VP's Office is Focus in Leak - Resignation Rumors Fly
Today's Washington Post reports that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has zeroed in on the role of Vice President Cheney's office in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the media. The prosecutor has assembled evidence that suggests Cheney's long-standing tensions with the CIA contributed to the unmasking of Plame.
It didn't take long for rumors of a Cheney resignation to circulate. US News and World Report today reports that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A Bush insider commented: "It's certainly an interesting but I still think highly doubtful scenario . . . And if that should happen, there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated - another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP."
Were Cheney to step down he would be the third Vice President in US history to to do so -- the last being Spiro T. Agnew who resigned on October 10, 1973. It's certainly an interesting prospect, but what would motivate the VP to resign? Is his resignation part of a larger agenda? Could this be a first step toward a Condoleezza v. Hillary race in 2008? Or, a leak by Karl Rove to divert attention away from himself?
Only time will tell!
No comments:
Post a Comment