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.

[Enchante]

"One negative consequence of the Rove indictment firestorm has been that so much of what we cover that is so important to the community has been pushed into the background. There's a war going on, the right to vote is in doubt, democracy itself is under attack. Let's work together to keep our focus."

Translation for normal people: yes, we are all raving psychotics and no, we have not the slightest idea what we are talking about.

[God luvs America]

bump

[PeteB570]

Yeah, it's him.

Anything totally stupid and appearing to be pulled from thin air deserves a good 19.

[stevestras]

That was very difficult to comprehend, the guy needs to work on his clarity.

For those that think Coulter is bad, how would you like to have this guy on your team? Of course, judging by some of the comments, he has no team.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Wow. Leopold continues his looniness. I better take a shower.

[DoughtyOne]

I hope you are right. It stands to reason. This Plame case has been very shakey from the start. It's gone down-hill from there.

[darkangel82]

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

Sounds like you've already thought about it.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Well, it took Kerry 2 years to think up a response to the Swift Boat Vets.

Some things can't be rushed! ;-)

Pinz

[Pox]

That is how I see it.

[jazusamo]

Thanks, that's what I thought to.

[steve-b]

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

Maybe the indictment is actually against Louis Farrakhan....

[nopardons]

bttt

[neuron2]

I just heard on Fox that Fitz issued a formal statement saying that Rove will not be indicted! How will Leopold spin that?!

Bwahahahahahahah!

[Freemyland]

Easy. The indictments are so super secret, Fitzgerald has even sealed them from himself.

Leopold is like Linus, and Fitzmas is his Great Pumpkin.

[Velveeta]

I had e-mailed Brit a copy of your entire Time article on Friday. He should have given credit, but at least he brought it up.

[Smedley]

One must appreciate Jason Leopold's timing of this article - the day before Rove is officially cleared.

Teehee

[Velveeta]

~giggle~

All part of Karl's *plot*.