While the law enforcement authorities continue their search to discover who leaked the US Ambassador’s cables to mercenary hack Isabel Oakeshott, the last person they will be expecting to assist their efforts is Ms Oakeshott herself. But that, all too predictably for someone not best known for protecting her sources, is what has happened.
Those who look in regularly on Zelo Street will already know that Ms Oakeshott has already said of the leak, which was given the front page lead in the Mail on Sunday last weekend, “Perhaps more to come, in due course”. That suggests whoever has leaked the cables that led to Kim Darroch’s resignation, after London’s formerly very occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson threw him under the bus, has more.
Or perhaps the “more” is already up in Ms Oakeshott’s attic along with the unicorns. But the giveaway came after former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger noted “Web of intrigue. From today’s Times”. The diagram noted the relationships Ms Oakeshott enjoys with a number of movers and shakers. She attempted the disinterested eye-roll.
“This is ludicrous. Like I've said, sometimes a great story is just that; not some kind of global conspiracy. MASSIVE eye roll”. That might have been more convincing, had her Tweeting out advance notice of the MoS story not included a very direct heads up to Louise Mensch, arch wacko conspiracist whose grip on reality is sometimes tenuous.
She has no truck with conspiracist nonsense ...
And if that wasn’t enough, she then Tweeted out Rusbridger’s effort once more, this time adding “For the record, I am the only person on this ridiculous diagram ever to have seen or handled the cables”. That’s most helpful of her. So the Met’s finest can rule out Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, Michael Ashcroft, the alleged “Man who bankrolled Brexit” Arron Banks, and his slippery side-kick Andy Wigmore.
... oh, hang on a minute
That, then, means Ms Oakeshott has not disagreed with my own analysis as to who the cops should be grilling - that analysis concluded that some 10 Downing Street SpAds may be able to assist the Met, especially one of them who is nasty enough to do the dirty on Darroch, and stupid enough to think he could get away with it.
Minor giveaway there
So good of Ms Oakeshott to confirm who hasn’t been handling the cables, and also confirm that she’s happy to get wacko conspiracists on board. On top of that, she is to be congratulated for reminding me that her gofer Steven Edginton is a nasty enough piece of work that he claimed Diane Abbott had “treated him like dirt”. Central to that claim was the conceit that Edginton had not met Ms Abbott before a trip to Derby for Question Time.
Steven Edginton
Edginton deceived to the point of dishonesty: Ms Abbott knew exactly who he was, as he’d chased and confronted her outside the Labour Party Conference in 2017. I’m sure he would be happy to have a chat with the Met to confirm that he, too, had nothing to do with those leaked cables. Because someone did. And this week’s panicked attempts to shoo away that Police investigation suggest someone is getting nervous.
Good of Isabel Oakeshott to make sure the Met point their investigation in the right direction. Now we might find out who’s been leaking - sooner rather than later.
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It's funny how the Times's network diagram conspicuously omits Johnson and Bannon.
ReplyDeleteI reckon Oakeshitt is in fact a CGI cartoon.
ReplyDeleteThe giveaway is her face. The only parts that move are her mouth and wobbly double chins.
A far right crude thugette well suited to Heil "news"papers.
Not exactly a scoop Tim. She was on Sky News saying she had the cables.
ReplyDelete"So the Met’s finest can rule out Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage, Michael Ashcroft, the alleged “Man who bankrolled Brexit” Arron Banks, and his slippery side-kick Andy Wigmore."
ReplyDeleteYeah, if she's telling the truth.
@Jeff Pickthall
ReplyDeleteFor the best diagrams go to Wendy Siegelman's Twitter feed.
Only one problem. Like Maddow's wall of White House departures they seem to grow exponentially!