Focus of Prosecutor in CIA Leak Inquiry Appears to Shift to Rove

AP via Yahoo! ^ | Tom Hamburger, Richard B. Schmitt and Peter Wallsten

[Brilliant]

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity returned their attention to White House advisor Karl Rove on Tuesday, questioning a former West Wing colleague about contacts Rove had with reporters in the days leading to the naming of the covert operative.

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald also dispatched FBI agents this week to the CIA officer's neighborhood in Washington, asking neighbors whether they had been aware — before her name appeared in a syndicated column — that the operative, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA...

[Brilliant]

Since it appears that there is now no dispute that the "leak" was not itself illegal, the only reason I can think of that the knowledge of the neighbors would be relevant is if the prosecutor were trying to determine whether testimony by Plame and/or Wilson was truthful. If they told the grand jury that her status was a big secret, but their neighbors knew about it, then I think that might implicate them in trying to mislead the investigators.

[Petronski]

It takes three people to write this crap?

[Dansong]

How crazy is it that an investigation about a leak is seemingly being leaked around town by those responsible for prosecuting leaks?

[satchmodog9]

I don't understand going to neighbors and asking them this asinine question. Gee, what's the chance they are libs?

[Mo1]

I wonder if these reporters give themselves wipelash with all the back and forth reporting

It's Rove
No .. It' Libby
It's Rove
No .. It's Cheney
It's Rove
No ... It's Bush
It's Rove

[Piquaboy]

I still cannot see how you can expose a covert operative if he or she is not covert. Be like me saying that so and so works down at Wal-Mart and being hung out to dry for it. Am I missing something here or not?

[rhombus]

I still cannot see how you can expose a covert operative if he or she is not covert

Liberals still maintain that she was covert.

[Brilliant]

If I were the prosecutor and Wilson and Plame testified to the grand jury that it was a big secret that she worked for the CIA, I'd want to find out if that were true. If not, it's perjury.

[saganite]

Am I missing something here or not?



If you're not paying close attention you're missing a political lynching. That's all though. There's nothing of substance here.

[Piquaboy]

You got that right in spades! Opps! guess that was not PC.

[God luvs America]

I'm confused...they are now going to the average guy on the street....

Is it the focus of the prosecution??

Or the focus of the persecution???

[Fresh Wind]

With indictments due within days or even hours, isn't it a bit late to be sending out agents to interview the neighbors?

[Piquaboy]

Yeah! And I was undercover last night also.

[Rodm]

Tom Hamburger" Deadline come on boy"

Richard B. Schmitt "Let's see, what kind of crap we can make up today"

Peter Wallsten "Hey, we'll put out bogus Rove story today"

[DustyMoment]

If Fitzgerald wants to know the truth about Rove/Libby/ Cheney/Bush/Wilson/Plame, et al, he needs to make sure that he questions the janitors and the garbage men who collect their trash.

If not, he's missing the REAL answers to who leaked what to whom and blah, blah, blah.

/sarcasm

[slowhand520]

If these "leaks" are true they are acting like Keystone Cops. They keep shifting focus to someone else. They have had 2 years to probe. One minute it's Cheney, one minute it's Rove and then Libby. The more the inquiry moves the more I'm convinced they have nothing

[petercooper]

[USS Alaska]

Shouldn't this have been the FIRST investigation that the special prosecuter would have wanted to have done?

Two years into the probe, and days before the grand jury is going to expire, the brilliant prosecuter, says, "Hey, let's find out if the neighbors knew about Valerie". "Was she really covert?" How did she get to work at Langley, in calypso louie's space ship?

This is just bullship.

[roses of sharon]

So much for the vaunted public employee, charged with public trust mantra.

He and his DC media friends are obviously making this a partisan farce of an "investigation".

A so-called natl security leak that was soooooo illegal that it was leaked to dozens?

Sure.

But it looks like this civil cold war is heating up.

[Brilliant]

I think there is as many hints that Wilson will be indicted as there are that Libby will be indicted. But the media is fixated over Libby and Rove.

They seem to forget that at this point, the prosecutor is focusing on whether the grand jury was misled. That could implicate anyone who testified.