[Ninong]

OK, it may not be the WSJ, but it is owned by the billionaire Republican mayor of New York:

Rove is not the only potential subject for Fitzgerald's probe, which already has resulted in the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to reveal her sources and Time magazine being forced to turn over notes about confidential sources, including Rove, to a grand jury.

People familiar with the inquiry say Fitzgerald also is reviewing testimony by former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, though it is not clear whether the prosecutor is focusing on him or seeking information about higher-ups. Fleischer last night refused to comment.

Other Bush aides who have testified to the grand jury or been questioned by prosecutors include McClellan; Rove; former Deputy Press Secretary Adam Levine; Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff; and Dan Bartlett, a Bush communications adviser.

Bush himself was questioned by Fitzgerald in the Oval Office on June 24, 2004.

`Something Serious'

Randall Eliason, the former chief of the public corruption section of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, said the fact that Fitzgerald pursued Cooper and Miller so aggressively suggests that he has a legal target in sight. It is rare for a federal prosecutor to seek jail for a reporter who refuses to reveal sources, he said.

``You wouldn't expect him to go to these lengths unless he thought he had something serious to look at,'' Eliason said. ``You don't compel reporters to testify or jail reporters unless you have a pretty good reason. This is not something you do lightly.''

Eliason said Fitzgerald could be pursuing a perjury or obstruction of justice charge rather than a prosecution under the 1982 law that makes it a crime to reveal the name of a covert operative. He said that for an indictment under that law, Plame would have had to have been a covert operative, Rove would have had to have known she was covert, and information about her status would have to be classified.



http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...top_world_news


P.S. -- Speaking of former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher, I can't help but think of another former White House Press Secretary whose performance in 1974 was quite similar to Scott McClellan's performance of the last few days. Like McClellan, Ron Ziegler didn't know anything, couldn't say anything and refused to answer questions. Like Ron Ziegler, McClellan's task has been to say what he has been told to say. Whether either of them knew what was going on is doubtful.

[Ninong]

It has come to my attention that Karl Rove must feel lonely and isolated at a time like this and he could use a few words of encouragement. Let's not waste all of our "therapy and understanding" on the terrorists, Karl could use a little himself right about now. Maybe we should all send him an email? Here's mine, make up your own:

To: karl_c._rove@who.eop.gov

Subject: AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU KARL!

Dear Karl Rove:

I just wanted to tell you that no matter how much evidence that liberal special prosecutor claims to have on you, we all know that you have been on the front lines in the real war, the war against the liberal Democrats who hate our troops. So that makes you tops in my book!

And besides, you didn't actually say the name 'Valerie Plame.' You said "Wilson's wife." Just say you were talking about the wife of Dennis the Menace's nextdoor neighbor, Mr. Wilson. So I wouldn't sweat it if I were you.

Good luck with the conspiracy and obstruction of justice indictments. I'm sure you'll get off.

Best of luck to you in whatever your future holds. I'm sure God will look after you.

Warmest regards,

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

"...In another rare instance in 1992, according to Esquire magazine, Rove misfired again when George H W Bush fired him from his campaign for leaking information to his favorite columnist, Robert Novak."

That's interesting. I didn't realize he had actually been fired from Poppy's campaign. I wonder if his loyal acolyte, Kenny Mehlman, left with him? Kenny hitched his wagon to Uncle Karl a long time ago when he was a wee lad fresh out of law school.

I googled a bio on Kenny and found that he, too, worked on George Bush the Elder's failed campaign in 1992. Uncle Karl brought him with him to the White House when Bush the Younger was elected. "In January of 2001, Ken Mehlman was appointed deputy assistant to the President and director of White House political affairs. In this role, Mr. Mehlman oversees all aspects of President Bush's political agenda by working with members of Congress, federal agencies, state parties, and community groups."

That made him Karl Rove's right hand man. Rove was assistant to the President and director of White House political affairs during the first administration. He was promoted to deputy Chief of Staff after Bush was re-elected.

A search of Mehlman's public speeches uncovers the same buzz words used by the president in his addresses. That's because those buzz words come from Karl Rove. Remember when the president said "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country" in his state of the union address? Kenny used the same "permission slip" phrase twice in speeches shortly thereafter. Their favorite buzz words were "resolute" and "working hard." Unfortunately Bush overworked the "hard work" and "working hard" phrases so much in the first debate that they were forced to come up with new words for him. One of those new words was "vociferously." They forgot to explain the definition and Bush said that "our troops are fighting vociferously in Fallujah." At least he had the pronounciation down.

Here's an interesting quote from a speech Kenny gave to the Republican National Committee on July 7, 2003. Speaking about Bush, he said: "He united our nation behind solutions that would transform crisis after crisis into opportunity after opportunity." No mention of the fact that Bush created those crises or allowed them to happen and no mention of who would be the major beneficiaries of the opportunities he created.

Kenny resigned from his job as assistant to Karl Rove to become Bush's campaign manager for his re-election bid. He proved just as skilled as his mentor at all the political dirty tricks. He did such a bang up job that Bush named him as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Unlike Karl Rove, Kenny has never married. He has refused to state if he is a heterosexual or not, not that there's anything wrong with that. Another Republican decided to out Kenny as a closet heterosexual. Again, when asked by a reporter to confirm that he is a heterosexual, Kenny declined.

[Ninong]

Bush stopped short Wednesday of a defense of Rove, telling reporters after a Cabinet meeting, with Rove sitting in the room, that he had "instructed every member of my staff to fully cooperate in this investigation. I also will not prejudge the investigation based on media reports." (Yeah, we know how untrustworthy those anonymous sources can be!)

"I will be more than happy to comment on this matter once the investigation is complete," Bush said. (In the meantime, I expect to name a new Supreme Court justice shortly to give you liberal media types who hate our freedom something else to talk about.)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGR7DNPP01.DTL

[Ninong]

I found this interview with Amb. Joseph Wilson to be VERY revealing: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Interv...n_ro_0713.html

[Ninong]

It's not easy being a Republican spokesperson. You have to be nimble and capable of doing an about face when the RNC requires it of you. All of those nice Republican congressmembers are out there today doing there level best to support treason and Karl Rove. They all love our troops so much that they think it's perfectly fine what Karl did to "Wilson's wife who apparently works for the CIA."

Forgetting about the blatant lies that Kenny Mehlman is peddling, and that so many media outlets are repeating without bothering to fact check, let's take a look at how versatile a professional, experienced Republican can be if he puts his mind to it. Let's take the case of former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey. (BTW, Dick will be happy to speak at your company's next picnic for the unbelievably low price of only $25,000 plus expenses: http://premierespeakers.com/2708/index.cfm )

Anyway, here is what Dick is saying about this affair NOW:

We’ve got Karl Rove, who is under this constant attack of political malarkey, who has probably the most documented case of his evidence of anyone in the the whole story. So quite frankly, I think the American people are seeing it for what it is right now. More than anything else it’s a political farce not a matter of national security interests. [Fox News, 7/14/05]

And here is what Dick was saying about this same affair THEN:

Now, there was no reason to tell the world about the ambassador’s wife. It was just a short-sighted, self-centered, simple-minded cowardly act of revenge, and who’s paying the cost? The Bush White House… If they ever find [the leakers], they ought to just — they ought to just kick them out of the White House and prosecute them, because…the greater the pretension, the greater the hypocrisy. [CNN, 10/19/03]

Sure must be hard being an official Republican mouthpiece. It helps if you have no morals, no ethics and no memory.

P.S. -- Dick Armey, Mr. RedState Evangelical Christian Conservative, is such a modest fellow. From his resume: "Mr. Armey's rugged individualism, intellectual rigor, clarity of insight combined with healthy doses of humor and good will, gives them just what they're looking for. A self described "born-again" freedom fighter, Mr. Armey is Washington's Hollywood equivalent of John Wayne." A little further down he compares himself to Gary Cooper in "High Noon."

[Ninong]

The person who provided the information about Mr. Rove's conversation with Mr. Novak declined to be identified, citing requests by Mr. Fitzgerald that no one discuss the case. The person discussed the matter in the belief that Mr. Rove was truthful in saying that he had not disclosed Ms. Wilson's identity.

The newest twist is that Novak supposedly told Rove about Joe Wilson's wife working at the CIA and Rove simply confirmed that he had heard that himself, probably from another reporter, but he couldn't remember which one. This little tidbit, which has been broadcast to several news organizations, was handed out under the new double double super duper secret background with a cherry on top. Any reporter asked about the source should be prepared to spend the rest of his life in the pokey rather than tattle.

In his column, Novak said that he got the information from two high level administration sources. He has declined to publicly identify his two sources. According to this newest administration leaker, it was Novak who told Rove about Wilson's wife and Rove who replied "I heard that, too." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/po...&partner=MYWAY

Matt Cooper identified his source as Karl Rove and Rove's attorney confirmed that his client did in fact tell Cooper that "Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the CIA, recommended him for the job."

All I can say is that Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, obviously believes that this is a serious and important matter, as do the judges who have reviewed the evidence that he has presented to them. It is highly unlikely that a special prosecutor would ask the court to send a reporter to jail for refusing to testify unless it was a very serious matter and even less likely that the court would agree unless the evidence was impressive. Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, is the U.S. Attorney for Chicago who was appointed by George W. Bush in 2001.

[Ninong]

The White House is leaking like crazy and so is everybody else who has any knowledge of the investigation.

After two years of repeated assertions by the White House that none of their employees was involved in this matter in any way, shape or form, we suddenly are told by senior administration officials who wish to remain anonymous because it suits their purposes, that at least two White House officials talked to at least six different reporters about Wilson's wife being in the CIA working on WMD. But here's the new twist, according to the latest official leaks, Rove claims that it was Novak who told him and he merely mentioned that he had heard that from another reporter but he couldn't remember who. Novak, of course, wrote that he confirmed his information with two senior administration sources. The second source was almost certainly Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff. Another possibility might be Kenny Mehlman, because he was Rove's deputy at the time, but I don't think he qualifies as a second confirming source. He might have been involved in contacting reporters though. And Novak, according to the same anonymous source, notified the CIA in advance that he was getting ready to name Valerie Plame in his article.

So if Novak is the one who mentioned it to Rove, who told Novak? How about Judy Miller? That's part of the latest leak. Noval supposedly told the grand jury that he first heard about Valerie Plame from Judy Miller, who is presently in jail for refusing to talk, but we all know where she got most of her information.

Furthermore, Rove sent an email to Condoleezza Rice's deputy, Hadley, telling him about his conversation with Novak discussing Valerie Plame. The grand jury has a copy of that email. Hadley is the guy who famously didn't bother to mention Amb. Wilson's Niger report with his boss Condi Rice before Bush's state of the union address. He's the same guy the CIA sent two memos to in October 2002 warning that the president should remove the reference to Saddam trying to obtain uranium from Africa. In fact, George Tenet personally called the president to make sure he got the message. The comment about Saddam trying to get uranium from Africa was removed from the Cincinnati speech in October 2002 but it was put back into the state of the union address in January 2003. They admitted the very next day that it was a mistake and an oversight that it wasn't removed. Condi Rice, for one, took responsibility for not catching that even though she supposedly read a copy of the speech in advance.

So, after two years of insisting that no one at the White House had any knowledge of this matter, it now appears that quite a few people at the White House had knowlege of this matter. I guess nobody tells the president anything. We also now know where Rove gets all his top secret government information -- from Robert Novak.

And we now know that Rove was lying when he said that he "didn't know her name and didn't leak her name." We know that because we now know, according to the latest anonymous senior administration official, that Novak told Rove her name before Rove talked to Cooper and Rove told Cooper it was "Wilson's wife who apparently works for the CIA in WMD who authorized her husband's trip."

I wonder who the other two reporters are? Four of them have already said publicly that they were contacted before Novak's story broke. Maybe they should explain things to Scott McClellan because he keeps insisting that that's not the way we do things in this White House.

[Ninong]

Isn't it amazing how many anonymous administration sources are willing to violate the secrecy of the investigation to get their point across? And then that would require a response from someone else in government who feels a need to provide additional secret information to counter the previous leak. Talk about a three-ring circus!


Investigators in the case have been trying to learn whether officials at the White House and elsewhere in the administration learned of the C.I.A. officer's identity from the memorandum. They are seeking to determine if any officials then passed the name along to journalists and if officials were truthful in testifying about whether they had read the memo, the people who have been briefed said, asking not to be named because the special prosecutor heading the investigation had requested that no one discuss the case.

The memorandum was sent to Colin L. Powell, then the secretary of state, just before or as he traveled with President Bush and other senior officials to Africa starting on July 7, 2003, when the White House was scrambling to defend itself from a blast of criticism a few days earlier from the former diplomat, Joseph C. Wilson IV, current and former government officials said.

Mr. Powell was seen walking around Air Force One during the trip with the memorandum in hand, said a person involved in the case who also requested anonymity because of the prosecutor's admonitions about talking about the investigation.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/po...gewanted=print

P.S. -- All of the recent leaks give credence to my theory that the prosecutor is seeking indictments on perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice charges in addition to any possible charges related to the disclosure of Valerie Plame's status as a CIA operative.

[Ninong]

Why do they lie so much, especially about facts that are public knowledge? It's painfully obvious who taught Ken Mehlman his dirty tricks but he sure didn't do a good job at teaching him how to lie with conviction. Compared to his mentor, Mehlman is a rank amateur.

First he puts out a talking-points bulletin that is nothing but snipets of quotes taken out of context and then all the dumb Republicans parrot those false accusations in interviews with the media, making themselves look like fools.

Then Mehlman himself goes on TV and screws up right and left without anyone calling him on his lies. He goes on NBC and says that Bob Novak was the source for Karl Rove of the Valerie Plame information, not the other way around. "Rove never leaked," said Mehlman, yet Rove's own attorney has admitted that he leaked. And, according to Robert Novak, who was the first to report Plame's name and CIA job in July 2003, when he mentioned this to Rove, Rove replied he had "heard that too," indicating Rove had already obtained the information elsewhere. Kenny is practicing a public relations tactic perfected in mid-1930's Germany of repeating the lie over and over again until the people believe it.

Then Kenny goes on CNN and blasts the NAACP. Again. He and Rush have this thing about the NAACP. If I were Kenny, I would tell Rush to lay off the inappropriate metaphors. Rush is upset because Kenny thinks the GOP should apologize for the Southern Strategy. With his customary tact and good taste, this is how Rush put it: "He's going to go down there and basically apologize for what has come to be known as the Southern Strategy, popularized in the Nixon administration. He's going to go down there and apologize for it. In the midst of all of this, in the midst of all that's going on, once again, Republicans are going to go bend over and grab the ankles." Was Rush aiming that as a personal insult at Kenny? Probably not, that's just a position Rush is obsessed with now that his legal problems are getting worse.

Anyway, getting back to Kenny's CNN appearance blasting the NAACP yesterday. Kenny makes this incredible statement: "The NAACP unfortunately in the 2000 campaign likened the president to James Byrd, who was a racist killer in east Texas, who the president brought to justice."

What? James Byrd was a racist killer?

James Byrd was the African-American victim who was dragged to his death, tied to the back of a pickup truck in Texas. Of course, President Bush opposed the hate crimes law that was offered in Texas in honor of Byrd, so it's understandable why Mehlman can't get his facts straight. Reminds me of Bush the Elder's use of Willie Horton in the 1988 campaign.

[schrocat]

Ninong,

What I've been amazed at is the large number of people who are under the impression that the grand jury has somehow been "invoked by the Democrats".
You'd think Kennedy personally ordered the investigation by their accounts.

They think it's merely "a partisan Ken Starr thing" all over again...

Ouch.

[Ninong]

The CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate the serious crime of outing one of their covert agents. It would have been impossible for John Ashcroft's Justice Department to conduct a credible investigation since the journalist who first published the information claimed that his sources were two senior administration officials. Attorney General Ashcroft selected Patrick Fitzgerald, a loyal Republican who was appointed U.S. Attorney for Chicago by President George W. Bush in 2001.

Mr. Fitzgerald has been conducting this investigation for almost two years now. The fact that the judges who have reviewed the evidence he has presented to them agree with him that this is a very serious matter leads me to believe that he is onto something big. All one has to do is read the judge's statement explaining why he was ordering Judy Miller to jail to see that something big is involved here.

This is more than just Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, Robert Novak, Matt Cooper, Judy Miller and at least four other journalists, it's about the administration's lies that brought us to the war in Iraq and the subsequent cover-up and campaign to destroy anyone who would dare try to uncover those lies.

A careful examination of the President's public statements on this leak makes it plain that he was aware of the facts from the very beginning. Are we to believe that he is so out of it that he didn't call all of the players into the Oval Office and demand answers? All of that nonsense about wanting to learn the truth and promising to get rid of anyone who "leaked classified information" was just bullsh!t.

Scott McClellan was lied to! I believe him when he says that he talked to Rove and Libby and they both assured him that they had nothing to do with this matter. Remember that he was brand new on the job when this broke. Ari Fleisher, who has been before the grand jury, may have known the truth but I seriously doubt that McClellan did.

[Ninong]

Previously the president promised to fire anyone who leaked the fact that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA on WMD, but today he modified his stance. Now he's saying that he will fire anyone who "committed a crime."

So even if the grand jury hands down indictments, we would have to wait for the conclusion of the trial to see if anyone is convicted before the president would be willing to fire anybody.

"I don't know all the facts; I want to know all the facts. (...) If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." -- George W. Bush, July 18, 2005

Apparently Karl Rove, the second most powerful man in Washington (after Dick Cheney), doesn't tell the president everything, or so we are to believe.


P.S. -- People who are convicted of criminal acts very often lose their jobs. Unless their name is Martha Stewart. Then they get new and improved jobs once they are finished doing their time. However, if she keeps violating the conditions of her house arrest, she may never get finished doing her time.

[schrocat]

Ribbettt...

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not disclose that he had ever discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper during Rove’s first interview with the FBI, according to legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter. The omission by Rove created doubt for federal investigators, almost from the inception of their criminal probe into who leaked Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, as to whether Rove was withholding crucial information from them, and perhaps even misleading or lying to them, the sources said.








Ummm...That's bad right?



:slap:



Is this going to have to turn into a bad episode of Cops with GW carrying on, fussing, yelling belligerently at the cops to "let Karl out of the back of the car!" before Barbara Bush finally intervenes?

[almostdiva]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Ribbettt...



Ummm...That's bad right?


slap:

I would certainly say so...

but I no longer dwell in the rarified air of the nation's capitol..... where standards are their own particular matter.

one must always remember -- DC is essentially a reclaimed swamp! In July and August the humidity is UNbelievable. It causes the mind to do funny things.

Rebecca

[Ninong]

Newsweek is reporting that Patrick Fitzgerald is about to get a new boss because his current boss, Deputy Attorney General James Comey, has just accepted the job of general counsel at defense contractor Lockheed Martin. If you're wondering why Fitzgerald doesn't report directly to the Attorney General, it's because Bush's close friend Alberto Gonzales has recused himself.

Spikey Mikey is speculating that Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum would be the "likely" replacement for Comey but he should recuse himself, too, since he is an old friend of President Bush's and a member of his Skull and Bones class at Yale.

At this point this is a story about nothing because nothing has happened yet to talk about. Maybe Mikey is just trying to forewarn us that hanky panky is abrewing?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8853002/...storyContinued

[Ninong]

It seems that Scooter Libby, Cheney's Chief of Staff, met with Judy Miller on July 8, 2003 and they discussed Valerie Plame Wilson: http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?...rticleId=10077

Miller won't talk without a personal waiver from Libby but Libby is so far refusing to provide such a waiver. You will recall that Matt Cooper talked after Karl Rove provided just such a personal waiver.

President Bush wants to find out what happened. Nobody tells him anything. He wants to know what's going on and he has every right to know what's going on. He's in charge, isn't he?

Here's an idea. Why doesn't he just tell Scooter Libby to provide a personal waiver?

[Ninong]

Spikey Mikey may be on to something. And my reference in that other thread to Bush just pulling a Nixon and firing everyone may be more apropos than I first thought.

According to a story in today's L.A. Times, Bush fired the veteran federal prosecutor who was going after Tom DeLay's best buddy, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with a grand jury probe in Guam two years ago:

WASHINGTON — A U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after.

The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in Washington that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...adlines-nation

[schrocat]

What are you implying?

Bush was just downsizing the govt!!
Saving the taxpayers a few bucks.

You should be thanking him.

[Ninong]

The Washington Post's Walter Pincus had a detailed article on who sent Amb. Wilson to Africa and why: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...001918_pf.html

Walter Pincus is one of the journalists who was told about Valerie Plame Wilson by "a senior administration official" prior to Novak's article outing her as a CIA operative. I know he has been interviewed by the special prosecutor but I'm not sure if his source has been revealed publicly??? It's hard to keep up with all the various leakers and leakees.

The leakees that I recall right now are: Robert Novak, Matt Cooper, Judy Miller, Walter Pincus, Tim Russert and Chris Matthews.

The leakers, as far as I know, are: Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, possibly Ari Fleisher and probably at least one more. It was a team effort.