Interview with David Corn, the Journalist Who Broke the "Treasongate" Story

BuzzFlash - This week, we returned to Corn to get his updated perspective on "Treasongate." After all, he beat every media outlet in the nation to the scandal -- and figured out the significance of what was in plain site in Novak's July column: members of the Bush Cartel had betrayed the national security of the United States.

DAVID CORN: The national press in Washington has a bias: not so much to the left or to the right, but toward officialdom. Many -- though not all -- journalists take their cues from the official agenda, whether it's the latest initiative form the White House or the latest spin from the Democrats. At first, no one in officialdom paid (public) attention to this story. The White House said nothing. The CIA was mum. And the opposition Democrats said little. So while my initial article resonated outside of Washington and generated much "buzz," it did little publicly inside Washington. Then the story hit the ranks of officialdom when the CIA requested that the Justice Department investigate the White House.

BUZZFLASH: The White House media shills are claiming no great harm was done, clearly using message points provided by the GOP or the White House. Doesn't this ring a bit hollow from an administration that declares anyone who doesn't agree with them as siding with the terrorists, as Ashcroft has frequently proclaimed? What could be more helpful to terrorism than likely rendering inoperative a CIA specialist in tracking the trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction?

CORN: Yes. The spin the last few days has been as bad as I've ever seen it. They are arguing this is no big deal, while attacking the credibility of Joe Wilson, trying to make him the issue. It still remains to be seen exactly what the consequences were of outing Plame. It could well be that the harm was not as bad as we can imagine -- that is, the harm to national security. It surely must be a tremendous blow to her and her family. But the White House advocates who are arguing little damage came from this leak are blowing smoke in the sense that they do not know. They are simply making it up.

CORN: This affair can take many different bounces -- perhaps even some our imaginations cannot at this point fathom. And keep in mind, in a scandal like this there are two components: the legal dimension and the sleaze dimension. Not all bad behaviors are illegal. An investigation may lead to revelations that are bad for the White House, but do not lead to prosecutions. In any event, the White House should be worried, and judging from the reckless spin that is being generated, they are.