John Hannah

John Peter Hannah (born January 5, 1962), a senior aide on national security to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. On October 31, 2005, Hannah and David S. Addington, who will serve as Cheney's chief of staff, were replaced for I. Lewis Scooter Libby who was indicted October 28, 2005.[1] He is on loan to Cheney's office from the office of former State Department official and current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. Hannah is believed to be a subject of the Valerie Plame investigation.

Background

Education

Hannah is a graduate of Duke University and Yale University Law School. Hannah and his wife Laura joined Temple Sinai, Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2006. Hannah's father was an oil executive working for Shell in the 60's and 70's. The Hannah family was stationed in Libya before Qaddafy came to power and nationalized the oil industry. They returned to the US and lived in Huntington, NY, for several years before moving to Bahrain. They moved back to the US in the late 70s. Hannah graduated from Huntington High School in 1980.

Career

On October 31, 2005, Hannah was appointed National Security Advisor to Cheney. At the same time, Cheney appointed another Duke alumnus, David S. Addington. The two took over duties previously held by Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

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.

"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

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.[2]

"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.

Target Iran

On February 11, Hannah was sourced by the Washington Post as having said "during a recent meeting that the administration considers 2007 'the year of Iran'" and indicating "that a U.S. attack was a real possibility." ^[3]

Affiliations

• Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Resources and articles

• ^Karen DeYoung, U.S. Keeps Pressure on Iran But Decreases Saber Rattling Washington Post, 11 February 2007
• 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.

Resources

• SourceWatch profile of John Hannah
• RightWeb profile of John Hannah
• John Hannah, Center for Cooperative Research.
• John Hannah, Daily Kos.
• Cheney and the 'Raw' Intelligence, Newsweek, December 15, 2004