CIA Leak Scandal: Rove Defied Bush's Command?

[hang a left]

CIA Leak Scandal: Rove Defied Bush's Command?

David Corn 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

The Nation -- As I noted previously, it has been interesting to watch Karl Rove's defense evolve. After the news broke in September 2003 that the
CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate the leak in Bob Novak's July 14, 2003, column that outed former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie, as an undercover CIA officer, the White House declared that Rove and Scooter Libby,
Dick Cheney's chief of staff, were not involved in the leak--no ifs, ands or buts. Speaking of Rove, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, "He wasn't involved. The president knows hewasn't involved." The White House was signaling--rightly or wrongly--that it had no worries about its uber-strategist. And a year later, a White House aide who had just left his job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue told me that the consensus view within the Bush gang at that point was that Rove was too smart for special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and that there was no reason for Rove to explain--or admit--anything. (One prominent Washington defense attorney said--after I recently mentioned this conversation--"only a fool would think he or she could outsmart a prosecutor.")
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This past July, after Time agreed to turn over Matt Cooper's notes to Fitzgerald, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff revealed that Cooper had spoken to Rove about Joe Wilson. Responding to Isikoff's scoop, Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, said that Rove "did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA." But a week later, Isikoff disclosed that Cooper and Rove had discussed Wilson's wife and her employment at the CIA and that an email from Cooper to his editors had confirmed this. And days later, news reports--probably relying upon Luskin as an unidentified source--disclosed that Rove had told Novak that he, like Novak, had heard that Wilson's wife was a CIA officer. All this undermined the Rove camp's claim that Rove never mentioned Valerie Plame and her CIA position to any reporter. (I supposed Luskin could argue that Rove, during his chats with Cooper and Novak, had not referred to Wilson's wife as "Valerie Plame.")

In the three months since, Rove's defense has shifted further. This week, Luskin told CNN that "Karl has truthfully told everyone who's asked him that he did not circulate Valerie Plame's name to punish her husband, Joe Wilson." (When CNN asked if that included George W. Bush, Luskin added, "Everyone is everyone.") This line--Rove did not circulate Plame's name to punish Joseph Wilson--is a far cry from the assertion that Rove did not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame was a CIA officer. It appears that Luskin and Rove are making up lyrics as the music changes. Rove detractors might find this legalistic squirming perversely enjoyable. But what's telling is a comparison between Rove's position (the current one) and that of his boss.

Two years ago, when Bush was asked about the Plame/CIA leak, he said:

I have told our administration, people in my administration, to be fully cooperative. I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true.

A journalist then asked:

snip>http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20051012/cm_thenation/328485;_ylt=A86.I2fcXk1DSxQBhhf9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

[Debau2005]

1. Ok wait...

I am confused, Bush had a "command?" Now that is funny! :rofl:

[wellstone_democrat]

2. ya right, fine upright Bush* would never allow that!

noooooooo. He'd stop that sort of dirty dealing right away. He's more moral than Abe Lincoln!

Give me a fuckin break.

[blm]

4. Bush was a political operative for 30 years WITH Rove and Atwater.

There is no way he doesn't discuss political strategy and paybacks with Rove.

If Bush really thought Rove was innocent he would have demanded and GOTTEN a full WH investigation of anyone he believed was leaking and trying to undercut Rove and his WH.

[wellstone_democrat]

5. yep, you got that right

[MADem]

3. "Karl has truthfully told everyone who's asked him that he did not

circulate Valerie Plame's name to punish her husband, Joe Wilson."

Yeah, he wasn't interested in PUNISHING him. The goal was to cut his balls off, and leave him to bleed out and die in a ditch by the side of the road!!!!

[notadmblnd]

10. you're right about that ... halftruths

He did not to it to punish Wilson.. that part was gravy. He did it to destroy the WMD NOC operation that Joe Wilson's wife worked on and to hide the fact that Cheney and his gang were selling WMDs illegaly.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

6. Be sure to read the entire article.

It concludes:

"There is no way to reconcile Bush's statements on the leak investigation and Rove's new-and-improved defense. Rove disobeyed Bush's I-want-to-know command. And Bush has let this slide and tossed aside his vow to take "action" against the Plame/CIA leakers. The wait for indictments continues, but Rove is already guilty of spreading--if not circulating--classified information, and he is guilty of either disobeying the president or drawing him into a White House conspiracy to mislead the public. His continued presence at the White House indicates that Bush does not take his own words seriously."

I say Rove's continued presence at the WH proves that Bush knew about it and was involved in it. Otherwise, why not try to pin the whole thing on Rove?

Alternately, the WH is frozen in place because they don't know the extent of what Fitzgerald has pieced together.

I pray that the whole gang fries in hell, and while still on earth, will be making my next license plate. I've already ordered a license plate holder that says "My next license plate will be made by Bush & Cheney." (bought at cafepress.com)

[MADem]

13. Disobedience of a direct order, or getting someone else to do your

dirty 'circulating' work for you???

Moreover, if Rove used his current defense--that he did not circulate the Plame name to punish Wilson--in his conversations with Bush, as Luskin suggested to CNN, then Rove engaged in insubordination. Bush had said that he wanted to know the truth and that anyone with information should "come forward and speak out." Did Rove do that? No. According to Luskin, Rove told people--including the president--that he did not circulate the name of Wilson's wife. This seems to indicate that Rove did not tell Bush that he actually had spoken to Cooper about Wilson's wife and that he had confirmed the leak to Novak--actions that Rove and Luskin apparently do not consider "circulating." In other words, Rove did not respond to Bush's public request for information. Bush said he wanted to know who the leakers were. Yet Rove, if Luskin is to be believed, only assured Bush that he had not disseminated Valerie Wilson's maiden name in an act of vengeance. That was not being responsive to Bush. That was not sharing the full truth with the president. That was being insubordinate.

Perhaps the latest version of Rove's defense is--shall we say--not fully accurate. Perhaps Rove told Bush more. That would mean that Bush knew the White House line--Rove ain't involved--was false and took no steps to better inform the public.

[gratuitous]

7. "Rove was too smart for the special prosecutor"

The defense attorney is right: Even if the prosecutor is the slowest, dullest plodder imaginable, totally without drive or initiative, all it takes is for that blind pig to stumble across one acorn, then you've suddenly got Lt. Columbo: "Thanks for your time, Mr. Rove. I been thinkin' about what you said before, how you hadn't talked to anybody about anything for the last five years. Heh, it's almost like you took a vow of silence huh? Geez, ya got a real nice office here. I'm almost scared to sit down. Anyway, I was talking to this reporter . . . Uh, gee, I got her name in my notes here somewheres. Oh yeah! Judith Miller. She's real nice, isn't she? Do you know her? Works for the New York Times. 'The Newspaper of Record.' 'All the news that's fit to print,' yeah. Well, see, I was talkin' to her and you know what she said? This will just knock your socks off."

[MADem]

12. Hey, that's great!!!

You need to add a "my wife" line in there--Columbo always talked about his wife!! "My wife, ya know, she loves the crosswords. And that New York Times has a good one, so she says...too hard for me, but she's pretty good at 'em, ya know? You like those crosswords, Mistah Rove? Anyway...."

[Blasphemer]

8. So we are firmly in stage 2 of this saga

Indictments are coming, they couldn't get away with pinning the leak on journalists so we are in the "shield the President" stage. Next up Stage 3: "Self Preservation" - Someone turns on Bush or Bush and Cheney to save themselves.

[louis-t]

9. "only a fool would think he or she could outsmart a prosecutor"

exactly

[spuddonna]

11. Not sure I buy this story...

Bush is being portrayed by Corn as 'ordering' Rove to cooperate, as if Bush has no idea that Rove could pull a stunt like this...

As far as I'm concerned, this is Bush 'playing stupid' here. I mean, Bush didn't know that his Dad fired Rove in 1992 during his own pres. campaign for leaking info to none other than the 'Douchebag of Libery' Robert Novak?!

Think of it this way: Your dad who happens to have held the same office you intend to run for, sees you have an untrustworthy operative on your staff. Now, do we think Bush the Elder warned Jr that Rove was a dangerous weapon that could backfire on him, or is their relationship so strained that they never had this discussion? And there were no other insiders that knew Rove was dangerous and didn't warn Bush about this decision? Come on...

I find it hard to believe that Bush didn't know this about his old buddy, Turd Blossom. I think not only did he know, he relished the thought of having the 'Brain' on board.

There's no way you can convince me that Bush, who prides himself on 'really gettin' to know someone' didn't have all this info on KKKarl. Bush knew about this leak and is covering his ass the best he can now - by using "stupidity" as his cover...

[annabanana]

14. seems more likely to me too..

they are all tangled up in the same ball of wax..