| Pat buchanan says neocons behind whole thing { July 15 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.mclaughlin.com/library/transcript.asp?id=475http://www.mclaughlin.com/library/transcript.asp?id=475
video: http://www.fednet.net/ram/mg/MG071505.ram
Requested Transcript: THE MCLAUGHLIN GROUP HOST: JOHN MCLAUGHLIN PANEL: PATRICK BUCHANAN, MSNBC; ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK; TONY BLANKLEY, WASHINGTON TIMES; RAGHIDA DERGHAM, AL-HAYAT TAPED: FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2005 BROADCAST: WEEKEND OF JULY 16-17, 2005 Copyright (c) 2005 by Federal News Service, Inc., ------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPT:
MR. MCCLELLAN: Again, you're continuing to ask questions relating to on ongoing criminal investigation, and I'm just not going to respond to them.
(End of videotape segment.)
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: As can be seen, the White House faced intensifying pressure this week over the role Karl Rove played in leaking the identity of a covert CIA officer, Valerie Plame. Under federal law, outing an undercover agent is a felony.
(Minutes: 19:40) Question: The White House session only increased in octane from what we've seen on the screen. What does the White House session tell you about the state of affairs on this issue?
Eleanor Clift.
MS. CLIFT: It tells you there's enormous sensitivity. Whether Karl Rove committed a crime or not, I'll leave that up to the grand jury, but it's clear that he was in the center of the spreading of the story about Valerie Plame. And that goes against what the White House said declaratively that it was ridiculous to think he was involved. So at the very least, there's a credibility issue on that.
But what it has done, it has provoked the press corps to now go back and look at what other lies there might have been in the selling of the war. And that's where the sensitivity is, because this story was leaked at the time when questions were raised about Vice President Cheney and was he promoting the war in visiting the CIA. And the extent to which this White House apparently went to discredit the story, discredit Ambassador Wilson and his wife is at the heart of the selling of this war, a war that was a war of choice.
MR. BUCHANAN: John, credibility, that is a problem. Rove, I don't think, if he's told the truth, has a serious problem.
But this is a dynamite investigation. Judge Hogan, Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, has been turning over rocks for two years. And the federal appellate judge, who took one look at what they offered, said, I believe in the right of a journalist to protect sources, but this one, they've got to testify.
I think there's a tremendous explosive potential here, and it may not be Rove that the independent counsel is going after.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Okay. On Friday, The New York Times reported that Rove testified before the grand jury that he had heard the information about Valerie Plame's identity from calling Mr. Robert Novak. So Rove did not leak to Novak; Novak leaked to Rove. Question: where does this leave Novak, and where does this leave Rove? And where does this leave the story?
Tony.
MR. BLANKLEY: Well, I don't know what Novak said or didn't say in the grand jury, but --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: No, it was Rove in the grand jury.
MR. BLANKLEY: Well, Novak's in there too; whether he's said anything or not, we don't know yet. But look. There are two problems for Rove. One, did he commit a crime? We will find out whether he did or not when the grand jury reports back. There's a second problem of credibility of the White House and Rove, and the statements being made. I think that part is clearly a problem until it's resolved. And the intensity we saw in the press corps -- now, this press corps doesn't need to be provoked. They're provoked enough. But the truth is that the White House has a problem on the second point. Whether they have a problem on the first one, we don't know yet.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Raghida, is this getting international distribution? Have you seen it in London? Have you seen it in Europe? And what's the Arab bag? Are you seeing it in the Arab press?
MS. DERGHAM: The world cares about this because Karl Rove is a very important man in the White House, and everybody knows who is Karl Rove. That's number one. Number two, it is about this element of a journalist in prison, whereas if there is a felony and a treason, the source should be in prison. And thirdly, it relates to Iraq, like Eleanor said a little earlier. It is back to what's this story all about?
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Because --
MS. DERGHAM: It's about --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Because Wilson had gone to find whether or not Niger was producing yellowcake uranium, correct?
MS. DERGHAM: Right. You remember when the president spoke about that, and it was one of the justifications to influence the -- a republic to say let's go to war. And one of the reasons why --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Because of WMD.
MS. DERGHAM: That's right, but -- (inaudible.)
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: This is -- this is --
(Minutes: 23:13) MR. BUCHANAN: (Inaudible) -- who is Judy Miller protecting?
(Cross talk.)
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: So when they -- I want to conclude the point. So in the Arab press, they see all of this together, and they see the Iraqi connection. And this gives it body and it gives it dimension; it gives it scope. Is that right?
MS. DERGHAM: That's right. And then it also goes back to -- to what's this war all about.
MR. BUCHANAN: No.
MS. DERGHAM: This has been the question. Why this war? Now, a lot of people have been celebrating, including Iraqis, the downfall of Saddam Hussein the tyrant. And there's a lot of people who appreciate that this happened. But then back again; why this war? I don't think this has been answered, and I think this story is part of this -- and Judy Miller --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Why this -- I mean, what do they think is why this war? What is the answer to that? What do they think -- well, we know what --
(Minutes: 23:50) MR. BUCHANAN: John -- the suspicion, John, is -- there's a suspicion, John, that the neo-cons are behind this whole thing. It's part of the whole effort to mislead --
MR. BLANKLEY: Let -- let me get the other side of this for a second.
MR. BUCHANAN: -- to take down opponents and get us into war.
MR. BLANKLEY: Just -- let me get the other side for a moment.
(Cross talk.) MR. BLANKLEY: The questions about Rove are legitimate. This is about Wilson being a whistleblower. The Washington Post on Friday did an editorial in which they dismissed credibly -- based on the reports of the 9/11 commission, he was not a whistleblower, he did mislead in his public statements --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: All right, we gotta get out.
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