A few follow-up points on yesterday’s UPI story on possible Plame-related indictments in Dick Cheney’s office.
The first thing to notice is that, as near as I can tell, the story has not been picked up by any other news organization. Moreover, from the rough read one gets from Google News, the UPI Story only seems to have run on the website of only one news organization.
Several other news organizations have been and continue to sit on this story — though why, for good reasons or not good reasons, I’m not sure.
Yesterday I talked with an emissary from neoconland who pushed back heavily on the story, at least as regards John Hannah. No mention of Libby. But Hannah, this person insisted, is simply not a target of the investigation.
Let me add another point. There are lots of people I know (of many political persuasions) who aren’t surprised Libby would be involved in this and won’t be shedding a tear if he gets brought down by it. But they feel the opposite on both counts about Hannah.
None of this means Hannah is or isn’t in the clear. I’m just trying to give you a feel for the reaction to the mention of his name as a potential target of this investigation.
Another topic to keep an eye on: just why did John Ashcroft get out of the way of this investigation when he did? There’s a story there.
