The Indictment of Truthout.org
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Blogging, The Plame Game
Well, well, well…looks like Jason Leopold and his gang over at Truthout have some ’splaining to do.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Leopold reported on the aforementioned left-wing site that Rove’s indictment was imminent. As we’ve seen from today’s developments, it was not. Now comes the hard part for Truthout…what to do? Will they keep Leopold on? What’s an alternative partisan news source to do?
Well, yesterday, ahead of this news, Leopold reported the following:
Four weeks ago, during the time when we reported that White House political adviser Karl Rove was indicted for crimes related to his role in the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, the grand jury empanelled in the case returned an indictment that was filed under seal in US District Court for the District of Columbia under the curious heading of Sealed vs. Sealed.As of Friday afternoon that indictment, returned by the grand jury the week of May 10th, remains under seal – more than a month after it was handed up by the grand jury.
The case number is “06 cr 128.� On the federal court’s electronic database, “06 cr 128� is listed along with a succinct summary: “No further information is available.�
We have not seen the contents of the indictment “06 cr 128�. But the fact that this indictment was returned by the grand jury hearing evidence in the CIA leak case on a day that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the grand jury raised a number of questions about the identity of the defendant named in the indictment, whether it relates to the leak case, and why it has been under seal for a month under the heading Sealed vs. Sealed.
Sound like he’s back tracking to you?
I do have to applaud my fellow Donklephant bloggers. Back when the story came out, none of us covered it because it just didn’t smell right. And yes, sometimes caution is the better part of blogging, and the shoddy reporting that Leopold foisted on us should cause the entire left-wing of the blogosphere to take heed.
Ultimately though, if Truthout wants to maintain ANY sort of credibility, Leopold is gone. My gut, however, tells me they’ll do nothing.
Stay tuned…
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June 13th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
TruthOut has a history of reporting partisan rumor as fact. That they were wrong about Rove is no surprise at all. They tend to “report” what they want to be the truth rather than what IS the truth.
Maybe they should change their name to TruthinessOut.org
June 13th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
OK, so does that mean Rove was not guilty?
Perhaps the political ramifications…
Ahhhh! Speculation and rumour abound!
June 13th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Ahh…Colbert…
June 13th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Maybe they should change their name to TruthinessOut.org
…or, WeLeaveTheTruthOut.org
June 13th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
I refer all to the fantastic exhibition of blubbering lefty leftdown with David Corn. http://www.davidcorn.com/ — “Rove Escapes”
Corn is a nerdy hack that got wrapped-up in this like some bon-bon eatin’ trailor park queen does “As The World Turns.” Oh, he’s meticulously chronicled every time Rove thought about something related to national security.
Now he sounds like a sulking child who just had his favorite toy taken away. Never fear, he has of course written a book which his mother, Howard Dean and Kos I’m sure will buy.
Who’s TruthOut?
June 13th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
the shoddy reporting that Leopold foisted on us should cause the entire left-wing of the blogosphere to take heed.
You mean like this?
June 13th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Whether or not they’re indicting him in my opinion has little to do with whether or not he’s guilty - everyone knows how secretive this administration has been, all this means to me is they succeeded with the coverup. Either Rove or Cheney was likely behind this, and I think probably both.
Even if they weren’t behind this particular crime, I’m certain there’s plenty more to send them to jail with if we ever get to see what they’ve done behind closed doors.
June 13th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Yes Jeremy, exactly like that.
June 13th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I’m sorry, but from a semantics point of view, that’s just funny.
June 14th, 2006 at 11:15 am
[blockquote]
…everyone knows how secretive this administration has been …
I’m sorry, but from a semantics point of view, that’s just funny
[/blockquote]
Agreed
June 14th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Agreed my phraseology is somewhat oxymoronic, but I was of course referring to the barrage of refusals to provide information we have heard and the “no comments” they consistently use to evade serious questions about apparent wrongdoing.