Value Judgment: There is a Season, Turn, Turn, Turn

Value Judgment is a daily weblog written by two independent voters on the eastern seaboard of the United States. VJ will focus on the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, including strategy, tactics, and substance. The authors supported Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his activities will be a prominent topic on this site.

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June 9, 2004

There is a Season, Turn, Turn, Turn

Melanie digs up this interesting and provocative tidbit suggesting why Tenet and Pavitt (Plame's boss, apparently) resigned when they did. IANAL, so take it FWIW.

Under Executive Privilege, a principle intended to protect the constitutional separation of powers, officials in the Executive Branch cannot give testimony in a legal case against a sitting President. The Bush administration has invoked or threatened to invoke the privilege several times. Dick did it over the secret records of his energy task force and George Bush tried to use it to prevent Condoleezza Rice from testifying before the "Independent" Commission investigating September 11th.

Former officials of the Executive Branch are, however, free to testify if they are no longer holding a government office when subpoenaed or when the charges are brought.

Posted by J at June 9, 2004 03:45 PM

Comments

Of course, Tenet doesn't officially leave until July, IIRC, so that may negate this theory. I really have no idea, but the possibility is certainly intriguing.

Posted by: J at June 9, 2004 03:48 PM

The author of that piece regularly occupies tin-foil hat territory, but his theory matches the flood of leaks combined with Tenet and Pavitt's timing.

Posted by: Melanie at June 9, 2004 03:54 PM

Right - I got that from your post. Nonetheless, even tinfoil hat theories match the facts on the ground, now and then. And, as a Teresa at Making Light likes to say: I hate that this Administration makes me feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist every single day. (paraphrase)

Posted by: J at June 9, 2004 05:04 PM

Wow... I can sure relate to that, J. I've always been somewhat disdainful of conspiracy theories and the theorists who espouse them. But... this Bush Inc Administration has a knack for making me wonder if the latest theory might not have something to it, time after time. In fact I'll never forget how I had this nagging question in my mind on 9/12/01 about whether Bush might have known about the impending attack and deliberately sat on it. Even now that seems pretty far out in la-la land. Yet, how else do we account for him sitting there and continuing on with his book reading at that Florida elementary school after having been told that a second airliner had crashed into the other twin tower?

Anyway... this theory about Tenet may have come from tin-hat territory. But, it certainly seems plausible to me.

Posted by: Kevin at June 11, 2004 04:08 PM

From the tin-hat free zone:

It has been reported that Tenet's son has serious heart problems and really did resign to spend more time with his family.

Posted by: adaplant at June 13, 2004 02:43 AM