Senator Pat Roberts is the new enemy. Here's how to fight him.

Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, refused to investigate the Niger forgeries, citing "an ongoing investigation" by the FBI. (Sound familiar?) Yet, as we mentioned earlier, he now has time to investigate the very concept of CIA cover.

An increasing number of progressives understand that these hearings will function as a tool to undermine the Plame investigation. We need to get the word out: This forthcoming "investigation" is important precisely because it will be rigged.

Now we learn that Roberts also intends to investigate an investigator. In other words, he has set his sights on Patrick Fitzgerald. Scroll down to the final paragraph of the linked story, and you'll see what I mean.

Nope, he's not going to investigate Rove or Libby or anyone else who may have functioned treasonously in this scandal. Instead, Roberts intends to "probe" (read: undermine) Fitzgerald's attempt to determine the truth.

The ever-controversial Wayne Madsen has something to say about all this -- and he also offers further details about the coordinated attacks on CIA man Larry Johnson, the subject of an item posted earlier today. Whatever your opinion of Madsen's previous work, this entry strikes me as quite persuasive. I've added paragraph breaks for clarity:

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) intends to interfere in Fitzgerald probe. Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced that his commitee will be "reviewing" the criminal probe by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald of the White House leak of the identities of covert CIA agents. If Roberts is serious and not just grandstanding, this may indicate that the White House is looking to give Fitzgerald's targets (Karl Rove, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and others) congressional general immunity from prosecution in return for their testimony before Roberts' committee. This was the method by which John Poindexter and Oliver North were able to avoid jail time for their roles in Iran-contra, their convictions being overturned by a federal appeals court because of their previously granted congressional immunity.

There is also a bit of Watergate redux in Roberts' statement. Pressure by the GOP on Fitzgerald is reminiscent of the Nixon administration's decision to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. That prompted the resignations of Nixon's Attorney and Deputy Attorney General.

Meanwhile, the Karl Rove/neocon spin machine is stepping up its criticism of ex-CIA officers who are defending Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson. The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) director Gary Schmitt penned a screed in William Kristol's and Rupert Murdoch's Weekly Standard attacking former CIA officer and Valerie Plame colleague Larry Johnson, who gave the Democratic weekly radio response to Bush's address on July 23. The neocon attack on CIA veterans, including the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), began in earnest on the/Republican Freerepublic.com site, a bevy of white supremacists, JDLers, and John Birchers largely based in California's San Joaquin Valley and Orange County.

How to fight Roberts? Write to any and all Democrats on his committee -- in particular, Jay Rockefeller. Rockefeller, alas, is known as a Republican doormat. He needs to have some stiffener injected into his spine.

If even one Democrat on that committee rebels -- if one member storms out in protest or offers a blistering statement to the media -- Roberts' scheme will stand exposed.

You can find all the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee listed here. Democratic members include Feinstein of California, Bayh of Indiana, Mikulski of Maryland, Levin of Michigan, and Wyden of Oregon.

Follow the links and you'll be able to email those senators directly. Tell them to stand up to any attempt by Senator Pat Roberts to harrass Fitzgerald or the Wilsons. Tell them to protest -- and protest loudly -- any scheme to offer immunity to Fitzgerald's targets. Tell them that Bush administration traitors should be subjected to -- not protected by -- a Senate probe.