Jason Leopold: Still Confident About Rove Indictment Article

[benburch]

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/014864.html

Wednesday :: May 17, 2006

Jason Leopold: Still Confident About Rove Indictment Article

Beleaguered investigative reporter Jason Leopold was on the Ed Schultz radio show yesterday, defending his Truthout article that Karl Rove has been indicted. He sounds very confident. You can listen here.

Jason told Schultz that on Saturday he got a phone call from his sources telling him that the action Friday was not at the courthouse, but at Patton Boggs. They provided an extraordinary level of detail about what took place at the law firm.

Jason is continuing to receive new details. He said that yesterday, he was told that the entire 4th floor of Patton Boggs was locked down for the marathon meeting. He reiterated his prior information, that Rove was there with his secret service detail, that plea negotiations were going on which ultimately were rejected outright, after which he was given an envelope containing the Indictment and told he had 24 hours to get his affairs in order.

Jason said he believed by Saturday night, his article would break in the Washington Post, New York Times and other papers. He noted that yesterday, at Rove's NEI speech, only one reporter asked him about CIA leak case. No one had bothered to follow up on the story. No one asked him if he had been indicted.

Jason says he confirmed the story with more than 2 sources. He says Knights- Ridder, MSNBC and ABC News now have one source for the story.

He said that these same sources are repsonsible for his being able to break the story about the 250 pages of e-mail documents turned over to Fitzgerald in February.

...more...

[BurtWorm]

1. Can't someone call Patton Boggs and find out if this is true?

So we can put an end to this once and for all?

[stop the bleeding]

3. they are, see here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1214530&mesg_id=1215546

[benburch]

5. If anybody there will tell...

Which, if they want to keep their jobs, is unlikely.

[BurtWorm]

8. So if they say nothing different was going on, watch out!

But what if they say something WAS going on? :crazy:

[stop the bleeding]

9. I was thinking of

if we could contact an office cleaner or someone who flies below the radar.

they would be able to tell us if the 4th floor was at least closed on Friday, I know I am asking for a lot but hey why not.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

14. Honey

This is a bad sign.

Time to back away and get yourself some red Twizzlers
or maybe some Milk Duds and watch, oh, maybe some Three Stooges?



Maybe some golf? Fresh air?

[stop the bleeding]

18. Don't golf, don't eat crap candy, and can't go outside

stuck at work any other earthshattering suggestions - Honey????

[benburch]

23. That was a bit patronizing, wasn't it?

I think we are all much too worked up about this.

[pacalo]

26. Yep.

[stop the bleeding]

30. I have

pretty thick skin, so it will have to cut deep in order for me to get "series"

[pacalo]

46. I "hughly" agree with you.

"Pashunce" helps, too. :)

[benburch]

56. Thick Skin is a good thing.

Sometimes I need to toughen my hide up a bit.

[caledesi]

36. Agree. Patience, my friends, patience. nt

[OldLeftieLawyer]

24. Order in

Maybe some nice Thai food, or a good Chinese lunch?

Or, if there's a good Italian place nearby, that would help.

Then, take a brisk walk around your workplace and be cheery and kind to people you don't know very well.

It'll do wonder for your disposition, and your digestion, both of which seem a bit dyspeptic right about now.

The Three Stooges, though, would do you a world of good.

Awwwwww, you called me "honey" back. That's real sweet.

[stop the bleeding]

29. Already ate lunch - digestion is moot

exercise LOL - I ride a bike over 300 miles/week - so I think I am all set for exercise.

Last time I checked my disposition was spot on as well as my constitution.

thanks snuggles for caring about my well being though - next week we will work on marriage counseling

[OldLeftieLawyer]

31. Oh, honey,

maybe you spend too much time on that bike and not enough time on the marriage.

That seat makes things go numb, I hear.

Good luck. I'm sure your marriage will pull through. Or, you can always move in with the bike.

[stop the bleeding]

32. clarification

marriage for us - you and I - not my real life.

Also numbness from riding bikes has to do with improper set up an positioning. Not anything else.

Most Americans have bikes as toys and hence they don't know how to set them up correctly. Whereas if you look at the Euros who ride them from age 8 months to 80years have no problems with numbness. In fact the majority of professional riders in the world have several kids and a potent sex life to boot according to articles and studies.

I can't vouch for the kid thing yet but the other is a fact.

Thanks for playing though - hugglemuffin

[OldLeftieLawyer]

38. Oh, good......

I'd hate it if you were numb.

I can vouch for the kid thing - they're fun - we have them, and they've even reproduced themselves. Amazing how that happens.

Anytime, snugglebunny ...............

[stop the bleeding]

41. LOL

"I can vouch for the kid thing "

just not the potent sex life thing - I see :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

You made my day

thanks sweetcakes :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

43. Potent?

Well, we've established ours, and now you'll have to establish yours.

If your retorts here are any indication, I'll be saying rosaries for your better half.

[stop the bleeding]

45. nice try

my better half doesn't believe in the church

my retorts are only coming down to your level, you have been trying to stir the pot for days.

keep on setting them up and I'll keep in knocking them down.:rofl::rofl::rofl: - this is too easy

tick tock tick -

[stop the bleeding]

34. one more kick for this thread

since I know you want it at the top, just keep setting them up and I'll just keep on knocking them down.

thanks peaches

[OldLeftieLawyer]

40. Sorry, but what?

Want it at the top?

Oh, darling, you and I hardly know each other, so you're being a bit presumptuous, don't you think?

Topping from the bottom, are ya?

[stop the bleeding]

42. you seem to be good at figuring out puzzles

I feel like I know you better than most :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Julius Civitatus]

2. This is getting ridiculous...

Either Leopold is pulling this one out of his ass (which he has done before)....

or Karl Rove has decided to have one last rat-fucking of liberal bloggers and lefty media before his ass is hauled to a federal court. One last laugh on us, his personal way of sayin ggoodbye, with a nasty trick on us.

Time will tell.

:eyes:

[dogday]

4. The fact that the media is so silent

is very suspicious to me... A few weeks ago they were all over the Karl Rove story and now mum is the word :wtf:

[BurtWorm]

6. Right. If Rove *weren't* already indicted, they'd be all over it.

:wtf:

[jazzjunkysue]

52. Exactly my point: He's toxic because he's going down, not because he's

getting away with it.

The GOP silence is the proof. No swiftboating. Scarborough was talking about American idol 2 nights ago, for pete's sake.

The GOP abandonment is the real indictment.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. What if

no one gets indicted?

Then what?

[benburch]

10. Then justice will be the casualty.

Because the crime is quite clear.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

12. It is?

What crime?

I don't know that a crime has been committed, but I'm not privy to the workings of the Fitzgerald investigation or the grand juries he's faced.

So, please enlighten me. What crime has been committed?

[TahitiNut]

33. Whether statutory or a "high crime," the exposure and destruction

... of Brewster, Jennings, & Associates covert intelligence 'assets' in tracking weapons proliferation, particularly NBC technologies and especially regarding Iran, was the most significant impact of the behavior of the White House insiders in the summer of 2003.

Everything else pales in comparison, imho. I do not believe that the current focus on Iran, including the rattling of the nuclear saber, is accidental in the aftermath of the elimination of the single most useful intelligence program that may have offered some 'real world' objectivity contrary to the predations of global corporatism looking covetously at Iran's national resources. (It's no accident whatsoever that Libya/Khadaffi is converting their national oil, health-care, transportation, and telecommunications industries from national ownership to private ownership.)

[robbedvoter]

44. What crime????? Are you actually Luskin?

To think I thought you had it in for Leopold or Pitt.
But now, i seem to remember your vicious posts about the Wilsons - and how offended you were that they attended the Colbert event..

YOU ARE ACTUALLY ROVE'S DEFENDER ON DU!!!!!.

While your chutzpa is astounding, your moral standing is in the toilet.
As for the response to "What Crime?"
the one that was practically committed under our eyes was lying to the investigators who first descended on the White House after the leak became an issue. Obstruction of justice at a minimum. I know lawyers get to defend criminals, but aren't you getting a bit past the retainer duties here?

[Marie26]

61. We don't know yet. nt

[stop the bleeding]

11. then we will pull our heads out of our asses n/t

[insane_cratic_gal]

16. the media has been on mute for a good long while

they never get the scoop that would require them to actually work and be non partisan!

[Catherine Vincent]

13. I'm goanna recommend this just to irritate certain people.

You know who you are. :D

Go Fitz!

[NoodleyAppendage]

15. I hope Leopold is using DISPOSABLE CELL PHONES. NSA now knows source.

Subverting grand jury secrecy laws is a big no-no. If I were Leopold, I wouldn't be calling or emailing my source to save my life. The same goes for ALL REPORTERS. The government is strangling the oversight role the press has served while the Repuke Congress has been on its knees by going after call logs.

J

[Coexist]

17. Just got this Alert in my inbox:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_060517_rove_indictment_and_.htm

Rove Indictment and Jason Leopold

Brief Update
In the bewildering situation touched off by Jason Leopold’s article asserting that Karl Rove had been indicted on multiple counts in the CIA Leak-Gate scandal, I wrote an article on Monday expressing support for Leopold. I was criticized by the Right for suggesting a conspiracy theory, and criticized by the Left for having the temerity to suggest that Leopold may in any way have gotten it wrong, even if by being fed disinformation.

It is now 12:39pm on May 17, five days after the publication of Leopold’s article on Truthout. I spoke a few moments ago with William Rivers Pitt who reassured me both that he and Jason were not offended by my Monday article and that they stick by their assertions 100%. I can not tell the entire contents of the conversation as much of it was off the record, but as a result of it, I am going to hold off further speculation until the end of the day on Friday, May 19, or until, how shall I put it, events obviously dictate otherwise. I thank my readers for being patient until then.

[The Witch]

19. I WAS WRONG - PATTON BOGGS IS WHOLE BUILDING

There are a few orgs on other floors, but they are the whole building.

I work at a legal newspaper in DC and I asked a reporter who has been there. There are 300 lawyers in that branch. It is the whole building.

[BurtWorm]

20. Nice find!

Maybe Leopold was talking of Business Floors, though? :shrug:

[The Witch]

21. Ha ha ha. Please re-check my post - I was wrong.

And I have a firsthand source - a reporter who has been to the building.

[BurtWorm]

28. Actually that makes more sense.

Thanks.

[Scout1071]

37. Bingo. That way Luskin can still claim that Fitz wasn't at Patton

Biggs after all.

[yodermon]

22. suspicious

but not damnable.
Are the floors G-2-3-4 or G-1-2-3-4 ? if the latter then the 4th floor is really the 5th floor, and Jason is fully vindicated and anyone who disagrees w/ me is a big ol freeper.
:P

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. Maybe it will happen on June 7 when we attack Iran

:shrug:

[lonestarnot]

27. That's his story and I'm stickin to it!

[robertpaulsen]

35. Interesting theory here.

From the OP link:

Perhaps Rove had been indicted on perjury and false statement charges, and Fitz was offering to let him plead to those counts, with a sentence concession for his cooperation, and letting him know that if he didn't accept the deal, he'd be going back to the grand jury and asking them to indict on obstruction of justice as well. Perhaps the 24 hours to get his affairs in order had to do with 24 hours to accept or reject the plea offer. (After all, it's not like Rove would be going to jail on Monday even if there was an Indictment. Like Libby, he'd get a personal recognizance bond. ) Even if Rove decided to reject the offer on Friday, at the end of the marathon session and didn't need until Monday, the earliest Fitz could go back to the grand jury for the indictment on the additional count would be today. The grand jury that is hearing the CIA leaks case meets Wednesdays and Fridays.

Jason says his sources are clear the indictment tendered to Rove was already voted on by the grand jury. Is it possible that Fitzgerald didn't file it with the clerk of the court, but provided a copy to the Judge with a motion to seal it and a motion to allow him to share it with Rove and Luskin? Will we ever know? See, Libby's Indictment (copy of filed indictment here.) The first page contains the date it was filed with the Court and the date in 2003 the grand jury was sworn in. The last page contains signatures for the grand jury foreperson and Fitzgerald, but not the dates the signatures were placed there.


That would explain why Leopold could only confirm the indictments for lying and perjury, but could neither confirm or deny an indictment for obstruction of justice. If this theory is true, and Rove's rejection stands, I would also anticipate Fitz getting that obstruction of justice indictment today and having Fitz call a press conference sometime before the weekend!

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

[benburch]

50. Makes sense.

I can't WAIT to hear how this plays out.

[stop the bleeding]

39. PACER

has nothing new filed for Libby or Rove as of 3pm EST, I know you all already knew that.

[Cleita]

47. If this becomes public, it will probably be a Friday night news dump.

eom

[onenote]

48. sources for the 250 emails

"Jason says he confirmed the story with more than 2 sources. He says Knights- Ridder, MSNBC and ABC News now have one source for the story.
He said that these same sources are repsonsible for his being able to break the story about the 250 pages of e-mail documents turned over to Fitzgerald in February."

Can someone provide a link to the story referred to? The first story I can find from JL about Fitz getting 250 emails is a story that reports on information disclosed that day in open court. WHile that story says "Sources close to the probe said the White House “discovered” the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week", that information was announced in open court, so it doesn't seem to be much of a revelation. Am I missing something?

[troubleinwinter]

49. I wait.

[Octafish]

51. I TRUST LEOPOLD BEFORE CHENEY, BUSH OR ROVE.

Leopold didn't out Plame.
Leopold didn't lie America into a war.
Leopold didn't cover-up 9-11.
Leopold didn't steal elections in 2000 and 2004.

Cheney, Bush and Rove did.

[Marie26]

53. I don't believe that for a second. nt

[benburch]

55. What part? nt

[Marie26]

57. Well, pretty much all of it

That was basically a knee-jerk reaction. There's some obvious things that aren't right, and the whole story sounds made up to me.

First, Rove doesn't have a Secret Service detail. The Secret Service only guards the Pres., VP, their families & foreign heads of state. A normal Administration official like Rove DOESN'T get Secret Service protection. That's just wrong.
http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/protection.shtml

The article says that Rove first tried to negotiate a plea bargain, which was rejected, & then Fitz handed him the indictment? That's impossible. Plea bargains are negotiated AFTER a defendant is indicted on charges. Once someone is charged, they can plea bargain to avoid a trial or get lesser charges. Why would Rove plea to a crime he'd never been indicted for? The sequence of events here is completely backwards. So that's wrong.

The entire 4th floor of Patton Boggs was locked down? For hours? Patton Boggs is an absolutely huge law firm & one of the most prestigious in the country. This type of case isn't hugely atypical for them, & I cannot see why they would close an entire floor of a very busy firm for negotiations in one case (of thousands). If they wanted privacy, they could go to a closed conference room, or meet in a different location. It sound over-dramatic, like something someone would include to make the meeting sound interesting & important.

I also don't buy his contention that ABC, etc. all have one source for this story, but are mysteriously sitting on the info & not asking Rove about it. If there's one thing reporters love, it's a scoop. If all these news agencies had heard about this, there'd be a lot of questions for Rove & a lot more speculation than we're seeing in the MSM.

Indictments can be issued secretly, but it's usually because the defendant is a flight risk. So, Fitz indicts Rove, but then says he'll give him "24 business hours" to "get his affairs in order" before he releases it to the public? Cause he's such a nice guy? That's BS. Last time, Fitz convened a press conf. immediately after the GJ indicted Libby & put the indictment on his website. There's NO reason for him to keep it secret so long, and it would be borderline unethical if he did, since there's no valid legal reason to do so. Don't even get me started on the ambiguous "24 business hours". That's not a term any prosecutor, or attorney, would ever use. Lawyers have to be precise & exact w/their language. You wouldn't say "24 business hours", because it creates ambiguity. (As opposed to 24 hours, or one business day.) What is 24 business hours - when do the hours begin & end? Monday? Sat.? 24 business hours spread out over a 40-hour workweek? Fitz is a precise lawyer - he'd have no reason to say something so imprecise & ambiguous. The only person who would have an interest in creating ambiguity here is the person who's trying to stretch out the time period for the indictment to be revealed.

The more details we learn here, the more convoluted & contradictory the story becomes. That's usually the hallmark of a lie, not someone who is simply reporting a truthful version of events. And, honestly, Leopold's refusal to admit an error in his original story & his continual addition of new "details" makes me really question his motivations here. I think he's adding new things to try to save the scoop now, after his original article wasn't accurate. It's one thing to get a story wrong, that happens, but refusing to admit an error & changing the story to cover up an error is pretty unethical. So, I go back to my knee-jerk reaction - I just don't believe this for a second.

[sheelz]

60. Wow Marie!

Nice work and well wriiten. :applause:

[Freedom_Aflaim]

54. Must maintain a poker face

Until you fold or win the hand.

However its getting pretty close to showdown

/poker analogys off

[No Exit]

58. In the movie, the turning point will be when some guy in a bar

tells Jeralyn Merritt (blogger/attorney at TalkLeft who spoke to Luskin Saturday night; the part of Jeralyn will be played by Jodie Foster, of course), "Cat? The Luskins don't own a cat!"

And she'll suddenly realize that Luskin was lying to her all along--lying when he said he'd spent Friday with his "sick cat", lying when he said the Leopold article wasn't true-- and just at that moment a big, black, screaming motorcade will speed by on its way to the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, and as she runs up to the courthouse, she'll see Patrick Fitzgerald striding in, surrounded by reporters and microphones, and then Luskin himself will appear on the steps of the courthouse, and he will say, "My client is innocent and he intends to fight this 100-count indictment!"

[Opening_Day]

59. Almost party time!

I don't know about you all, but I'm partying for 24 "business" hours! Whoo hooo!

[Moderator]

62. locking...

Please continue here:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1224473