John Hannah

John P. Hannah was named October 31, 2005, by Vice President Dick Cheney to be his national security adviser. Hannah and David S. Addington, who will serve as Cheney's chief of staff, are replacements for I. Lewis Scooter Libby who was indicted October 28, 2005. 

Treasongate
Hannah, a "senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs," John R. Bolton, may be the "senior cooperating witness" who is the "secret snitch" providing evidence to special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald for his investigation into who exposed the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Larisa Alexandrovna and Jason Leopold, who reported that Hannah might well be the "cooperating witness" in The Raw Story October 18, 2005, said that "Others close to the probe say that if Hannah is cooperating with the special prosecutor then he was likely going to be charged as a co-conspirator and may have cut a deal."

"Federal law-enforcement officials said that they have developed hard evidence of possible criminal misconduct by two employees of Vice President Dick Cheney's office related to the unlawful exposure of a CIA officer's identity last year. The investigation, which is continuing, could lead to indictments, a Justice Department official said," UPI's Richard Sale wrote February 5, 2004.

"According to these sources," Sale said, "John Hannah and Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, were the two Cheney employees. 'We believe that Hannah was the major player in this,' one federal law-enforcement officer said."

Iraqi National Congress and Chalabi
Alexandrovna and Leopold also wrote that "Hannah is currently under investigation by U.S. authorities for his alleged activities in an intelligence program run by the controversial Iraqi National Congress (INC) and its leader, Ahmed Chalabi.

"According to a Newsweek article," they wrote, "a memo written for the Iraqi National Congress (INC) raised questions regarding Cheney’s role in the build up to the war in Iraq. During the lead up to the war, Newsweek asserts, the INC was providing intelligence on the now discredited Iraqi WMD program through Hannah and I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff.

"'A June 2002 memo written by INC lobbyist Entifadh Qunbar to a U.S. Senate committee lists John Hannah, a senior national-security aide on Cheney's staff, as one of two 'U.S. governmental recipients' for reports generated by an intelligence program being run by the INC and which was then being funded by the State Department. Under the program, 'defectors, reports and raw intelligence are cultivated and analyzed'; the info was then reported to, among others, 'appropriate governmental, non-governmental and international agencies.' The memo not only describes Cheney aide Hannah as a 'principal point of contact' for the program, it even provides his direct White House telephone number.'

"'…Hannah and Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, were the two Cheney employees,' We believe that Hannah was the major player in this,' one federal law-enforcement officer told" Newsweek, Alexandrovna and Leopold wrote.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Bush administration scandals
 * Karl Rove: Outing Valerie Plame
 * Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove

External articles

 * Yoram Ettinger, "Cheney Shines in Israel," Ynet, March 20, 2002.
 * Richard Sale, "Cheney's Staff Focus of Probe," UPI (Common Dreams), February 5, 2004.
 * Juan Cole, "John Hannah Allegedly Focus of Plame Probe," Informed Comment, February 7, 2004.
 * Jim Lobe, "The day Cheney was rocked to the core," Asia Times, February 7, 2004.
 * William Rivers Pitt, "A NOC at Bush's Door," Liberal Slant, February 26, 2004.
 * Mary, "The Neocon Circle Closes," The Left Coaster, May 23, 2004.
 * Jim Lobe, "Neo-cons: Around the world in seven steps," Asia Times (MiddleEast.org), November 16, 2004.
 * Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff, "Exclusive: Cheney and the ‘Raw’ Intelligence," Newsweek, December 15, 2004 (issue).
 * James Gordon Meek, Thomas M. DeFrank, and Kenneth R. Bazinet "Cheney may be target of probe," New York Daily News, October 18, 2005.
 * "The Architects of War: Where Are They Now?" Think Progress, July 2007.