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  • Wascally Wove Escapes.

    Rove Won't Be Charged in CIA Leak Case
    Jun 13 9:54 AM US/Eastern
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    By JOHN SOLOMON
    Associated Press Writer


    WASHINGTON


    Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won't be charged with any crimes in the investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's identity, his lawyer said Tuesday, lifting a heavy burden from one of President Bush's most trusted advisers.

    Attorney Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of Rove, the architect of Bush's 2004 re-election now focused on stopping Democrats from capturing the House or Senate in this November's elections.



    Fitzgerald has already secured a criminal indictment against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

    White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush _ on a brief and secretive trip to Baghdad to meet with Iraq's new prime minister _ was notified that Rove had been cleared.

    "We are pleased that the special counsel has concluded his deliberations," Perino said. "Karl is, as he has been throughout the process, fully focused on the task at hand _ crafting and building support for the president's agenda."

    The announcement cheered Republicans and a White House beleaguered by war and low approval ratings. Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Rove, said Rove "is elated" and said that "we're done."

    Fitzgerald met with chief U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan before he notified Rove. Hogan has been overseeing the grand juries in the CIA leak case. Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, declined comment. Asked if the CIA leak investigation is still continuing, Samborn said, "I'm not commenting on that as well at this time."

    The prosecutor called Luskin late Monday afternoon to tell him he would not be seeking charges against Rove. Rove had just gotten on a plane, so his lawyer and spokesman did not reach him until he had landed in Manchester, N.H., where he was to give a speech to state GOP officials.

    "We believe the special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct," Luskin said.

    Fitzgerald has been investigating whether senior administration officials intentionally leaked the identity of CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame in retribution because her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, sharply criticized the administration's pursuit of war in Iraq.

    Rove testified five times before a grand jury, most recently in April. He has admitted he spoke with columnist Robert Novak and Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper in the days before they published Plame's name in July 2003.

    Rove, however, did not originally tell prosecutors about his conversation with Cooper, only revealing it after his lawyer discovered a White House e-mail that referred to it.

    Fitzgerald was investigating whether Rove lied or obstructed justice in failing to initially disclose the conversation. The presidential aide blamed a faulty memory and sought to testify before the grand jury after finding the e-mail to correct his testimony.

    The threat of indictment had hung over Rove, even as Rove was focusing on the arduous task of halting Bush's popularity spiral and keeping Democrats from capturing the House or Senate in November elections.

    Fitzgerald's investigation has been under way since the start of the 2004 election, and the decision not to indict Rove is certain to buoy Republicans, who also got good news in the last week with the military's killing of most-wanted Iraq terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

    "The fact is this, I thought it was wrong when you had people like Howard Dean and (Sen.) Harry Reid presuming that he was guilty," Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman told Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" show Tuesday morning.

    Democrats, on the other hand, had no reason to cheer.

    "He doesn't belong in the White House. If the president valued America more than he valued his connection to Karl Rove, Karl Rove would have been fired a long time ago," said Dean, the Democratic Party chairman, speaking Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. "So I think this is probably good news for the White House, but it's not very good news for America."

    Rove has been at Bush's side since his days as Texas governor and was the architect of Bush's two presidential election victories. Rove assumed new policy responsibilities inside the White House in 2005 as deputy chief of staff. Earlier this year, as part of the shake-up brought by new White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten, Rove shed those policymaking duties to return to full time politics.

    Fitzgerald's case against Libby is moving toward trial, as the two sides work through pretrial issues such as access to classified documents.

    Libby, 55, was charged last October with lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned and when he subsequently told three reporters about Plame. He faces five counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice.

    With Rove's fate now decided, other unfinished business in Fitzgerald's probe focuses on the source who provided Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward information about Plame.

    Woodward says his source, whom he has not publicly identified, provided the information about Wilson's wife, several weeks before Novak learned of Plame's identity. The Post reporter, who never wrote a story, was interviewed by Fitzgerald late last year.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Toni Locy and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.
    Now to see if my prediction holds true that Cynthia McKinney will face charges before Rove or Delay does.
    "Just puttin on the foil" - Jeff Hanson

    “In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter

  • #2
    The silence is deafening...

    Anyway, please use this bump to continue your gloating Ogie.
    KH FOR OWNER!
    ASHER FOR CEO!!
    GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

    Comment


    • #3
      What is there to say?

      -Arrian
      grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

      The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

      Comment


      • #4
        The Republicans are in control in Washington, surely you don't expect them to be held accountable for their crimes, do you?
        "The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists."
        -Joan Robinson

        Comment


        • #5
          What is there to say?


          Well...

          The Republicans are in control in Washington, surely you don't expect them to be held accountable for their crimes, do you?


          That's more like it. Now where are the rest of the moonbats?
          KH FOR OWNER!
          ASHER FOR CEO!!
          GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Do you mean to imply that politicians will never ever engage in shady activities, which they can get away with due to their positions of power?
            "The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists."
            -Joan Robinson

            Comment


            • #7
              No. Where did you get a silly idea like that?
              KH FOR OWNER!
              ASHER FOR CEO!!
              GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

              Comment


              • #8
                VG has a point.

                In fact, I'm sure I can think of a couple examples.

                William Jefferson,

                Harry Reid,

                Cynthia Mckinney,

                Patrick Kennedy,

                Teddy Kennedy,

                etc. etc.
                Last edited by Ogie Oglethorpe; June 14, 2006, 12:33.
                "Just puttin on the foil" - Jeff Hanson

                “In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter

                Comment


                • #9
                  Pretty much every party has it's horribly corrupt people, and generally they tend to either get exposed when the opposition gets desperate, when the party in power wants to get some payback or score some points for cleaning up, or when they guys get so corrupt that even other politicians are appalled.
                  "The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists."
                  -Joan Robinson

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I wonder where Oerdin is.
                    I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                    For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      The title is probably a bit too subtle...


                      Anyway, I'm not suprised, nor, frankly do I care much one way or another.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Anyway, I'm not suprised, nor, frankly do I care much one way or another.


                        Reasonable comments like this have no place in this thread. Or on this board, for that matter...
                        KH FOR OWNER!
                        ASHER FOR CEO!!
                        GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

                        Comment

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