Solving the mystery of who leaked the tunnel plot

The Los Angeles Times was openly skeptical in its front-page story today of the FBI's claim that a network of terrorists on three continents was plotting to blow up tunnels under the Hudson River.

"Plot on N.Y. Tunnels Alleged" the one-column headline said. It was dwarfed on the page by a color photograph of a Marine honor guard carrying the casket of Corporal Jason Morrow, accompanied by a heart-tearing story of the day Corporal Morrow proposed to his girlfriend, Evelyn Flores, on the field at Angels Stadium, where manager Mike Scioscia invited him to stand next to the dugout for the national anthem.

The story on the terror plot refers to "the alleged plan" and is full of quotes that sound like the answer to the question, "Was this a real plot or just a bunch of idiots in a chat room?"

It was "the real deal," FBI Assistant Director Mark Mershon said.

"It's certainly possible" to cause a flood by blowing up the tunnels, said an anonymous federal law enforcement official.

The alleged co-conspirators "were just talking to one another" when authorities intervened, New York Senator Charles Schumer said.

"There is not one shred of evidence that the plan continued beyond the planning stage," said New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

"These guys were going to do this," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Richard Kolko in Washington.

The Times pointed out that civil libertarians have criticized the FBI's arrest of seven men in Miami two weeks ago when there is "little evidence" that the men did more than talk about blowing up targets including Chicago's Sears Tower. "Although the suspects in the New York terror case apparently had not conducted reconnaissance or acquired weapons, federal officials said authorities were convinced that the suspects were preparing to act and that they were far more of a threat than the Miami men."

In other words, the authorities don't have much on these suspects and they really have nothing on those guys in Miami.

Let's ascribe good motives to the FBI and even let Assistant Director Mark Mershon off the hook for accusing the New York Daily News of causing "upsetment" in delicate international relations.

Who leaked this story?

The FBI has no motive.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg jumped in front of the cameras to complain that New York has not received an adequate amount of anti-terror funding from the federal government. Could he have leaked the story in order to make that point before Congress adjourns for the summer and the fall campaign season?

He's a suspect. But Lieutenant Columbo wouldn't spend too much time on him.

Judging from the front-page layout, the editors of the Los Angeles Times seem to think the administration is over-hyping alleged terror plots to distract from the deaths of Americans in Iraq.

That's possible. The president has said many times that the more-than-2,500 American deaths in Iraq are sacrifices necessary to secure America from terrorist attack. Did someone working for the president leak the story to the New York Daily News in order to shore up public support for the president's policy?

Lieutenant Columbo doesn't think so.

The lieutenant takes note of an AP story on page 16 of today's Los Angeles Times, just to the right of where the tunnel plot story continues from page one.

"More White House Visits Disclosed," the headline reads.

The story says the Secret Service on Friday revealed four additional visits to the White House in 2001 by Jack Abramoff. The former super-lobbyist has pleaded guilty in an influence-peddling scandal and is now cooperating with the Justice Department in an investigation into "alleged corruption on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch."

On April 20, 2001, the Associated Press report says, Jack Abramoff visited Cesar Conda, who was then Vice President Dick Cheney's assistant for domestic policy. Five days after Abramoff and Conda met, "one of Abramoff's former lobbying colleagues, Patrick Pizzella, was nominated by the president to be assistant secretary of labor. Pizzella was confirmed."

Now we're getting somewhere.

If you have followed Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity, you know that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, is presently facing charges stemming from a concerted effort, reportedly authorized by the vice president, to leak confidential information to the press in order to shape news coverage of pre-war intelligence.

This is the point at which Lieutenant Columbo drops in to see Vice President Cheney.

Is it possible that the vice president's office spilled the secret of the tunnel plot investigation in order to stir up a distraction from the story that implicates his office in an influence-peddling scandal?

What do we know about Cesar Conda and Patrick Pizzella?

Lieutenant Columbo has just one more question. What does Dick Cheney know about Cesar Conda and Patrick Pizzella?


Copyright 2006


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