Leopold: Fitz Considering Obstruction Charge Against Rove
Posted on Sun May 07, 2006 at 11:39:05 AM EST
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It's the e-mails, as Jason Leopold reported previously and reports again today. Those 250 pages of documents that Patrick Fitzgerald told Team Libby about in his January 23 letter (pdf) and turned over to the Libby defense team in February. I thought the e-mails were all from the Office of the Vice President, but Jason reports they are also from the Office of the President, and a review of Fitz's letter (page 7) shows this to be the case.
In February, TruthOut was the first to report the existence of the 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the Office of the President that were written in mid-2003.
Some of the emails and memos were written by Rove, and are part of a growing body of evidence suggesting he lied to the grand jury and the FBI and may have obstructed justice during the course of the investigation. It was following their disclosure that Fitzgerald advised Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, several weeks ago that he intends to indict Rove for perjury and lying to investigators. The lingering question, sources close to the case said, is whether Fitzgerald will add obstruction of justice to the list of charges that he has already drafted against Rove.
Sure, the Matt Cooper - Karl Rove conversation and Hadley e-mail is also an issue, one that likely will lead to a false statements and/or perjury charge for Rove. But Rove's failure to disclose these other communications is what reportedly has Fitz considering an obstruction of justice charge. Particularly e-mails between Rove and Andrew Card.
While [the Cooper] issue continues to be a central focus in the case against Rove, what has not been previously reported is the fact that there are dozens of other memos and emails Rove sent to White House officials in June 2003, including former Chief of Staff Andrew Card, in which Rove suggests the White House launch a full scale public relations effort to attack Joseph Wilson for speaking out against the administration.
I've been on the same page as Jason about this for a while. See, Karl Rove, Andy Card and the Newly Discovered E-Mails.. For more background:
If I as have speculated all along, Karl Rove is singing his heart out to avoid indictment on multiple charges and limit his liability to either a single charge of making a false statement to FBI investigators before the grand jury was convened, or to false statement and perjury charges, I think Rove's appearance before the grand jury today means he's both still trying to avoid an obstruction of justice charge and putting a final nail in someone else's coffin.
A fifth appearance is unusual for a subject without a deal, but not for a subject who has agreed to become a key prosecution witness. When Luskin says Rove has no deal with Fitz, I think he's saying there has been no final promises as to the amount of a sentencing reduction Rove will get for his cooperation -- or even an agreeement as to the precise charges that will be brought against him. That doesn't mean that Rove has not agreed to help Fitz in exchange for whatever Fitz decides his reward should be.
Jason reports Rove was told to be available for three hours of testimony today. That sounds to me like Fitz is planning to review the 250 pages of e-mails from Cheney's office with him.
So, is Cheney the final target? I think so, but not in this next round of Indictments. Fitz is still working his way up the ladder. I think he has Stephen Hadley in his pocket now (whom I suspect is Bob Woodward's source) -- along with Rove, John Hannah, Ari Fleischer, David Wurmser, Marc Grossman and probably Robert Joseph. He's even got Colin Powell's testimony.
Fitz's goal is to expose the White House scheme to discredit Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger through claims of nepotism, which was accomplished by disclosing to the media Valerie Plame Wilson's employment and her alleged role in suggesting her husband for the trip.
After Rove and Hadley, who's left besides Cheney?
The AP also reported on the e-mails in February.
The defense was told that the White House had recently located and turned over about 250 pages of e-mails from the vice president's office. Fitzgerald, in a letter last month to the defense, had cautioned Libby's lawyers that some e-mails might be missing because the White House's archiving system had failed.
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