Newsweek's TraitorGate Primer

Thanks to Jane over at firedoglake for letting us know about this Newsweek story which will be hitting the newsstands this week. Although focused on Cheney, this is really a background piece which explains the basics of the TraitorGate affair, beginning with the formation of the WHIG through the outing of Plame. The facts we are familiar with are presented in an understandable, and somewhat simplified way, which I think is a good thing. There were a couple of things in there though that got my attention. The first was this, from the first paragraph.

In February 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney received a CIA briefing that touched on Saddam Hussein's attempts to build nuclear bombs. Cheney, who was looking for evidence to support an Iraq invasion, was especially interested in one detail: a report that claimed Saddam attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. At the end of the briefing, Cheney or an aide told the CIA man that the vice president wanted to know more about the subject.

Here we have a major MSM outlet finally supporting Joe Wilson's version of how he happened to become involved in all of this. One of the things that has frustrated me over the past year of so, has been the right wing echo chamber's insistance that Wilson lied when he claimed that Cheney requested that he be sent to Niger. Wilson never claimed any such thing, it was a total distortion. So just when I begin to think that Newsweek might actually be trying to be intellectually honest I read this:

Tight-lipped, Fitzgerald has not said a word about his intentions. That has left Washington breathlessly reading into the flimsiest clues. Last week bloggers seized on the discovery that Fitzgerald had set up a Web site, which was taken as a sure sign that indictments were around the corner. Lawyers who have had dealings with Fitzgerald's office, who spoke anonymously because the investigation is ongoing, say the prosecutor appears to be exploring the option of bringing broad conspiracy charges against Libby, Rove and perhaps others, though it's still unclear whether Fitzgerald can prove an underlying crime.

My God, does Newsweek think that Fitzgerald is just doing this for practice? This isn't a drill. Isn't is obvious that if he couldn't prove underlying crimes he wouldn't bring indictments??!! Then, down near the bottom, they throw in this:

Libby and other administration officials were quick to denounce Wilson's claims, and to allege that it was his wife who had chosen him for the African trip. (Wilson and Plame say she merely recommended him to her supervisor when asked.)

Grrrrr! Well, I try to take some comfort from the hope that this piece might wake just one person up in a red state, and it was nice to glean from a mainstream publication that Cheney might actually be in some hot water. Merry Fitzmas.