by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Nov. 3, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

              Convicted March 6, 2007 of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby took the fall for his boss in the Valerie Plame affair.  Plame had her covert CIA identity outed by the late Chicago Sun Times columnist Robert Novak July 14, 2003, only four months after the Iraq War began March 20, 2003.  Less than two months earlier, former President George W. Bush told a national audience in the State-of-the-Union speech Jan. 28, 2009 that Saddam Hussein attempted to buy “yellowcake” uranium from Niger, convincing viewers that Iraq was a threat to U.S. national security.  In a New York Times op-ed July 6, 2003, Amb. Joseph C. Wilson IV accused the Bush White House of deliberately distorting national security to justifying going to war.  Libby denied at the time that Plame was outed by the VP.

            U.S. Atty. in Chicago Patrick J. Fitzgerald revealed that Cheney, known for his photographic memory, failed to recall 72 times during an FBI interrogation.  Most people believe that the vice president revealed Plame’s identity to retaliate against Wilson’s July 6, 2003 New York Times commentary.  Fitzgerald tried to find out how Plame’s CIA identity was revealed to Novak or any other members of the press.  On 72 occasions in 26-page summary of a 2004 FBI interview, Cheney failed to recall specifics about the Plame controversy.  FBI agents, at the time of Cheney’s interview, were trying to find out the source of leaks at the highest levels of the White House, including Cheney’s former Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.  Libby’s own handwritten note revealed that Cheney was the source of Plame’s identity.  Libby indicated he acted without Cheney’s expressed instructions.

            Libby recalled telling the FBI he had a note-card revealing that he learned Plame’s CIA from Cheney.  “It turns out that I have a note that I had heard about” Plame’s CIA identity “from you” [Cheney], Libby told FBI investigators.  Libby was asked by Fitzgerald in front of a Washington, D.C. grand jury, what was Cheney’s response?  “He didn’t say much,” replied Libby.   “You know, he said some about ‘from me?’ something like that, and tilted his head, something he does commonly and that was that,” fingering the vice president.  Cheney insisted “cannot recall Scooter Libby tell him how he first heard of Valerie Wilson.  It is possible Libby may have learned about Valerie Wilson’s employment form the vice president . . .but the vice president has no specific recollection of such a conversation,” revealing Cheney’s masterful style of smoke blowing.

            Before Libby’s March 6, 2007 conviction, much speculation centered on what Fitzgerald would do about the federal law related to protecting the anonymity of covert U.S. agents.  Cheney’s position, at the time, was that no law was broken because the president and vice president have no restriction on classified information.  Republican talking points wending into broadcast and print revealed that Plame was not a covert agent because inside the Beltway, among Washington insiders, it was common knowledge that Plame worked for the agency.  If it’s a matter of public record, so went the logic, then it’s not possible to preserve Plame’s secret CIA identity.  Despite all the machinations, Fitzgerald didn’t charge Libby with violating the federal law related to covert U.S. agents.  Instead, Fitzgerald charged and convicted Libby of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents.

            Cheney made headlines recently swiping at President Barack Obama for deliberating too slowly on U.S. Afghan Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s request for an additional 40,000 troops.  Recently declassified FBI files indicate Cheney was at the center of a carefully orchestrated attempt to discredit former Amb. Joe Wilson after he expressed his opinion in the New York Times July 6, 2003.  After hyping Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction before going to war in Iraq March 20, 2003, Cheney found it audacious that anyone questions the White House.  Going public with Plame’s CIA identity helped discredit Wilson’s findings that Saddam never tried to buy  “yellowcake” from Niger.  Cheney insisted there was no “push back” to discredit Wilson by raising the “nepotism” issue regarding Plame dispatching her husband to investigate Bush’s State-of-the-Union claim.

            Cheney’s May 2004 FBI interview showing 72 instances of memory lapses reveals the former vice president’s true character.  Despite begging Bush to pardon Libby before leaving office, it should have been Cheney, not Libby, standing trial for outing Valerie Plame.  FBI transcripts reveal a pattern of deceit not seen since Watergate.  Fitzgerald stopped short of fingering the right culprit responsible for a carefully planned dirty trick to retaliate against Wilson for telling the truth about the Iraq War.  Since neglecting Afghanistan after starting the Iraq War March 20, 2003, Cheney is the last person to give advice.  When Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month sentence July 2, 2003, he should have acknowledged he did so because of Cheney’s outrageous misconduct.  Instead of allowing Cheney to speak for the GOP, he should go back to tending cattle in Jackson Hole.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.