Plame Gossip - Grand Jury hears evidence against Rove
Now that Fitzgerald has finished the Conrad Black case and the Geroge Ryan case, there's only one thing left on his plate.
Now, certainly, this doesn't mean that an indictment of Rove for perjury is right around the corner, but it does greatly raise the odds. Also, it does put Rove's White House "demotion" to campaign matters only(read as dispensible to White House operations,) in a very different light.
It looks like Luskin's Viveca Novak defense isn't gonna fly.
So, this could be plea deal pressure to get Rove to turn on the folks in the VP's office about the 250 "missing" emails(Link here and here,) or it could represent just a straight up effort to indict Rove. The bet is on the second as "Luskin said Rove has not discussed any plea deal with Fitzgerald." (Mike's note: countering this statement, there was fair evidence that Luskin did discuss a plea deal with Fitzgerald around the Libby indictment.)
Bottom line, don't expect it tomorrow, but soon, this White House may be rocked again in a big way.
Just as the news broke Wednesday about Scott McClellan resigning as White House press secretary and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove shedding some of his policy duties, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the grand jury hearing evidence in the CIA leak case and introduced additional evidence against Rove, attorneys and other US officials close to the investigation said.
The grand jury session in federal court in Washington, DC, sources close to the case said, was the first time this year that Fitzgerald told the jurors that he would soon present them with a list of criminal charges he intends to file against Rove in hopes of having the grand jury return a multi-count indictment against Rove.....
Fitzgerald is said to have introduced more evidence Wednesday alleging Rove lied to FBI investigators and the grand jury when he was questioned about how he found out that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA and whether he shared that information with the media, attorneys close to the case said.
Now, certainly, this doesn't mean that an indictment of Rove for perjury is right around the corner, but it does greatly raise the odds. Also, it does put Rove's White House "demotion" to campaign matters only(read as dispensible to White House operations,) in a very different light.
It looks like Luskin's Viveca Novak defense isn't gonna fly.
So, this could be plea deal pressure to get Rove to turn on the folks in the VP's office about the 250 "missing" emails(Link here and here,) or it could represent just a straight up effort to indict Rove. The bet is on the second as "Luskin said Rove has not discussed any plea deal with Fitzgerald." (Mike's note: countering this statement, there was fair evidence that Luskin did discuss a plea deal with Fitzgerald around the Libby indictment.)
Bottom line, don't expect it tomorrow, but soon, this White House may be rocked again in a big way.
posted by mikevotes at
11:26 AM
5 Comments:
I read a rumor over at Talk Left that he might have given up his policymaking gig at the White House because he lost his security clearance.
By
cookie christine, at 1:17 PM
Yeah, I saw something similar at thinkprogress yesterday. Someone actually posed the security clearance question to McClellan yesterday and he said that Rove maintains his clearance.
But, I don't think it's a stretch that they moved him out of a critical position because of all this. I mean, "focusing on the 2006 midterms" sounds impressive, but it really is duplicative of work that is done at the RNC and the senatorial campaign committee and the congressional caucus. Karl Rove may work on big message, but the Republican strategy is to go local so other than funding, the national figures are icing.
So, security clearance still instated, but responsibility change might have something to do with it.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 1:25 PM
Well looks like I'm going to have to eat my words. I had placed on bet on Rove being turned (maybe with immunity) so that Fitzgerald could go after Cheney.
Rove's "side-motion" looks now like an attempt to distance Bush from any further problems with Turdblossom.
By
Anonymous, at 4:02 PM
Honestly, Kvatch, that was my bet as well. I really thought that Rove would wuss to avoid jail time, but Fitzgerald may have been displeased by the late Viveca Novak story that made him run in circles for a couple months.
A lack of a plea deal has three possibilities as I see it.
1) ROve is keeping his mouth shut
2) There is no greater case beyond Rove
3) Fitzgerald doesn't need Rove to proceed.
So, I don't know. but the game is far from over.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 4:36 PM
Very cool design! Useful information. Go on!
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Anonymous, at 8:29 PM
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