Raw Story is reporting that Stephen Hadley is Woodward's Mystery Source!

"Sources who identified Hadley as Woodward's source dismiss denials"

Attorneys close to the CIA leak investigation reasserted late Thursday that Hadley approached Fitzgerald after Libby's indictment and alerted him to the June 2003 conversation he had with Woodward, and that he subsequently told Woodward he could testify.

When pressed further, the sources told RAW STORY there is a record at the National Security Council of Hadley's meeting with Woodward.

I've been following all the excellent analysis and commentary surrounding Bob "I didn't want to get subpoenaed" Woodward and yet I kept thinking things weren't adding up. So a parsing I went...

And what I found leads me to believe these two "masters of the universe" really think we're stupid. And Woodward is no journalist. And Downie is no editor.

Libby was indicted for lying to investigators. Now it looks like he might have a bunk buddy behind bars:

Woodward's statement claimed that, "I testified that after the mid-June 2003 interview, I told Walter Pincus, a reporter at The Post, without naming my source, that I understood Wilson's wife worked at the CIA as a WMD analyst."

When approached with this claim, Pincus responded, "Are you kidding? I certainly would have remembered that."

The Post story noted that Pincus had already been questioned in the investigation, though it did not specify whether or not he was under oath or before the grand jury.

Most likely, Pincus' testimony to the investigators was consistent with his public proclamations -- that he had NOT been told of Plame's identity at the time.

Woodward on the other hand, testified that Pincus DID know of Plame's identity at that time.

Given the circumstances that were unfolding, it was highly unlikely, as Pincus attested, that such a conversation could possibly be forgotten.

Someone lied to the investigators and that someone should be indicted.

Via Josh Marshall, a stunner from tomorrow's Washington Post:

Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward testified under oath Monday in the CIA leak case that a senior administration official told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her position at the agency nearly a month before her identity was disclosed.

In a more than two-hour deposition, Woodward told Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald that the official casually told him in mid-June 2003 that Plame worked as a CIA analyst on weapons of mass destruction, and that he did not believe the information to be classified or sensitive, according to a statement Woodward released yesterday.

Woodward's Statement is here (pdf file).

Further, in the main Post article:

Woodward did not share the information with Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. until last month, and the only Post reporter whom Woodward said he remembers telling in the summer of 2003 does not recall the conversation taking place.

This is pretty amazing.

So how about it Mr. "War Time President"? Mr. "Honor & Integrity"? It is quite clear that your "brain" violated, if not criminal law, then an Executive Order relating to disclosure of classified info. We have Chris Matthews and "Your wife is fair game". We have "Official A" and Novak. We have Matt Cooper. Rove told reporters Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, which, as Fitzgerald noted in his press conference and in Libby's indictment, that information was classified.... No need to wait for Fitzgerald to finish his business, Rove dunnit. .. at least as it pertains to actions that you Mr. President can take to restore the public trust and integrity to the national security of the United States. And you have the power, indeed the obligation, to hold him accountable as outlined in the EO.

Or do the rules only apply to people who don't work for you?

If the rumours swirling round the blogosphere are correct, Karl Rove's last minute submission of an email exchange with Adam Levine to Fitzgerald is designed to "prove" (I take it his 4 trips to the GJ didn't suffice to convince them fully) that he did not lie about talking to Cooper about Plame, but instead is just a busy guy with a not so good memory for pesky little things like talking about a covert agent working on WMD's, after her husband had smacked down the 16 words in the SOTU a few days before in the NY Times.

Believable? Perhaps. I once heard of a guy who found a four-leaf clover, so anything is possible I suppose.

Back to July 11th and the email exchange with Levine...

FYI: Joe Wilson will be on Wolf's show today in the Situation Room.

I think it may be partly a follow-up to 60 minutes' show last night.

During his, "Notes? I don't need no stinkin' notes!" hour plus performance last Friday, Patrick Fitzgerald had much to say. He patiently explained the role of the Grand Jury, outlined the case his team was investigating, emphasized the seriousness of the charges against Scooter Libby contained in his indictment, talked about what he couldn't talk about and answered questions and answered questions and answered questions. Everyone was impressed to the nines.

After a weekend of sleep and recovery from countless hours of reading Reddhead and Jane at Firedoglake, a tidbit of simplicity has finally bubbled to the surface.  

All the words Our Man Fitz rattled off last Friday added up to one cool unspoken message.  

"Your move, Scooter."

I want to return to wg's comments from KO's blog, which NYBri quoted the other day.

He'll follow the evidence where it leads and no further, but he's not afraid of anybody, especially these smug thugs. He seemed like a walking, human rebuke to the insane political atmosphere of the last decade.

And also DarkSyde's excellent diary this morning over at Kos:

When you or I, or a politician, or anyone else is under oath, they damn well better either tell the truth, or not answer the f**king question. And if they lie and they get caught, I want them subject to the same consequences everyone else is subject to. Doesn't it matter if they're democrats or republicans or communists or theocrats or lunatics, because this is a matter of law and law cannot play party favorites.

(George Inness expresses similar sentiments here).

And finally, from Fitzgerald's news conference:

When I was in New York working as a prosecutor, we brought those cases because we realized that the truth is the engine of our judicial system. And if you compromise the truth, the whole process is lost.

In other words, respect for law is the necessary precondition for American Democracy.  It is part of the social contract into which we all have entered, and it is so ingrained in our shared consciousness that we rarely question how fragile it is.  But the law is like paper currency: it only has value for as long as their is a collective agreement that it does.

Plame. Flame. Take Aim.
The hurricane "Blame Game".
Miers' Aflame!  It's all the Same...
A dubious Claim to Fame.
No sense of Shame.
Only Shell Games; Con Games; Head Games.
Where is the reference Frame?

They drop Names with Tame Acclaim.  
Saddam to blame?  Lame.
Lay Claim, and then Defame... Shame!
Life is not an exhibition Game.

Freedom fries.  No Allies?
A pack of lies.
Outing spies - unwise!  Alibis?
Sensationalize for my eyes.  
Decriminalize.  Surprise!  Evil underlies.  
Torture wins a Nobel Prize.
Don't improvise.  Say your goodbyes.
Please advise, there's no reprise.

Plame. Flame. Take Aim.
The hurricane "Blame Game".
Miers' Aflame!  It's all the Same...
A dubious Claim to Fame.
No sense of Shame.
Only Shell Games; Con Games; Head Games.
Where is the reference Frame?

They drop Names with Tame Acclaim.  
Saddam to blame?  Lame.
Lay Claim, and then Defame... Shame!
Life is not an exhibition Game.
But they still Overcame.

Freedom fries.  No Allies?
A pack of lies.
Outing spies - unwise!  Alibis?
Sensationalize for my eyes.  
Decriminalize.  Surprise!  Evil underlies.  
Torture wins a Nobel Prize.
Don't improvise.  Say your goodbyes.
Please advise, there's no reprise.

Friends and neighbors in a green Trance.
Dance with France?  No chance.
At first Glance, a vast Expanse... Eyes Askance.
Emboldened in an empty Stance.
Refinance!  Like a rain dance with a sand lance.
War romance. High finance.
Need another cash Advance?

Scooter, Scooter, on my Computer.
He's a grassy knoll Shooter;
A neocon Looter;
Pockets filled with Pewter.
Please find a Recruiter
for my friend Scooter.

Welcome to the Political Cortex!

From the Special Counsel's website:

**MEDIA ADVISORY**
SPECIAL COUNSEL PATRICK J. FITZGERALD TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald will hold a press conference at 2:00 P.M. EDT today, Friday October 28, 2005, regarding the status of the Special Counsel's criminal investigations.

WHO: Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge John C. Eckenrode

WHAT: Release of public information and press conference

WHERE: Department of Justice
7th Floor Conference Center
950 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

NOTE: 7th floor access to reporters at 11 A.M. EDT Cameras allowed access at noon EDT Cameras must pre-set by 1:00 P.M. EDT

Fitzmas starts today ...