There goes what I thought was a beautiful theory about Woodward’s secret Plamegate source. Dick Cheney was my man. He had pointedly not denied involvement. Since Libby appears to be taking the fall for his boss, I thought perhaps that Cheney was trying to do what he could to help his underling. But a Friday morning AP report quotes an anonymous source (don’t you just love those kind?!) saying:
Dick Cheney is not the unidentified source who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward about the
CIA status of the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, a person familiar with the investigation said Thursday.The vice president did not talk with Woodward on the day in question, did not provide the information that’s been reported in Woodward’s notes and has not had any conversations over the past several weeks about any release for allowing Woodward to testify, said the person, speaking on condition of anonymity.
And it was such a nice, tidy theory. If not Cheney, who else could it be?
The NY Times obliquely points a finger toward Bad Boy Karl:
The prospect of a prolonged investigation seems likely to focus increased attention on Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser who has acknowledged having conversations with reporters about Ms. Wilson.
Some of Mr. Rove’s supporters had expressed hope that Mr. Fitzgerald’s decision last month to allow the previous grand jury to expire without charging Mr. Rove signaled he was no longer in jeopardy. But lawyers involved in the case said Mr. Rove remained under scrutiny, and the prosecutor could use the new grand jury to review his case.
The White House declined to comment on the issue Friday, as did Mr. Rove’s lawyer, Robert D. Luskin.
Interesting that Luskin, who’s shown himself to be only too eager to shower the press with denials of his client’s involvement in anything dirty should now give the press the silent treatment. Hmmm. What could it mean?
A Time Magazine story goes a long way toward explaining why the Woodward story came out now. After Fitzgerald announced Libby’s indictment on October 28th, Woodward realized that he was the first reporter to have been approached by an Administration official regarding Wilson:
According to Woodward, that triggered a call to his source. “I said it was clear to me that the source had told me [about Wilson’s wife] in mid-June,” says Woodward, “and this person could check his or her records and see that it was mid-June. My source said he or she had no alternative but to go to the prosecutor. I said, ‘If you do, am I released?'”, referring to the confidentiality agreement between the two. The source said yes, but only for purposes of discussing it with Fitzgerald, not for publication.
After the source contacted Fitzgerald, Woodward was contacted by the prosecutor on November 3rd.
The Time report also contains this tantalizingly piece of information about his source:
Asked if this was the first time his source had spoken with Fitzgerald in the investigation, Woodward said “I’m not sure. It’s quite possibly not the first time.” But it is the first time Woodward had contact with Fitzgerald, even though Woodward’s name shows up on various White House officials’ calendars, phone logs and other records during June and July, 2003, the time frame that is critical to determining whether a crime was committed when information about Plame’s employment was shared with reporters. Those White House records were turned over to Fitzgerald long ago.
Woodward expressed some surprise that Fitzgerald hadn’t contacted him earlier in the probe, but had high praise for the prosecutor whose investigation he has openly criticized on television. During his time with the prosecutor, Woodward said, he found Fitzgerald “incredibly sensitive to what we do. He didn’t infringe on my other reporting, which frankly surprised me. He said ‘This is what I need, I don’t need any more.'”
Woodward, of course, could’ve just replied to the Time reporter who asked whether the source had spoken previously to Fitzgerald: “I don’t want to go into that.” Instead, he basically telegraphs that his source HAS already testified. This certainly leaves the source open for perjury charges since during the source’s first testimony he or she clearly did not acknowledge any contact with Woodward. And that’s almost certainly why Pat’s reconvened a grand jury. Someone’s very likely to get a big, black piece of coal in their Christmas stocking this year (i.e. an indictment).
I wonder how Pat could’ve let Woodward slipped through the cracks in his investigation? The latter’s nose is into everything in this Administration. Seeing the reporter’s name in the visitor log should’ve triggered something. Hey, but nobody’s perfect.
Note the sucking up to Fitzgerald in “Woodward expressed…high praise for the prosecutor…” What a self-serving jackass. You tell the world on Larry King that you think Pat Fitzgerald is making a mockery of journalism and justice and then you think kissing his tuchis is going to get you off the hook? I think Pat deserves a lot of credit for treating Woodward like a gentleman. The WashPo jerkoff deserved to have his butt reamed. Hey, Bob, get yourself a good lawyer (I’m sure he’s already got one).
