Karl Rove's Consigliere (Newsweek)

[hang a left]

Karl Rove's Consigliere
When the president's political guru landed in hot water he turned to a flamboyant Democrat for help. Will that work?

By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Oct. 24, 2005 issue - When Karl Rove emerged after four grueling hours before a federal grand jury in Washington last Friday, his lawyer Robert Luskin made one more attempt to figure out just where his client stood. He approached special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald outside the hearing room and asked if Rove's fortunes had changed in the two-year-old inquiry of who leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. But Fitzgerald, ever tight-lipped, wasn't giving anything up. He curtly told the lawyer that "no decisions" had been made, Luskin says.

That left Luskin, the brainy battle-tested Washington litigator hired to represent the most powerful of the president's men, in a bind. All over Washington, impatient reporters were waiting to be fed. So Luskin—whose shaved head, gold earring ,and Ducati Monster motorcycle make him something of an odd duck among Washington's A-list attorneys—did what any savvy trial lawyer would do: he tried to spin Fitzgerald's nonanswer to Rove's advantage. In a carefully worded statement, Luskin said, "The special prosecutor has not advised Mr. Rove that he is a target of the investigation." The part he glided over: Fitzgerald hadn't ruled out indicting Rove, either.

It was Rove's fourth appearance before the grand jury, and will almost certainly be his last. The investigation expires at the end of the month, and Fitzgerald is widely expected to announce his decisions in the next two weeks. Republicans fear that Fitzgerald may end up charging a number of senior White House aides, possibly including Rove and Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, with disclosing classified information or making false statements. (Rove and Libby deny any wrongdoing.)

On its Web site on Saturday, The New York Times published a long-awaited story detailing Libby's murky relationship with Judith Miller, the Times reporter who at first refused to disclose her secret source in the case, but named Libby after serving 85 days in jail for contempt of court. It was the latest twist in a story that has had more than its share of odd turns. At times, Luskin himself has seemed to add to the confusion. In July, Luskin flatly stated that Rove had not been the secret source who talked to Time magazine's Matthew Cooper. Soon after, NEWSWEEK revealed an internal Time e-mail showing that Rove was indeed Cooper's source. Luskin's response: that there was "absolutely no inconsistency" with Rove's testimony.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9711925/site/newsweek/
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[napi21]

1. Life is not a happy time in Wash. these days!

I think it's hysterical that Fitz is the only person in Wash in a very long time who doesn't leak anything, and it's driving the subjects and the press crazy!

Well, TS fellas! Deal with it!

[truthisfreedom]

2. okay, pardon my french but the whole fucking administration is in CYA mode

and are all consulting lawyers and holding their breath, so... who's running the country?

i mean really?

[thinkingwoman]

5. We're actually better off

if the country is on auto-pilot for a while. When they are in charge they do so much more damage!

[cassiepriam]

6. Yes, we are better off that the con artists are distracted for a bit.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. He was "obtuse to the optics" of the situation.

Oh, my God. This means he didn't realize that his lying was so transparent.

Well. Now you all know why I'm hesitant to declare myself as a Democrat. Luskin should be kicked out of the party.

[Mike_The_Computer]

4. "... shaved head, gold earring ,and Ducati Monster motorcycle"

Translation: dullard with too much cash and an identity crisis crafts too-obvious, faux-nonconformist persona.

[WCGreen]

7. What he said....

[robbedvoter]

8. Very consistent - the first time they thought it was an "investigation"

(Ashcroft style). They didn't expect an actual prosecutor.

[UTUSN]

9. Uh, Could We Get Dems Representing Dems & Repukes Repukes?

Here we have this dude and his Repuke client, and Roy BLACK and his Repuke client. As for Bob BENNETT and his Miss Run Amok client.

We know lawyers are prostitutes, but couldn't everybody stay in their own backyard? Otoh, what we've seen of ROVE's lawyer hasn't been particularly impressive, so let it be.

[zann725]

10. So Kkarl's lawyer is a Gannon look-a-like? Since "appearances" in court

are of prime importance in a Defendant's favor...why on earth would Kkarl bring an earing-wearing, shaved head, motorcycle-riding "conservative" legal gun to defend him? (No offense meant to any of the foregoing physical attributes, but in a high-profile, conservative Presidential scandal....WHAT was Rove thinking? Except perhaps how he was going to "pay" for all his legal fees afterward.)