Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on whether there was a deliberate
effort to retaliate against Mr. Wilson for his column and its
criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Recently
lawyers said that they believed the prosecutor may be applying
new legal theories to bring charges in the case.
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.
"New legal theory"? Applying the law as it is written? ...What
kind of double talk is that?
Mr. Fitzgerald's conversations with lawyers in recent days
have cast a cloud over the inquiry, sweeping away the
confidence once expressed by a number of officials and their
lawyers who have said that he was unlikely to find any
illegality.
For the NY Times 'a cloud', for the rest of us: a 'ray of
sunlight'. If Fitzgerald comes down with any indictments,
that means the hearings are not just another whitewash
cover-up. If he's for real, then we can hope he'll go all
the way to the top and indict Bush & Cheney, who could not
possibly have been out of the loop in the Pflame leak.
Besides the Chapter 37 indictment, he could also get
them on conspiracy.
live by the sword, die by the sword,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/politics/07leak.html
October 7, 2005
Rove Ordered to Talk Again in Leak Inquiry
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 - The special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak
case has summoned Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser,
to return next week to testify to a federal grand jury in a
step that could mean charges will be filed in the case,
lawyers in the case said Thursday.
The prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, has held discussions in
recent days with lawyers for several administration officials
suggesting that he is considering whether to charge them with
a crime over the disclosure of an intelligence operative's
identity in a 2003 newspaper column.
Mr. Fitzgerald is said by some of the lawyers to have
indicated that he has not made up his mind about whether to
accuse anyone of wrongdoing and will use the remaining days
before the grand jury's term expires on Oct. 28 to decide.
Mr. Rove has appeared before the grand jury on three previous
occasions.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fitzgerald has indicated that he is not
entirely finished with Judith Miller, the reporter for The New
York Times who recently testified before the grand jury after
serving 85 days in jail. According to a lawyer familiar with
the case, Mr. Fitzgerald has asked Ms. Miller to meet him next
Tuesday to further discuss her conversations with I. Lewis
Libby, the vice president's chief of staff.
Ms. Miller went to jail rather than divulge the identity of
her source, but agreed to testify after Mr. Libby released her
from a pledge of confidentiality.
Mr. Fitzgerald has not indicated whether he plans to summon
Ms. Miller for further testimony before the grand jury.
Robert D. Luskin, a lawyer for Mr. Rove, said that Mr. Rove
has not received a target letter, which are sometimes used by
prosecutors to advise people that they are likely to be
charged with a crime. Mr. Luskin said Thursday that "the
special counsel has said that he has made no charging
decision."
Mr. Fitzgerald's conversations with lawyers in recent days
have cast a cloud over the inquiry, sweeping away the
confidence once expressed by a number of officials and their
lawyers who have said that he was unlikely to find any
illegality.
In coming days, the lawyers said, Mr. Fitzgerald is likely to
request that several other White House officials return to the
grand jury to testify about their actions in the case -
appearances that are believed to be pivotal as the prosecutor
proceeds toward a charging decision.
Mr. Fitzgerald is also re-examining grand jury testimony by
Mr. Libby, the lawyers said, but it is unknown whether he has
been asked to appear again before the grand jury. Mr. Libby's
lawyer, Joseph A. Tate, did not respond to telephone messages
left on Thursday at his office.
Mr. Luskin said that he had offered to have Mr. Rove return to
the grand jury if needed to clarify any questions that were
raised by the testimony in July by Matthew Cooper, a reporter
for Time magazine who was questioned about a conversation that
he had with Mr. Rove in July 2003.
"Karl's consistent position is that he will cooperate any
time, any place," Mr. Luskin said.
Mr. Rove has been caught up in the inquiry since the F.B.I.
began investigating the matter in 2003. He has told
investigators that he spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak
a few days after the operative's husband wrote an Op-Ed
article for The Times, a lawyer in the case has said. In that
conversation, Mr. Rove said that he learned the operative's
name from the columnist and the circumstances in which her
husband traveled to Africa.
But at the end of that conversation, Mr. Rove told Mr. Novak
that he had already heard the outlines of the columnist's
account.
The conversation with Mr. Novak took place several days before
Mr. Rove spoke with a second reporter, Mr. Cooper. Mr. Cooper
said later in an e-mail message to his editors that Mr. Rove
had talked about the operative, although not by name.
In recent days, Mr. Rove has been less visible than usual at
the White House, fueling speculation that he is distancing
himself from Mr. Bush or has been sidelined. But according to
a senior administration official, Mr. Rove and his wife are on
a long-planned trip visiting colleges with their teenage son.
Several lawyers who have been involved in the case expressed
surprise and concern over the recent turn of events and are
increasingly convinced that Mr. Fitzgerald could be poised to
charge someone with a crime for discussing with journalists
the identity of a C.I.A. officer.
The C.I.A operative was Valerie Wilson, also known by her
maiden name, Valerie Plame. Her identity was first publicly
disclosed in a July 14, 2003, newspaper column by Mr. Novak,
which suggested that she had a role in arranging a 2002 trip
to Africa by her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former
ambassador. The purpose of the trip was to look into
intelligence reports that Iraq had sought nuclear fuel from
Niger .
Mr. Novak's column was published a week after Mr. Wilson wrote
an Op-Ed article in The Times on July 6, 2003, discussing
his trip. Mr. Wilson wrote that he traveled to Africa at the
request of the C.I.A. after the office of Vice President Dick
Cheney had raised questions about the possible uranium sales.
Mr. Wilson wrote that he concluded that it was "highly
doubtful" that Iraq had tried to buy nuclear material from
Niger.
Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on whether there was a deliberate
effort to retaliate against Mr. Wilson for his column and its
criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Recently
lawyers said that they believed the prosecutor may be applying
new legal theories to bring charges in the case.
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.
The lawyers who discussed the investigation declined to be
identified by name citing the ongoing nature of the inquiry
and Mr. Fitzgerald's requests not to talk about it.
Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, said Ms.
Miller had been cautioned by her lawyers not to discuss the
substance of her grand jury testimony until Mr. Fitzgerald
finished questioning her.
"We have launched a vigorous reporting effort that I hope will
answer outstanding questions about Judy's part in this drama,"
Mr. Keller said. "This development may slow things down a
little, but we owe our readers as full a story as we can tell,
as soon as we can tell it."
Anne E. Kornblut contributed reporting for this article.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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