Obstruction, false statement (x2), perjury (x2).
Indictment is here in PDF.
Not a WORD about mishandling classified information or violation of FSIA. Which is one of the reasons I think the 'Independent Counsel' or 'Special Prosecutor' concept is wrong -- 22 months and millions of dollars later we have identified...an alleged liar. Wow, that's a threat to national security there. Not to excuse the behavior in any way, but this just seems kind of nickel-and-dime compared to what some on the left were calling 'TREASON!'
Rove may get the hammer for the revelation of classified information, but at this point if Libby hasn't been charged then it's unlikely Rove will be either, in my completely uninformed opinion. That should be the simplest thing to prove of all.
Further charges are always possible, if so it's likely that Fitzgerald simply can't prove them yet, but this is a disappointing denoumont for everyone but the far-left Bush haters who want a pelt, any pelt, on the wall.
Friday, October 28, 2005
One Ball, One Strike
No, I don't care about baseball, we're back to the Rove-Libby-Fitzgerald triangle that is playing out like some mutated version of a daytime soap. Word (right now, 7:42am) is that Libby will be charged with something, Rove won't be charged with anything but will still be investigated.
Come on. Twenty-two months of investigation of what turns out to be a not-complex thing and we need to empanel ANOTHER Grand Jury to keep this up? I'm imagining the food service for federal Grand Juries isn't just the best in the world, this seems like needless extension. To get any more out of Karl Rove after FOUR trips, they'll have to televise his colonoscopy. This isn't that hard, Fitz. Let it go.
Come on. Twenty-two months of investigation of what turns out to be a not-complex thing and we need to empanel ANOTHER Grand Jury to keep this up? I'm imagining the food service for federal Grand Juries isn't just the best in the world, this seems like needless extension. To get any more out of Karl Rove after FOUR trips, they'll have to televise his colonoscopy. This isn't that hard, Fitz. Let it go.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Miers takes a dive
Probably the best thing that could have happened, when you can't get support from the Right or the Left you're pretty much sunk for SCOTUS. Had John Roberts been a less-stellar pick, she might not have suffered so much by comparison, but in truth she's never been welcomed by the Right, she opens Bush up to charges of cronyism at a time when he is vulnerable in that area, and she's not part of the conservative farm team in the Judiciary that the Right has been building for decades.
My guess is that Edith Clements will be the next choice, though she had face-time with Bush (allegedly) when Roberts was nominated and didn't impress enough for Bush to pick her over Miers this go-round. Not really sure of the strategy with this Miers thing, I imagine that Karl Rove repaired to the office and took a couple of Advil when Bush told him that Miers was his pick.
It's also possible that the Bush team knows that Rove or Libby is going to be indicted and wanted to get the Miers issue off the table to avoid dealing with two public relations disasters at once without Rove around to help. I hope not, I don't see someone that goes to the Grand Jury FOUR times as being evasive, and I don't think Plame's identity was even protectable under the 1982 law that was the genesis of Fitzgerald's investigation.
Saw a talking head lawyer from Chicago on Fox this morning talking about how much of a straight-arrow non-political guy Fitzgerald is, there seems to be an effort to lock in his credibility as a Crusader for Truth and Justice prior to any indictments being handed down. Were I running things on the Democrat side, I would feed the 24-hour news beast as many people that "knew" Fitzgerald, up to and including his 3rd grade teacher, who would say he is completely above reproach, especially if some of the elves in the process had let slip the precise indictments that were coming down. The guy this morning didn't even claim to know Fitzgerald personally, he did parrot the line that Fitzgerald is apolitical and above reproach.
Tomorrow may be even more interesting than today. Were I Karl Rove, I would be hanging out near the Courthouse to avoid the perp walk as much as possible, Joe Wilson is a documented liar (Senate Intelligence Committee, bipartisan no less) and I would do whatever it took to avoid the 'frogmarch in handcuffs' Wilson wanted to see. But I assume that Rove being Rove, he already knows that.
My guess is that Edith Clements will be the next choice, though she had face-time with Bush (allegedly) when Roberts was nominated and didn't impress enough for Bush to pick her over Miers this go-round. Not really sure of the strategy with this Miers thing, I imagine that Karl Rove repaired to the office and took a couple of Advil when Bush told him that Miers was his pick.
It's also possible that the Bush team knows that Rove or Libby is going to be indicted and wanted to get the Miers issue off the table to avoid dealing with two public relations disasters at once without Rove around to help. I hope not, I don't see someone that goes to the Grand Jury FOUR times as being evasive, and I don't think Plame's identity was even protectable under the 1982 law that was the genesis of Fitzgerald's investigation.
Saw a talking head lawyer from Chicago on Fox this morning talking about how much of a straight-arrow non-political guy Fitzgerald is, there seems to be an effort to lock in his credibility as a Crusader for Truth and Justice prior to any indictments being handed down. Were I running things on the Democrat side, I would feed the 24-hour news beast as many people that "knew" Fitzgerald, up to and including his 3rd grade teacher, who would say he is completely above reproach, especially if some of the elves in the process had let slip the precise indictments that were coming down. The guy this morning didn't even claim to know Fitzgerald personally, he did parrot the line that Fitzgerald is apolitical and above reproach.
Tomorrow may be even more interesting than today. Were I Karl Rove, I would be hanging out near the Courthouse to avoid the perp walk as much as possible, Joe Wilson is a documented liar (Senate Intelligence Committee, bipartisan no less) and I would do whatever it took to avoid the 'frogmarch in handcuffs' Wilson wanted to see. But I assume that Rove being Rove, he already knows that.
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