CNN Helps Scott McClellan Deliberately Mislead Readers About Valerie Plame Leak

Okay, here is one of the clearest cases of a major media outlet deliberately skewing the news in order to push an agenda rather than reporting the complete story.

It's no secret the Scott McClellan was in front of Congress today testifying about his recent book. He kept his words conveniently vague so that if it comes up in the future, he won't be charged with perjury. But let's look at what he said, as reported by CNN:

McClellan also also said he could not rule out that Cheney had ordered his former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to leak Plame Wilson's identity. A later investigation showed that Libby, in fact, had been involved in the leaking of the CIA operative's name. The FBI and a federal grand jury later investigated the leaking of Plame Wilson's identity. No one was convicted for the actual leak, but Libby was later convicted of perjury, lying to federal investigators and obstruction of justice in 2007. ... "I do not think the president had any knowledge" of the revelation of Plame Wilson's identity, McClellan said. "In terms of the vice president, I do not know."

Now, those of us who followed this story in detail and know the ins-and-outs of the case can see that something is missing from CNN's report: the identity of the original leaker who revealed Valerie Plame to Robert Novak. That person is former State Department official Dick Armitage. You'll notice that Armitage is not mentioned once in the whole CNN narrative.

You see, revealing the truth of Dick Armitage as the leak who "outed" Valerie Plame would make Scott McClellan look like, at best, the fool he is and at worst, a perjurer.

Anyone care to guess why CNN would deliberately leave out that most important detail?

Perhaps we should let CNN answer that, if they have enough integrity to answer the question.

And here is yet another example of McClellan being a fool or perjurer:

"I do not know whether a crime was committed by any of the administration officials who revealed Valerie Plame's identity to reporters," he said. "Nor do I know if there was an attempt by any person or persons to engage in a cover-up during the investigation. I do know that it was wrong to reveal her identity, because it compromised the effectiveness of a covert official for political reasons."

Except that Valerie Plame was not "covert" at the time that Dick Armitage leaked her name to Robert Novak and Fitzgerald even said so in public statements during his investigation. Again, another blatant omission on the part of CNN. McClellan clearly isn't getting anything right, yet for whatever reason, CNN is trying to portray him as if he were yielding some sort of new revelations.

You can access CNN's grossly misleading story on-line here:

McClellan: Cheney Should Testify About CIA Leak
CNN.com
June 20, 2008