Testimony By Rove And Libby Examined

Washington Post ^ | 7/23/05 | Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei

[topdog1]

They're trying to pull a "Martha Stewart" on Rove. They can't get him for any original "crime", so they'll nail him for lying to a federal investigator or Grand Jury. In both cases, Martha and Rove, they would have walked if they just told the truth (or consulted a lawyer before talking).

[jwalsh07]

Cooper appears to be lying, Russert appears to be parsing words Clintonian style and the Lamestream Media appears to be ready to eat spoiled crow.

[tobyhill]

He did consult a lawyer before he spoke to the Special Prosecutor and I don't think there is any proof Rove lied. If anyone probably lied it was Cooper. Rove contacted the DNSD right after the call and told them the same thing about Cooper calling him to talk about Welfare Reform then throwing in the the Niger stuff at him. Now Wilson probably already knew of Plame because his wife also worked for the DNC along side Wilson. I would bet that Cooper also has a contact inside the CIA as does Miller, Novak, Kristof, Corn, etc... and within the CIA is very well where the whole crime, if any, began not some little "s" on someones CYA memo. This memo came after someone tried to shut the barn door but the horse was long gone.

[Howlin]

yes, but is he telling the truth, or parroting what his wife (Mandy Grunwald-Hillary's henchwoman) tells him to?

Funny you should mention her; just as I hit "Post," she crossed my mind. Maybe he's not doing all the talking; maybe big mouth Mandy is. I imagine she has quite a Rolodex.

[cyncooper]

In both cases, Martha and Rove, they would have walked if they just told the truth (or consulted a lawyer before talking).

You are completely befuddled. Rove has told the truth.

You need to get your facts straight.

[oceanview]

OK, but still it seems that Cooper was able to avoid jail by cooperating with Fitzgerald on Rove and Libby. what I do not understand, is if indeed Fitzgerald is trying to widen the scope of this beyond Rove & Libby, why doesn't he press Cooper to identify all his sources? the precedent of jailing Miller is there for non-cooperation.

This is why I am having my doubts about Fitzgerald, what he really is after.

[drjimmy]

how can Cooper refuse to answer the questions because "they are not about Libby" - and not be sharing a cell with Judith Miller?

That questioning took place in 2004. If you read the whole article you will see that the prosecutor had agreed to only ask questions about Libby. When Cooper's answers indicated there was another source for his information, he then refused to answer questions about that source. In his recent testimony to the grand jury, Cooper did reveal that source as Rove.

[DBeers]

OK let's see....

OK lets see -you are a troll... bye bye

[Eva]

I believe that I heard that Cooper used the famous Clinton defence, I don't recall, when he was asked about his original source. There is nothing that a prosecutor can say to that, if you don't remember, you don't remember.

[cyncooper]

I confess, I'm surprised and disappointed that the focus appears to be on Libby and Rove and that it's looking like Fitzgerald is focusing on the idiotic Plame and her blasted name.

It makes no sense if he could establish early on that she was not undercover---and/or that even if she were that the other elements of the statute were not even close to being violated by anything Rove or Libby did.

The good guys have a right to defend themselves and it makes me sick to think he is really looking into that aspect.

We shall see.

[Steve_Seattle]

"A lot of people are trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube, and it isn't the Republicans."

Yes, it seems there's a sudden media effort to change the subject from "Rove/Libby/Cheny/Bush outed a covert CIA agent" to "Rove/Libby committed perjury." But the perjury charge seems pretty thin, going back to a who-told-who-first scenario about something that wasn't a crime in the first place. I don't think that inconsistent testimony ever leads to perjury charges unless the inconsistency is material to a serious crime and can be proven without question.

[PilloryHillary]

Welcome to Free Republic.

[PilloryHillary]

Looks like you've been banned or suspended. BOOOOOO HOOO.

[Steve_Seattle]

We need to keep in mind that neither Rove nor Libby nor anyone else in the admin had any reason to believe that revealing Plame's role in the Niger trip would ever lead to this huge brouhaha, and that their recollections of how and from whom they learned this info might indeed be fuzzy. Plame's identity was known to many, and was probably circulating through personal gossip, through reporters, and through official or semi-official channels, all of them forming a huge feedback loop. I really don't think Fitzgerald is going to try to turn any inconsistencies in who-told-who-first into a perjury rap, especially if there is no underlying crime to begin with.

[TC Rider]

Never forget that Cooper is married to one of Hillary's creatures, Mandy Grunwald