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=

[tiredoflaundry]

Bill Clinton practiced voodoo in the white House basement.

Well, we are sure he practiced "woohoo" in the basement! ;-)

[Peach]

Did you just capture Mehlman on FNC? He was great but I wanted to get down what he said about Harry Reid and Abramoff but missed it.

Did you hear that exchange?

[Peach]

It's been a good week.

[Chickenhawk Warmonger]

It's imploding over at the DUmp and KOSland. I wish I didn't have to go to work today so I could play in the despair over there...

[mware]

The DUmmies will deny it and say an indictment is still possible.

In 24 hours????

[radiohead]

Schadenfreudelicious!

You betcha! I guess this good news is a signal for me to get off this damn computer and go to bed.

[commonguymd]

Speaking of despair, I will watch to see how Will Pitt, Truthout, and Jason Leopold turn around and play the victim to Karl Rove. As if Karl Rove cares about them at all.

[Jhensy]

Thank you God for blessing us with such stupid opponents.

[johnny7]

It's been a tough couple'a'weeks for the Trotskyites.

[YaYa123]

didn't catch enough of it.

[Hokie Bird]

They don't even know yet that they've had a bad day!

New DU theme song available at: http://www.danielpowter.com/

[commonguymd]

devinsgram (1000+ posts) Tue Jun-13-06 07:38 AM
Response to Original message
33. They must have found something on him (Fitzpatrick).
I know they say he spotless, but everybody has skeletons, of some sort in their closet.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2335471&mesg_id=2335549



You can't make this stuff up.

[GatorGirl]

Good catch, Rob. Thanks for the laugh!

[jslade]

The DUmmies will deny it and say an indictment is still possible.

In 24 hours????

Make that 24 business hours!

[piperpilot]

Nothing could be finer than to see the Dims wallowing in their grief and crying in their lattes two weeks in a row. There is but one word for this news and that's SWEET!!!!

[Freee-dame]

Fitz pulled a Nifong.

He even included a weasel word "anticipate".....in case he can concoct something later?

[mewzilla]

Hope springs eternal.

[Peach]

Victoria Toening says this is the correct decision about a year late. LOL

[NImerc]

I call it Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Chili...

[The G Man]