Patrick Leahy Reveals He Voted Against Iraq War After Visit From Mysterious ‘Joggers’ Who Showed Him Intel Proving Bush Wrong

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Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recounted in his new memoir a spooky tale of being approached by two mysterious joggers in the midst of the debate leading up to the Iraq War, both of whom appeared to be U.S. intelligence agents.

The portion of The Road Taken was first flagged CNN contributor Garrett M. Graff and can be previewed on Amazon.

2) The Sunday after he read the intel, he was out walking with his wife in his McLean neighborhood when “two fit joggers trailed behind us. They stopped and asked what I thought of the intelligence briefings I’d been getting.”…

— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) October 14, 2022

In the book, Leahy wrote that he did not see an “imminent threat” from Saddam Hussein, arguing intelligence briefings did not highlight any new or surprising behavior that would justify a war.

Leahy recalled while reading these intelligence briefings on a Sunday he took a break to go for a walk with his wife, when two joggers stopped and talked to him in a scene that sounds like it’s pulled straight out of an Oliver Stone movie.

“Two joggers trailed behind us. They stopped and asked what I thought of the intelligence briefings I’d been getting. Marcelle realized this was a conversation this was a conversation she would normally not be involved in and kept on walking ahead,” the senator wrote.

The joggers recommended he read something called “File Eight,” which Leahy later requested to see.

“Quickly thereafter, I arranged to see File Eight and it contradicted much of what I had heard from the Bush administration,” he wrote.

The Democrat added that he was approached days later by the same joggers who informed him they knew he’d seen the file.

“It was the eeriest conversation I’d ever experienced in Washington. I felt like a sensational version of of Bob Woodward meeting Deep Throat — only in broad daylight,” he recalled.

The joggers then recommended “File Twelve,” which further contradicted claims from the administration. Leahy said after seeing the second file, he told his staff he was voting against the Iraq War authorization.

Leahy, 82, is the most senior Democratic senator. He was hospitalized this week after “not feeling well,” his office announced.

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