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Report: Romney Advisor Who Hit Obama On Leaks Was Involved In Scooter Libby Scandal


Jul 25, 2012 by

I’m a life long political junkie, a former Political Science major, a lover of political history — but in all of my life I have never ever seen a campaign like this. With things such as this, if Mitt Romney loses his bid for the Oval Office registered Republicans might consider a class action lawsuit for political negligence:

Mitt Romney’s campaign might have chosen the wrong ally to back up his attack today on President Obama for leaking national security secrets.

Shortly after the candidate’s speech in Reno, Nevada, the Romney campaign sent out a press release citing former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman, who is listed as an Romney campaign advisor.

“The suggestion by Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that the White House was behind recent leaks of highly classified secrets, highlights the urgent need for change” Edelman said in the statement.

Edelman, however, was implicated in the country’s last major national security leak investigation — the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame — during his time in the Bush administration.

Edelman served under former Vice President Dick Cheney in the 1990s. From February 2001 to June 2003, he worked as Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs, where he served directly under former Cheney aide Scooter Libby. According to the Justice Department, Edelman, identified as “Principal Deputy” in Scooter Libby’s indictment, originally suggested the idea to Libby to start leaking information about Joe Wilson’s trip to Niger.

The week after Edelman’s conversation with Libby, the Cheney aide infamously told New York Times reporter Judith Miller that Wilson’s wife might work for the CIA.

Romney partisans may argue that this is being blown out of proportion, but Democrats will argue that it’s a case of the pot calling the pot a pot. The bigger issue here is: didn’t they think a report such as the one above might come out?

It is adding to the ongoing image of Camp Romney and Romney himself as a festival of breathtaking hypocrisy — even in politics where hypocrisy seems to be a prerequisite.

Presumably, Romney will vet his Vice Presidential pick a tad better than his campaign did with someone to go out front on this issue.

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15 Comments

  1. RON BEASLEY
    July 25, 2012 | 12:50 am

    As I said in

    DaGoat
    July 25, 2012 | 7:25 am

    Democrats will argue that it’s a case of the pot calling the pot a pot.

    And they would be right, both Edelman and Obama have had problems with security leaks. And yes that makes Edelman (and Romney by extension) hypocritical but that doesn’t negate the fact that Obama’s administration has had a problem keeping their mouths shut. This is a legitimate area of criticism, and Obama has not made it clear how he intends to fix the problem.

  2. rudi
    July 25, 2012 | 8:26 am

    LOL
    The Iran cyber attack is no big deal. This type attack is on going and happened in the past. The “kill list” is only a trivial item.

  3. OWEN GRAY
    July 25, 2012 | 11:19 am

    Romney may have been a successful businessman. But, as a politician, he is his own worst enemy.

  4. RP
    July 25, 2012 | 11:53 am

    http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/libby_indictment_28102005.pdf

    Section 13.

    Joe said “but in all of my life I have never ever seen a campaign like this”

    I totally agree. How can that one mention of an individual lead to situations like this. Given this stretch of anyones imagination, no one associated with politics in anyway today is clean.

    The sorry part is there are so many people that will beleive what is said and not do any research to find the truth behind the statements.

  5. dduck
    July 25, 2012 | 12:28 pm

    Yep, definitely a hypocrite and it is a minor inconvenience that there were security leaks. Yes, Romney is inept at the political game and it is correct to say it is different than the business/capitalist game and he should have had a different point man on this.

    Doesn’t change the facts, but helps fog them over; as usual for politicians a good tactic.

    Still remains that this well planned assassination still left a doctor in jail and embarrassed the Pakistani government, because someone wanted publicity for political gain.

    Maybe worst of all, some Pakistani parents won’t let their kids get needed polio inoculations.

    Yes, Obama approved it all, but couldn’t keep his people from keeping the operation secret.

  6. davidpsummers
    July 25, 2012 | 5:05 pm

    Romney partisans may argue that this is being blown out of proportion, but Democrats will argue that it’s a case of the pot calling the pot a pot. The bigger issue here is: didn’t they think a report such as the one above might come out?

    I’m not sure they even care. The pro-GOP blogs have had not trouble finding Democrats who have flip-flopped the other way. The fact is that both parties don’t really even try and hide their hypocrisy anymore.

  7. adelinesdad
    July 25, 2012 | 10:48 pm

    Yes, the big issue here is clearly not whether a compromising leak actually happened. It’s which candidate looks bad.

    “According to the Justice Department, Edelman, identified as “Principal Deputy” in Scooter Libby’s indictment, originally suggested the idea to Libby to start leaking information about Joe Wilson’s trip to Niger.”

    Not quite what the indictment said, but there seems to be a trend of “close enough for me” hard-hitting journalism lately. Edelman asked a *question* about whether information could be shared, to which Libby responded that the CIA would have a problem with that (implying that Edelman presumably didn’t know that). No where does the indictment claim that Edelman thereafter suggested that Libby should leak the information anyway.

  8. dduck
    July 26, 2012 | 2:32 pm

    What’s is important is the fact that damage was done by the leaks. The doctor is in prison, some kids will get polio and we caused Pakistan extra avoidable embarrassment, which could have prolonged the truck ban into Afghanistan.

    Covert operations are supposed to be covert, not reality shows.

  9. The_Ohioan
    July 26, 2012 | 11:29 pm

    dd

    If this is about the cyber-attack on Iran and the drone kill list, the original story was based on interviews with three dozen present and former security advisers. Hardly super secret stuff though potentially embarrassing, as those things usually are. It had nothing to do with the Dr. Afridi who is in prison in Pakistan for using a ruse of hepatitis B innoculations to get a DNA sample from the bin Laden compound. Don’t know where the polio comes in. Dr. Afridi was sentenced for his activities with an islamist terrorist group.

    “On 23 May 2012, Shakil Afridi was sentenced to 33 years imprisonment for treason, initially believed to be in connection with the Bin Laden raid but later revealed to be due to ties with a local Islamist warlord Mangal Bagh.”

  10. dduck
    July 27, 2012 | 9:03 am

    Ohio, I was referring to the OBL assassination operation.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/cia-vaccine-ruse-in-pakistan-may-have-harmed-polio-fight.html?pagewanted=all

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/asia/taliban-block-vaccinations-in-pakistan.html

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/17/shooting-un-doctor-pakistan-polio

    http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_police-force-polio-vaccine-on-pakistani-children_1720123

  11. The_Ohioan
    July 27, 2012 | 10:48 am

    dd

    Yes, the CIA should answer for having involved such a shady character as Dr. Afridi, or any medical outreach organization, in their plans. Unintended consequences have a way of expanding exponentially when dealing with the Taliban. Still not sure of what leaks are involved, Dr. Afridi was under suspicion before and arrested just days after the bin Laden operation. Who leaked what and when and to whom?

    Sounds like the health workers are making some progress after this setback, thankfully.

  12. dduck
    July 27, 2012 | 11:51 am

    Ohio, the OBL operation should have been as secret as possible, even the head of covert operations agrees to that. Go in do whatever, no pictures of the situation room, no details of the logistics, no description of the doctor ruse to get DNA, complete covertness.

    Admiral McRaven, head of U.S Special Operations Command said: “”I take your point sir,” he said. “We don’t ever want to get to the point where our sensitive tactics, techniques and procedures are open for everybody to take a look at so that next time we come in on a target we are exposed.”
    McRaven, once publicity shy, is now giving interviews and is answering the criticism of Gen, Vaught, who has said “Get the hell out of the media”. I agree.

  13. The_Ohioan
    July 27, 2012 | 3:20 pm

    I’m sorry to be so obtuse, but Osama was killed at 3am May 2. About 10 AM that day the first reports were out. The President announced it to the country that night. May 3 information about the operation was released by the WH Security team. May 4 they announced no more operational info would be available. One book has been written giving conflicting details.

    The President making a national television address or the White House giving the press information is not a leak. Some more discretion could have been used according to some, but a leak is not information that is offered by the White House personnel, during a press conference, to the press corp. Unless I don’t understand what a “leak” is.

    Should so much information about the operation have been given? Possibly not. There is always consternation when covert operations are discovered and they certainly shouldn’t be exploited, that I agree with you about. That’s the tension between a free press and military with a distrust of civilian knowledge of their operations. It’s always hard to find the proper balance.

    I don’t think OBL is the national security leak that Mr. Romney, and this article, is talking about. But I could be wrong; I find it difficult to discern much of what Mr. Romney is talking about.

  14. dduck
    July 27, 2012 | 4:29 pm

    I should have not said leak. I should have said there BIG mouths instead. I stand by the rest.