Interesting tidbit on Fitzgerald's investigation...

[FormerRepublican]

"Interviews

Rove is not the only potential subject for Fitzgerald's probe, which already has resulted in the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to reveal her sources and Time magazine being forced to turn over notes about confidential sources, including Rove, to a grand jury.

People familiar with the inquiry say Fitzgerald also is reviewing testimony by former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, though it is not clear whether the prosecutor is focusing on him or seeking information about higher-ups. Fleischer last night refused to comment.

Other Bush aides who have testified to the grand jury or been questioned by prosecutors include McClellan; Rove; former Deputy Press Secretary Adam Levine; Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff; and Dan Bartlett, a Bush communications adviser.

Bush himself was questioned by Fitzgerald in the Oval Office on June 24, 2004.

`Something Serious'

Randall Eliason, the former chief of the public corruption section of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, said the fact that Fitzgerald pursued Cooper and Miller so aggressively suggests that he has a legal target in sight. It is rare for a federal prosecutor to seek jail for a reporter who refuses to reveal sources, he said.

``You wouldn't expect him to go to these lengths unless he thought he had something serious to look at,'' Eliason said. ``You don't compel reporters to testify or jail reporters unless you have a pretty good reason. This is not something you do lightly.''

Eliason said Fitzgerald could be pursuing a perjury or obstruction of justice charge rather than a prosecution under the 1982 law that makes it a crime to reveal the name of a covert operative. He said that for an indictment under that law, Plame would have had to have been a covert operative, Rove would have had to have known she was covert, and information about her status would have to be classified."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aPAumGLz.W9M&refer=top_world_news

I wonder what Ari said that got BushCo into trouble?

Oh, I'm enjoying this little sideshow! :bounce:

[zapp]

1. Ari quit the day Novak's column appeared.

Coincidence?

[FormerRepublican]

2. Maybe Ari actually has some ethics?

Or at least more than the rest of them?

Wouldn't that be an interesting turn of the screws!

[freeplessinseattle]

8. Interesting, I did not know that. thanks! n/t

[Carolab]

3. This "talking point" holds no water for me.

He said that for an indictment under that law, Plame would have had to have been a covert operative, Rove would have had to have known she was covert, and information about her status would have to be classified."

If Val were NOT covert--i.e., a "desk jockey"--how could she possibly have been "outed"?

[jobycom]

4. It would be funny, though

If someone got prosecuted for obstruction of justice and it turned out no crime was even committed.

[noamnety]

5. Exactly

you can't blow the cover of someone who a regular federal employee - that would be like me outing Porter Goss as a CIA employee. It's already public information.

And someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that fact that someone's a covert agent automatically classified?

[pacalo]

7. If you didn't see the Oct. 2003 Democratic hearing about the Plame leak

here's a link for the transcript in pdf: http://talkleft.com/plamehearing1.pdf

I saw it live on C-Span & the testimony was riveting. These guys were pleading with the senators to do something about this administration's treatment of the CIA. They were speaking out for Plame as well as still-active analysts who were understandably reluctant to speak out themselves.

Their passionate testimonies make it clear that Plame was undercover & put at risk.

First up is the transcript (25 pages, pdf) of a Democratic Policy Committee Hearing held on October 24, 2003, presided over by then Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, on the national security implications of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. The chief witnesses were Jim Marcinkowski, Former CIA Case Officer; Larry Johnson,Former CIA Analyst; and Vince Cannistraro,Former Chief of Operations and Analysis, CIA Counterterrorism Center.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011403.html

[pacalo]

6. I hope it's an obstruction of justice charge.

An indictment for a cover-up would cry out for a full congressional hearing. How could Sensenbrenner avoid the public outcry that is sure to come. The media has already shown that this is their issue of passion.

And these past two days of aggressive questioning of McClellan by the press corps isn't the first time it's happened. Here's a briefing from September 29, 2003, before the Plame leak was assigned to even Ashcroft's Justice Dept. McClellan is particularly smug & flippant in this one, to the point that I'd like to see him frog-marched out the WH along with the entire West Wing:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030929-7.html

[jojo54]

9. So we need to find out the facts about Plame

<snip>A covert agent is defined as someone whose identity is classified and who has lived outside the United States sometime within the previous five years.>

from the PA Inquirer: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12117928.htm

This article points out very strongly that Rove had to know she was covert and that the government was trying to hide her identity.

What we need is for Val to step up and speak her mind (or is there a disclaimer that she signed?). I would also like to see those testimonies televised again.

I would also like to see Rove, Cheney, *, and anybody else we can think of, testify on air. But then again, I would like to win the lottery too, but that doesn't mean it will happen.