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April 26, 2006
Fitzgerald Not Finished With Rove
A few days ago we wrote about the staff shakeup at the White House, and warned Democrats not to take too much joy in Karl Rove's apparent loss of policy responsibilities for the Bush administration. Rove's forte, after all, has been finding ways (usually nasty, divisive ones) to win elections, and if he is now able to turn his full attention to this fall's midterms, bad things may happen to Democrats in November.
At the end of the writing we mentioned the blog Truthout's speculation that despite numerous media reports over the last several months suggesting Rove was likely to escape the clutches of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in fact Rove was still very much on Fitzgerald's radar screen and in real danger of facing criminal charges in the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation.
In today's New York Times, Anne Kornblut confirmed the speculation. In fact, Mr. Rove is appearing before Fitzgerald's grand jury this afternoon.
Rove has denied leaking the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent and wife of former Ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. After first saying he could not recall speaking with Time Magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about Wilson, Rove magically regained his memory and changed his story, offering details of his phone conversation with Cooper -- details which conveniently did not involve Valerie Plame's identity.
Fitzgerald is apparently interested in whether Rove's sudden and total recall was the result of another Time reporter, Viveca Novak, tipping off his lawyer, Robert Luskin, as to Rove's suspected involvement. Remember, in Rove we're talking about a guy who very likely bugged his own office during a Texas gubernatorial campaign, and then blamed his client's Democratic opponent. For Karl, facts are just details -- sometimes convenient, sometimes not.
Whether Fitzgerald's continuing investigation will lead anywhere is anybody's guess, but the renewed speculation comes at a bad time for the White House, which is desperately trying to right its course after a disastrous year. And for Rove, the situation will continue to be a distraction while the legal fee meter just keeps running. Just breaks your heart, doesn't it?
Posted by houtopia at April 26, 2006 02:33 PM