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A Vengeful White House?
Joseph Wilson claims White House officials leaked information that his wife worked for the CIA. (Photo: CBS)
"This kind of a low blow, even in a bare knuckles town like Washington, was neither honorable or dignified."
Joseph Wilson
(CBS) It was an embarrassing mistake when White House officials admitted that there was an inaccuracy in President Bush’s State of the Union address, but now, the fallout from that mistake could lead to criminal charges, CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston reports.
In his speech, Mr. Bush claimed that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium, used to make weapons of mass destruction, from an African nation.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was dispatched to investigate the charge before the State of the Union, revealed that he had warned the Bush administration that there was no evidence to support the claim.
That’s when Robert Novak, a syndicated newspaper columnist, reported that Wilson’s wife was a CIA operative...
UPDATE (!!): HOLY CRAP. Check this out.
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A senior administration official said two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. That was shortly after Wilson revealed in July that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account eventually touched off a controversy over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.
"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.
Pass the effing popcorn.
UPDATE II: Just so people understand, a "senior administration official" is like the president, the vice president, the cabinet, or a few people of similar rank. Someone is copping to what happened. The question now is who are they ratting out? How senior are the perps? And, when will the lovely frog-march take place?