Bush's Rove Boat Is Leaking ...

Finally, we get to find out - who was the inside person at the White House that leaked the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative ... and as it stands, all fingers seem to be pointed at Karl Rove.

Editor & Publisher: Reports Reveal Karl Rove Named in Matt Cooper Documents

By Greg Mitchell

NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to a federal judge, revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source or sources in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant. Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, now claims that at least two authoritative sources have confirmed that one name is top White House mastermind Karl Rove.

This afternoon, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff confirmed that Cooper did indeed talk to Rove for his story, but Rove's lawyer denied he was the key leaker in the case.

"The e-mails surrendered by Time Inc., which are largely between Cooper and his editors, show that one of Cooper's sources was White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to two lawyers who asked not to be identified because they are representing witnesses sympathetic to the White House," Isikoff writes on the Newsweek web site. "Cooper and a Time spokeswoman declined to comment. But in an interview with Newsweek, Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, confirmed that Rove had been interviewed by Cooper for the article. It is unclear, however, what passed between Cooper and Rove."

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that Karl Rove was behind this thing, but he can't be the only leak involved. For starters, where did Karl get his info? Well it would have had to come from somebody who had access to it. Somebody that could pressure people into divulging the names of the operative who collected intel regarding the proof of purchase, or lack of,in the claims the Iraq had tried to acquire Uranium from Niger. Somebody like, ohhh - John Bolton. Which could also explain why Bush has refused to release the documents requested regarding his confirmation to the United Nations. If they show that Bolton got Plame's name as a CIA operative, which he would not need to know, then he might just be the beginning of an inside conspiracy to leak her identity as retribution to the article her husband wrote telling the world that Bush & Co. were lying about Iraq's apparent nuclear threat.


I doubt Bolton was the only source of the leak. He most likely passed the information to Rove, who in turn may have had a few people shopping around for a reporter willing to pull the trigger.

According to Novak, there were two sources regarding the Plame story. The other finger seems to be pointed at "Scooter" Libby.

And just how much did Bush know about the whole thing? I doubt he would have been kept out of the loop.

I seems that the Grand Jury investigation into the leak might actually prove useful. The source had been named by Novak some time ago, and Rove had answered questions by the Grand Jury on several occasion, claiming he has no involvement whatsoever in the leak. Now he may be looking at having perjured himself to the Grand Jury.

Then again, this seems to hinge of the dates of the notes recently released by Time. If Roves contacts with Cooper were after Novak broke the story, then it could porvide Rove with a defense.

It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Lawrence O'Donnell - "What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's emails-within Time Magazine, uh, are handed over to the grand jury is the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is. And I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of-for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time Magazine's going to do with the grand jury."
(C&L has the video on this)