Free Republic

What will follow will be a rather frank discussion of our reporting of and involvement in the Rove indictment matter. If you like simple answers or quick resolutions, turn back now. This is our report to our readership. Our primary sources for this report are career federal law enforcement and federal government officials speaking on condition of anonymity. This report was developed under the supervision of all of Truthout's senior editors, which should be taken as an indication that we view this matter with the utmost seriousness. For the record, we did reach Kimberly Nerheim, a spokesperson for Patrick Fitzgerald,...

Last Friday, Truthout editor Marc Ash told his readers to "Expect a more comprehensive accounting of this matter on Monday, June 19." It's 5:45 p.m. on the East coast, and so far Ash hasn't posted anything about Jason Leopold's false report that Karl Rove had been indicted. Perhaps that's because yesterday, the Washington Post published a story that adds to the number of things Ash needs to explain. It's by Joe Lauria — the journalist Leopold pretended to be as he tried to confirm his phony story: Three days later, Leopold's Rove story appeared. I wrote him a congratulatory e-mail,...

The May 13 story on the Web site Truthout.org was explosive: Presidential adviser Karl Rove had been indicted by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald in connection with his role in leaking CIA officer Valerie Plame's name to the media, it blared. The report set off hysteria on the Internet, and the mainstream media scrambled to nail it down. Only . . . it wasn't true. As we learned last week, Rove isn't being indicted, and the supposed Truthout scoop by reporter Jason Leopold was wildly off the mark. It was but the latest installment in the tale of a troubled...