Decision ‘08

Rove And Libby Have Been Warned, Reports NY Times

David Johnston reports (deja vu, all over again) that it’s not the (alleged) crime, but the coverup that may get Rove and Libby indicted:

As he weighs whether to bring criminal charges in the C.I.A. leak case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel, is focusing on whether Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, sought to conceal their actions and mislead prosecutors, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday.

Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest the prosecutor may believe the evidence presented in a 22-month grand jury inquiry shows that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said.

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, the lawyers said, but only this week has Mr. Fitzgerald begun to narrow the possible charges. The prosecutor has said he will not make up his mind about any charges until next week, government officials say.

Johnston sums up the thinking of whomever from Fitzgerald’s office is leaking:

In Mr. Rove’s case, the prosecutor appears to have focused on two conversations with reporters. The first was a July 9, 2003 discussion with Mr. Novak in which, Mr. Rove has said, he first heard Ms. Wilson’s name. The second conversation took place on July 11, 2003 with a Time magazine reporter, Matthew Cooper, who later wrote that Mr. Rove had not named Ms. Wilson but had told him that she worked at the C.I.A. and that she had been responsible for her husband being sent to Africa.

Mr. Rove did not tell the grand jury about his phone conversation with Mr. Cooper until months into the leak investigation, long after he had testified about his conversation with Mr. Novak, the lawyers said. Later, Mr. Rove said he had not recalled the conversation with Mr. Cooper until the discovery of an e-mail message about it that he sent to Stephen J. Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser. But Mr. Fitzgerald has remained skeptical about the omission, the lawyers said.

In Mr. Libby’s case, Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on his statements about how he first learned of Ms. Wilson’s identity, the lawyers said. Mr. Libby has said that he learned of Ms. Wilson from reporters. But Mr. Fitzgerald may have doubts about his account because the journalists who have been publicly identified as having talked to Mr. Libby have said that they did not provide the name, that they could not recall what had been said or that they had discussed unrelated subjects.

Well, that’s all old news by now, but this is the first I’ve heard of Rove and Libby being warned by Fitzgerald they face legal jeopardy (I wonder, though - since no mention is made of target letters, could it just be that they warned before testifying that they better play it straight or face the consequences? Too weaselly? Who knows?). No wonder folks in the White House are worried…

4 Responses to “Rove And Libby Have Been Warned, Reports NY Times”

1 Thomas DePaine Says:
October 20th, 2005 at 11:30 pm
James Moore writes “Patrick Fitzgerald has before him the most important criminal case in American history. Watergate, by comparison, was a random burglary in an age of innocence.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/the-most-important-crimin_b_9183.html.
2 Fred Says:
October 21st, 2005 at 12:53 am
Please ! Apparently, in the USA “history” spans a period of time that runs from yesterday to as long ago as the last election.
3 too many steves Says:
October 21st, 2005 at 7:08 am
“The most important criminal case in American history”?!? James Moore has violated Lincoln’s admonition that “it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”.

But, if they can put Martha in jail for obstructing justice in the investigation of a crime that was determined not to have happened then, well, Rove and Libby could be in trouble.
4 AJStrata Says:
October 21st, 2005 at 12:13 pm
Be careful..

The sources are lawyers who are under gag orders by Fitzgerald. In other words, they represent those who testified and are hoping Rove and Libby are indicted and not them!!