The CIA vs. Professor Juan Cole

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 7:54 AM Share

I don't think Congress should investigate this. Nor do I think the main Justice Department should. Because why? Because I don't trust either entity to handle the job: Congress was part of the problem, and whatever it does will be politicized, while the Obama Administration has made it very clear it does not want to turn over this rock.

Rather, I hope that the federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, that I've been hearing rumors about for a few years, which supposedly is looking into CIA torture issues, expands its scope to look at CIA domestic abuses.

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EXPLORE:INTELLIGENCE
 

CAPTAIN NOVAL

4:39 PM ET

June 21, 2011

The CIA has denied the

The CIA has denied the allegations. "We've thoroughly researched our records, and any allegation that the CIA provided private or derogatory information on Professor Cole to anyone is simply wrong," Marie E. Harf, Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson, said in a statement.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110617/POLITICS03/106170428/1409/metro

 

TYRTAIOS

4:57 PM ET

June 21, 2011

Plausible deniability

Capitaine Noval, the Agency by in large may know nothing of the alleged allegations, and believes what they say to be truthful.

However, that doesn't mean someone within the Agency, close to the Bush Whitehouse, didn't violate the Agency’s charter, ala Gen. Robert Cushman USMC, who as DD/CIA in 1973, lent assistance for the break-in to Daniel Ellsberg's shrink‘s office. . .once a Marine. . .always a Marine! : )

 

CAPTAIN NOVAL

5:00 PM ET

June 21, 2011

Seeing as how the Agency was

Seeing as how the Agency was the source of a terrific number of leaks of classified information intended to do political harm to the Bush Administration, count me as being from Missouri when people claim the CIA was in cahoots with the Bush White House in a grand conspiracy to defame one obscure left-wing blogger.

But hey, if the Obama Administration's CIA says there's no evidence of such a plot, who am I to disbelieve them? I'll do like the New York Times does and just reprint whatever the Administrations says as "fact."

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008.

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