Author: catnip

A Reuters news story today floats the speculation that, according to lawyers close to the case, not only are Rove and Libby in trouble but “former administration officials” may also be facing charges.

Rumours have been swirling around for the past while that some mysterious person from outside of the White House may be the source of the leak or had some part to play in it. Most of the other potential targets we’ve focused on lately are still currently in this administration: Bolton, Wurmser, Hannah etc.

So, who are these “former” officials? Colin Powell? Ari Fleischer? Richard Perle? Jennifer Millerwise? One of the WHIGS who has since left the administration?

All will be revealed, hopefully, on Friday when it is expected that Patrick Fitzgerald will finally announce his results.

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Background information:

Fitzgerald’s DOJ site
FindLaw’s Plamegate Document site

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According to Thursday’s WaPo, Fitzgerald is “is expected to announce a final decision on charges in the two-year-long probe tomorrow [Friday]” after presenting his final summary to the grand jury on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, back at the WH ranch:

Even as Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald wrapped up his case, the legal team of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has been engaged in a furious effort to convince the prosecutor that Rove did not commit perjury during the course of the investigation, according to people close to the aide. The sources, who indicated that the effort intensified in recent weeks, said Rove still did not know last night whether he would be indicted.

Apparently, Wednesday was a “surreal” day at the White House. That’s what happens when lies meet reality.

Yesterday’s [Wednesday’s] three-hour grand jury session came after agents and prosecutors this week conducted last-minute interviews with Adam Levine, a member of the White House communications team at the time of the leak, about his conversations with Rove, and with Plame’s neighbors in the District.

Rove is spooked:

People close to Rove said he fears a perjury charge because he did not initially tell the grand jury that he had spoken with Time reporter Matthew Cooper about Plame before her name was publicly disclosed.

Update [2005-10-26 23:47:47 by catnip]:: More on Adam Levine:

There were signs that Fitzgerald was still trying to piece together the Rove case as recently as Tuesday. Peter Zeidenberg, a Justice Department prosecutor working with Fitzgerald, called Levine that day to discuss a conversation Levine had with Rove on July 11, 2003, the day Rove spoke with Cooper, according to Daniel J. French, Levine’s lawyer.

Levine, part of the White House communications team at the time of the leak, “was contacted as a witness,” French said. Levine told Zeidenberg that he and Rove did not discuss Cooper in that conversation, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

They may not have discussed Cooper, but did they discuss Plame? Did Levine learn about Plame from one of her neighbours and then pass it on to Rove? It’s been rumoured that someone “outside of the White House” leaked her name. Did Rove the tell Novak? Or Libby? Who said what to who??

I can’t wait til Friday!

[editor’s note, by catnip] As Chamonix pointed out in the comments, agents and/or prosecutors spoke to Plame’s neighbours. Adam Levine did not, according to the article.

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I’ve kind of neglected the news swirling around Harriet Mier’s nomination to the Supreme Court the last little while because the Republicans are doing such a good job of shooting her down – as are prominent Democrats, but I find these latest demands from Senator Specter interesting:

1) He wants Miers to answer questions about Bush’s Gitmo policy, specifically the policy of indefinite detention.

2) He wants assurances in writing that she’s a conservative.

We can expect Miers and the White House to stonewall on the first request – claiming executive privilege. But, how will she get away with not putting pen to paper and writing “I’m the best conservative ever!”?

Meanwhile, more GOPers are jumping ship and asking for Mier’s withdrawal.

Three GOP officials said they no longer felt certain that Miers’ troubled nomination would survive as long as the Nov. 7 target date for hearings, and that a withdrawal was not out of the question. They spoke on condition of anonymity, noting that the administration’s official policy is one of strong continued support for the president’s pick.

A conservative group that had given Miers the benefit of the doubt changed positions on Wednesday. Concerned Women of America, which had so far supported Bush’s judicial nominees, urged the president to withdraw her nomination.

Today was the day Miers had to submit her do over on her questionnaire. I wonder who she got to help her with that since she failed so miserably with her last one.

What’s an embattled president to do? Squirm. A lot. I hope.

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Tom DeLay: always blaming everybody else for HIS mistakes. Well, he can’t do that about this disclosure:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Tom DeLay failed to comply with House requirements that he disclose all contributions to a defense fund that pays his legal bills, the Texas Republican acknowledged to House officials.

He wrote officials that $20,850 contributed in 2000 and 2001 was not reported anywhere. Another $17,300 was included in the defense fund’s quarterly report but not in DeLay’s 2000 annual financial disclosure report — a separate requirement.

Other donations were understated as totaling $2,800, when the figure should have been $4,450.

It was during that period that DeLay was the subject of several House ethics investigations.

He did that during the investigations! And, just like Judith Miller who happened to stumble upon her “newly discovered notes” in Plamegate, DeLay claims he just learned about these “accounting irregularities” last Friday.

What kind of bloody accounting system does he use that he would discover these 4 year old mistakes just last Friday? Bullshit, I say. He knows he’s toast in Texas and he knows his records are subject to more scrutiny now. Does anyone really think he didn’t intentionally hide these “irregularities”?

Slimeball.

The sooner he’s frog-marched out of Washington, the better.

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just in…

This news does not necessarily mean that there will not be indictments. The grand jury expires on Friday.

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