NYT: Cover-Up Issue Is Seen as Focus in Leak Inquiry [Rove & Libby advised may be in legal jeopardy]

NYTIMES ^ | 10/21/05 | DAVID JOHNSTON

[Pikamax]

Cover-Up Issue Is Seen as Focus in Leak Inquiry By DAVID JOHNSTON

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 - As he weighs whether to bring criminal charges in the C.I.A. leak case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel, is focusing on whether Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, sought to conceal their actions and mislead prosecutors, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday.

Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest the prosecutor may believe the evidence presented in a 22-month grand jury inquiry shows that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said.

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, the lawyers said, but only this week has Mr. Fitzgerald begun to narrow the possible charges. The prosecutor has said he will not make up his mind about any charges until next week, government officials say.

With the term of the grand jury expiring in one week, though, some lawyers in the case said they were persuaded that Mr. Fitzgerald had all but made up his mind to seek indictments. None of the lawyers would speak on the record, citing the prosecutor's requests not to talk about the case.

[bitt]

'Later, Mr. Rove said he had not recalled the conversation with Mr. Cooper until the discovery of an e-mail message about it that he sent to Stephen J. Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser. But Mr. Fitzgerald has remained skeptical about the omission, the lawyers said.'



....Mr. Rove must have impressed the prosecutor with his rapier-like intellect.....otherwise, why would he not believe that the man could forget anything?

[carl in alaska]

Well I believe a person can commit a crime by lying to prosecutors or investigators during an investigation of something that was not a crime. People sometimes create a crime by lying about something that wasn't even illegal.

That said, I find it really hard to believe that Rove or Libby would lie to prosecutors or obstruct justice in this investigation, which is an investigation of a leak that wasn't illegal because Ms. Wilson was not a covert agent. If Rove or Libby actually committed perjury or obstructed justice in this investigation, then they have acted very stupidly and gotten themselves into trouble they could easily have avoided. But again, I strongly doubt they lied or obstructed justice. I don't know much about Fitzgerald, so maybe he will indict somebody if he's a publicity-hungry egomaniac. I know little about him, but I would hope that AG Gonzalez could stop him from making any phony or overzealous indictments.

[martin_fierro]

Rove sure looks concerned.

[okie01]

or underlining, or 18-point, red font.

I especially liked the underlined 48 pt white font.

It had a certain elegance...

[Krodg]

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, the lawyers said, but only this week has Mr. Fitzgerald begun to narrow the possible charges

So, two years ago Fitzgerald was asked to investigate whether or not Novak had outed a CIA operative. When he didn't find what he wanted, he searched further and now he get's to put new charges out???

[gov_bean_ counter]

I think stories like this have been manufactured so the Dems can claim Fitzgerald pulled his punches when he closes out his investigation without bringing charges. Notice they floated the "Report/Firestorm" balloon early in the week. We saw how far that one got.

[kcvl]

Investor's Business Daily


Issues & Insights
Myths To A Plame: The Case Against Rove
Posted 10/19/2005


snip



Wilson, who later was a foreign affairs adviser to the Kerry campaign, turned out to be a physician in need of healing himself when it comes to truth-telling, as revealed on July 9, 2004. That was when the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issued its report on the CIA's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The report concluded that Wilson lied when he denied his wife got him the Niger assignment. "Valerie had nothing to do with the matter," he wrote in his book, adding, "She definitely had not proposed that I make the trip."

But according to the Senate report: "Interviews and documents provided to the committee indicate his wife . . . suggested his name for the trip." This included a memo Plame herself sent to the CIA.

The report also said Wilson lied when he told The Washington Post he knew the Niger intelligence had been based on forged documents. The CIA didn't obtain the document said to be a forgery until a full eight months after Wilson's return from Niger.


snip

So when Rove, in an e-mail sent to Time magazine's Matt Cooper in July 2003, said Wilson's trip to Niger for the CIA was arranged by "Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency," without providing her actual name, he was not exposing Plame as an agent.

He was exposing her husband as a prevaricator, in effect warning Cooper and others not to take his claims seriously.

While Wilson was found to have lied repeatedly, an independent British investigative committee on WMD intelligence headed by Lord Butler in its report (butlerreview.org.uk ) found "the intelligence was credible" and Bush's statement was "well-founded."


snip

The usual suspects who got even with Newt Gingrich for electing a Republican Congress, and who are pursuing Tom DeLay for pushing the Republican agenda, are now trying to settle the score with the man who got George W. Bush elected twice.


snip


This is an attempt to use — or rather, misuse — the law to achieve what Democrats could not at the polls: the neutering of the Republican revolution. As columnist Ann Coulter points out, the only person to have demonstrably lied and possibly broken the law is Joseph Wilson. We can only hope it will not succeed.

[auboy]

In other words, the NY Times' lawyers said this.

Bingo! How convenient. NYTs reporter interviews NYTs' lawyers.

[Chode]

leak, you call this a LEAK??? last time there was a leak like this... Noah built hiself a boat!!!

[speedy]

HeHe. O, I Cu get this stuff. Next week, we take on the logarithm table (and just completely relive high school.)

[PISANO]

Why would they "CONCEAL" their actions? Plame was NOT COVERT and her employment at the CIA was common knowledge.

Attempting to DISCREDIT Wilson by telling reporters that it was Wilson's wife, a CIA agent, who recommended his appointment to investigate the Niger case seems to be a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

So why would they lie and obstruct justice? Makes no sense!!

[okie01]

The same media elites who said it wasn't a crime when Bill Clinton did it are calling it the Crime of the Century when its alleged against Rove... before any charges, if any, are ever filed.

And, at the same time, they are editorializing against "a rush to judgment" and the "absence of due process" for Saddam Hussein.

The MSM won't be happy until Saddam Hussein goes free...and Dick Cheney is in jail.

[hispanarepublicana]

we were both big nerds in h.s., weren't we?

[kcvl]

"Libby testified that he received information about "Wilson's wife" from Tim Russert."



Rove and Libby Got Plame Info from Reporters

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/20/cia.leak.investigation.ap/index.html

Once you get past the headline, details in this article appear to confirm Karl Rove's and I. Lewis Libby's contention that they learned about the identity of Valerie Plame from reporters.

Two excerpts:

"Rove told grand jurors it was possible he first heard in the White House that Valerie Plame, wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA from Libby's recounting of a conversation with a journalist, according to people familiar with his testimony.

They said Rove testified that his discussions with Libby before Plame's CIA cover was blown were limited to information reporters had passed to them."

snip

"During one of his grand jury appearances, Rove was shown testimony from Libby suggesting the two had discussed with each other information they had gotten about Wilson's wife from reporters in early July 2003.

Rove responded that Libby's testimony was consistent with his general recollection that he had first learned Wilson's wife worked for the CIA from reporters or government officials who had talked with reporters."

The article goes on to say that Libby testified that he received information about "Wilson's wife" from Tim Russert.

Russert's account, according to NBC, is that Russert did not know "Wilson's wife's identity" until it was published by Robert Novak.

[speedy]

Shhhh, not in front of the children!!!

[justkillingtime]

sought to conceal their actions and mislead prosecutors, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday. ......Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest the prosecutor may believe the evidence presented in a 22-month grand jury inquiry shows that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said. ....

Just WHO are these lawyers??? They must work for the Times!

[carl in alaska]

"I think stories like this have been manufactured so the Dems can claim Fitzgerald pulled his punches when he closes out his investigation without bringing charges."

Bingo, we have a winner here. Excellent analysis. I've noticed lately that lately the Dems have been using the words "scandal", "corrupt", and "corruption" in reference to the Bush Admin with great frequency. I accidently tuned into Air America last week and some clown was talking about the "Bush Crime Family." I have a working theory about why they are doing this and lying with greater frequency than usual, but I'm not sure yet whether I want to post that theory on the web.

[YaYa123]

"Associates of Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby continued to express hope that the prosecutor would conclude that the evidence was too fragmentary and that it would be difficult to prove Mr. Rove or Mr. Libby had a clear-cut intention to misinform the grand jury"

that, that, that, that, that, that!!!#@!$@#$#!@#!@!@!! what's with these hot shot reporters????? their editors?????

(as to the substance of the article, I'll just have to calm down before I can think straight!)

[Krodg]

What happened to the initial intent of the Grand Jury?? Does that get thrown aside and you just bring charges Willy Nilly??