Correspondent Report (Australia): Pressure mounts on Karl Rove

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Pressure mounts on Karl Rove PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
Correspondents Report - Sunday, 17 July , 2005 (Australia)
Reporter: Leigh Sales



http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2005/s1415427.htm

The issue is whether the President's right hand man, Karl Rove, illegally leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent to a reporter. It's currently the subject of a grand jury investigation, and it's been the main topic of Washington cocktail party gossip for weeks.

President Bush says he won't comment until the inquiry ends, although he made a symbolic gesture of support last week by walking alongside Karl Rove as the two men boarded the Presidential helicopter. As our North America Correspondent Leigh Sales reports, the pressure surrounding the Rove issue is now becoming enormous.

DAVID GERGEN: This is much more of a political problem than a legal problem, based on what we know now. Legally, it's a very complex case and I can just tell you outside Washington a lot of people don't understand this. This issue is very complex. When things tend to be this complex, they don’t have the kind of political impact that some other, sort of sex scandals, which are easily understood, can have. But on the law, based on what we know now, there is nothing, there is nothing… there is no evidence. I'm not someone who is in love with Karl Rove's politics, but I have to tell you, based on what we know now, there is no evidence here this fellow broke the law. My own sense of it is based on what we know now, that he does not have a legal problem unless he lied to the grand jury – that's a legal problem.

As a political problem, they’ve been ham-handed in the way they handled it. They could have got this thing cleared up a long time ago. To get way out in front and say, ‘Nobody was involved, he wasn't involved,’ the press secretary says, ‘I went and talked to him and he wasn’t involved’ – they were wrong about that. And that's their political problem.

[spooky3]

1. Where does David Gergen get off, feeling so confident

about the evidence TO WHICH HE DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS?

Honestly, the arrogance of RWers (and I know some people think Gergen is "moderate" but I don't) is mind-boggling and disgusting.