Revisiting Patrick Fitzgerald's Oct. 2005 Press Conference

As far I can see, not a whole lot is being reported on the Valerie Plame investigation. But sometimes it's worth going back a a number of months to remind ourselves of issues that still have not been resolved. Two things are clear: Scooter Libby was indicted last year, and it appears the investigation is far from being wrapped up.

Here's the first part of Patrick Fitzgerald's press conference (transcript is from The Washington Post):

FITZGERALD: Good afternoon. I'm Pat Fitzgerald. I'm the United States attorney in Chicago, but I'm appearing before you today as the Department of Justice special counsel in the CIA leak investigation.

Joining me, to my left, is Jack Eckenrode, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Chicago, who has led the team of investigators and prosecutors from day one in this investigation.

A few hours ago, a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia returned a five-count indictment against I. Lewis Libby, also known as Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff.

The grand jury's indictment charges that Mr. Libby committed five crimes. The indictment charges one count of obstruction of justice of the federal grand jury, two counts of perjury and two counts of false statements.

Before I talk about those charges and what the indictment alleges, I'd like to put the investigation into a little context.

Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community.

Valerie Wilson's friends, neighbors, college classmates had no idea she had another life.

FITZGERALD: The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well- known, for her protection or for the benefit of all us. It's important that a CIA officer's identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation's security.

Valerie Wilson's cover was blown in July 2003. The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published a column on July 14th, 2003.

But Mr. Novak was not the first reporter to be told that Wilson's wife, Valerie Wilson, Ambassador Wilson's wife Valerie, worked at the CIA. Several other reporters were told.

In fact, Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie Wilson.

A number of things have changed since the press conference in late October of 2005, but not the fact that people did not know what Valerie Plame did for a living.

Once or twice a week, I want to start reviewing some of the events surrounding the outing of Valerie Plame and the story that led to her outing—namely that the claims that Bush made about the Niger/Iraq uranium connection were false. We now know that some of Bush's claims were based on documents that were easily perceived as forgeries by anyone with modest expertise (eriposte of The Left Coaster has a new post on the documents). We also know that the case for war in Iraq was largely a fabrication designed to deceive the American people and there has never been a full and complete investigation of what happened or what role various figures in the Bush Administration played.