-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message: Date: July 10, 2005 7:59:37 PM PDT Subject: Administration Likely to Circle Wagons Around Rove
"If, in fact, Mr. Rove knowingly disclosed the name and identity of a covert American operative, he is guilty of not only the specific felony of doing so, but quite likely treason, and to the extent his deliberate outing of an American covert operative resulted in the death or deaths of field operatives, he should, in all fairness, be facing the death penalty. "But understand the principle of "IIOKIYAR", which most of you understand (but simply means "It's OK if you are a Republican"). Don't worry: there's no limit to what that simple phrase covers, up to and including treason. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will just have to come to that realization himself, if he attempts to actually do anything to Rove." Newest Rove Revelation: Legally Harmful Smoking Gun? by Joe Gandelman "Do you know who I am? I'm Mo Green, I made my bones when you were going out with Cheerleaders." — Mo Green in The Godfather.A new Newsweek story fingers Bush political right-hand-man Karl Rove as at least one person who told a reporter that Joe Wilson's wife worked as a CIA agent. But now the prevailing question is: did Rove's alleged role and the way he allegedly played it fall under the detailed law or will this be a case of something that may be politically reprehensible — but not actually unlawful. And, if that's the case, what (if anything) will President George Bush do in light of his own previous comments? At issue is Michael Isakoff's latest now-it-can-be-told piece. A few key sections: It was 11:07 on a Friday morning, July 11, 2003, and Time magazine correspondent Matt Cooper was tapping out an e-mail to his bureau chief, Michael Duffy. "Subject: Rove/P&C," (for personal and confidential), Cooper began. "Spoke to Rove on double super secret background for about two mins before he went on vacation ..." Cooper proceeded to spell out some guidance on a story that was beginning to roil Washington. He finished, "please don't source this to rove or even WH [White House]" and suggested another reporter check with the CIA.
Last week, after Time turned over that e-mail, among other notes and e-mails, Cooper agreed to testify before a grand jury in the Valerie Plame case. Explaining that he had obtained last-minute "personal consent" from his source, Cooper was able to avoid a jail sentence for contempt of court.... So it would appear some newspaper and analysts' speculation was on-the-dime: Cooper likely heard from Rove who told him to go ahead with his tesimony. Would Rove agree to THAT if he felt he was possibly heading to the slammer....or is it more likely his top lawyer gave him good news?
But the most damning part of the Newsweek story is this:
In a brief conversation with Rove, Cooper asked what to make of the flap over Wilson's criticisms. NEWSWEEK obtained a copy of the e-mail that Cooper sent his bureau chief after speaking to Rove. (The e-mail was authenticated by a source intimately familiar with Time's editorial handling of the Wilson story, but who has asked not to be identified because of the magazine's corporate decision not to disclose its contents.) Cooper wrote that Rove offered him a "big warning" not to "get too far out on Wilson." Rove told Cooper that Wilson's trip had not been authorized by "DCIA"—CIA Director George Tenet—or Vice President Dick Cheney. Rather, "it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip." Wilson's wife is Plame, then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA's Directorate of Operations counterproliferation division. (Cooper later included the essence of what Rove told him in an online story.) The e-mail characterizing the conversation continues: "not only the genesis of the trip is flawed an[d] suspect but so is the report. he [Rove] implied strongly there's still plenty to implicate Iraqi interest in acquiring uranium fro[m] Niger ... "
Nothing in the Cooper e-mail suggests that Rove used Plame's name or knew she was a covert operative. Nonetheless, it is significant that Rove was speaking to Cooper before Novak's column appeared; in other words, before Plame's identity had been published. Fitzgerald has been looking for evidence that Rove spoke to other reporters as well. "Karl Rove has shared with Fitzgerald all the information he has about any potentially relevant contacts he has had with any reporters, including Matt Cooper," Luskin told NEWSWEEK.
A source close to Rove, who declined to be identified because he did not wish to run afoul of the prosecutor or government investigators, added that there was "absolutely no inconsistency" between Cooper's e-mail and what Rove has testified to during his three grand-jury appearances in the case. "A fair reading of the e-mail makes clear that the information conveyed was not part of an organized effort to disclose Plame's identity, but was an effort to discourage Time from publishing things that turned out to be false," the source said, referring to claims in circulation at the time that Cheney and high-level CIA officials arranged for Wilson's trip to Africa. It almost sounds as if we've come full circle, back to the era of the highly-derided (particularly by Republicans) "it all depends on what is is."
And it's possible there's enough "wiggle room" so that "is" in this case really "ain't" and it won't mean penalties under the law. But if it indeed comes out — definitively — that Rove was a participant (either just him or several others) it will be absolutely fascinating to see President George Bush wiggle out of this Feb. 11, 2004 story: President Bush said Tuesday he welcomes a Justice Department investigation into who revealed the classified identity of a CIA operative.
"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.
"I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job.
"I want to know the truth," the president continued. "Leaks of classified information are bad things."
He added that he did not know of "anybody in my administration who leaked classified information."
Bush said he has told his administration to cooperate fully with the investigation and asked anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward. So: if Rove did tell Bush, how WAS Rove "taken care of?" There wasn't the slightest carefully couched comment from the President's p.r. team that Rove might have been involved in this in anyway. Was he "taken care of" by admonishment? Was he punished by being forced to listen to Tom Cruise lecture him on psychiatry? Or something a bit less severe than that?
If he didn't tell Bush, then that would mean he has mislead the President. Shouldn't Rove then take the honorable path and decide it's time to "move in another direction" or accept some nice, big, fat offer in the private sector?
Or will the argument be "well, he didn't really violate the law — so there!" implying that Rove's alleged role was perfectly OK. If so, then it would suggest that this kind of behavior sets the political bar at a new (low) level and a future Democratic administration has the go-ahead to use the same tactics.
Some additional thoughts:
- Since this is a complex law (and we will leave government and weblog lawyers to write more about that) we won't venture to say how we think the case itself will come out. But it does appear as if it is possible (and likely given Copper's message from his source to go ahead) that Rove will not be prosecuted.
- No matter what happens, it boldly underlined Rove's role as what analysts in the 1960s used to call a "political hatchet man," a hands-on operative who will seek to overtly and, even moreso, covertly discredit and destroy anyone who stands in the way of his boss' objectives.
- The country could be faced with a situation where Rove's role is confirmed, Bush's comments above are never addressed or justified with lawyerly parsing, and Rove does NOT resign but continues with absolutely no legal, political or personal consquences.
If we'd have to bet money, we'd bet on that outcome, simply because of the way politics seems to operate in the 21st century, where past rules of the game involving ethics and propriety are seemingly changed according to the circumstance and power to do so. If that happens, look for Democrats to be outraged, Republicans and talk show hosts to quickly adjust and hammer away with whatever defense arguments their team offers — and the actual situation remain unchanged.
Except for one thing.
Credibility.
If Rove played a prominent role, it'll raise one more question about veracity.
Swing voters, centrists and even some Republicans would not be unaware of the disconnect if Karl Rove was involved and those who had indigantly blasted the honesty of the Clinton adminstration felt this is really no big deal...because he's Karl Rove.
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