Bob Schieffer was especially nasty on this mornings Meet the Press (CBS), insisting on “a secret war between the CIA and the White House over whether Saddam Hussein was trying to build a nuclear weapon, the cover of a secret agent for the CIA blown because her husband was a critic of the administration. The one thing that has been overlooked in all of this is what was the impact on Valerie Plame herself, this woman whose cover was blown?”
That’s nonsense. There was no secret war, and Plame’s cover was not blow “because her husband was a critic of the administration.” Now Schieffer wants us to look at the human side, the effect on 007 Plame? Ed Bradley’s interviewing Joe Wilson tonight, and FTN was a commercial for that show.
SCHIEFFER: Senator Graham, clearly, this woman was damaged by all of this. But do you believe that national security was harmed?
Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (Republican, South Carolina; Judiciary Committee): It appears to be from the indictment a singular act by Mr. Libby not to disclose her identity under the statute in question…. [T] the underlying charge that started this investigation never materialized.”
Schieffer wants a Watergate.
Here is the Face the Nation transcript in pdf.
The FTN excerpt from my review at Redstate.org is below the fold.
GRAHAM AND SCHUMER ON FTN. Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer seemed confused about what happened Friday. He opened his show by announcing “a secret war” between the White House and the CIA over pre-war Iraq intelligence which caused the cover of an undercover CIA agent to be blown in an act of revenge. He played a clip of Ed Bradley’s interview with former State Department employee Joe Wilson, wherein Wilson complains that his wife lost her livelihood because the White House wanted to punish him.
Schieffer introduced Senators Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Lindsey Graham (R-New York), the latter of whom he indicated “argued the case for impeachment at President Clinton’s trial.” (Clinton was impeached before the trial, but we won’t split journalistic hairs.)
Schieffer wanted to know from Graham if Scooter Libby had damaged our national security by leaking Valerie Plame’s identity as a covert CIA agent. Graham answered that Libby had not been charged with that.
Schumer said that while the evidence didn’t meet the standards for the leak indictment, it was still “wrong to put her at risk.” He argued that with all these things happening, the White House “has run out of steam.” He said that Bush could be like either Nixon or Reagan. Nixon, he said, “hunkered down,” admitted no wrong doing, and surrounded himself with true believers. Reagan, Schumer argued, admitted his mistakes and opened the White House to refreshing new people.
Graham said that he believes that if Fitzgerald were going to indict Rove, he would have done so Friday. He added that this was not about the war in Iraq.
Schieffer snapped: “Well let me ask Senator Schumer.” He pointed out that Chuckie is a lawyer, too.
Schumer said that it was an “ongoing investigation,” and that Cheney had set up an operation with its “ongoing mission” being to discredit Joe Wilson. He called on the President to appoint a “non-political person” to investigate Cheney independently and punish Cheney accordingly.
Graham explained that Joe Wilson had written an Op/Ed piece claiming that Vice President Cheney had sent him to Niger. The Veep simply “wanted to set the record straight.”
Schieffer indicated that the two front runners for the Supreme Court nomination were Judges Sam Alito and Mike Luttig. Jan Greenburg, the Chicago Tribune’s Court reporter, asked Schumer if he would filibuster either. “It’s too soon to tell,” said Chuck, and he went into his bit about “mainstream conservatives” and the “hardcore right wing” which wants to take away people’s rights. He said the President could choose someone refreshing, “in the mold of Sandra Day O’Connor,” or he could “hunker down with the right wing.”
Greenburg sought something solid, that Schumer would not rule out a filibuster. Schumer said that a filibuster was possible, as the President could nominate someone out of the “conservative mainstream.”
Graham countered that as much as he likes Chuck, he’s not going to let him define the “conservative mainstream.” He reminded that the President had said that he liked justices like Scalia and Thomas: “He’s not going to pick someone in the mold of Sandra Day O’Connor just because they say he has to.”
Graham said that he joined the Gang of 14 because he abhors the judicial filibuster. He said that its use “overturns an election.” As he understood it, he said, an “extraordinary circumstance” allowing for a filibuster under the Gang of 14 agreement was something to do with a nominee’s character or background, not ideology.
