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Karl Rove Feels the Heat

MSNBC's David Schuster will report on Keith Olbermann's show tonight that Karl Rove described his grand jury appearance yesterday as "hell" and is more worried he will be indicted. Crooks and Liars has the video of the Schuster report.

Raw Story has the transcript of Schuster's report.

Schuster reports the grand jury meets again tomorrow. Any bets charges will be filed against Rove or others?

Also check out Jason Leopold's Truthout article from March 28, reporting indictments would be coming in about one month and Prose of Sharon at Daily Kos on the whole target letter issue. You may also want to re-read my earlier post on Rove, Luskin, Novak and Fitz--explaining why Karl Rove has a lot to fear if he's charged with both perjury and making a false statement to investigators -- as opposed to simply a false statements charge.

This is all about whether Fitzgerald will charge Rove not only with making a false statement to investigators in 2003 but perjury before the grand jury in 2004. If he only charges the former, Rove will probably plead guilty with a sentence reduction for cooperation. If he charges both, Rove will have to fight, same as Libby. It would mean real jail time.

....Rove is toast because of his false statement to investigators before there was a grand jury. He has no defense to that charge. He's not getting a complete pass and he knows it. This is all about his attempt to avoid jail. The question is, can he limit Fitzgerald to a false statement charge and avoid a perjury charge?

More legal analysis of the Rove possibilities:

For background on Rove's disclosure of the Hadley e-mail, see this July 16 AP article.

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  • Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 04:17:53 PM EST
    Tomorrow has to be the day. Fitz gave him noose and he tightened it. Cheney is next. Like peeling an onion. A roasted one. Maybe I am cynical but I do not believe Rove feels anything. He is playing to the sympathy of the public at best. Trying to seem like a regular guy. Hadley too? BTW- haven't heard much on Hannah. Is he still at the OVP, tossed back to Bolton, or out of a job? He must be feeling more heat than Rove.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 04:43:07 PM EST
    Hannah made a deal eons ago, according to Jason and Raw Story.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#3)
    by chew2 on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 04:44:49 PM EST
    Any bets charges will be filed against Rove or others?
    This is getting exciting! But as I understand it perjury is usually a very hard charge to prove.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#4)
    by squeaky on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 04:55:08 PM EST
    Hannah made a deal eons ago, according to Jason and Raw Story.
    Yes I know but is he still working at the WH under Cheney? That must be a hot seat as he, according to Leopold, flipped early on, and no one knew. Now they know and they do not like unloyals. So, does he still have a job?

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 05:12:40 PM EST
    Peter Principle, baby! Like Bush, Rove took his skills too seriously and thought he could juggle all those world-changing balls like he did in Texas. He shoulda got out more. The real world is different that Texas.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#6)
    by Dadler on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 05:12:51 PM EST
    Burn baby, burn Like Dick's old inferno Burn baby, burn Burn that Rover down. Apologies to The Trammps and their classic disco hit.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 06:37:38 PM EST
    Under normal circumstances I would say that a sane person with capable lawyers would never testify before the grand jury without an assurance that he or she was not a subject or target. But these are not normal circumstances. Normally an attorney hopes to avoid an indictment but is especially focused on avoiding a conviction. But sometimes merely an indictment has unacceptable consequences -- as it would for Rove, particularly at this low point in Bush's popularity. Rove may have instructed his lawyers to use a go-for-broke strategy to testify to try to convince grand jurors not to indict him. That's a hell of a long shot, but maybe they think they have to do everything possible to avoid indictment because the consequences of mere indictment are so grave that they render the risks of conviction less important. All that said, I'm not convinced that this is anything but wishful thinking.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#8)
    by cynicalgirl on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 07:38:49 PM EST
    What about Ari? Isn't he "Official B"?

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#9)
    by squeaky on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 07:53:35 PM EST
    Ex-Fed:
    Under normal circumstances I would say that a sane person with capable lawyers would never testify before the grand jury without an assurance that he or she was not a subject or target.
    Maybe Luskin is spinning and he actually did get a target letter Tuesday late. His "volunrary cooperation" may be true in that he was not in handcuffs. He is voluntarily cooperating to save as much of his fat a$$ as he can.

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#10)
    by jondee on Fri Apr 28, 2006 at 11:53:37 AM EST
    But Mr.S!!...Youre a reasonable man.. Im sure we can work somthing out...I know!!..How'd you like a bigger piece of Port Security?!!...I know some people in Texas that could make big problems for the big Kahuna upstairs too!!..Maybe whip together a little Swift-Apostles-for-Truth group?!!.. I'll even throw in Jeff G..! He can be a real power in-front-of-the-throne..if you know what I mean..Heh heh..

    Re: Karl Rove Feels the Heat (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 04, 2006 at 10:17:24 AM EST
    I have a coiple of Questions/comments: * Is Fitzgerald taking his time because he is going after Bushevite predators higher up in the food chain than Karl Rove? * Is it even remotely possible that Rove can actually walk in light of all that has been discovered so far?