Buried in a WP article: Rove's Lawyer Delayed Rove's Indictment

[usregimechange]

Rove's attorney provided Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald with a last-minute flurry of material and evidence supporting Rove's contention that he simply forgot his conversation about Wilson's wife with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper -- rather than lied about it, according to people close to Rove. The sources said it gave Fitzgerald "pause" about his earlier intentions to charge Rove with false statements to the FBI, and he agreed to continue investigating.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000348.html

Rove was going to be indicted!

[deadparrot]

1. Like I said in another thread, Rove's e-mail defense

sounds extremely weak.

And "giving" Fitzgerald "pause" is far from letting Rove off the hook permanently, IMHO.

[usregimechange]

2. I agree, but the real news is that Rove was about to be charged!

[deadparrot]

3. Yep.

That means Fitz had to have a helluva lot of dirt on Rove, probably more than he had for Libby. If his case against Libby is airtight, the case against Rove has to be doubly so, since he's so valuable to the entire existence of the Bush administration.

I can only pray that Rove gets his just desserts soon.

[usregimechange]

5. Foxnews and many other media outlets were saying all day that

oh it appears Rove is off the hook. Good news for the White House, etc. BS

[deadparrot]

6. I know, and if and when Rove indictment(s) is/are issued,

it'll make the news all the more shocking. ;)

[usregimechange]

7. Ha! Good point!

:bounce:

[electropop]

25. It'll be a left hook to the jaw,

out of the blue. :evilgrin:

[MO_Dem]

28. More dirt on Rove than Libby....YES!

If Rove is "Official A", then Libby is "Official B". My opinion is that "A" would be the head of the conspiracy.

[dennis4868]

23. But why should that email.....

have given Fitz any pause at all? That email proves nothing. Fitz dropped the ball on this.

[BR_Parkway]

31. I would expect that Fitz knew he had plenty of time to look at it from

all angles and make sure it wouldn't bite him in the ass, or destroy his case if he acted hastily. He seems sure and steady - stay the course, if you will. And lets remember, if you're going to shoot at the king, you make sure you kill the king.

Even funnier if Fitz found a way to use it as an additional charge of obstruction.

[Dangerously Amused]

33. I disagree completely. Fitz didn't "drop the ball."

A prosecutor has a legal DUTY to investigate all the evidence brought before him or her before charging someone. If s/he ignores evidence and issues a weak or BS charge, s/he will be accused of "vindictive prosecution," and can get in trouble with the state bar. Beyond that, an allegation of "vindictive prosecution" gives the defendant standing to bring a motion for the judge to remove the prosecutor from the case. We wouldn't want that now, would we?

All this last minute blustering and "evidence" dump by Rove's attorney was a desperate attempt to keep Rove from being indicted at the same time as Libby. I would not be surprised one bit if a request for this delay tactic came from the White House. Because think how killer it would have looked to both America and the world to have both right-hand men go down at once. While it is good for the Dems to have scandals bleed from the White House to keep the pressure on, it is also good for the Repubs to not have too big of a blow at once.

My opinion.

[deadparrot]

34. Maybe he's a through prosecutor who wanted to make sure his case

was absolutely airtight, because he knew it was going to be examined backwards, forwards, inside and out?

[amitten]

4. Oh ye of little faith...

Give it time. Don't forget they're dealing with Fitzgerald--heart of a lion, mind like a steel trap, eyes like a couple of freaking laser beams. (You did watch him the other day, didn't you?) If there is anything amiss, with Rove or otherwise, you can be damned sure Fitz will uncover it and bring it to justice.

[magnolia]

22. I agree with you............

Fitz was a man of mystery until Friday. Now that I've seen and heard him I have complete confidence in him. It is SO Rove to give him evidence in the eleventh hour to hold off indictments. Maybe he thought stringing them out would be less effective.

We here at DU have been on top of this since day one. But the general public is just now learning about it. On Friday they cut into daytime soap operas to show the Fitz press conference in it's entirety! Now that's BIG!

It is the pundits who are saying that Rove dodged a bullet, that Fitz is just mopping up. You don't need a new grand jury just to mop up. NOTHING in the Fitz press conference said that this was totally over, finished and Rove is in the clear.

[Captain Hilts]

8. I saw that too.

I don't know why so many people are assuming that Rove is off the hook.

[barb162]

18. I am basically assuming that. It's been many months Fitz

is investigating this. If he couldn't nab the fat bastard already, he probably won't be able to in the future. To me there is very little hope

[Tatiana]

9. He's still going to be indicted.

Rove may think he "dodged a bullet" but so did the folks in NOLA and we all know that tragic story.

All this means is that we got a lot more play out of the Libby indictment than we should have. Rove's indictment just may suck the wind completely out of Bush's sails.

Fitz has a great poker face. It's completely in his nature to let Rove think he is off the hook and then nail him later, thereby letting the public know just how measured and considerate he is before issuing an indictment.

Rove's days are numbered. Getting indicted after he thought he was in the clear would be like a sucker punch straight to his fat gut. It will also give Fitz an advantage, as Rove will likely be more motivated to cut a deal and finger others.

[usregimechange]

10. I wonder when Fitz would/will announce?

[Tatiana]

13. After Libby goes to trial?

When more of the evidence gathered by the investigative team becomes public knowledge. You just know that the trial will be carried live. We just may get to see Unka Dick and others in this administration plead the fifth. The public (and the turncoat beltway mediawhores) will demand Rove's head on a platter and Fitz can hand down the indictment without any appearance of partisanship whatsoever.

I have no doubt that Fitz has fit the pieces together and knows most of how the revealing of Valerie Wilson's identity went down. However knowing something and proving it beyond a reasonable doubt are not synonymous. I think Fitz is looking for a few more pieces to take Rove's status from circumstantially guilty to guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Same goes for Cheney.

Folks, we've got to be patient. It may be a while, but good things come to those who wait.

[eleny]

11. Maybe they hope this weekend's spin would change Fitz's mind, too

I hope Fitz gets fed up, has the moment of clarity and indicts Rove's lying ass once and for all. Their kabuki shit is exhausting.

[usregimechange]

12. This should be front page CNN.

[Supersedeas]

32. odd how FACTS like this get BURIED in the Corporate Punditry

[usregimechange]

14. kick

[Zen Democrat]

15. What if Rove gave Fitzgerald more than this email with Adam Levine.

The one he apparently just found. So Fitzgerald has to stop to talk to Levine. And Levine can attest that Karl Rove didn't discuss his phone call with Matt Cooper. And Fitzgerald didn't go ahead with the indictment?

Maybe this is the story Rove's lawyer is putting out for consumption by all "involved." Perhaps the truth is that, in addition to the Levine email, he found lots of other stuff, too. Stuff that Rove wouldn't want anyone else to know he divulged. This would lead to another indictment against someone, perhaps Cheney, or maybe another count for Scooter.

The alternative, is that Rove just gave him a bunch of junk ... stuff that leads nowhere, which means an indictment is just around the corner for Karl.

[usregimechange]

16. Clearly he isn't done with the charges

[Halliburton]

21. karl may skate but someone else won't

I don't think Karl could've ratted on Scooter because it looks like Scooter is screwed enough as it is.

[usregimechange]

17. Please nominate, want all DUers/press to know about this

mediablast too maybe.

[usregimechange]

19. kick

[Hubert Flottz]

20. There is vote # 4...

I wonder of Senator Rockefeller signed off on the flaky intelligence committee report, that Roberts, Hatch and Bond dreamed up about Joe Wilson?

[lonestarnot]

24. They threw it all on the wall and so a little shit stuck, it will fall off

with the next passing wind.

[johnnyrocket]

26. The MSM is saying 'its all over' and 'Fitz is done'

nothing to see hear, please disperse, thank you.


Also, what the HELL is with the headlines: "Bush seeking to bounce back." and all the MSM anchor questions ( NOT pundits ): "How does Bush get out of this funk?"

Why the fuck should the media care how Bush does anything to save himself?? Why not report the facts?

[Dawgs]

27. Because it's not journalism anymore...

It's all about ratings and entertainment. The MSM thinks viewers don't want facts. They think we want opinion.

Unfortunately, this will never change. Thank God for the Internet and blogs.

[Ganja Ninja]

29. Great! I prefer an indictment come down every two weeks or so

rather than all at once. It keeps the outrage fresh.

[Norquist Nemesis]

30. Absolutely! "Cooperating" means deal-making

So, while all of the allies a trying to poke a stick at Democrats they conveniently omit that he's plea bargaining. Now why would an uninvolved, innocent person be making deals? Hmmmmm?????

[hiaasenrocks]

35. Here's the operative phrase in that story....

"...and he agreed to continue investigating."

Fitz isn't done.