Rove Did It!!!!

Jason Leopold has the latest on the Rove Case, and it sounds like we'll soon be referring to it as the Rove indictment.

According to Jason's reporting here, Karl is far more involved than his defense attorney's leaks have presented(which is the only version of the story previously out,) and the "lingering question, sources close to the case said, is whether Fitzgerald will add obstruction of justice to the list of charges that he has already drafted against Rove."

It all revolves around the 250 "missing" emails in which the broad campaign to discredit Wilson is outlined with Rove as a key player. (Notice the name of "former administration official" Andy Card is mentioned among the officials(plural) on the mailing list.)

Hundreds of pages of emails and memos "discovered" by the White House in February and turned over to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald show that Karl Rove played a much larger role in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak case than he had previously disclosed to a grand jury and FBI investigators. ...

While that issue(the Cooper lie - mike) continues to be a central focus in the case against Rove, what has not been previously reported is the fact that there are dozens of other memos and emails Rove sent to White House officials in June 2003, including former Chief of Staff Andrew Card, in which Rove suggests the White House launch a full scale public relations effort to attack Joseph Wilson for speaking out against the administration.

Rove did not disclose the communications when he was questioned by FBI investigators in 2003 and during his subsequent grand jury appearances, sources familiar with his testimony said. Some of those emails and memos recently discovered by the White House mention Valerie Plame Wilson's employment with the CIA....

While some news accounts over the past 10 days have reported that Rove's fifth appearance before the grand jury two weeks ago was to clear up testimony as to why he failed to disclose his conversation with Cooper and the email he sent to Hadley afterward, according to sources the bulk of Rove's testimony centered on why he had not disclosed the emails and memos and the larger role he played in the campaign to smear Wilson's reputation.

That's probably why Rove was so shaken after the testimony. He went into the Grand Jury prepared to cover the Matt Cooper lie, and suddenly had to answer questions about all sorts of other implicating things. Rove thought he knew the game and Fitzgerald laid new cards on the table.

One question I still have is the details on the "missing" emails. The only real description given so far is that they were not "preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system." It's still not fully clear the context in which these emails were "not archived." (By the way, note that the "missing" emails are from both the Vice President and President's office, meaning that somebody either had unbelieveable access to both or they were "non-archived" in a conspiracy.)

For the spectator, I think when the indictment comes, it will be very telling to notice if we get all the details and how Fitzgerald refers to Dick Cheney. If we get all the details, the investigation will probably be over, but if the indictment is once again cagey in what it offers, it will give some indirect indication where the investigation will go next.

Not knowing the exact circumstance of the missing emails I can't say for sure, but I would expect that would be the next phase. Willfull destruction of evidence, obstruction of justice, conspiracy will all be on the table. And, whoever is named in the oblique prosecutor's custom as "official C" will probably be the next target. (I chose C for Cheney. Not knowing what Fitzgerald has in his pocket, I'd put that in the definite maybe category.)

Two last little bits. Al Gonzales is still withholding "some emails that had not been turned over to Fitzgerald because they contain classified information in addition to references about the Wilsons."

And, Luskin, Rove's attorney is travelling and will not return until Tuesday. Wednesday submittal for indictment? Maybe Friday? Jason seems to be telling me it will be very soon.