Rove off the Hook

(Updates at the bottom.)

WASHINGTON - Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won’t be charged with any crimes in the investigation into leak of a CIA officer's identity, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Attorney Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of one of President Bush’s closest advisers. Rove testified five times before a grand jury.

Drudge has a little of the Luskin statement,

“On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove.

“In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation. We believe that the Special Counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove’s conduct.”

I'm guessing that this means that Fitzgerald didn't think he could get a conviction. (At this point I don't think it's some sort of "arrangement.".) I just don't know. It's breaking right now.

So, does this mean the overall investigation is over? How does this fit in? Need more details. We will get no comment from Fitzgerald's team. The only announcements Fitzgerald would make are indictments and an announcement he's ending the investigation. Neither at this point.

(NYTimes, WaPo, AP, Reuters. All of them have Luskin's statement and a little history, but no new other details.)

Update: Firedoglake seems to not be ruling out the possibility of an "arrangement" between Fitzgerald and Team Rove.

If Luskin is coming out and saying publicly that they got a letter from Pat Fitzgerald which says that Rove will not be charged, there are two things that I want to see and know: (1) what does the letter actually say, word for word; and (2) does it say something along the lines of "Please thank Karl for his cooperation in this matter."

Again, at this point, I just don't know. In support, I find Luskin's "we will not make any further public statements" a little odd in that I would think that Team Rove would want to launch a PR offensive to present themselves as exonerated and unjustly accused, but, at the same time, there is nothing concrete indicating a deal.

Update 2: The consensus speculation on the left of the blogosphere seems to be crystallizing around the possibility of a plea deal (or a politically better named "arrangement") based on the refusal to release the letter in question, and the odd, very careful language of the Luskin statement "Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove."

That does read like an open statement. So long as Rove continues to cooperate fully, which we anticipate, there will be no charges sought.

And, let me add the possibility that if there is such an "arrangement," it might have been made weeks ago. I kept making mental note of Luskin's sudden silence starting about three weeks ago after leaking weekly, and often daily stories to aid his client. If a deal had been struck allowing Team Rove to make an announcement at a time of their choosing, Luskin would've stopped leaking. Just a theory.

I think that's the key to all this. There is nothing concrete to indicate that there is any sort of deal. We can hypothesize, but that's all it is until we see something more significant to indicate that. The thing to watch is whether or not the investigation continues. That will tell alot.

(And, I would really like to see that letter. Why won't you release it Mr. Luskin?)