"Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Officer with Novak"

[jefferson_dem]

That's what the headline reads on fuckhead sludge's page.

Siren's up and all.

Now...what the hell does it mean??

[Lex]

1. Rove was Novak's source?

[jefferson_dem]

2. Yep. Link here to NYT piece -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1629018

[Lex]

3. Soooo, was Rove just trying make sure Novak

did not publish an incorrect story about Wilson's trip to Niger (as they claim with Cooper)?

[Lars39]

4. Better source:

Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Office

Edited on Thu Jul-14-05 10:32 PM by cal04

Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser, spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak as he was preparing an article in July 2003 that identified a C.I.A. officer who was undercover, someone who has been officially briefed on the matter said Thursday. Mr. Rove has told investigators that he learned from the columnist the name of the C.I.A. officer, who was referred to by her maiden name, Valerie Plame, and the circumstances in which her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, traveled to Africa to investigate possible uranium sales to Iraq, the person said.

After hearing Mr. Novak's account, the person who has been briefed on the matter said, Mr. Rove told the columnist: "I heard that, too."The previously undisclosed telephone conversation, which took place on July 8, 2003, was initiated by Mr. Novak, the person who has been briefed on the matter said. Six days later, Mr. Novak's syndicated column reported that two senior administration officials had told him that Mr. Wilson's "wife had suggested sending him" to Africa. That column was the first instance in which Ms. Wilson was publicly identified as a C.I.A. operative. The column provoked angry demands for an investigation into who disclosed Ms. Wilson's name to Mr. Novak.

The Justice Department appointed Patrick J. Fitzgerald, a top federal prosecutor in Chicago, to lead the inquiry. Mr. Rove said in an interview last year that he did not know the C.I.A. officer's name and did not leak it.The person who provided the information about Mr. Rove's conversation with Mr. Novak declined to be identified, citing requests by Mr. Fitzgerald that no one discuss the case. The person discussed the matter in the belief that Mr. Rove was truthful in saying he did not disclose Ms. Wilson's identity. On Oct. 1, 2003, Mr. Novak wrote another column in which he described calling two officials. The first source, who is unknown, was described by Mr. Novak as "no partisan gunslinger" who provided the outlines of the story. The second, confirming source, Mr. Novak wrote, responded, "Oh, you know about it."

That second source was Mr. Rove, the person briefed on the matter said, although Mr. Rove's account to investigators about what he told Mr. Novak was slightly different. Mr. Rove recalled telling Mr. Novak: "I heard that, too."Asked by investigators how he knew enough to leave Mr. Novak with the impression that his information was accurate, Mr. Rove said he heard portions of the story from other journalists, but had not heard Ms. Wilson's name.Robert D. Luskin, Mr. Rove's lawyer, said Thursday, "Any pertinent information has been provided to the prosecutor." Mr. Luskin has previously said that prosecutors have advised Mr. Rove that he is not a target in the case, which means he is not likely to be charged with a crime.In a brief conversation on Thursday, Mr. Novak declined to discuss the matter.The conversation between Mr. Novak and Mr. Rove seemed almost certain to intensify the question about whether one of Mr. Bush's closest political advisers played a role in what appeared to be an effort to undermine Mr. Wilson's credibility after he challenged the veracity of a key point in Mr. Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech, alleging that Saddam Hussein had sought nuclear fuel in Africa.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/politics/15rove.html?...

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Damn is Rove scared

That is the biggest pile of horseshit I've ever seen. Some "briefer" tells the NY Times that Rove "confirmed" Novaks information, garnered from another source. Unnamed are 1) that source and 2) any source that would help Rove confirm it. The implication is that mysterious source 1) was shopping this information around, then a bunch of journalists got it, the n gave it to Rove, who "confirmed" only by saying that he'd heard the same thing (helluva confirmation, that mutual awareness of the same unsourced rumor!). Anyone who believes any of this is a dimwit of first order.

Rove & Co. ordered a work-up on Wilson - probably after the October 2002 piece which preceded Wilson's "offending" editorial by 8 months (almost a full pregnancy!). When Wilson's editorial came out, Rove and his various cronies attempted to discredit Wilson and punish his family by leaking his wife's name. That's the story. All this someone-heard-some-rumor nonsense is smokescreen and desperate cover for a very desperate, very guilty man. Obvious bullshit.

[Lex]

7. Oh, I bet the Grand Jury isn't buying that.

Seriously. Sounds like a bad lie from a teenager caught in some shit.

[Must_B_Free]

9. Someone said Bush did 911 and I said I heard the same thing on DU

does that mean I confirmed it?

[steve2470]

6. this almost strikes me as a leak to absolve Rove

a perhaps partisan one.

[demgrrrll]

8. Man they must be up nights thinking up this shit. This is so convoluted

it reminds me of when kids get caught doing something and they go into some long winded explanation of why that makes no sense at all. Well Jimmy told me to and then I and then he...This is insulting. I hope Fitz nails em all.