Attorneys Identify CIA Officials in Plame Leak

20 March 2006

Libby Attorneys Identify CIA Officials in PlameLeak By Jason Leopold t r u t h o u t | Report From:http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031906Z.shtml Saturday 18 March 2006

Theidentity of intelligence officials who are thought to havepassed information about covert CIA operative Valerie PlameWilson to Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief ofstaff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, surfaced in a federal courtdocument filed Friday evening.

Separately, Libby'sdefense team has once again attempted to engage in ahigh-stakes gambit to devalue the nature of Plame Wilson'sstatus and work with the CIA. The attorneys claim that PlameWilson was not a very important figure at the CIA and thattherefore no damage was done to national security byunmasking her identity.

"The prosecution has aninterest in continuing to overstate the significance of Ms.Wilson's affiliation with the CIA," the court filing states.

However, in previous hearings, Special ProsecutorPatrick Fitzgerald has pointed out time and again that PlameWilson's CIA status is not the issue. Rather it's Libby'srepeated lies to the grand jury and the FBI that's at issue.

"We are trying a perjury case," Fitzgerald saidduring a February 24 court hearing on issues related toadditional evidence Libby's attorneys were trying to obtainfrom Fitzgerald's probe. "What I am going to say to the juryin opening and closing and rebuttal is that Mr. Libbyknowingly lied about what he did.

"And the issue iswhether he knowingly lied or not," Fitzgerald added. "And ifthere is information about actual damage, whatever wascaused or not caused that isn't in his mind, it is not adefense. If she turned out to be a postal driver mistakenfor a CIA employee, it's not a defense if you lie in a grandjury under oath about what you said and you told people Ididn't know he had a wife. That is what this case is about.It is about perjury, if he knowingly lied or not."

InFriday's filing, Libby's attorneys attempted to push theblame for the leak onto other officials at the CIA and theState Department and said these officials will likely becalled to testify at next year's criminal trial. In doingso, the attorneys disclosed in the 39-page document theidentities of four CIA employees who possibly provided theirclient with information about Plame Wilson's work for theCIA.

The individuals were previously identified bytheir job titles in the five-count indictment handed up by agrand jury in late October against Libby. In Friday's courtfiling, Libby's defense team argued that they should beentitled to receive additional evidence being used by theSpecial Prosecutor to prove Libby lied to the FBI and thegrand jury when he was questioned about his role in theleak.

In describing the evidence and the prosecutionwitnesses it pertains to, Libby's attorneys revealed thenames of previously unknown CIA officials who may havecommunicated Plame Wilson's classified CIA work to Libby. Itis not a crime for the CIA to disseminate classifiedinformation to

White House officials like Libby whohave the security clearance to receive such intelligence.

What's interesting, however, is that one of the CIAofficials named in the indictment as a possible source ofinformation for Libby is Robert Grenier, 51, head of theagency's top counterterrorism office. Grenier was fired lastmonth because he opposed using torture tactics againstal-Qaeda suspects at secret detention facilities abroad,intelligence sources and news reports said.

"When alQaeda struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon onSept. 11, 2001, Grenier was station chief in Islamabad,Pakistan," < the Washington Post reported in February."Among the agency's most experienced officers in southwestAsia, Grenier helped plan the covert campaign that precededthe U.S. military ouster of al Qaeda and its Taliban alliesfrom Afghanistan."

Former CIA Director George Tenetpromoted Grenier in 2002 to head up the Iraq Issues Group, aposition created specifically to prepare for the March 2003Iraq invasion.

"Grenier's predecessor at theCounterterrorism Center, who remains undercover, moved on tobecome chief of the National Clandestine Service, thesuccessor to the CIA's directorate of operations," the Postreport added.

In their court filing Friday, Libby'sattorneys wrote that if not Grenier, it's possible that JohnMcLaughlin may be the CIA official who provided Cheney'sformer chief of staff with information on Plame Wilson.

"On or about June 11, 2003, Libby was informed by a seniorCIA officer [possibly Robert Grenier or John McLaughlin]that Wilson's wife was employed by the CIA and that the ideaof sending him to Niger originated with her," Friday's courtfiling states. This passage is identical to the Octoberindictment filed against Libby. However, the indictment didnot include the names of the individuals, only theirpositions in government.

McLaughlin was deputydirector of the CIA. He resigned from the agency in November2004 over bureaucratic infighting.

Separately, thefiling also reveals the identities of a few CIA briefersthat Libby complained to in June 2003 for "selectiveleaking" of concerns the agency had with pre-war Iraqintelligence that Libby claimed made the White House and thevice president's office look bad.

Friday's filingalso states that "On or about June 14, 2003, Libby met witha CIA briefer. During their conversation he expresseddispleasure that CIA officials were making comments toreporters critical of the Vice President's office, anddiscussed with the briefer, among other things, 'Joe Wilsonand his wife Valerie Wilson,' in the context of Wilson'strip to Niger." The indictment also quotes Mr. Libby ascriticizing the CIA for "selective leaking" of various"intelligence matters." The filing states "We believe thatthe briefer referred to is Craig Schmall and that he will bea witness for the government at trial too. (However, it isalso possible that the briefer referenced in this paragraphis Peter Clement or Matt Barrett.)." Clement has worked atthe CIA for nearly 30 years. He was the director ofintelligence for the agency and has published books onSoviet foreign policy, Russian domestic politics, andpolitics in Central Asia.

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Jason Leopold spent two years coveringCalifornia's electricity crisis as Los Angeles bureau chiefof Dow Jones Newswires. Jason has spent the last yearcultivating sources close to the CIA leak invesigation, andwill be a regular contributer to t r u t h o u t.

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