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Andrea Mitchell: I 'Messed Up' on Leakgate Answer
Senior NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell said Wednesday morning that she "messed up" when she told an interviewer in 2003 that Valerie Plame's CIA identity was "widely known." But despite the startling comment, Mitchell said she still hasn't been contacted by Leakgate Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. For the second time in two weeks, radio host Don Imus grilled Mitchell on her Oct. 2003 remarks, where she told CNBC's Alan Murray that Plame's CIA connection was "widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community and who were actively engaged in trying to track down who among the foreign service community was the envoy to Niger." Mitchell went on to explain: "So a number of us began to pick up on that. But frankly I wasn't aware of her actual role at the CIA and the fact that she had a covert role involving weapons of mass destruction, not until Bob Novak wrote it."
Story Continues Below The top NBC'er said Wednesday, however, that she was completely mystified as to why she would have made the comment. "I have gone back over this, I can't tell you how many times," she lamented. "I was quite surprised to hear about it because it's inconsistent with anything in my memory. I can't find any notes that reflect this alleged knowledge. And so I was muddled on the timeline - that's all I can imagine." Pressed on why she would have said she knew about Plame if she didn't, an exasperated Mitchell blurted out: "Because, I messed up . . . clearly back in Oct. of '03, I screwed it up." Despite her conflicting accounts, Mitchell revealed that prosecutor Fitzgerald has shown no interest in interviewing her in the three weeks since her 2003 comments have become an issue. Asked if she'd been subpoenaed, Mitchell replied: "No, no - not at all." Asked whether Fitzgerald's office has even bothered to contact her, the top NBC'er said: "No - in no way." The Mitchell-Imus exchange went like this: MITCHELL: I know the question now. I've gone back and reread it. And I frankly - I thought - I think that I thought he was asking about, did I know there was an envoy. But I know that I didn't know about Joe Wilson's wife until after the [Novak] column. Because when the column came out I went in to my producer and said - "Look at this. How the heck did we not know that?" And at the same time we were talking with [Tim] Russert and everyone else. You know - this is a different part of the story that we didn't know about. So clearly back in Oct. of '03, I screwed it up. IMUS: Well, [Alan Murray's] question seems plain. "Do we have any idea how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. And you said that his wife worked . . . MITCHELL: When you look at my answer, I said: "It was widely known - and we were trying to track down who among the foreign community was the envoy to Niger." So far, so good. Okay? [Quoting herself again.] "So some of us began to pick up on that. But frankly I wasn't aware of her actual role at the CIA and the fact the she had a covert role involving weapons of mass destruction, not until Bob Novak wrote it. IMUS: Well, that part is clear. MITCHELL: That's clear. So, what's not clear is that I didn't know about her role at the CIA until Bob Novak wrote it. And I obviously got it muddled. IMUS: Well, what this suggests to me is that, you knew she worked at the CIA but you didn't know what she did there. MITCHELL: Yes, but that's not . . . IMUS: Is that fair? Did you know that? MITCHELL: I didn't. IMUS: Well, then - why did you say you did, Andrea? MITCHELL: Because, I messed up. IMUS: Oh. MITCHELL: I think that I was confused about the timeline. We weren't all as focused on the timeline then as we really are now. And I think I just was confused. IMUS: Did you ever have a discussion with Russert about it? MITCHELL: Sure, after the fact. IMUS: Oh. MITCHELL: Well, I think Russert, conversations with Russert, obviously after Joe Wilson came out on "Meet the Press" - and we all talked about those 16 words. That's what we were focused on. We were focused on Niger, uranium, were there WMD? That's what the whole focus was. Not on his wife. Then Joe Wilson's wife was mentioned by Bob Novak and it became a major issue when the CIA referred it to the Justice Department for investigation. . . . . [SNIP] IMUS: I think the reason that there's a question about you, and I'm not patronizing you, but it's because the respect you have as a journalist and as a reporter. MITCHELL: I appreciate that but I've got to tell you . . . IMUS: I mean, [reporters are] very careful about what they say and when they say it. MITCHELL: I have gone back over this, I can't tell you how many times. I was quite surprised to hear about it because it's inconsistent with anything in my memory. I can't find any notes that reflect this - this alleged knowledge. And so I was muddled on the timeline - that's all I can imagine. IMUS: Have you been subpoenaed? MITCHELL: No, no - not at all. IMUS: Have you ever - have you talked to Fitzgerald informally? MITCHELL: No - in no way. I was - I didn't have any knowledge about this. You know, one of the things that happened was that the Washington Post wrote an inaccurate story in the middle of this whole period, saying that I was one of the six people who had been leaked to before the Novak column. And that's how my name first got into this. Which was not true. They didn't check with me. They didn't call me. I was in the office all day. It was a Sunday. They wrote the story on Monday morning.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
Inside Cover Stories
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