Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Lawrence O'Donnell: Rove's I-did-not-inhale Defense
Huffington Post ^ | 7-4-05 | Lawrence O'Donnell

Posted on 07/04/2005 3:17:36 PM PDT by STARWISE

Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, had his holiday weekend ruined on Friday when I broke the story that the e-mails that Time delivered to the special prosecutor that afternoon reveal that Karl Rove is the source Matt Cooper has been protecting for two years.

The next day, Luskin was forced to open the first hole in the Rove two-year wall of silence about the case. In a huge admission to Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, Luskin confessed that, well, yes, Rove did talk to Cooper. It is a huge admission in a case where Rove and Luskin have never, before Friday, felt compelled to say a word about Rove's contact with Cooper or anyone else involved in the case.

Luskin then launched what sounds like an I-did-not-inhale defense. He told Newsweek that his client "never knowingly disclosed classified information." Knowingly. That is the most important word Luskin said in what has now become his public version of the Rove defense.

Not coincidentally, the word 'knowing' is the most important word in the controlling statute ( U.S. Code: Title 50: Section 421). To violate the law, Rove had to tell Cooper about a covert agent "knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States."

So, Rove's defense now hangs on one word—he "never knowingly disclosed classified information." Does that mean Rove simply didn't know Valerie Plame was a covert agent? Or does it just mean that Rove did not know that the CIA was "taking affirmative measures" to hide her identity?

In Luskin's next damage control session with the press, let's see if any reporter can get him to drop the word 'knowingly' from the never-disclosed-classified-information bit.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cialeak; cooper; karlrove; luskin; newsweek; odonnell; plame; robertluskin; rove
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-65 last
To: STARWISE

I guess Larry is trying to keep himself in the news with this Rove frap. He's been out for a while hasn't he? Is the West Wing (for which he helps write the script) still on TV, or has it been cancelled?


61 posted on 07/04/2005 6:52:12 PM PDT by SuziQ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SuziQ

What's TV? Oh, yeah, that vast intellectual wasteland. I don't know if the West Wing is still on the boob tube ... nor do I care.


62 posted on 07/04/2005 7:06:38 PM PDT by Lunkhead_01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: SuziQ
He's just beside himself ... I think he's got a terminal case of PPE (ParaPoliEnvy).. remember, though he's also a "screenwriter," it's merely an extension of his desperate Rat political operative genetic structure (from MA, nephew of Kenny O'Donnell, aide to JFK).

Liberalism = a mental disorder and the gift that keeps on giving.


63 posted on 07/04/2005 8:03:20 PM PDT by STARWISE ( You get the govt. you deserve. CALL YOUR CONGRESS CRITTERS OFTEN -U.S. CONGRESS: 1-877-762-8762)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE

Don't tell me you actually read the Huffington Post. Hasn't Arianna gotten way more free press than a fag hag deserves, really?


64 posted on 07/04/2005 8:12:04 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile ("Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist." -- John Adams. "F that." -- SCOTUS, in Kelo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibertarianInExile

No, I was reading Lawrence O'Donnell's latest whine, which emanated from there.


65 posted on 07/04/2005 9:29:38 PM PDT by STARWISE ( You get the govt. you deserve. CALL YOUR CONGRESS CRITTERS OFTEN -U.S. CONGRESS: 1-877-762-8762)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-65 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson