As Atrios says, "Pass the effing popcorn."
If the words "Valerie Plame affair" are unfamiliar to you, here's a brief guide to the scandal that has seized the White House and is about to play out on TV, blogs and newspapers. I have used Watergate/"All the President's Men" as a template:
THE THIRD-RATE BURGLARY
Knowing that the infamous "16 words" about Iraq seeking uranium from Africa were based on extremely shaky and even discredited information, the Bush Administration decided to include them in Bush's State of the Union address anyway, as they helped the case for war.
DEEP THROAT #1
Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador, became furious as he watched the Bush Administration distort the truth in order to make a better case for the war. Wilson knew all too well that the uranium claim was shaky--he was the one who was sent to Niger by the CIA on a special trip to determine the value of the tip that Iraq had sought "yellowcake" uranium there. He determined that there was nothing substantial to the claim. Wilson believed his report had been turned in to the Vice President, who he was told had requested the investigation of the yellowcake claim. When the Bush Administration began misrepresenting the known facts, Wilson began leaking what he knew to reporters. Eventually he came out of anonymity and wrote a New York Times op-ed piece laying out the facts. This op-ed piece contributed to the Bush Administration's being forced to admit that the "16 words" should not have been used in the State of the Union address.
THE COVER-UP
Like a cult, the Bush White House values loyalty and secrecy far more than the truth. Angered by Wilson's betrayal, and knowing that there was a wealth of damaging undisclosed information possessed by others, two senior White House officials set upon a campaign to achieve a sort of "preemptive cover-up": to publicly harm Wilson as a warning to others. The two White House officials hatched an astonishingly illegal and hateful strategy. They called at least six Washington reporters and revealed that Joseph Wilson's wife was a covert operative for the CIA. Only one of the journalists, conservative columnist Robert Novak, agreed to use his power to release that information for the White House. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, woke up one morning to read on the Washington Post op-ed page that she was "an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction." It is unknown how many important relationships were shattered or lives imperiled, if any, by that revelation, but the White House message to Joseph Wilson (and anyone thinking of doing what he did) was clear: If you cross us by revealing the truth, we won't hesitate to damage you and your family.
DEEP THROAT #2
A person identified as a "senior administration official," possibly CIA director George Tenet (who was unfairly forced to take the public blame for the "16 words" scandal), confirmed to the Washington Post that it was two "senior White House officials" who revealed Plame's status and that it was done for "revenge."
THE WOODWARDS AND BERNSTEINS
The Washington Post, naturally, broke this story wide open. Josh Marshall at his Talking Points Memo has great up-to-the-second coverage and is likely to get a scoop or two. Mark A.R. Kleiman at his blog and Open Source Politics has been doing some fine writing on the subject. Kevin Drum at CalPundit has been all over it. And, of course, if you go to Eschaton, you'll probably have the latest links to the latest developments. I've made most of the the preceding links to the blogs' main pages as news will no doubt be breaking rapidly. (If I've missed anybody important, no offense, and please let me know and I'll add a link. UPDATE: Credit where credit is due. David Corn in The Nation apparently first made a big deal about this. And as Natalie Davis points out, while the WaPo got the big story of this weekend, CalPundit was on the story July 16, Mark Kleiman began reporting on July 17, and Just One Minute and Buzzflash were there, too. As the Daily Howler points out, this was obviously a big deal from the moment the Novak column was published, "But over the course of the past three months, have you seen a wordóhave you seen one wordófrom Washingtonís pundits about this story? Of course not! Instead, pundits did what they do bestóthey hid beneath their mahogany desks, pretending not to have heard this report.")
EVENTS TO COME
At this writing, it is unknown who the two senior White House officials are. But they each face 10 years in prison for the crime of revealing the identity of a covert operative. Who does know their names? At least six reporters, and plenty of people at the White House. We're going to find out these names. And then we'll have to find out what other people knew, when they knew it, and what they did/didn't do upon receiving the knowledge. Depending on what they knew and did, the President and/or Vice President could be impeached. Karl Rove has been named as a culprit by Joseph Wilson and may, in Wilson's words, be "frog-marched" out of the White House in handcuffs--a development that would directly effect the next election, as Rove is the acknowledged mastermind of Bush's political career. The CIA has referred the matter to the Department of Justice for investigation.
Further info:
Washington Post: Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry
Marshall: Interview with Joseph Wilson (PDF)
Kleiman: The Valerie Plame Affair (NOTE: This entry is now being kept currently updated by Kleiman)
Drum: Who Did It?
Google News: List by relevance and date
(See comments or add a comment at the mirror for this entry on Blogcritics.)
W H A T ' S G O I N G O N
