role of the girlfriend who gets drunk and wakes up the next day in the parking lot with the nerd. She can't seem to remember who she slept with the night before and what happened to her hair.
I can't believe anyone can site a cocktail party as a source with a straight face. I think Fox News is one slow dance away from a 12 step program.
1st step is admitting you have a problem with the truth and your life has become unmanageable because of it.
Let the Healing Begin, and pass the BEER BONG!
The only cool thing about Britney Spears is that her name is an anagram of "Presbyterians."
If the good judge actually is telling the truth than Fox News can get one Hell of an exclusive and put this unnamed source on thier network - after all the " cow is already out of the barn" the CIA Operative is exposed, a network interview will do the country no harm and Fox has an exclusive. Either put up or shut up! I really wish the "Main Stream Media" would call the judge on this one and not let him go until he screams!
This is obviously in direct response the claim that all of her neighbors knew she was an agent, and the fact that Fitzgerald completely debunked it. Since that was proven to be false, why do some of you still insist on believing those that said it? If it isn't party loyalty, then what? It is clear her status was at least classified at the time of Novak's story. I don't take either Mr. or Mrs. Wilson's word for it, but rather all of the judges who have looked at the evidence so far and said that a law was broken in outing Valeria Plame. As was pointed out earlier, the reporters involved in this tried to use confidentiality of sources as a shield against telling who in the administration told them her name, but judge after judge said that with the seriousness of the crime, they could not.
And could someone tell me where this "working outside the country in the last 5 years" thing comes from? I am sure we have covert operatives working inside the US, do they not count? I would hope we would cover those helping to bust any Al Quida cells within the US as well as any Timothy McV's (I have no idea how to spell his last name) that might still be out there.
John Dean at Find Law makes a pretty good case for an expanding indictment process simmering, lurking.
But remember now, it's only one of those Martha Stewarty Perjury Thingees.
military_husband - Sunday November 6, 2005 08:10:07 AM EST
I think it comes from the legal definition used specifically in the 82 law. That is a narrow definition only for the purposes OF that law. It doesnt mean its the only definition of the word.
To me it looks as if Napolitano is the decoy, and the hook is out on your backside. A few right-sided boards have already been citing a WND hit piece.
Art Moore, Analyst says Wilson 'outed' wife in 2002, World Net Daily November 5, 2005
It's a mite bit weak in places, but then again, anyone still supporting Bush, and believing he is an honest and moral person, after the deluge of facts and evidence to the contrary over the last few weeks, ain't ever gong to be ironing out kinks in the unified theory. The story will suffice for the ususal WND reader...
The allegations are from Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (Ret-USA), and he is a contract "expert" for Fox News. His Benador Associates bio page busts him as an egregious NeoConniver.
He is Military Committee Chairman for the Center for Security Policy. This American Based think tank often refers to Israel using first-person possessive pronouns. It would be unthinkable for them not to be sharing their Official Abu Ghraib Interrogator's Model Chemical Light Sticks of GOP Enlightenment on each other.
The are known to associate with real lowlies. Here are just a few of 'em over at hammerhead junction:
Elliott Abrams, William J. Bennett, Christopher Cox, Edwin Feulner, Frank Gaffney, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Henry Hyde, James Inhofe, John Kyl, Richard Perle, James Woolsey and Curt Weldon.
this is really not the first time fox has done this. i heard it at least a year ago on there. same stuff. she was well known as an operative on the cocktail circuit. they know they're lying. we still don't have one name of a non-cia person who claimed to know her status.
Add to that the comment last year was also she was just a "secret-ary." These Fox folks were rolling with hysteria over that quip.
Here is another bit of their logic: " She drove everday to the CIA office and all knew she worked there! " LMAO. (Ok, her car has a CIA Emblem: Agent Plame/Wilson.)
Fox has used every spin possible to degrade, dismiss, and devalue. Sound familiar.....its called ROVERSISM ! Its not working this go around.