How attention does Rove

dr. elsewhere here

With all the news all CIA all the time this weekend, I thought it might be instructive to step back and review another major bombshell that dropped on Friday. This was briefly mentioned in a reader's comments to a Joe post, and raises what I think is a good point.

In other news Friday...
Just as Goss was resigning his post, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the Grand Jury to go over a few things. We'll get to the coincidence of timing, but first it's worth noting what came of this Grand Jury meeting.

First of all, Judge Walton denied Team Libby the right to view documents regarding Wilson’s trip to Niger. Not so good for Libby, though it is not entirely clear just what he intended to prove with that information. The judge has found it necessary on numerous occasions to remind Team Libby that he is not at liberty to revisit justifications for invading Iraq; he must stick to the charges against him.

The judge also signaled that he expected resolution soon on the issue surrounding documents being withheld because they touch on Rove, who is till part of an ongoing investigation. This suggests Fitz may be wrapping up the investigation. Do read Jason Leopold’s assessment of the situation to get the full breadth of what appears to be happening with Rove’s case. In short, it does look like he’s toast. Or better, fried frog legs.

But the biggest bombshell noted that Libby had been warned by the CIA that Plame’s identity was sensitive and secret. If true, then Libby may be guilty of knowingly leaking an agent’s identity, which would make him guilty of the crime targeted for investigation in the first place, and not just perjury and obstruction. Fitz is perfectly free to indict him on this additional charge at any point in the tenure of the new Grand Jury. If he does, that ought to shut up all those whining wingnuts out there who are so disgusted that Fitz has not done anything on the crime he was supposed to investigate, clearly missing our hero’s main point, namely that honesty is essential to an investigation, and when folks aren’t honest, then it becomes impossible to discover the truth about the crime in question.

But, oh, forgive me, my attention does rove….

(To read the rest, click "Permalink" below)

I really encourage you to read Leopold’s piece. He lays out all the latest ways in which the case is imploding for both Libby and Rove. For Team Libby, the new big problems are listed above. For Rove, we see how his own attorney may be making things so much the worse for him. (But then, what is one to expect from a lawyer who took payment for another client’s appeal in a drug money laundering case in the form of half a mill in gold bars?) Luskin has presented himself as a witness to testify about his conversation with Viveca Novak of Time, who told him as a buddy over drinks that, gosh, his client had actually talked to Cooper about Plame, and that Cooper – who also wrote for Time – said Rove was his source. Luskin’s story is that he then immediately told Rove, and they together combed emails to find the infamous message to Hadley reporting that he had had this conversation, and that he “had not taken the bait” when Cooper asked about Plame. But, Rove wants us to believe, he has no memory of that conversation with Cooper.

Well, turns out that (a) not only was there the Hadley email, there were around 250 emails on WH and VP office computers; and (b) Luskin’s story would only make sense had he and his client immediately turned over that Hadley message, but Luskin thinks he talked to Viveca before February of 2004, and the Hadley email was not given to Fitz until October. It just so happens that this was about the time Cooper’s second attempt to quash his subpoena to testify before the Grand Jury was denied.

So, if Rove is such an innocent good guy, what took him so long to share an email that he has tried to spin as clearing him?

Leopold also mentions that these 250 emails were withheld by our good friend and Bush counsel Gonzalez, who is now AG. Recall that Gonzalez contacted Andy Card about the subpoena for WH records, but gave him overnight to comply. Recall also that both Bush and Cheney were interviewed by Fitz, each with personal criminal attorneys present.

Recall as well that impeachment proceedings can be called by a Grand Jury indictment.
(Just thought I’d throw in that juicy little reminder of what could be at stake here; again, thanks to Joe for bringing it to our attention.)

Now, from my little corner of the world here, all the above actually sounds like a good bit of not so good stuff for the WH came down on Friday. And it could have been so much worse. Fitz could have issued his indictment papers to the Grand Jury. No one could possibly know until the day was over. Or till the fat froggie sang.

Which brings me to the point of all this (forgive, but like I said, my attention does rove….), a point that was raised in a comment to one of Joseph’s excellent Goss posts, and which I have to say, actually makes some sense to me.

Note that this sudden, “mysterious” Goss resignation was scheduled and then announced just as the Grand Jury was meeting, with Fitz attending. According to Wayne Madsen (insert caveat here), the press corps abruptly left the courthouse as the news came over the wires. Madsen also noted that “it is not known whether Fitzgerald participated in any of the grand jury proceedings after the hearing before Judge Walton.”

Do any of you recall what happened with the last sudden resignation that was accompanied by no immediate replacement? Scottie getting the ax was not quite the surprise that Goss is, but the press secretary was hustled out of his position just as – yes, folks – Fitz was presenting evidence against Rove at the Grand Jury. And I do mean, just as; at precisely the same time. Later that same day, without pomp or circumstance, AP revealed that Rove’s portfolio had been, um, relieved of its policy features.

Now, two data points give us nothing more than a straight line and cannot count as a trend. Andy Card’s resignation came almost two weeks before Fitz was freed up by Illinois Governor Ryan’s convictions. And there remains the very large why of the Goss mystery. But it will be interesting to see what other surprise or “mysterious” or abrupt resignations occur at just the precise moment that Fitz is scheduled to present whatever he’s got to the Grand Jury.

Kinda makes you wonder if some part of this staff “shake-up” is being retrofitted to accommodate these Grand Jury events.

Sounds just like something Rove would cook up, don’t it?

Which makes you also wonder how well his political manipulating will actually work now that he is the radioactive piece. Hard to be objective about how to spin it, how to smokescreen it, if and when to leave.

I suppose these are the inevitable endgame questions when the set was for so long about who to smear, when to arrange a security alert, where to shift all those illegal funds, and how to hack all those election machines.