Guessing Game Results: Anonymous Ex Post Facto Buck-Passing? Could Be Anyone

This was the passage:

“Presidential knowledge was the ball game,” says a former senior government official outside the White House who was personally familiar with the damage-control effort. “The mission was to insulate the president. It was about making it appear that he wasn’t in the know. You could do that on Niger. You couldn’t do that with the tubes.” A Republican political appointee involved in the process, who thought the Bush administration had a constitutional obligation to be more open with Congress, said: “This was about getting past the election.”

Your answers? Well, there weren’t many. As to the first, the commenterariat immediately named our first guess: George Tenet.

The only remotately credible/readable email we got on the subject named Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief-of-staff — the emailer cited Wilkerson’s access to the intel and “military-esque” language.

As for the second: One vote for Powell himself, which makes as much sense as anything. And nothing else. We’re still curious, so if you have a better idea, feel free drop us a line.

Earlier: Senior Administration Official Guessing Game: Damage Control

READ MORE: aluminum tubes, anonymous sources, colin powell, george tenet, guessing game, intelligence, larry wilkerson, war

Daily Briefing: Cultural Corruption

• Congressional Research Service determines that the administration should have notified all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees about NSA eavesdropping. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Dems up the ante against the “culture of corruption”; their proposed limitations on lobbying are stricter than GOP plan. [WP, NYT, W$J]
• Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis steered $160m project through Congress after firm donated $110,000, USAT alleges; congressman denies wrongdoing. [USAT]
• Longest independent counsel inquiry ever accuses Clinton administration officials of a cover-up. [NYT]
• Human Rights Watch says the administration makes a “deliberate policy choice” to abuse detainees. [NYT]
• Costs of the war and rebuilding the Gulf Coast will exacerbate this year’s budget debate. [USAT]
• State Department will shift hundreds of diplomats to the Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere from Europe and Washington. [WP, NYT]
• Democrats urged to vote against Samuel Alito. [NYT, LAT]
• Republicans try to reassure seniors about new drug plan. [WP]
• Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) “is back!” [WP]
• Larry Wilkerson’s criticisms of the administration caused an estrangement with Colin Powell. Wilkerson: “This is not a Republican administration, not in my view. This is a radical administration.” [WP]

READ MORE: Democrats, Republicans, abuse of detainees, budget, colin powell, diplomats, eavesdropping, human rights watch, john lewis, larry wilkerson, lobbying, nsa, samuel alito, state department, trent lott