No Indictment of Rove in CIA-Leak Case!

NRO ^ | 6/13/06 | Byron York

[The G Man]

June 13, 2006, 6:44 a.m.

No Indictment of Rove in CIA-Leak Case
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald makes a decision.

By Byron York

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed top White House adviser Karl Rove that Rove will not face indictment in the CIA-leak investigation, National Review Online has learned. The word came yesterday, when Fitzgerald told Rove lawyer Robert Luskin that he, Fitzgerald, did not plan to seek charges against Rove. This morning, Luskin released a brief 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.

 Rove appeared five times before a grand jury investigating the CIA-leak case; the most recent was in April. Before appearing before the grand jury, Rove was interviewed by FBI agents assigned to the investigation. Fitzgerald’s inquiry, it appears, focused most intensely on the first two sessions — the FBI interview and the first grand-jury testimony.

The key question to be resolved by Fitzgerald was said to be whether to charge Rove in connection with his testimony regarding a brief July 11, 2003, conversation with Time magazine’s Matthew Cooper. In both his interview with the FBI and in his first grand jury appearance, Rove did not tell investigators about the conversation with Cooper. By the time Rove appeared for a second time before the grand jury, Rove had discovered evidence — an internal White House e-mail — showing that he did indeed talk to Cooper. Rove gave the evidence to Fitzgerald, who then questioned him about it at length.

Rove is thought to have testified that he simply did not remember the Cooper conversation until he discovered the e-mail. (Cooper himself described the talk as being about two minutes long and occurring right as Rove was leaving on vacation.) Supporting Rove’s contention was the fact that Rove, apparently, testified from the very beginning that he talked to columnist Robert Novak, which suggested he was not trying to hide his involvement in the case from Fitzgerald.

A decision by Fitzgerald — one way or the other — had been anticipated for months. There was widespread speculation that Rove might face charges for lying to Fitzgerald’s grand jury much like those filed by Fitzgerald last October against Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff. Now, it appears that will not happen. And so far, at least, no one has been charged with violating any of the underlying laws in the case — either the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act.

Rove’s fate has been the subject of intense discussion among critics of the Bush administration. Perhaps foremost among them is former ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was the CIA employee at the center of the affair. In August 2003, Wilson vowed to pursue Rove vigorously, saying, “At the end of the day it’s of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs.”

— Byron York, NR’s White House correspondent, is the author of The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President — and Why They’ll Try Even Harder Next Time.

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National Review Online - http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjQzM2QxZWFmNDRkMTBkZDg5ODI3OTNkNjgwYmJiZjc=

[The G Man]

Woo hoo!

[Peach]

Excellent news and as we predicted all along.

[carlr]

Same thing reported on Fox.

This should cause a meltdown in DUmmie land today.

Heads up PJ,it should be a good one.

[BallyBill]

This is going to leave a mark. A big fat WELT, Jason!

[goldstategop]

The liberals' dreams of Fitzmas got the door slammed in their face again!

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[The G Man]

[Laverne]

What will truthout say now? HAHA! Good news for Karl.

[Bahbah]

LOL. In the time it took me to post the announcement from Bill Bennett, no less than four people had beat me to it. DUmmie heads will now explode.

[tiredoflaundry]

Sweet! :-)

[mewzilla]

Fitz pulled a Nifong.

[RobFromGa]

Paging Jason Leopold...

You were saying about Sealed vs. Sealed?

[Bahbah]

LOLOL. Oh happy day. Imgine that, a man who did nothing wrong will not have to spend millions to prove it. Don't mess with the Rove machine.

[OldFriend]

FREE SCOOTER LIBBY

[Armedanddangerous]

Somewhere, at 7 AM, hundreds of disdraught liberals are beating their chests and sobbing like someone ran over their dog.

Fat Teddy Kennedy has already pounded down his fifth scotch of the hour. Helen Thomas is trowelling on her morning scowl.

All is sadness in the land of the dead.

[The G Man]

Al-Zarqawi and Rove's indictment ... both killed in the same week. Does it get any better than this? LOL!

[ChadGore]

Free Scooter!

[tiredoflaundry]

If anyone goes DUmpster diving, please wear safety goggles & a slicker. Brain matter stains are a bi*** to get out!

[bvw]

Obviously the whole Libby-Fitz thing was a Rovian plot to preclude other investigations.

[tiredoflaundry]

OMG check out the moonbat callers on C Span! hehheheheheheheh

[mainepatsfan]

This will make the Dummies even more upset than Zarqawi getting blown away!!