July 10, 2005

Rove was Plame Source

Time reporter Matt Cooper's source was indeed Karl Rove. Lawrence O'Donnell was actually right! John Hinderaker at Power Line gets into why Rove probably didn't break the law. It hinges on whether Rove knew Plame was an agent. On September 29 2003, Clifford May wrote,

On July 14, Robert Novak wrote a column in the Post and other newspapers naming Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative.

That wasn't news to me. I had been told that — but not by anyone working in the White House. Rather, I learned it from someone who formerly worked in the government and he mentioned it in an offhand manner, leading me to infer it was something that insiders were well aware of.

More striking is Rove gave Cooper permission to tell the grand jury investigating the Valarie Plame leak that he was Cooper's source. Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, wouldn't have let that happen if he really thought Rove was in legal trouble. And we know without the consent Cooper would have refused to cooperate and gone to jail just like Judith Miller.

President Bush will take some heat. Newspaper editorial pages, pundits, crazed, Bush-hating webloggers (even some more moderate ones), will all demand Karl Rove be fired. This news will actually take the spotlight off of the London bombing investigation. Hinderaker concludes his post:

Rove presumably told the President that he was one of the sources of the Plame information long ago. It is interesting that Bush didn't take the path of least resistance and ease Rove out of the administration at the end of his first term. The President's reputation for loyalty to has aides is certainly well-deserved.

"Closing in on Karl"