Prosecutors have agreed to Rove’s request, but have warned Karl Rove that they can’t guarantee that he won’t be indicted. (Breaking, Wolfie Blitzer reading it on CNN right now.)
This will mark Rove’s fourth appearance before the grand jury.
WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th-hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer’s leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won’t be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation.
The persons, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy, said Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made any decision yet on whether to file criminal charges against the longtime confidant of President Bush or others.
The U.S. attorney’s manual requires prosecutors not to bring witnesses before a grand jury if there is a possibility of future criminal charges unless they are notified in advance that their grand jury testimony can be used against them in a later indictment.[……..]
The prosecutor did not give Rove similar warnings before his earlier grand jury appearances.
More waiting for indictments. Well. At least I can take a shower now.
I heard Dobbs say eleven hours of testimony. But 11th hour testimony makes a lot more sense.
Wolf. Fuck.
AP story:
The persons, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy, said Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made any decision yet on whether to file criminal charges against the longtime confidant of President Bush or others.
The U.S. attorney’s manual requires prosecutors not to bring witnesses before a grand jury if there is a possibility of future criminal charges unless they are notified in advance that their grand jury testimony can be used against them in a later indictment.
Rove has already made at least three grand jury appearances and his return at this late stage in the investigation is unusual.
The prosecutor did not give Rove similar warnings before his earlier grand jury appearances.
Rove offered in July to return to the grand jury for additional testimony and Fitzgerald accepted that offer Friday after taking grand jury testimony from the formerly jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller.
Before accepting the offer, Fitzgerald sent correspondence to Rove’s legal team making clear that there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be indicted at a later point as required by the rules.
Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, said Thursday he would not comment on any ongoing discussion he has had with Fitzgerald’s office but that he has been assured no decisions on charges have been made. Rove would first have to receive what is known as a target letter if he is about to be indicted.
“I can say categorically that Karl has not received a target letter from the special counsel. The special counsel has confirmed that he has not made any charging decisions in respect to Karl,” Luskin said.
He said that Rove “continues to be cooperative voluntarily” with the special counsel investigation and “beyond that, any communication I have or may have in the future are going to be treated as completely confidential.”
Synchronicity. Did you go to Raw Story too?
Ohhh .. I forgot to check DrudgeReport … hmmmm …
“Karl Rove to give additional testimony in CIA leak case; ‘no target letter’… ” (That’s a Breitbart.com link.)
(FYI __ Drudge’s 582-point text is about the FBI’s Freeh saying Clinton had lots of skeletons in his closet)
And Drudge’s link goes to another AP story at BreitBart.com — the one Catnip posted — that’s much longer, and has this part:
Sorry, Lawrence O’Donnell.
I went to AP Breaking but found it on My Yahoo under AP first.
Drudge’s 582 pt text – lol
Uh oh. Someone is nervous he’s going to have his ass thrown into the pokey. Wonder who he’ll squeal on, since there’s no honor among thieves.
All the ASS-pens are turning…
.
Karl Rove to Testify ::
WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer’s leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won’t be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation.
EXTRA HIGHLIGHT ::
A Second Take on Scooter-gate. It’s all about treason
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff --It isn’t about Karl Rove, as I said months ago; it isn’t about a possible violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, as I maintained from the beginning. It’s about how a small group of government officials, in tandem with their overseas allies, engaged in a criminal conspiracy to falsify “intelligence” – and, in the process, lie the nation into war.
▼ ▼ ▼
Good article by Raimondo. Here’s the original with the embedded links. He makes a very good case for the conspiracy charges against those who led the country into the Iraq war based on all of their lies. One can only hope that Fitzgerald’s indictments are so broad-reaching.
Betcha Wilson if feeling pretty good right now. Wish I could buy that guy a drink.
This is so exciting. I’ll never get into the shower or out of the house today now…
He’s in big doodoo if they need him back to clarify previous statements (I hope).
But this is ‘his’ offer, not a request from Fitzgerald. So that is what I am curious about. As I said in the other thread, is he trying to cover for himself or bush after Miller’s testimony.
It looks like a CYA move or maybe he’s ready to give someone up – like Libby. Who knows? It’s all very intriguing.
But now Wolfie just quoted John King as finding out that “Karl Rove has agreed to testify a fourth time.”
So which is it? Did he ask, or was it suggested that he testify again?
What if the first AP stories were fed by Rove’s people, and what John King learned is indeed the case…. that fitzgerald told Rove to show up again, and Rove agreed to come?
Rove isn’t running the Grand Jury proceedings. So he would have to be “called” by prosecutor. His attorney may have suggested, in negotiations that the prosecutor re-call him, for whatever reasons. But the prosecutor has “called” on him again, and Rove has “agreed” despite the warning that he faces potential indictment.
I think this is significant. The warning letter is a facet of federal procedure. A justice department reg I think, from ancillary reading today. And must be given if the prosecutor is considering indictment.
I will have to go look for that answer. But I think the letter is significant.
Roves attorney has categorically denied that he has received a letter at this time or that he has been notified that he is a target. What do you make of that Boston Joe?
‘Target Letters’ explanation from TalkLeft…looks like an “invitation” to come back and maybe cut a deal…or not.
This would appear eliminate the probability of an imminent inditement(s).
Peace
Fuck. That’s what I’m worried about now.
His lawyer has said he’s not been advised he’s a target and not received a letter. What does that mean after 2 years of investigation.
If Fitzgerald is tight on the leaks, why is this being leaked and who leaked it?
If the WHouse is the source of the leaks they must see this as to theiir advantage, I would suppose.
Now, I woke up this morning looking forward to reading about 22 people being indicted and now I am hearing Karl Rove has not even gotten a target letter or been advised he is a subject or target of the investigation.
So now I am thinking bad thoughts again about a guy named Fixgerald.
I really want him to indict these guys. It’s so important.
I plead the fifth.
lol!
You forgot “porn”.
more from Wolfie…source would not describe the terms of his appearance which was reached in the last several days…
Miller didn’t testify about Rove, as far as we know.
So, why is Rove suddenly crapping his pants?
because he has something to say about Libby?
Speaking of crapping pants…I just did reading this. God, I can’t take the waiting.
I’m not a lawyer, so this may not hold water, but I’m wondering if :
Obviously someone started leaking about indictments. Maybe it came from Fitzgerald, who knows. If it was Fitzgerald, maybe Rove found out through the grapevine that he was going to be indicted.
Fitzgerald purposely may have leaked that because he has bigger fish to fry on unindicted co-conspirator charges. But to get that, he needs Rove.
Rove realizes the gig is up, and wants to save his own ass (perhaps literally).
So Fitzgerald lets Rove know he may have a chance to get off the hook if he provides testimony against his evil masters (or minions, if you prefer).
Fitzgerald loses nothing. If he isn’t satisfied with what he gets out of Rove, he indicts him anyway. If he is, maybe he drops some severity in Rove’s charges (or grants immunity? Can he do that at this point?), and gets to bag the big names.
Maybe I should have posted that in the fantasy thread?
yay
(Tranlated into Yank.)
We’re such socialists. Just look at what we’re wasting our money on now:
…
The money will be used to help some 3.1 million low-income families and seniors pay their heating bills in the coming winter months, retrofit homes and public buildings with energy efficient windows and heating systems, and improve public transportation to reduce automobile use.
The government will also create an Office of Petroleum Price Information to monitor energy price fluctuations and prevent gouging at the pumps, officials said.
Damn liberals are just destroying the planet, aren’t we?? 🙂
And what was Bush’s solution again? Drive less?
catnip, that plan makes so much sense. It could never happen here.
What’s it like to live in a country whose government seems to care about its citizens, and actually enacts policy to match? I can’t imagine.
It’s nice. 🙂
This conjures up an image of Rove like a frog-rat, scurrying, cap in hand . . .
OK, here’s a what-if, just for fun. The WH had to have known about this letter at least yesterday, so was Bushie’s “major” non-speech scheduled in order to deflect attention? Make Dear Leader look prez-e-den-shul? Show how important Karl is? No other reason for it that I can see.
Just a thought.
Seemslike a good time to break out this emoticon!
or this one:
Great Balls of Fire, those are soooo cute! i’m stealing them.
Does the boy sing? I don’t hear anything.
I think they may they are for mobile phones
Here is another
and my favourite:
Yours are so cute!
Lawrence O’Donnelll says:
Fitzgerald does not have to send Rove or anyone else a target letter before indicting him. The only reason to send target letters now is that Fitzgerald believes one or more of his targets will flip and become a prosecution witness at the pre-indictment stage. A veteran prosecutor told me, “If Fitzgerald is sending target letters at the end of his investigation, those are just invitations to come in and work out a deal.”
Prosecutors prefer pre-indictment plea bargaining to post-indictment because they have more to offer you, like not being indicted at all or downgrading your status to unindicted co-conspirator. And pre-indictment plea bargaining can greatly enrich the indictments that the prosecutor then obtains. If, for example, Fitzgerald has a weak case against, say, Scooter Libby, imagine how much Rove’s cooperation might strengthen that case.
If no one RSVPs to Fitzgerald’s invitations, look for indictments as early as next week. If anyone does sit down with Fitzgerald, he will probably have to move to extend the grand jury, which now has only thirteen working days left in its term.
Prediction: at least three high level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted co-conspirators.
when is Rove testifying?
At the 11th hour, right? [ducks head]
Bad day at the office. (Someone else’s groovy work, not mine.)
I’ve been pouring over the U.S. Department of Justice Grand Jury Manual to try to make some sense of this. It is like Matlock taking on David Boies. I’m overmatched.
But there is this:
And given Rove’s attorney’s statement today that he has not been notified that he is a target, I have to take that to be bad news. Unless Rove’s attorney is not being forthcoming, it seems to me that Fitz does not yet have substantial evidence linking him to a crime.
It is still speculation.
That could be. Or it could be that Fitz is protecting him. I mean it is possible. I have to think if the prosecutor were reallly independent, the Iraq war, the contracts, the phony lies that are all too blatant. Just how smart do you have to be to find an opening to a lie?