Rove, Libby Accounts in CIA Case Differ With Those of Reporters

[kerrygoddess]

Rove, Libby Accounts in CIA Case Differ With Those of Reporters

Looks like Rove and Scooter Libby are up to their necks in hot water … it appears their stories don’t jive with what the reporters have said and they may have LIED to a Federal Grand Jury…

Rove, Libby Accounts in CIA Case Differ With Those of Reporters

By Richard Keil

July 22 (Bloomberg) — Two top White House aides have given accounts to the special prosecutor about how reporters told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to persons familiar with the case.

Lewis “Scooter’’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s identity.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who was first to report Plame’s name and connection to Wilson. Novak, according to a source familiar with the matter, has given a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=33

[nankerphelge]

1. But this seems to conflict with the talking points.

Shouldn't this not matter because Joseph Wilson is an evil, wicked man? Shouldn't Rove get a medal?

[niceypoo]

2. Of course they lied

Its what they do, they lie about everything. What will the FBI do about it? Well, Bush blames 911 on them (among others), and the Iraq war. They outed a spy and I'm sure the FBI realizes they would be hung out to dry just as quickly for just as petty reasons.

I have a feeling there isn't much love left in the FBI and especially the CIA for the Bush admin. From what I hear, Poppy Bush is enraged by the whole plame affair (he worked for, then headed the CIA). Jr is basically wiping his ass with his fathers CIA legacy.

Of course none of this matters, as soon as the heat gets hot the special prosecutor will be fired and Gonzales (The torture guy) will take over "prosecuting" the case.

[halobeam]

4. I'm really trying to follow all of this, but what I don't get is

why Bush would be allowed to fire the prosecutor. I've looked around to find the answer, but am having a hard time. Is he really able to pick who investigates him/his administration? Are there any actions that can be taken to fight that? Who would be able to fight that, if at all possible? Sorry I'm hitting you with these questions, is there anyway you can sum this up for me... much appreciated if you can..

[mikelewis]

10. Yes he gets to pick the special prosecutor but...

not the Grand Jury that actually holds the power. Now, over the past few decades, the grand juries have been basically run by the special prosecutor. The prosecutors have manipulated the Grand Juries to the point that they basically run the show. Now, even though Bush called for a special prosecutor, the entire process is overseen by a federal judge, though they take no part in the investigation or depositions, they simply preside over the case and eventually either allow the report of the Grand Jury to be released or they seal it. They also issue the orders of the Grand Jury, such as holding Judith Miller in contempt of court and throwing her in jail. If a crime appears to have been committed the grand jury hands down an indictment then it goes to trial. A grand jury is made up of a panel of regular people, it's jury duty but it lasts sometimes for years.

When Bush calls for a prosecutor to review the case, any impropriety would get picked up on by his political rivals and that would be a very bad thing for both Bush and Fitzgerald. Also, if the grand jury believes that Fitzgerald has ulterior motives, they can actually kick him out of most proceedings and then we have what is known as a runaway jury or a jury that the prosecutor has lost control over. This happens mainly in high profile cases but looks very very bad to the justice system as a whole. Fitzgerald may have been called by Bush but he is still a prosecutor and he is after convictions. If he can successfully reach an indictment against Rove or Libby or Cheney or maybe even Bush, he will make history and that's the true prize. It's possible to manipulate the Grand Jury and to manipulate the prosecutor and to manipulate the court but it's a very risky venture. If this was the case, however, we wouldn't have heard a word about Rove or Libby or any of the testimony. The Judge could have sealed the report, but he didn't. Fitzgerald could have steered the court away from Rove, but he didn't. It still may be a crooked game but it looks like it's on the up and up, so far.

Does this answer your question?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

14. My completely subjective hope has been that someone, somewhere

Put it all together and have the nerve to bring charges, precisely because that person would know, in the end, history would not only exonerate him/her but actually celebrate their contribution to saving our country.

I don't know if it's going to be Fitzgerald, but I hope it is. MKJ

[halobeam]

22. thanks... it does answer a lot.

I still don't get why Bush can fire him and appoint/choose another prosecutor (Gonzales was mentioned as a "what if" scenario around here) when it would be to anyone in his administration's benefit to have a "friend" take over. Is it just because he can? He would get "hell" for it, but could do it anyway is how I understood it, so then, what would he care? He never cares. What's to REALLY stop him from doing this or what are the deterrents for him not to do this?

Thanks for answering everything already, very much appreciated btw.

[kerrygoddess]

7. I'm hoping for Worse than Watergate to prove out!

Got to have some faith.

[Stil]

12. Outing yep

When plame was outed, remember they also outed the sooper sekrit cover company. Which definantly was not in U.S. interest. Also when the company was outed that in turn could/did comprimise any other agent who had used the company as a cover. Plame was just the tip of the cia iceberg exposed by the rovublicans. The real story no matter how much roveco tries to make it just a wilson/plame deal.

[emulatorloo]

13. Hello Stil -- Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Stil]

15. Thanks for the welcome

This place is a madhouse. (In a nice way)

[kodi]

3. obviously those ultra-liberal reporters, Novak and Russert are wrong!

libby to russert: "et tu Timmay?"

[UT troll]

17. their pol leanings wouldnt matter either way

... under oath

[kestrel91316]

5. No, no, no, you've got it all wrong ...................

those nasty JOURNALISTS are the ones who lied.

:evilgrin:

[kerrygoddess]

6. LOL!

Nasty nasty liberal journalists!

[chieftain]

8. I know this is a sidebar to the main story which is the unraveling

of the Bush mystique and trials for key Republican operatives. But how can NBC and CNN justify keeping Russert and Novak in prominent coverage positions concerning politics. Maybe the Count can take over for Jean Meserve and do those zany offbeat human interest stories.That should be just the thing for him as an outsider to the race . Timmy can be the sideline reporter for his beloved Buffalo Bills. Big Russ will be so proud while he freezes his ass off in late December updating the condition of the wideout who just pulled his groin. Suitable work for our boys, don't you think?

[OzarkDem]

19. Outsider to the race

:rofl:

[chieftain]

21. Yeah, I kinda chuckled when I wrote it. Glad you enjoyed it.

[rocktivity]

9. Rove and Libby: Bush and Cheney's #2 men (a coincidence, of course)

But I can't stop wondering why THEY would have to know who were and weren't undercover CIA agents. I think the answer has something in common with the reason why Judith Miller chose jail--their sources are not only too close to the top, they ARE the top!

:headbang:
rocknation

[kerrygoddess]

11. Would that be grand

Indictments for all!

[Imagevision]

16. Rove? - lie-deny-change the subject that's all he knows

although its worked pretty well thus far, what are the chances of Bush & Cheney not knowing anything about Plame matter? -- Cheney recently has been qouted as saying he learned of Niger trip by Wilson via the newspapers -

can you imagine that? right as we're poised to got to war he gets his updates from the newspapers! you gotta laugh at some of this stuff.

[skip fox]

18. Will Rove resign on a hot summer Friday afternoon? Stay tuned.

He orchestrated the KNOWING and DELIBERATE leak of a covert CIA official, one whose identity the agency was actively concealing.

Each new piece of evidence suggests that a number of administrative officials will face multiple indictments in the leak of Plame's identity. Rove will receive probably more than one.

1. The inanity and hysteria of the RNC's (and others') spinning has been noted by reporters across the nation as indicative a party which "off its game." Expecting a terrible outcome, they were stalling for time, hoping the Supreme Court Nominee would bump the story off the front pages. (For a day it did . . . until Walter Pincus's story yesterday about classifications on the State Department memo sent to Air Force One.) Al Franken told us yesterday (7/21) that after some difficulty he was able to demonstrate to the RNC staff that the story on their web-site which states Wilson claimed the Vice President sent him to Niger was simply false, a lie (showing the context for Wilson's quote yet again). What was the RNC's reaction? "We're standing by it." Simple as that. My point it, when they are willing to be so consciously and blatantly dissembling in public (which can be used against them), that they are very distressed about the future.

2. We know there were at least 6 initial reporters contacted (including Novak, Miller, Cooper, and Pincus) and that 3 of those contacted called at least one secondary source the confirm the story (Cooper implies he had more than single confirming source named as Scooter Libby). We know that Cooper's initial source (Rove) specifically released him, but that Miller's would not do so for her. Since we already know Novak's initial source is Libby, there would be no reason him not to release Miller if he were her source (unless the crime was more obvious). Therefore we know that there were two (Libby and Rove) initial sources and probably at least another. Already we are deeply into the terrain of collaboration. But when we realize that to have 3 confirming sources available, since the "conspiracy" (it becomes the unavoidable word) could not insure who the reporters would call to confirm their stories, they had to have several primed (ready and willing to confirm) (Of course a confirming source for one reporter could be a primary course for another.)
Impossible to accomplish these 9 (or 9+) calls by at least 2, probably 3 or more initial caller, with others ready to confirm, without coordination. It wouldn't be rocket science for the Rove's Machiavellian machine he calls a mind, and it would be Rove of all people in the group of officials (probably largely composed of the White House Iraq Group) would direct (mastermind) the entire, making sure no two officials attempted to act as an initial source for a single reporter (that would appear too eager), that the story be believable (pitched nonchalantly, briefly), that the story is given in slightly different forms, and that the confirming sources were in place and with the story somewhat different in non-substantive matters (so it doesn't sound like story leaked by rote.) Therefore it was deliberately leaked.

3. We know Rove has had multiple visits by the FBI and to the grand jury. The implication is as loud as it gets.


4. The State Department memo, said to be at least one origin of the information concerning the Plame-Wilson-Niger connection and reputedly of high interest to the grand jury, was reported by Wlater Pincus yesterday to me clearly marked "S" for "Secret." Today's reports in fact indicate it was marked "TS," "Top Secret." Therefore the official who disseminated the identity from this source was highly aware that the CIA was actively trying to conceal Plame's identity. Therefore it was knowingly leaked.

Therefore, RNC's spin, the numbers of callers, the deliberate and repetitive acts, Rove's visits with FBI and grand jury, and the knowing intent behind the leak = Rove will go down in Plames. Likely he is guilty of leaking (with knowledge), leading a conspiracy to leak, and perjury.

There's no way out of this for Rove. The best he can hope for is the softest landing t5hat does the least damage for other officials and the Republican Party. (On a hot summer afternoon?)

[Imagevision]

20. Even if Bush Pardons Rove - he should still face charges and be

wrung thru the justice system!