Just in…
Rove will not be indicted…remains under investigation…grand jury will ask to extend its term…
more as we get it…
Update [2005-10-27 22:45:35 by catnip]:: Here’s the link to the NYT story which reads:
WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 – Associates of I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, expected an indictment on Friday charging him with making false statements to the grand jury in the C.I.A. leak inquiry, lawyers in the case said Thursday.
Karl Rove, President Bush’s senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday.
As rumors coursed through the capital, Mr. Fitzgerald gave no public signal of how he intends to proceed, further intensifying the anxiety that has gripped the White House and left partisans on both sides of the political aisle holding their breath.
[…]
Administration officials said that the White House would seek to keep as low a profile as possible if indictments were issued; Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, did not schedule a briefing for Friday, and Mr. Bush plans to leave in the afternoon for a weekend at Camp David.
Note: I heard about this NYT story originally on CNN’s NewsNight show with Aaron Brown who said exactly what I had written: that Libby will be indicted according to the NYT. The NYT article does not actually say as much. I will double-check Brown’s transcript once it’s up. – catnip
[editor’s note, by catnip]: Brown has now read the partial text of the NYT’s article on his show and discussed with WH correspondent John King that the indictment of Libby is “expected”. King says he’s spoken to several collegues of Libby’s tonite and that they too expect him to be indicted but none of them would say for certain.
more updates on the flip side including a statement from Booman, currently on assignment…
Update [2005-10-28 0:40:53 by catnip]:: As Man Eegee points out in the comments from a link to the new WaPo article, “Rove, Libby Assemble Team to Handle Possible CIA Leak Indictments”, Andrew Card is forlorn: “These will be very, very dark days for the White House”. Well, maybe you guys should have thought about that before you created this mess in the first place. I’m just sayin’…
Booman, calling in from an undisclosed location while on double-super-duper-secret assignment has this to say about the WaPo article:
“The NYT makes it sound like Rove will not be indicted. The WP does not make that assumption. All indications are that the announcement will rock the
world. Libby is dreaming if he thinks he is only gonna get hit with false statements.
The WP is cautious, but makes clear that the White House thinks they are fucked. I don’t want to be overly optimistic, and tomorrow may only reveal a little piece of the overall case, but they are getting reamed and they know it.”
http://nytimes.com/2005/10/28/politics/28leak.html?hp&ex=1130472000&en=f4b9e5edc0a35fdf&
ei=5094&partner=homepage
Linkage here
To pop the cork, or not to pop the cork? Is this cause for celebration? I’ve had a bot on ice since November 2004.
And get another bottle as soon as you can 🙂
Both Keith Olbermann on “Countdown” and Randi Rhodes over at Air America have reported that this particular GJ has already received one extension, and can’t be extended again. Is this accurate, or is there some confusion (other than my own)?
And if Fitzgerald has to release this GJ and empanel a new one, will they then have to start from Square One (and give Rove a chance to get his stories straight)?
Just curious…
Special GJ’s can be extended again…regular GJ’s can’t…this one is a special GJ…so this one can.
I’m relieved…thank you…
Looks like these folks are in for the long haul.
Incidentally, I heard someone discussing the makeup of the GJ — mostly African-American women, from what I heard (considering it’s Washington DC, not surprising). Wonder if that will affect how they view the whole rigamarole…
Hey NYBri–
Would you mind telling the people over at the Big Orange that? Cause the CW over there seems to be GJ extension not permitted.
Also, tonight is the first I’ve EVER heard about the current GJ being extended once. Do we have reputable source on that?
Here
Here is the entire post with link:
I am posting this as a public service to clarify any confusion anyone may have about whether Fitz can extend the present Grand Jury. It seems he can according to The University of Dayton Law School:
The story you linked to was apparently deleted (or something). I hope you don’t mind, I re-posted your comment here on Hunter’s front page post.
I did give credit and link back to your post here. Thanks a ton for the clarification!
From tomorrow (Friday)’s WaPo:
I have no sympathy for you Mr. Card.
Drudge has the same headline up with his little siren thingy…so it must be true. lol
This is like getting to open one of your presents on Christmas Eve!
Most people, even Republicans, don’t know who Rove is. So the news is that someone high up in Bush’s administration had been indicted. That plants a seed of doubt. And then Rove is left to twist in the wind. It couldn’t happen to a greater guy! Twist, Rove, twist.
I know we all wanted the satisfaction of Rove being indicted. But we might have to settle for this half measure.
if this proves to be true, then it’s 1 down, 24 to go. We need more handcuffs.
Fitzgerald may have discovered that by dragging one off, you drag them all. They’re connected at the roots.
Yep, I’d say the aspens are turning…
Good Morning Starshine
From: “Hair”
Original Lyrics plus some additions
Good morning starshine
The earth says hello
You twinkle above us
We twinkle below
Good morning starshine
You lead us along
My love and me as we sing
Our early morning singing song
Gliddy glub gloopy
Libby is indicted
La la la lo lo
The Aspen leaves have turned
Rove is gonna get burned
Le le lo lo
Cheney’s heart is weakening
Dubya’s back to drinking
Early morning singing song
Good morning starshine
The earth says hello
You twinkle above us
We twinkle below
Good morning starshine
You lead us along
My love and me as we sing
Our early morning singing song
Gliddy glub gloopy
Canaries they are singing
La la la lo lo
Leakers madly leaking
plea bargins they are seeking
Le le lo lo
The perp’s are going down
Fitz is cleaning town
Early morning singing song
Singing a song
Humming a song
Singing a song
Loving a song
Laughing a song
Singing a song
Sing the song
Song song song sing
Sing sing sing sing song
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
I despise Rove — I mean, what sane person wouldn’t? But for me, this investigation has always been about the lies that led us to Iraq.
I want Libby, and especially Darth Cheney. They are the ones who, in my mind, took an aggressive and pathological role in hiding intelligence, reinterpreting intelligence, and just plain inventing intelligence.
I am relieved that there will be another GJ. I would guess that Fitzgerald has a boatload of new information that will lead us to the Niger forgeries and right back to Cheney’s office.
Here’s another take on things from a LA Times Article
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-leak28oct28,0,3862341.story?coll=la-home-headli
nes
“The White House — and lawyers for White House advisers Karl Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby — braced for the possibility of indictments, although there were signs that Fitzgerald was keeping them guessing to the bitter end.
People close to the investigation said that, as of late Thursday afternoon, Rove had received no notice that he was going to be indicted. Some observers took that as a sign that the longtime Bush strategist might emerge from the investigation without being charged.
But others said that Fitzgerald might be waiting until Friday to alert those being charged to reduce the chances of last-minute leaks about his intentions.
Robert Luskin, Rove’s lawyer, declined to comment. Libby’s lawyer, Joseph Tate, didn’t respond to multiple messages.”
I like that second-to-last paragraph.
Me too–i also like ‘keep them guessing to the bitter end’. There was a previous post about a week ago, i think it was you, that included a c-span link of Fitzgerald announcing indictments against George Ryan, former gov. of IL. He spoke without any reference to notes in incredible detail about the charges, for several minutes. I still think it possible that Fitzgerald will bring serious charges related to leaking classified info. Both the WaPo and NYT were consistent about the spin around rove tonite so i take those article with a grain of salt. Thankfully, we will know something for sure tomorrow!
perhaps Fitz has been tying up a few loose ends and maybe even trying to get Rove to Plea and if not is bringing it to the GJ tomorrow for a vote. Maybe he did Libbys yesterday and Roves will be tomorrow. Fitzie knows how devilish Rove is, why give Rove pre-indictment time to spin stuff his way. Fitz could really taking Rove to the wire in hopes Rove will flip or take the Bargin? I can’t imagine Rove getting cleared..we all know he is the root to all evil and knows everything that happens in the WH.
.
MIKE ALLEN:
“A Likely Scenario For What Happened Today [Wednesday – Ed] Is Patrick Fitzgerald Got Some Indictments.”
Very possible. What I’m told is typically, in a case like this, he could get the indictments and now he can go to the targets and say, you can plead to these or I’ll go back Friday and get more. You have 12 to 24 hours to think about it.
Read more »»
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Yes, extend the GJ, Fitzgerald is uncovering the whole sordid story of a nation lied too. What foreign nationals had access to our corridors of power? Who had access to the VP’s office in the months leading up to the war? Was Cheney violating the law when he was playing spy games? Who fed him the bogus intelligence? Chalabi? Who was curveball? Could curveball have been planted by the administration? Do we already know some of this stuff? Is my ignorance showing?
I don’t believe the Grand Jury will be extended. There is so much hype. I’m afraid your baloon is about to burst. This is looking like a big dud to me.
I am getting really angry.
Libby….who cares.
There is a war in Iraq and now we are not going to find out about it and it will not offically be exposed
I like it. Nail Libby for lying, get the wingnuts to flip their wigs and downplay perjury. Let us shoot that shit down with all the quotes from the Clinton witch hunt. While they’re reeling, then come through and throw the whole book at them. …eight, nine, TEN!!!
It isn’t schadenfreude, it’s justice. Erasing a hard drive to hide the documents? That’s hard core.
If Libby is indicted for perjury it’s BULLSHIT!
After 2 years it means they have nothing on the Plame Scandal itself. This is an empty road if it’s true.
One indictment? After 2 years. C’mon. I don’t know if it’s true, but one indictment after 2 years is not typical of Fitzgerald’s handling of George Ryan or Mayor Daley. He’s indicting anybody and everybody and getting them to turn.
Now if he has one idnictment this case is a Fixgerald.
Smile, for chrissakes! 😀
I know that for whatever reason, you’ve doubted Fitzgerald from the start, but every single thing that we’ve learned (or heard, perhaps more accurately) point to him trying to get this thing right.
I don’t know if he kicked your cat or something, but man, lay off the guy til we know what happened.
.
By E&P Staff – Published: October 27, 2005 3:30 PM ET
NEW YORK The Toledo Blade, which was first onto the so-called “Coingate” scandal in Ohio, broke another related story this afternoon, reporting that a federal grand jury has indicted the central figure in the coin scandal –Tom Noe, the former Maumee coin dealer suspected of laundering money into President Bush’s reelection campaign–on three counts.
The Toledo Blade – Indictment Tom Noe
Noe’s attorney, Jon Richardson, told The Blade he was called this afternoon and informed of the indictment. “The U.S. Attorney’s office announced in April that it was investigating Mr. Noe for possible violations of federal campaign finance laws,” the Blade wrote today.
The prosecutor later held a press conference in Toledo at 4:30 p.m.
Here is part of its report following the press conference:
“A federal grand jury has indicted Tom Noe — the former Toledo-area coin dealer at the center of a state investment scandal — on three counts for allegedly laundering money into President Bush’s re-election campaign.
“The three-count indictment says that beginning in October 2003, Mr. Noe contributed to President Bush’s election campaign ‘over and above the limits established by the Federal Election Campaign Act.’
[…]
FindLaw — Ohio’s “Coingate” Scandal:
How It Exposes the Flaws of Our Campaign Finance System
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
Jeez, I doze off on the couch for a bit and all hell breaks loose. Sounds like to me that we will get an extension and that we will just have to be a little more patient. One down, how many to go? We have waited over five years to see this and I for one am optimistic this is just the tip of the iceburg. I must hurry up and go back to sleep so I can wake back up to more good news.
Beat that drum, dumpty dumpty dumm!