| Saturday, October 29, 2005 |
| Karl Rove: Witness for the prosecution? |
From AP:
AP: Mysterious 'Official A' is Karl Rove
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
Published: October 28, 2005 10:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON
In a sign of the trouble lingering for the Bush administration, the indictment handed up Friday in the CIA leak probe refers to someone at the White House known as "Official A."
The unidentified official could become a courtroom witness against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who left his job as vice presidential aide shortly after his indictment on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury.
Several other unnamed officials mentioned in the indictment were identified Friday afternoon by Justice Department officials.
But not "Official A."
The mysterious official is identified in the indictment only as "a senior official in the White House."
No mention is made of Karl Rove, the president's political adviser who remains under investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.
It has been known that columnist Robert Novak spoke to Rove on July 9, 2003, saying he planned to report over the weekend that Valerie Plame, the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, had worked for the CIA. Rove told the columnist he had heard similar information.
Friday's indictment says "Official A" is a "senior official in the White House who advised Libby on July 10 or 11 of 2003" about a chat with Novak about his upcoming column in which Plame would be identified as a CIA employee.
Late Friday, three people close to the investigation, each asking to remain unidentified because of grand jury secrecy, identified Rove as Official A. If Rove is now a prosecution witness, that would certainly explain the delay in indicting him -- the better for the prosecutor to hold a dagger over his head and "compel" his truthful testimony. But I'm still wondering just what Rove's attorney handed over that gave Fitzgerald (whom I'm sure is sick of being called "Fitzpatrick" by the talking head parade...) such "pause..." Did he give up a bigger fish in hopes of saving himself? Or did he drive the nail into Libby for the same reason? If so, it suggests the neocons (and possibly the vice president) are drifting into the "them" category versus the George W. Bush bunker...
Meanwhile the Times says the Libby case (should it ever go to trial -- which I doubt) will pitt the source against the journalists. That's a credibility battle that, post-Katrina, the media folks could actually win...
Tags; CIA leak, Plame, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson , Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, White House, PlameGate, Iraq, Middle East, War, Terrorism, Foreign Policy, politics |
posted by JReid @ 12:54 AM   |
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