Maybe Lugar And Kerry *Did* Mess Up
JustOneMinute blog
By The MinuteMan
The NY Times has a follow-up to yesterday's widely debunked
AP story about loose Senatorial lips sinking ships:
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Though Mr. Armstrong had been identified in news reports two years ago about his dispute with other officials over intelligence involving Cuba, that was when he was the national intelligence officer for Latin America, and his name was no secret. When the Bolton nomination resurrected the old accounts, however, the C.I.A. asked news organizations to withhold his name.
On Monday, Mr. Lugar announced that aides on the Foreign Relations committee had interviewed Mr. Armstrong. Later, Mr. Kerry mentioned him by name while questioning Mr. Bolton. The hearings were televised, and transcripts were widely published. On Tuesday morning, The Associated Press mentioned the disclosure and identified Mr. Armstrong.
"Did Otto Reich share his belief that Fulton Armstrong should be removed for his position?" Mr. Kerry said during the hearing on Monday, reading from committee records of interviews its staff had conducted. "The answer is yes."
Mr. Bolton was not ruffled. "As I said," he replied, sticking to the alias, "I had lost confidence in Mr. Smith, and I conveyed that."
At a time when a special prosecutor is investigating how the identity of another undercover C.I.A. officer, Valerie Plame, was leaked to the press, the disclosure of Mr. Armstrong's name did not go unnoticed by reporters on Capitol Hill. Asked about it on Tuesday, Mr. Lugar said simply, "No comment."
Mr. Kerry defended himself. "Senator Lugar had already mentioned it," he said, "and it had already been in the press."
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It is interesting to see how seriously the Senators took this request for secrecy from the CIA.
Holman Jenkins of the WSJ is recycled by James Taranto with more.
opinionjournal.com
And since it reminds us of Kerry's response, let's pitch in Cliff May's "Everybody Knew" defense of Robert Novak and the White House aides on the Plame leak.
nationalreview.com
justoneminute.typepad.com
nytimes.com
michellemalkin.com
guardian.co.uk
mediamatters.org |
