Daily Briefing: Sour to the Third

• Rove testifies for several hours in the CIA leak case; testimony “focused almost exclusively on his conversation about Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper in 2003 and whether the top aide later tried to conceal it.” [WP, NYT, W$J]
• Tony Snow could be “the first outsider to become part of Bush’s revamped inner circle”; aides admit there is “broad agreement that the first-term strategy of largely ignoring the mainstream Washington media was a mistake.” Dan Bartlett: “There is a lot of value added in Tony coming on board and helping us internally with his own views and ideas.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• New spending bill brings cost of the war in Iraq to $320B; total cost of Afghanistan and Iraq missions will exceed the price of the Vietnam War. [WP]
• Approval of Congress in NBC/WSJ poll has dropped 11 points in the past month; respondents are increasingly pessimistic about the direction of the nation and the economy. 77% are “uneasy about the economy” and 44% are tired of partisan fighting. Pollster: “You have never seen such a sour mood in the country. It is sour, sour, sour.” [MSNBC, W$J]
• Senate report concludes FEMA should be abolished because problems are “too substantial to mend.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Rumsfeld, Rice visit Baghdad after prodding from Bush; “they were embracing perhaps the last chance the Bush administration had to turn around public opinion at home and to ensure that Iraq has a viable political future.” [WP, NYT, W$J]

• High gas prices “could dovetail with growing public concern over the war in Iraq to give Democrats an opening in several key races”; partisan finger-pointing is another consequence. [WP, WP]
• Senate votes to trim $2B from Iraq war spending to spend on border security; “the action was unusual because Republicans have been adamant that the war is the highest priority and have been quick to attack Democrats who show signs of wavering on the issue.” [NYT, W$J, WT]
• Senate Finance Committee rethinks recent tax breaks to oil companies. [NYT]
• Republicans find constituents have other concerns than the ethics bill and the lobbying scandal. [WP]
• Ari Fleischer: “The briefing is no longer a briefing, it’s a TV show… The two sides talk past each other, and the viewing public gets to watch a good fight.” [WP]

READ MORE: 2006, CIA, Campaigning, Democrats, Republicans, White House, afghanistan, ari fleischer, condoleezza rice, congress, dan bartlett, don rumsfeld, ethics, fema, gas prices, george w. bush, iraq, karl rove, katrina, leak investigation, matthew cooper, patrick fitzgerald, polls, scott mcclellan, senate, tony snow, valerie plame, war on terror

Wonk’d: Missed Connections

Last week, we admitted that we were desperate for sightings. You responded with desperate sightings: Andrew Sullivan, Matt Cooper, Ted Koppel… they’re all here, Washington’s most recognizable non-famous people. We applaud, we thank, we’ll buy the next round. Please keep sending your sightings of D.C. “celebrities” to . All Gang of 500 members eligible. Sightings after the jump.

• 10/18 - Walking between meetings in Russell, I was passing the usual stream of staffers in gaudy pastel ties and those “I’m not easy - really!” power suits, with the occasional Member in uber-frump mode. It’s not hard to imagine why a tall, well-built man in all black - blazer, shirt, tie, pants, cowboy boots - wearing sunglasses (but not carrying a gun) would catch my eye. “Was that Sean Penn, I asked my colleague?” Closer inspection showed that in fact it was.

• I did see George Stephanopolous crossing L street at Connecticut a few weeks ago. He was talking on his cell and had his trench coat folded over one arm. Seemed to be looking at me very strangely, probably because I was staring at him and mumbling, “That looks like George Stephanopolous….. only shorter.”

• Saw barney frank a few weeks back shopping at the Dupont Soviet Safeway on 17th. I came accross him a few times… He looked bitter, though the Colbert Report piece had just aired, so not surprised! He spent much time looking at the unground coffee beans at the end of the aisle near the tuna, couldnt seem to make up his mind. Saw him again two days later at the corner of 17th and Q, a block away from Safeway. Maybe he has moved to the neighborhood? Hard to tell, but have never seen him around the area. Maybe he will drop by Cobalt soon?

• Some friends and I walked into Martin’s (Wisconsin and N) on Friday 11/11 at about 11 p.m. and noticed Chris and Kathleen Matthews sitting in a booth near the entrance with a couple of other people. We didn’t approach them. Chris has a big head and still looked made up for TV.

• On November 17th I saw Oprah’s one and only, Stedman Graham, sitting outside of gate 23 as I was getting a flight at National Airport. He wasn’t hiding - actually was sitting in the row of chairs facing traveling masses and seemed to be engaging in some friendly chatter with a few passersby. I was a little surprised that I recognized him, but he did have the unmistakable air of someone who was someone.

• Friday night [Nov. 18] Matt Cooper sat next to me (well, the seat across from me) on the Metro (blue/orange line) I think he got on at Foggy Bottom or something - I was engrossed in my David Sedaris book and glanced up when this mass of a human entered the car - naturally I immediately went back to reading (not finding him particularly attractive nor putting his mug into context). About a nanosecond later my mind registered who it was and I gave the old Coop a double take - part of me was a little scared that he thought I might be interested or something because we made serious eye contact. Needless to say, I’m still reluctant to scan missed the connections on Craigslist. He looked even more miserable then the rest of sad dejected commuters - almost like he just got booed off the platform or something

• I saw former Inside Politics host Judy Woodruff getting off the 4pm shuttle from La Guardia on Friday [Nov. 18]. She was looking very skinny but nice. She waited briefly in the terminal as two male co-workers departed the plane after her and then they all walked toward the exit Judith Miller-style (arm in arm).

• this is about the most unsurprising sighting possible but, I saw Andrew Sullivan leaving the U Street Results Gym at about 7pm [Nov. 22]. Looked like he had just finished his “workout.”

• 1) Gwen Ifil picking up her morning coffee and scone at the Breadline on Pennsylvania Avenue. 2) None other than Ted Koppel, sitting literally within six inches of me at the sushi bar at Makato on MacArthur Blvd. When we entered and sat down, I assumed we were sitting next to any other middle-aged couple. Only when my neighbor’s cell phone rang several times (in a restaurant plastered with “No Cell Phone!” signs) and I got annoyed, did my boyfriend point out that I was sitting next to the one and only Ted Koppel. He and his wife had the tasting menu, and I saw him whip out the AmEx Platinum to pay for the meal.

• I was walking out of the Banana Republic in Georgetown earlier this afternoon (Fri 11/25) and as I’m walking in the crosswalk, I hear a fairly accented voice. I turn to my left, and did a double take as I saw the Gubernator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, walking with Maria Shriver. He’s not particularly tall, as I was taller than him (I’m 5’11” or so), and he’s really, really leathery looking.

READ MORE: andrew sullivan, arnold schwarzenegger, barney frank, chris matthews, george stephanopoulos, gwin ifil, judy woodruff, maria shriver, matthew cooper, sean penn, stedman graham, ted koppel, wonk’d

Remainders: The Opera

• Plamegate, the opera: “Patrick Fitzgerald kicks things off with ‘Tell me a story,’ followed by the trio with Judith Miller and Matt Cooper ‘I’ve got a subpoena.’ Cooper then has his show stopping duet with Time editor Norman Pearlstine, ‘We’ve run out of options,’ followed by his aria ‘I have been released.’” [Living in a Media World]
• Says Maureen Dowd: “The New York Times is the most fun you can have for a dollar.” She’s even cheaper than we thought. [Daily Texan via Romenesko]
• Anonymity for me but not for thee: Posties bitch about leaks from within the paper. [FishbowlDC]
• Real life: “Free Speech Coalition Files Lawsuit Challenging Utah’s ‘Anti-Spam’ Registry;” the Onion: “Anti-Spam Legislation Opposed By Powerful Penis-Enlargement Lobby” [US Newswire, Onion]
• Red Cross president: “Some people would come home and have a martini. I do beading.” [WP]

READ MORE: judith miller, matthew cooper, maureen dowd, new york times, patrick fitzgerald, plame investigation, porn, red cross, washington post

Gossip Roundup: Mojitos with Jenna

• Reliable Source: Jenna Bush spotted “sipping mojitos at Arlington’s Tallula restaurant with a gaggle of gal pals and occasionally slipping off to the back bar to smoke. She wore a cute retro-style blue jacket over black pants and a tank top.” [WP]
• Rush & Molloy: Jim McGreevey attends Out 100 party… Matthew Cooper on Time’s person of the year: “Mother Nature, she’s a bitch.” [NYDN]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Clinton flack denies former president takes antidepressants. [NYDN]
• Cindy Adams: Has Dick Cheney changed? [NYP]

READ MORE: Personalities, bill clinton, dick cheney, jenna bush, jim mcgreevey, matthew cooper

Person of the Year Luncheon: Coopertastic

We’ve just laid eyes on the panel for TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” luncheon on Nov. 14 — the first of many manufactured events in the build up to the POY cover, not the least of which is the cover itself. Say one thing for the panel, though: They didn’t stint on the Coopers:

-Brian Williams
-Anderson Cooper
-Grover Norquist
-TIME’s Matt Cooper
-Donna Brazile
-Cynthia Cooper (2002 Person of the Year for ‘The Whistleblowers’)

There’s no one from the arts, technology or the academy on the table, so scratch your JK Rowlings, your Googles, your pro or con intelligent design debaters, your Richard Posners. It’ll be someone safely within walking distance of the NYC-DC navel region. There are two folks with connections to New Orleans (Anderson and Brazile), so expect at least one Ray Nagin/”that kid who was on NBC outside the Convention Center” nomination, and if both of them aren’t in tears by the time dessert is served, then Jon Klein will probably cry himself. Grover can be counted on to nominate Harriet Miers, or another ready symbolic of the “re-birth” of the conservative movement. We’ll skip over Cynthia Cooper — or, as she is also known, “who?” Finally, Matt Cooper would be wise to nominate Patrick Fitzgerald, but we’ll forgive him if he goes with Karl Rove.

READ MORE: anderson cooper, donna brazile, grover norquist, matthew cooper, person of the year, time

EXCLUSIVE: First Peek at Matt Cooper’s PlameGate Masterpiece!

From high above the Southern Hemisphere, an operative on Air Force One espied the Time scribe’s fledgling literary effort:

Time’s Matt Cooper is working on a book proposal. In a race with the New York Times’ Judith Miller, the White House press corps’ version of William Conrad (only slightly less sweaty) knows that the market just won’t bear two self-righteous reporters sniveling about their woes (and Miller’s got 85 days in the clink to pad out her book).

On the flight to Argentina aboard Air Force One, a glimpse from behind Coop’s front-row seat revealed that the portly pepperpot was working on a book proposal. No word on who he’s pitching to, or even whether he already has a contract and is just fleshing out a treatment.

Shit. Gonna have repair that glass wall again.

Take My Book Proposal, Please! [NYM]

READ MORE: air force one, exclusive, matthew cooper, press corps, top, washington novels

Remainders: It’s Gotta Be the Shoes

• Butterstick was robbed of the SCOTUS nom, but, on the bright side, he’s HUGE. Pound for pound, his adorability ratio puts Alito to shame [Reuters]
• Luke Russert is yummy looking. He can press our meet any day. [Gawker]
• And starring Dr. Phil as Matt Cooper… [Mr. Sun]
• Who doesn’t want to be Karl Rove for a night? [I Love Karl Rove]
• According to operatives, Libby’s hottie is assistant Christian Woelk, and you will be shocked to learn that she is a Young Americans for Freedom alumnus. But where did she get her shoes? [YAF]

READ MORE: Remainders, butterstick, karl rove, luke russert, matthew cooper

Matt Cooper’s 16th Minute of Fame

Top four signs that Matt Cooper is running out of material for further first-person articles about his involvement in the CIA leak investigation, which are starting to sound less like journalism and more like Bob Graham’s journals:

4. “On Aug. 23, I had a tuna sandwich and gave a deposition in Abrams’ Washington office about the conversation.”

3. “I had just come back from swimming.”

2.”Eventually I raced home without showering in order to take Libby’s call.”

1. “We spoke for a few minutes as I sprawled on my bed.”

What Scooter Libby And I Talked About [TIME]

READ MORE: cia leak investigation, matthew cooper, plame investigation, scooter libby, too much information

Matt Cooper Prison Movies and Other ASME Tales

Another missive from the humid hothouse of journalist-on-journalist love. This afternoon’s entertainment was a Q&A between the cosy duo of Time’s Matt Cooper and Time’s Jim Kelly. Kelly, Time’s editor, kicked things off with a recap of the past 28 months, from the Cooper’s “double super secret background” convo with Karl Rove (in which Rove mentioned, sans name, that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA) to Judith Miller’s aspen-turning move in yesterday’s New York Times. Summing up, Kelly turned to Cooper and asked: “So do you have any idea what the case is about?”

Restrained titters.

Cooper: “Well, yes.” He said this whole thing is about the White House “outing a covert CIA agent as punishment” for going against the administration.

Then he told us some things we didn’t know, and they are after the jump.

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is as described, serious and a “straight-shooter,” but “I think he has touches of humor.” When Cooper was testifying about his email to his editors that dubbed the conversation “super double secret background,” he admitted to Fitzgerald, “it’s not a technical term…it’s from Animal House.” And Fitzgerald said, “Dean Wormer, right?” Cooper summed up: “He’s the kind of guy who, if he wasn’t trying to put journalists in jail, reporters would love.” So true of so many people.

When it looked like he might go to the pokey, he studied up. “I watched Oz, The Shawshank Redemption, Papillion… My wife would say, ‘You’re watching prison movies again?’ And I said, ‘I need to know what’s going on! What if I’m in a gang with Sandy Berger? The ‘Sons of Zion’?’”

Kelly asked if Cooper wished he had worked out a deal with Rove in summer of 2004. “Yes.”

However, at the time, “I doubted that he even would remember the conversation, since it was so brief.” Kelly emphasized that the subpoena they didn’t respond to also seemed like a “fishing expedition.”

Cooper admitted that his wife’s — Dem strategist Mandy Grunwald — First Amendment-waving willingness to have him go to jail, “made me reexamine my marriage.” [Laughter]

As for what the experience of being in front of the grand jury, Cooper said that he was nervous because “I don’t even get library fines.” But that Fitzgerald was helpful, and told him, “Don’t let me push you… if you’re not sure about something, don’t say you are.” (This may shed some light on Miller’s faulty memory…)

Speaking of not being sure about things, Cooper said he read Miller’s piece from Sunday “several times…I found it hard to follow and I’ve been in the middle of it for two years. There’s still a lot of questions.”

He took questions from the audience, which were a little sparse, probably because everyone wanted to get out and get snorkling. But there was a question on the need for a federal shield law — and whether it should take into account government officials using leaks to settle scores or spread false accusations. “I don’t know if you can create legislation that can distinguish between ‘good leaks’ and ‘bad leaks,’” which is a good point. Matt clearly favors a shield law of some kind. Pointing out that 49 states have such protections while the federal level doesn’t, Cooper said, “It’s not you think, ‘Gee, I’d really like to be in court in Mobile, Alabama.’”

And that about wrapped things up, though Kelly got off a final zinger: “If you hear anything else about the case, call me, don’t email me.”

Funny because it’s true!

READ MORE: jim kelly, judith miller, karl rove, matthew cooper, new york times, plame investigation, time magazine

Judy Miller’s Book Deal

Arianna Huffington passes along the rumor that Judy Miller is working that book deal, supposedly for $1.2 million. For those of you who were keep track, that’s about $14,117 per day. Do you think Matt Cooper’s reconsidering how much he’d miss his son?

UPDATE: Judy’s not the only sell-out: Norman Pearlstine is writing about, uhm, anonymous sources. Wheeee! [AP]

Making Faux Martyrdom Pay: Judy Miller Lands a Book Deal [UPDATED] [HuffingtonPoPo]

READ MORE: book deals, huffington post, judith miller, matthew cooper, plame investigation

The Price of Miller’s Freedom

We’re still reeling from Judy Miller’s Houdini routine, simultaneously the least surprising and most galling prison break since Ford pardoned Nixon. Her source — Scooter Libby — signed a waiver allowing her to testify in Plame investigation a year ago, and the proof that Miller sought that waiver was “real” came with Libby saying, uhm, yes, it’s real.

Ms. Miller told Mr. Libby simply that “I wanted you to tell me personally” that his waiver was voluntary. “Why didn’t somebody call us?” [Libby’s lawyer] asked.

Mr. Libby also expressed surprise that Ms. Miller had been holding out for his sake. Mr. Libby and his lawyer had assumed that Ms. Miller had been protecting other sources.

Times Reporter, Released From Jail, Agrees to Testify [WSJ]

READ MORE: judith miller, matthew cooper, plame investigation, scooter libby

Gossip Roundup: Smooth Jazz

The Daily Briefing is on vacation.

•“The Bill Clinton Collection: Selections From the Clinton Music Room” to contain both real and light jazz, Judy Collins. No word on poetry compilation. [WP]
• Panel on free speech at Michael’s restaurant in NYC to be a gilded cage match between Time Inc.’s Norman Pearlstine and Vanity Fair’s Michael Wolff; Wolff pounded Pearlstine’s argument about turning over Matt Cooper’s notes re: Valerie Plame in latest issue of VF… . Hobbit-pal Viggo Mortensen continues to champion the little people, visited Cindy Sheehan in Crawford. [NYDN]
• Coldplay’s Chris Martin nixes invite from Tony Blair because “Martin frets it would damage his image,” doesn’t like idea of becoming UK’s Toby Keith. [The Scoop]

READ MORE: bill clinton, chris martin, cindy sheehan, coldplay, gossip roundup, judy collins, matthew cooper, michael wolff, norman pearlstine, tony blair, valerie plame, viggo mortensen