Open the Door, Richard: Kristof Again Presses Cheney to Explain or Resign
By E&P Staff
Published: November 01, 2005 9:55 AM ET
editorandpublisher.com
NEW YORK Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist who has long been skeptical of criminal wrongdoing in the Plame/CIA leak case, continued pressing Vice President Cheney to come clean in his Tuesday column. He had first made this plea in his Sunday column.
"So, Mr. Cheney, tell us what happened," Kristof writes today. "If you're afraid to say what you knew, and when you knew it, then you should resign."
He notes, "Five lawyers I've consulted all agree that there is no compelling legal reason why you should not discuss the situation....As it is, you're pleading 'no contest' in the court of public opinion, and that's painful for all of us who want to believe in the integrity of our government."
He then lists a series of specific questions Cheney ought to answer, including:
--Did you ask Libby to undertake his inquiries about Ambassador Joseph Wilson?
--Why did you independently ask the C.I.A. for information about the Wilsons?
--Did you know that Wilson's wife was a covert officer? "The indictment states that you knew she worked in the C.I.A.'s counter- proliferation division," Kristof observes." You would think that anyone as steeped in intelligence issues as you are would know that meant she worked in the Directorate of Operations and was perhaps a spook's spook."
--Did you advise Libby to leak information about Mrs. Wilson's work in the C.I.A. to journalists?
--When Libby made his statements in the inquiry - allegedly committing perjury - were you aware of what he was saying? "Mr. Libby rode to work with you almost every morning," Kristof notes, "but this topic never came up?" |
