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Mr. Fitzgerald Requests the Honor of Your Presence

It is damned hard to keep up with all the "leaking" being done on behalf of the various TraitorGate players. If discretion is the better part of valor, it is yet another indication we are not dealing with a very brave bunch.

David Johnston brings the latest bulletin in the NYT:

But some of the lawyers said Mr. Fitzgerald indicated that he had not yet made up his mind about whether to accuse anyone with wrongdoing and would use the coming weeks before the grand jury expires on Oct. 28 to decide the issue.

Mr. Fitzgerald's conversations with lawyers since late last week have left an ominous cloud hanging over the inquiry, sweeping away assurances from a number of officials and their lawyers that Mr. Fitzgerald was unlikely to find criminal wrongdoing.

In coming days, Mr. Fitzgerald is likely to request that several White House officials return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case - appearances that are believed to be decisive as the prosecutor proceeds toward a decision on whether to file charges.

Oh I bet Special Counsel Fitzgerald already knows he's going to charge someone with "wrongdoing" (that's some euphemism) -- it's just a matter of how many "wrongdoings" he's going to pile one on top of another.

And how many times do we get to hear that Rove has not received a target letter? The least they could do is include the coda -- which doesn't mean shit (although Reddhedd would like it known that at least this time David Johnston got the target letter stuff right).

"Karl's consistent position is that he will cooperate any time, any place," Mr. Gannon Luskin said.

Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

Meanwhile, over at the LA Times:

Grover Norquist, a conservative activist close to the White House, said Rove has been "on top of things as much as ever."

It was my impression Rove was a "bottom."

"He didn't seem worried," said the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she would get fired if she was attached to stories about the case. "He seemed fine."

Well that narrows it down to anyone with boobs. I'm not too worried for her. Spreading the misinformation that Karl is "fine" (as if) is not exactly going out on a limb.

In addition, Rove has been active in courting evangelicals as the White House tries to line up support for the nomination of Bush's counsel, Harriet Miers, to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

The woman he's counting on to keep his whole machine out of jail? You don't say.

The last-minute testimony from Rove adds to a growing list of woes for the White House, and coincides with a period in which Rove has been much less visible. He is currently away on a family trip, Luskin said today.

But wait...I thought he was whipping the fundies...

Oh never mind.

(hat tip to Pontificator)

Update #1: Apologies to newbies who might not know who "Gannon" is. We do not mean to leave you out of the fun. You can catch up on the saga of the official White House man-whore here.

Update #2: The NYT article has been updated:

One new approach appears to involve the possible use of Chapter 37 of the federal espionage and censorship law, which makes it a crime for anyone who "willfully communicates, delivers, transfers or causes to be communicated" to someone "not entitled to receive it" classified information relating the national defense matters.

Under this broad statute, a government official or a private citizen who passed classified information to anyone else in or outside the government could potentially be charged with a felony, if they transferred the information to someone without a security clearance to receive it.

Reddhedd called it here this morning on Espionage.

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posted by Jane Hamsher @ 10/06/2005 06:46:00 PM