Who is Larry Johnson and Why Should You Care?

I am sure you have seen the name Larry Johnson in the print media speaking out on the Plamefake Issue, Mary “Leaker” McCarthy and Porter Goss’ recent resignation. Johnson is the enemedia’s go-to boy when they need a statement that is damning against President Bush or his administration.

Just who is Larry Johnson? According to his bio, he worked with the CIA from 1985-1989. Johnson also worked at the Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism from 1989-1993. He is the Managing Partner and founder of BERG Associates in Washington DC.

Johnson is also a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). You probably saw VIPS founder, Ray McGovern, calling the Secretary of Defense a liar in Atlanta last week. VIPS is another one of those rabid anti-Bush organizations. VIPS has endorsed and encouraged the leaking classified info to “get Bush”. McGovern actually called it “performing a higher service”. (More about VIPS here and here)

Johnson started work at the CIA at the same time as the infamous Valerie Plame (or Val P. as he calls her). This, coupled with his 4 years at the CIA, apparently makes him an expert on the whole issue of Plame and her CIA status. If there is a story about Plame or Wilson, you can expect Johnson to either have a comment in the article or put up a blog post about it. He is such an expert that he was picked by the DNC to deliver one of their weekly radio addresses in July 2005. The subject of the address – the President should fire Karl Rove because the “Plame leak had severely damaged national security”. Johnson even testified in front of the Joint Session of the Democratic Congress about Val P and the damage to our intelligence services by the Bush Administration.

Johnson claims that he voted for Bush in 2000 but the Val P. issue turned him into a full-fledged member of the BDS crowd. He has called the President a “coward” and a “slam dunk liar”. Johnson is a member of the Citizens Impeachment Commission for ImpeachPAC. He sits on the committee with other notable Bush/America haters – Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Bob Fertik and Howard Zinn. Johnson repeatedly calls the war in Iraq a “failure” and claims “there was no justifiable reason to start the war in Iraq”. He believes the Downing Street Memos are accurate.

Johnson’s latest media forays have revolved around Mary “leaker” McCarthy and Porter Goss. Johnson claims that Goss is involved with the Duke Cunningham/ Brent Wilkes poker parties. He claims that the scrutiny of the Poker Parties led to Goss’ resignation. The NY Daily News cited Johnson in the “CIA boss Goss is Cooked” hit piece. Johnson also posted the information on his various blog sites.

Johnson leapt to the defense of Mary McCarthy when she was fired from the CIA for leaking classified national security information to the media (more than likely Dana “Pulitzer” Priest). He admitted that McCarthy was his boss while he was at the CIA. Johnson claims McCarthy was his reason for leaving but defends her anyway.

No matter what the situation, Johnson always seems to be in the middle of anything CIA related. In his blog posts, he frequently references “old CIA buddies” or other CIA references as sources for his information. That leads to the question – Could Johnson be part of the CIA leak investigation? He has the motive – disdain for the Bush Administration. He has publicly encouraged CIA leaks. He used to work for the woman fired for leaking. Someone is giving information to Johnson – his CIA service was almost 20 years ago. Like noted above, Johnson’s name consistently comes up when the CIA is in the news.

Macsmind has some very interesting thoughts on the whole Goss resignation and CIA leak investigation. It is going to be a long hot summer for many and I don’t think they have the “R” behind their name…