Valerie Plame outed via state propaganda mouthpiece?

Plame leaked by fake news source?
by SusanG
Fri Jan 28th, 2005 at 17:30:14 PST

Did the White House dribble the Plame leak through its own fake mouthpiece news source?

Consider:

A fake news service employs a fake reporter who apparently was the only one "identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the [leaked CIA] memo's existence." What leaked CIA memo, you ask? The one in which "Wilson ... suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa." [cites in block quotes below.]

Let's back this pony up and look at what's come out in the past week.

Media Matters for the past couple of days has been delving into the mysterious "Talon News Service" and its mysterious, oh-so-helpful shilling reporter at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon."

First, from Media Matters:

Talon News, a conservative company whose Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon is well-known for asking loaded pro-Republican questions at White House press briefings,appears to be more a political organization than a media outlet.

Media Matters for America recently highlighted three Gannon articles that were little more than reprints of Republican and Bush administration releases; Media Matters has also noted Gannon's role as White House press secretary Scott McClellan's lifeline and Talon editor in chief Bobby Eberle's partisan political activities. A more in-depth look at Talon,Gannon,and Eberle casts additional doubt on Talon's claim to be a media outlet and raises questions about whether Gannon should be a credentialed member of the White House press corps.

Eberle is also,as Media Matters has previously noted,president and CEO of GOPUSA,a "conservative news,information,and design company dedicated to promoting conservative ideals." Though Eberle has claimed on the September 13,2004,edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country that GOPUSA and Talon News are separate companies,they overlap heavily.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006

But wait! "Jeff Gannon" isn't really Jeff Gannon after all, according to Atrios:

Special Treatment for Gannon?

According to sources, Jeff Gannon's real name is not, in fact, Jeff Gannon. According to the same sources, his White House press credentials list him as "Jeff Gannon" - they let him use his pseudonym -- even though married female reporters, who use their maiden name professionally, are given credentials with their married name and aren't allowed to be credentialed under their maiden names...

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_01_23_atrios_archive.html#110695056420863397

And then, a little Googling reveals this, from a March 9, 2004, "Talon News" release:

Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News.

According to a subsequent Talon News story by Bobby Eberle regarding the Washington Post piece, "The Washington Post cites an unnamed source who says, 'The CIA is angry about the circulation of a still-classified document to conservative news outlets.'

They point to a memo referenced in a Talon News interview of Wilson that suggests his wife was instrumental in his selection for the fact-finding trip to Africa."

Talon News was the only service identified by the Washington Post as having knowledge of the memo's existence.

http://www.jeffgannon.com/Making%20News/federal_grand_jury_could_subpoen.htm

So am I reading more into this than I should be? And why would "Talon News" fink its own self out about the grand jury subpoena? Has the Bush administration and its evil ways turned me into a permanent paranoiac? Does anyone want to join me in useless speculation as to what this complicated crapola means?