Jason Leopold: (Rove) Indictments Are Sealed

Truthout/Sweetness & Light ^ | June 11, 2006 | N/A

[Sam Hill]

Here we go again.

The latest "truth" from Jason Leopold of Truthout:

Sealed vs. Sealed

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Monday 12 June 2006

Four weeks ago, during the time when we reported that White House political adviser Karl Rove was indicted for crimes related to his role in the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, the grand jury empanelled in the case returned an indictment that was filed under seal in US District Court for the District of Columbia under the curious heading of Sealed vs. Sealed.

As of Friday afternoon that indictment, returned by the grand jury the week of May 10th, remains under seal - more than a month after it was handed up by the grand jury.

The case number is "06 cr 128." On the federal court's electronic database, "06 cr 128" is listed along with a succinct summary: "No further information is available."

We have not seen the contents of the indictment "06 cr 128". But the fact that this indictment was returned by the grand jury hearing evidence in the CIA leak case on a day that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the grand jury raised a number of questions about the identity of the defendant named in the indictment, whether it relates to the leak case, and why it has been under seal for a month under the heading Sealed vs. Sealed.

True, the grand jury in the CIA leak case also meets to hear evidence on other federal criminal cases, including at least one other high-profile case - crimes related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

The lead prosecutor on the Abramoff case is Peter Zeidenberg, who has worked alongside Patrick Fitzgerald in the CIA leak investigation for more than two years and has spent a considerable amount of time investigating Karl Rove's role in the leak. Zeidenberg is currently prosecuting David Safavian, who is on trial in US District Court, charged with obstruction and lying about his contacts with Abramoff.

Still, legal experts watching the Plame-Wilson investigation have been paying particularly close attention to Sealed vs. Sealed since the Karl Rove indictment story was published.

The legal scholars have said that a federal prosecutor can keep an indictment under seal for weeks or months - something that is commonplace in high-profile criminal cases - especially if an investigation, such as the CIA leak probe, is ongoing.

When told about the Sealed vs. Sealed indictment filed in US District Court, the legal experts became intrigued about the case because they say that most federal criminal indictments are filed under US vs. Sealed and that they rarely come across federal criminal indictments titled Sealed vs. Sealed, which to them suggests the prosecutor felt it necessary to add an extra layer of secrecy to an indictment to keep it out of public view.

"The question here is that nobody who I have spoken to - top criminal attorneys, law professors, etc. - is aware of the left part of the case title having been sealed," said one former federal criminal attorney. "That the right-hand side is sealed is almost pro-forma. But, what is not known is whether the US Attorney can seal the left hand part of the case title on his own."

The fact that the indictment has been under seal for more than a month also suggests that it involves a high-profile investigation, he said.

Additionally, it's entirely plausible for a federal prosecutor to obtain permission from a federal magistrate or a judge, have an indictment unsealed for the limited purpose of having parts of it read to a defendant and his or her attorneys in an attempt to have the defendant cooperate with an investigation to avoid facing further charges, legal experts said.

This "theory" seems to be several weeks old.

It is heavily feature on the parody blog site, From the Desk of Patrick J. Fitzgerald:

Keep Pace...

5.26.2006

The PACER Service Center is the Federal Judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records.

Between May 10 and May 17, the grand jury that meets in the leak case returned four sealed indictments. Three of those indictments have since been unsealed and have to do with non-related cases. One indictment remains sealed and is filed in the courthouse as SEALED v. SEALED.

I’m sure you’ve read about this on some blogs and have seen the theories. Most federal prosecutors have never seen a case filed as SEALED v. SEALED. It’s usually US v. SEALED, but this one is very special and there is the screenshot! ;)
Have a GREAT weekend.

posted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald at 5/26/2006

Who knows if this is a joke or whether there is some semblance of truth in it.

Surely Mr. Leopold doesn't.

[Sam Hill]

The not so latest on this "reporter."

[Sam Hill]

A "Truthout" ping.

[FlipWilson]

Ok, someone splain this to me, please.

[Darkwolf377]

Nice photo of "It's Pat," jason.

[PeteB570]

Let's see 128/6 = 21.33 - 2.33 = 19.

19, 19 it's the number 19. That number 19 keeps popping up.

[randog]

Even the DUmmies aren't buying it, and if you can't sell your Dr. Feelgood to that group of dupes...

[Pox]

Basically, this Leopold nutbar wanted so badly for Rove to be indicted that he manufactured a story that he was indicted on May 12th of this year, but it's pure BS.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I'd surely like the tin foil concession to some groups of people...

[DoughtyOne]

Rove is not one of my favorite people, although I do appreciate some of the things he has done. That being said, I don't believe he'll be convicted of anything. The left is in desparation mode, and this is essentially one big fiasco. He is not deserving of this treatment.

[FlipWilson]

Ok, now I gotcha.

[tongue-tied]

He's so...manly. If I were ever to switch sides, that'd be the guy for me. LMAO

[RobFromGa]

How many business hours has it been since the initial scoop?

[Stultis]

Surely Jason could improve his percentages by turning his attention to predicting the end of the world and the landing of the "mother ship".

[Candor7]

We will unseal the indictment about 4 weeks from the November election when no one else can comment on the issues due to the new gag law concerning election issue speech by pacs and partizan organizations. But none of the propaganda will be commented upon, it will come as straight hose news.

Why isn't our side simply letting the justice department prosecute Jefferson, there is no special prosecutor in that case.Gonzales must be having fits.

OTOH, maybe Plame and Wilson will be the defendants!

[Dutchgirl]

For your entertainment...read these pj comix posts. For the cliff notes version... Jason Leopold of "truthout" swore that Karl Rove was indicted by a grand jury on May 12th. Bloggers managed to get this "news scoop" to a Hillary fundraiser of lawyers" which erupted into cheers at the "news". As days went by without any indictment being announced, suspicious dem began to believe that they were lied to, and were outraged (This from a political party that claims to appreciate really good liars...)

[jazusamo]

So now this leopold has come up with the sealed vs sealed to try to further his original lie, is that it?

[tobyhill]

This story is also a lie because it doesn't explain how Fitzgerald met with Rove's attorneys for 12-16 hours straight in Washington on the next Saturday when Fitzgerald was in Chicago.

[Sam Hill]

Lunatic Left “Reporter” Claims Rove Has Been Indicted | Sweetness & Light
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/lunatic-left-reporter-claims-rove-has-been-indicted

Truthout Admits It Lied About Rove Indictment | Sweetness & Light
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/truthout-admits-it-lied-about-rove-indictment

[technomage]

Let's see: First this nutjob reports that Rove has been indicted. This was then shot down as fabrication by the special prosecutors office.

So, this quack then takes a month to come up with another 'story' to explain his last 'story'.

Liberals are truly demented.

[CFC__VRWC]

We're already carving up this turkey on the latest DUmmie FUnnies. Come on over and join the fun.