Some fun background on the Fitzgerald investigation.

[crispini]

Hi ladies, I should probably post this in GD ....and maybe I will ... but I always feel like I have to read like three days worth of stuff to make sure I haven't posted anything that's already been posted..... Anyway, if ya'll are playing along at home trying to decide who's the target of the investigation is.... this interesting article goes waaaay back to who and what got subpoenaed back in the beginning of the year, and is kind of useful:
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2004/03/vpw_newsday_on_.html

A few observations:

1) I think (my opinion) Tweety has testified in front of the grand jury and is sitting out this week on the advice of lawyers. I have not been able to substantiate this, it's just an opinion, but in light of the "Wilson's wife is fair game" statement, I think Fitzgerald would have wanted to talk to him.

2) Re: the mysterious source saying that *Rove* heard about Plame from Novak -- so then, WHO TOLD NOVAK? Bear in mind that Novak is not in jail, and has therefore talked. But Judy Miller *IS* in jail. Did she tell Novak, and is SHE protecting the "original" leak?

3) Finally, there's one little tempting tidbit in this story that IMO has not gotten a lot of play. From the link:

The subpoena list:

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July. They include:

Robert Novak, "Crossfire," "Capital Gang" and the Chicago Sun-Times
Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps, Newsday
Walter Pincus, Richard Leiby, Mike Allen, Dana Priest and Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post
Matthew Cooper, John Dickerson, Massimo Calabresi, Michael Duffy and James Carney, Time magazine
Evan Thomas, Newsweek
Andrea Mitchell, "Meet the Press," NBC
Chris Matthews, "Hardball," MSNBC
Tim Russert, Campbell Brown, NBC
Nicholas D. Kristof, David E. Sanger and Judith Miller, The New York Times
Greg Hitt and Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal
John Solomon, The Associated Press
Jeff Gannon, Talon News

[Botany]

1. Sexist!

Hi ladies ....... I will never post in the KOEB again.

My feelings have been dashed. :cry:

[gkhouston]

2. drama queen

you always come back for the lovin' :*

[crispini]

3. Oh, Cuddles, you know you'll be back.

If not for the :loveya: then for the :spank: :evilgrin:

[Catchawave]

4. I hope you did post this in GD or GD-P !

Great stuff! I never worry about duping on those threads, it's just LBN I'm paronoid about.

In fact I'll post a smashing article in GD that drops like a rock, then someone else posts the same thing a few hours later, while mine dropped into the archives...only they get 123 responses, enough recommendations to put them in the "most popular" column on the Greatest Page, and some have gone on to the home page! Oy!

I think timing's more important than quality on DU !!! Even LBN drives me nuts. I'll go through at least 5 pages there before I post, only to come back to post and find someone else plugged it in :)

Know what, glad the great info I find is just getting OUT THERE. LOL.

And the WHO TOLD NOVAK? has been driving me crazy all day! No matter, even Jon Stewart asked Isikof (sp?) "Isn't the the possibility Rove LIED, to feds or the Grand Jury, the REAL problem here?" Think Martha :silly:

Even the comparisons to Monicagate by the RW hacks is making me scream at the tv "Bill was only screwing an intern, not our country's security"

:loveya: :rant: :loveya:

[crispini]

5. Hahahahaha!

Here's a conversation I have with a more conservative coworker -- he tags himself as an independent, but he leans right. But at least he does THINK about the issues and has plenty negative to say about Shrub. We have fun political arguments.

COWORKER: What do you think about this Rove thing?

ME: Indictement -- that's such a nice word, isn't it? Indictment.

COWORKER: Well it's certainly a word the Democrats know something about, isn't it? (ha ha!)

ME: Yeah, but there's a biiiiig difference between TREASON and a BLOW JOB! :rofl:

I won that round. hee hee hee hee hee!

[gkhouston]

6. maybe to your coworker the difference isn't so great

as he wouldn't recognize either if he witnessed one? :7

[crispini]

7. LOL!

He's an OK guy, actually, he does have a brain and he's pretty well informed. He's just moderate-right and I'm far-left ... but he's fun to argue with. :P

[bleever]

8. Hey, thanks crispi!

I didn't expect that when I went trolling for more tiny bits of the Rove story today, I'd find here in the clubhouse!

LOL. And:

:toast:

:hi:

[crispini]

9. Hi Bleev

This story is actually starting to freak me out a little bit. The whole thread today about the memo getting passed around on the plane, thereby implicating, like, TONS of top WH staff...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4116511

and then reading the thread about what the judge in the Judith Miller case said ....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1932591

I'm actually starting to wig a little bit. I mean, up until today I was sort of enjoying the soap opera aspects in a partisan sort of way but right now I'm almost starting to wonder about how big this might be and what, exactly, is going to come out in the next few weeks and months. This is starting to seem big. :scared:

Fitzgerald is close... but to WHAT?

[Berry Cool]

10. As Izzy Povich would say, that's a good question.

Which is why it's going to be SO great to have Keith back this week! Who knows what will happen...it seems more and more now like this is a genie that is NOT going to go back in the bottle, no matter how much certain people wish it would.

On edit: just wanted to say, we may finally have the memo here that makes EVERYONE sit up and pay attention...and Watergate-like words are being used to describe the whole situation...and what with Pat Buchanan playing such a big role in getting the word out, this may mean that Keith's long-maintained cordial relationship with him is finally about to pay off...OK, so, he wasn't Deep Throat, but he is still going to be a GREAT interview for Countdown tomorrow.

Oh, and can you believe there's a place to fit the whole Jeff Gannon business in this puzzle too?

Keith is gonna be all over this. Baseball fun is over and now it's really time to play hardball, and I don't mean Tweety-style.

[gkhouston]

11. now we know why this has taken so long

Fitzgerald hasn't been doing his nails or looking for whitewash, he's been sifting through complex and probably conflicting testimony to figure out what in the hell has been going on over at the White House. He's been taking his time so he understands what really happened and he can build the best case possible to nail everybody for everything. Just what those "everys" are... damn, and I thought I was cynical. I guess I was just being realistic

[crispini]

12. The thing that makes me feel good about Fitzgerald

is that he's been quiet, not all grandstanding-y like ol' Ken Starr - so he's obviously working on something, and working hard. The thing that makes me worry about Fitzgerald is that he was, after all, given the job by a Republican Justice department -- although Ashcroft did recuse himself, I believe. He was also given his job in Chicago by Bush and I've heard his office there is going gangbusters after the Daley machine. Which, you know, if they're corrupt, I'm all for. I just hope he shows equal zeal in this case. I am nervous -- how can we really know what's in the heart and soul of a person, and whether they will do the right thing when faced with tough choices? It is really all on Fitzgerald's shoulders right now....

[crispini]

13. So I went and did some reading on him,

and I have to admit, this quote really made me excited.

"I thought, 'He is the original Untouchable,' " Peter Fitzgerald says. "You could just see it in his eyes that he was a straight shooter. There were no levers that anyone had over him. He had no desire to become a partner in a private law firm. He has no interest in electoral politics. He wanted to be a prosecutor."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55560-2005Feb1.html

Duuuuuuuude. The Original Untouchable. Eeek! WTF is the Bush Administration in for? Hoboy!

[gkhouston]

14. I think they may have miscalculated and thought that because

he is a Republican he might give them a soft ride, out of party loyalty. It could be that their heads are so wrapped up in politics that they've forgotten that there are many people for whom loyalty to other things overrides one's political affiliation. I don't care which party you belong to if you're a lying treasonous sleazebag -- I'm going to want to see you prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I suspect Fitzgerald is the same way.

[crispini]

15. And it was Ashcroft's deputy that made the appointment --

I haven't heard much about the deputy, about whether or not he's a political appointee, but he could be 1) a decent Republican who believes in country over party (I think there are still some of 'em around) or 2) a decent career type who really wanted to pick the best person for the job. In my experience a lot of time the senior executives are the political animals who like to play the game and it's their subordinates who are focused "down" on their organization and mostly want to get the job done.

And I agree, corruption should be taken down no matter what party did it. I'm not a fan of dirty pool, although I am sure both parties participate!