LAT: Fitzgerald Focuses Again on Rove (new!)

[DeepModem Mom]

Fitzgerald Focuses Again on Rove
By Tom Hamburger, Richard B. Schmitt and Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON -- As his investigation nears a conclusion, special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has returned his attention to White House adviser Karl Rove, interviewing a Rove colleague with detailed questions about contacts that President Bush's close aide had with reporters in the days leading up to the outing of a covert CIA officer.

Fitzgerald has also dispatched FBI agents to comb the CIA agent's residential neighborhood in Washington, asking neighbors again whether they were aware — before her name appeared in a syndicated column — that the agent, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA.

The questioning, described by lawyers familiar with the case and by the neighbors, occurred as Fitzgerald was thought to be readying indictments in the long-running inquiry into the leak of Plame's identity. It is a felony to knowingly identify an undercover agent, and the renewed questions this week suggested that the prosecutor remained focused on the breach of that secrecy.

The inquiry has reached deep into the White House and focuses on Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby.

A deputy prosecutor called Rove's colleague this afternoon and interviewed him in depth about statements Rove may have made to reporters about the case, a lawyer familiar with the case said.

"It appeared to me the prosecutor was trying to button up any holes that were remaining," the lawyer said....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-102505leak_lat,0,7947383.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Elidor]

1. HAHAHAHA!!! Rove must have peed his pants by now

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at his house this merry Fitzmas Eve!

[DeepModem Mom]

6. I want Rove indicted more than any of them!

Can't get too excited here, though -- keep expectations down, breathe, breathe....

[Orsino]

10. "Indict him like he's never been indicted before."

That crook needs to be taken down a peg.

As much fun as indictments and convictions would be, though, I really want, more than anything, to shine a light on the secret maneuverings and lies that took us to war--so that it never happens again.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

21. FFF...Fat Fuck needs to FALL.

At some point, Karma needs to kick in.

This fat pig has destroyed a LOT of lives.

HIS TURN.

[Elidor]

24. Can you imagine Karl's day today?

Reporters at the foot of your driveway every morning before dawn, people hushed in your presence, the quick glance over their shoulders and the nervous whispers around every corner. Meeting with Libby and the Shiznit, nodding to Libby as though he wouldn't like to tear your throat out. And then, when you get home, someone you work with calls and says Fitzgerald and the boys have been around again, asking more questions about YOU...

On the Pucker Factor scale of 1-10, today is about a nine for Turd Blossom. And something about it all makes me think that Fitzgerald is still leaning on Rove. Maybe he's just wrapping up loose ends, but you know, it's got to be terrifying: almost as though Fitz is saying, "I'm coming for you, Karl, but I'm coming for you SLOW. First I'm wrapping up all the other presents. I'll get to you soon enough."

[niallmac]

36. Oh very enjoyable. Thank you!

[DeepModem Mom]

49. Excellent, Hardhead. nt

[Moochy]

60. haha another in the same series. begs for a caption me thread

[robbedvoter]

29. Right there with you. All that Cheney talk made me fear that Kkkarl

gets a free pass...

[mamalone]

55. me too!

He is the one I really want to see taken down and publicly humiliated. Given his pure emotional and moral sickness and after all of the harm he has done to others, it just seems..oh, I don't know...right.

[AnneD]

13. I am sure he lived up to his nickname

Turd Blossom....:hurts:

[princehal]

2. Wow

The agents nailing the story down will leave no spin room...

[shockingelk]

5. "They'll" smear fitzgerald

To be sure.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

42. With what?

[Trajan]

44. They have needed something special to smear someone ? ...

ALL they need is the desire to smear ... they have acolytes in the media to do the dirty deeds, gladly ....

How can you doubt that ?

[UpInArms]

3. here's what the Wilson's neighbor said back in July

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-07-24-wilson-neighbor_x.htm

Posted 7/24/2005 8:45 PM

A neighbor's view of Valerie Wilson's 'outing'

By Christopher Wolf

Joe and Valerie Wilson are my next door neighbors in a hilly neighborhood just west of Georgetown. We moved in within months of each other seven years ago, attracted to our respective houses by the view of the Capitol in the distance and the Washington Monument in the foreground. The patriotic view is stirring.

I have another view from my window, of a neighbor who is a working, devoted mother of 5-year-old twins, a volunteer for charities, a woman active in her church, and a caring person. Soft-spoken, self-effacing and very private, Valerie is very easy to label "the lovely woman next door."

To some, I am known as Joe and Valerie's lawyer, a fact that has surfaced by my occasional statements on their behalf. The Wilsons don't need a lawyer for any pending proceeding; I am simply helping them understand some of the technicalities of the criminal investigation and collecting facts for any eventual civil suit. Before Robert Novak's column, I was simply their friend and neighbor, a role that will continue long after the White House leak matter is over.

...more...

[0007]

14. Great article!

[goforit]

25. Yep, I remember his (Plame's lawyer) interview on TV. He so humble.

[wordpix]

39. it's clear the neighbors didn't know Plame was

a CIA operative. Dirty Repug bastards. INDICT AND IMPEACH!

[IndianaGreen]

48. Great op-ed by Wilson's neighbor and civil lawyer

Thanks for posting it, UpInArms.

[Norquist Nemesis]

58. Chris Matthews should have this guy on his show

Hit Tweety hard with his constant support of lies. The Cons keep plugging the 'every one knew about her! Wilson lied! his wife sent him' and he keeps saying, uh-huh...right.

[WhiteTara]

59. great article

I see flopsweat everywhere. Evil can not hid in darkness forever and I have my bottle of champagne ready for the big event.

[Halliburton]

4. WOOHOO

Fitzgerald is closing in on Rove's lies!!

[DeepModem Mom]

7. I can't believe he's still working it! Come on, Fitz! nt

[katinmn]

8. Thank goodness, I thought he was being forgotten for a moment!

I really want to see Rove marched off to jail. I do, I do, I do, I do...

[Gregorian]

9. Bill Kristol predicted Rove would be indicted.

That was last night on The Daily Show, for what that's worth.

[goforit]

27. Yah, lol, Bill Kristol....He's the #1 PNAC member. Whata a joke.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. Does anyone know what the significance of asking the neighbors

... if they knew that she was CIA prior to Novak's column, may be in regards to Rove?

Is this just to establish that it wasn't common knowledge?

[Scout1071]

15. Or that "Mr. X" is a neighbor? Surely not.

I saw interviews with close friends and neighbors who all said they had no idea Valerie was an agent.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. That's what I remembered, also

I wonder why Fitzgerald is touching on the topic again?

In regards to the Mr. X question... is Bolton one of their neighbors?

[Scout1071]

23. Bolton does have his grubby, moustached fingerprints all over this,

doesn't he?

I feel he is to be indicted.

[wishlist]

17. Nail down statements to make sure indictments are solid?

My guess is that they are obtaining neighbors' statements to make sure the case is rock solid before indictments and to make sure indictments cannot be undermined and dismissed later by allegations that neighbors knew she was CIA before it was leaked by Novak.

[Zynx]

18. I'm sure it was just to see if people knew before the leak.

One of the rightwing's assertions has been periodically that "everyone" in Washington knew who his wife was.

[Peace Patriot]

31. That's a pretty funny accusation--if it weren't so disgusting--that

"everybody knew" she was a covert agent, since these traitors were the ones who were blabbing it all over town themselves, calling at least six reporters to get her outed, and creating loops of advertisement of her covert identity, for instance, telling a reporter who she was, who would then call someone to confirm it, so that that person then knew, and might ask someone else about it. They created a self-fulfilling prophecy, probably hoping some would forget when they heard it, or from whom. I can see the trial now, with the Bushite defense team putting a string of bought and paid for Washington butterflies on the stand who claim they "always" knew.

As if that mattered. As if that means they are not guilty of planting her name--and the name of her entire CIA WMD monitoring and non-proliferation project, the Brewster Jennings front company--in the goddamned newspaper, disabling all of its projects and putting all of its covert agents and contacts around the world at serious risk of getting killed.

God, these people are scumbags! And our country is sick--sick!--from their twisted minds.

[kestrel91316]

40. He is just tying up loose ends, confirming that the whole

neighborhood was in the dark about her CIA work, and this will counter the meme that it was common knowledge that the was a spook. Just getting all his ducks in a row.......

[AlCzervik]

12. Oy! I can barely keep everything straight!!

Anything bad for Rove makes me happy.

[goforit]

28. Yep, five years of chaos!!!!

[leftchick]

19. Photo of rove today, speeding to the scene of the crime!

Karl Rove, President Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff, drives his car down his driveway as he leaves his home Tuesday morning, Oct. 25, 2005 in Washington. Top presidential political adviser Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, have emerged as central figures in the CIA leak investigation because they had contacts with reporters who learned Plame's identity or disclosed it in news stories. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

[Rose Siding]

20. WP's Van de Hei told Matthews that agents were in Wilson's neighborhood

as recently as last night, trying to discern if her neighbors were aware that she was an agent. Very strange!

A year ago, reports were that her next door neighbor said he had no clue that she was CIA.

[Demeter]

22. Looks Like He's Going For A Royal Flush

and he will probably get it, too! Oh, I am on pins and needles. he waiting is such a sweet agony.

[rodeodance]

26. ~he's making a list--cking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and nice

[robbedvoter]

32. Yup. here he is:

[Barrett808]

35. LOL! n/t

[Bumblebee]

30. I just read this from kos and it sums up perfectly what I modestly crave

I just want two indictments for Fitzmas: Libby and Rove. The rest, even people like Hadley, would just be window dressing.

http://www.dailykos.com/

[NastyRiffraff]

33. "checking it twice" is right.

Fitz is well-known as a prosecutrer who crosses, ever T, dots every i, checks for dirty fingernails, and darns the socks before he goes foreward. This latest seems like just his modus operendi, or perhaps someone said "a neighbor" had said something contrary, so he was checking it out.

When the indictments come, no one....no one will be able to challenge their validity.

[ailsagirl]

34. Whew!! I was afraid Rove would be overlooked

We can't have that.

[Jim__]

37. Oh please indict Rove!

[lovuian]

38. Its the Cover up!!! Why did Rove lie??? Whats he hiding???

Why go in 4 times to testify??? Oh ya its Perjury and obstruction of justice!!!

[wordpix]

41. he's hiding the masterplan of PNAC

New World Order with BushCo as head of One World Government of, by and for the military-industrial-corporate-complex.

[Rose Siding]

43. Roll Call (via TPM): Fitz paid Rove's lawyer a visit today

(October 25, 2005 -- 09:38 PM EDT // link)
Roll Call (sub.req.): "Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was spotted Tuesday at the law offices of Patton Boggs paying a visit to Robert Luskin, the eccentric (for Washington, D.C.) lawyer who represents Karl Rove."

-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006835.php

No word on whether he left a letter :bounce:

[dajabr]

45. NYT: Leak Counsel Is Said to Press on Rove's Role

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 - With the clock running out on his investigation, the special counsel in the leak case continued to seek information on Tuesday about Karl Rove's discussions with reporters in the days before a C.I.A. officer's identity was made public, lawyers and others involved in the investigation said.

Three days before the grand jury in the case expires and with the White House in a state of high anxiety, the special counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, appeared still to be trying to determine whether Mr. Rove had been fully forthcoming about his contacts with Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Robert D. Novak, the syndicated columnist, in July 2003, they said.

Mr. Fitzgerald, who is the United States attorney in Chicago, spent the day in Washington and summoned his team, including his chief F.B.I. investigator, Jack Eckenrode, for what appeared to be a final round of discussions about how to proceed.

http://tinyurl.com/dk7n2

[Halliburton]

46. looks like Rove lied

AGAIN

[Straight Shooter]

47. I hope Fitzgerald gives none of these traitors the benefit of the doubt.

Considering Rove's history of the politics of personal destruction, it is best to approach him with the idea that he is guilty. Period. He cannot be proven innocent, not if all the facts come to light. Rove has left a trail of destruction of careers and lives behind him. There's no way to believe that he would have stepped aside for Joe Wilson and let bygones be bygones.

[janx]

50. You and I might approach the situation that way,

but I'll bet Fitzgerald doesn't. He can't approach it that way and still remain the professional that he is.

This is going to be very interesting.

[Straight Shooter]

51. I'm positive he doesn't approach it that way.

Whatever he does, it has to be beyond reproach.

That being said, no doubt in my mind that Fitzgerald knows exactly what kind of subhuman he is dealing with when he's in the presence of Karl Rove.

[JanusAscending]

52. My Special Prayer is,

That somehow Fitz ties in roves secret little plot to fix the Ohio and Fla. elections! I knew the fix was in, when it looked like the exit polls were right in Ohio, that Kerry was winning, and Rove got "physically ill" on his plane flight the evening before the final tabs were in! He's got to give the GAO something to back up thier latest findings.

[liberalla]

56. Whew! If they could tie in the election fraud,

that would be wonderful! I'm not holding my breath, but I would love to see that too!

[AndyTiedye]

53. Time for the Karl Rove Frog March!

[cal04]

54. Leak Counsel Is Said to Press on Rove's Role

With the clock running out on his investigation, the special counsel in the leak case continued to seek information on Tuesday about Karl Rove's discussions with reporters in the days before a C.I.A. officer's identity was made public, lawyers and others involved in the investigation said.

Three days before the grand jury in the case expires and with the White House in a state of high anxiety, the special counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, appeared still to be trying to determine whether Mr. Rove had been fully forthcoming about his contacts with Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Robert D. Novak, the syndicated columnist, in July 2003, they said. Mr. Fitzgerald, who is the United States attorney in Chicago, spent the day in Washington and summoned his team, including his chief F.B.I. investigator, Jack Eckenrode, for what appeared to be a final round of discussions about how to proceed.

Lawyers involved in the case have said Mr. Rove, President Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, face the possibility of indictment on perjury or other charges related to covering up their actions.

The flurry of last minute activity had White House officials anticipating an announcement as soon as Wednesday about whether the prosecutor would seek indictments. Indictments of Mr. Libby or Mr. Rove or both would leave Mr. Bush a political crisis with the potential to reshape the remainder of his second term. It is not clear whether anyone else might be charged in the case, which centers on what role administration officials played in the disclosure of a covert C.I.A. officer's identity, first in Mr. Novak's column on July 14, 2003.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/national/26leak.html?hp&ex=1130385600&en=259c44f41c2ced58&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Jose Diablo]

57. "Karl Rove, Michael Ledeen Spies Procured Forged Niger Documents"

From :

"Karl Rove’s only full-time foreign-policy advisor is Michael Ledeen, a rabid anti-Arab, pro-Israel activist. The FBI is investigating Ledeen for procuring forged documents (shown here) on nonexistent WMD, which George Bush used to justify his war on Iraq. When Joseph Wilson exposed the farce, Rove helped "out" Wilson’s CIA wife. Did Ledeen procure the documents for Rove, and how might he have done that? The story includes multinational stool pigeon Rocco Martino, Italian spy Francesco Pazienza, wanted CIA spy Robert Seldon Lady, and Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who’s under charges of giving US secrets to Israel.

Karl Rove’s foreign-policy advisor, Michael Ledeen, proclaimed "the rightness of the fascist cause" in 1972. In 1984 he got George Bush Sr to appoint Iranian arms merchant and Iranian/Israeli double-agent Manucher Ghorbanifar as a middleman in the scandalous Iran-Contra affair. Ledeen has been a fixture in Washington and Israel ever since, advocating a modern version of the Crusades against Islamic nations. Based on what he has said and written, I believe Ledeen is insane.

Michael Ledeen, Rove’s "brain," is one of the leading advocates for a US attack on Iran. The Washington Post quoted Ledeen as saying that Rove told him, "Anytime you have a good idea, tell me." I guess that means we can look forward to the Bush team drumming up a war with Iran.

George Bush Jr., when he assumed the presidency in 2000, already knew that he was going to settle the family score with Saddam Hussein. His "brain," Rove, quickly enlisted Ledeen to trump up a causus belli."

Edit: There is a lot more in this article, I don't know if the site is 'reliable'.

[xchrom]

61. how i hope this sticks!

i hope these indictments hit rove like a TON of bricks and bring down ledeen and libby to with.

you know cheney's fingers are in this -- i hope they find his prints as well.