White House Press Corps Blackout on Rove
Think Progress reports that on Air Force One today, no one asked Scott McClellan about whether Karl Rove was the source of the Valerie Plame Leak.
Arianna reports buzz along the same line at the Aspen Institute.
The Washington Post reports:
In an interview yesterday, [Rove attorney Robert Luskin] said Rove was not the source who called Cooper yesterday morning and personally waived the confidentiality agreement. "Karl has not asked anybody to treat him as a confidential source with regard to this story," Luskin said.
Raw Story has an audio clip from CNN's coverage of the Republican National Convention during which Karl Rove adamantly denies having outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. He says, "I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name."
So, did Rove tell Matthew Cooper that "Joseph Wilson's wife" worked for the CIA or that "Joseph Wilson's wife" was an undercover operative for the CIA? I'd bet Rove is saying the former and that he simply referred to her as "Joseph Wilson's wife" not as "Valerie Plame." Since the conversation allegedly took place before Novak's column was published, it's plausible. But...I still think Fitzgerald is moving on from disclosure of Plame's identity to trying to prove a conspiracy among top White House officials to obstruct justice and this doesn't let Rove off the hook on that one.
The key may be the alleged meeting by Cheney's top staff members described in this USA Today article from April, 2004, which Cheneys' office told Vanity Fair never occurred.
< Judith Miller Placed in Alexandria Detention Center | Federal Probe Launched of CA National Guard > |