I have noticed that some of the liberal SI threads are going nuts about this subject.
"Karl Rove And The Plame Leak
Just one Minute blog
Lawrence O'Donnell struck sparks by posting at Arianna that "Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source" for the Valerie Plame leak.
Mike Isikoff of Newsweek modifies this a bit, delivering quotes from a chat with Rove's attorney Robert Luskin and telling us that "one of Cooper's sources was White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove". (Emphasis added).
The Washington Post has the strongest denial:
Rove's lawyer said Rove never identified Plame to Cooper in those conversations. More significantly, Robert Luskin said, Fitzgerald assured him in October and again last week that Rove is not a target of his investigation.
Some thoughts - Karl Rove was under oath when delivering his grand jury testimony, and although unsworn, false statements to a federal investigator can lead to a prosecution. His attorney, Robert Luskin, is not similarly constrained when making statements to the press. Hence, his statements may be false (unlikely, since presumably Mr. Luskin has a professional reputation to consider), or artfully constructed to be misleading (Do tell!).
Furthermore, Special Counsel Fitzgerald would not normally hold a press conference to rebut any misleading statements made by Robert Luskin. My strong impression is that unlike Ken Starr, who was authorized under his empowering statute to deliver a final report into his investigation, Special Counsel Fitzgerald will either present his evidence in indictments and at trial, or go quietly away. Grand jury testimony is meant to be secret, after all, and although ironists would delight if Fitzgerald began delivering leaks to the press about the progress of his investigation into press leaks, he has run a tight ship so far.
So, let's pull out the direct quotes from Robert Luskin, and see whether there is any obvious wiggle room in his denials. From Newsweek:
Luskin told NEWSWEEK that Rove "never knowingly disclosed classified information" and that "he did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA." Luskin declined, however, to discuss any other details. He did say that Rove himself had testified before the grand jury "two or three times" and signed a waiver authorizing reporters to testify about their conversations with him. "He has answered every question that has been put to him about his conversations with Cooper and anybody else," Luskin said.
Well, "knowingly disclosed" may be important in establishing criminal intent, but it sidesteps the question of whether Rove inadvertently mentioned a connection between Plame and Wilson.
"[H]e did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA", may be a perfect non-denial denial - did Rove say, for example, that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, but omit her name (which was available on the internet as part of Ambassador Wilson's on-line bio, now long gone)?
The Washington Post gives us more to work with:
More significantly, Robert Luskin said, Fitzgerald assured him in October and again last week that Rove is not a target of his investigation.
"Karl did nothing wrong. Karl didn't disclose Valerie Plame's identity to Mr. Cooper or anybody else," Luskin said. Luskin said the question remains unanswered: "Who outed this woman? . . . It wasn't Karl."
"Not a target" is not a direct quote. However, it is possible that Robert Luskin is relying on a term of art, and simply telling us that Karl Rove has not received a target letter. Maybe Fitzgerald's position is, Rove is not a target, but if it turns out he perjured himself or lied to investigators, that could change.
"Did nothing wrong" may refer to the notion that a prosecution under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act is probably impossible. Or it may reflect the ethical judgment of someone sympathetic to the White House (see Howard Fineman's piece on the background tussle between the CIA and the White House.)
"Who outed this woman... It wasn't Karl" will be left as a challenge to the reader, but I will suggest this - Robert Novak claimed to have two sources; if Matt Cooper had a similar experience, maybe Rove merely confirmed a Plame/Wilson connection that Cooper had gleaned elsewhere. In which case, Rove didn't exactly "out" her, did he? Hmm... Let's note this from the WaPo:
Cooper has said that more than one confidential source is identified in his e-mails and the notes of interviews he conducted in July 2003 after Wilson's opinion piece appeared in the New York Times.
More from Robert Luskin:
Rove answered questions under oath for about two hours before a grand jury on Oct. 15 as part of the special prosecutor's investigation. According to Luskin, the prosecutor said he believes Rove was candid and forthcoming about his contact with reporters.
"I've been assured by the prosecutor they have no reason to doubt the honesty of anything he's said," Luskin said.
That's good news for Karls fans, although it is possible that new evidence in Cooper's notes may change the prosecutors' minds.
Let's reprise one theory of the information flow that led to the leak, with thanks to Cecil Turner, commenting at the Beldar Blog. Briefly, someone at the INR (the State Dept intelligence arm) attended the famous meeting where Joe Wilson was introduced by his wife; much later, when the White House was vexed by Wilson's leaks and his NY Times piece, Colin Powell was apprised of the Wilson/Plame connection while traveling with Bush in Africa:
Sources close to the case say prosecutors were interested in discussions Powell had while with President George W. Bush on a trip to Africa in July 2003, just before Plame's identity was leaked to columnist Robert Novak. A senior State Department official confirmed that, while on the trip, Powell had a department intelligence report on whether Iraq had sought uranium from Niger—a claim Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, discounted after a trip to Niger on behalf of the CIA. The report stated that Wilson's wife had attended a meeting at the CIA where the decision was made to send Wilson to Niger, but it did not mention her last name or undercover status.
Well - if Powell knew, who else in the White House did? And what did they know? Not Ms. Plame's name, and not her undercover status, if this memo was the basis of their information. The meeting is described in the SSCI report. And let's note that Novak's original column was hazy on just what information came from which sources:
Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him."
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