FYI. Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was [...]

They have this strange story out tonight that talks about the Joe Wilson’s and Valerie Plame’s son “outing” him. When I read it, well, it seemed like more of a paprazzi piece than a news story. Here, just check out this part… HOUSTON (Reuters) – The Washington couple at the heart of the CIA leak [...]

This is odd… Newspaper columnist Robert Novak is still not naming his source in the Valerie Plame affair, but he says he is pretty sure the name is no mystery to President Bush. “I’m confident the president knows who the source is,” Novak told a luncheon audience at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh on [...]

Well, it has been a while since we’ve heard about Rove and Plamegate, so … There have been rumors flying around Washington in the last few days that Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, might soon be indicted in the CIA leak investigation. At least for now, the rumors appear to be based on [...]

As reported here yesterday, Rove’s lawyer thinks Time reporter Viveca Novak is key to keeping Rove indictment-free. But is she? From the Wash Post: The reporter for Time magazine who recently agreed to testify in the CIA leak case is central to White House senior adviser Karl Rove’s effort to fend off an indictment in [...]

No, not Robert Novak. This is another Time reporter, Viveca Novak. Apparently she had some conversations with Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, and Fitzgerald wants to know what was said. From the AP: Novak, part of a team tracking the CIA case for Time, has written or contributed to articles in which Luskin characterized the nature [...]

Flash forward thirty years and Bob Woodward is in the midst of another reporter revelation involving a politically charged “gate.” The disclosure that a current or former Bush administration official told Bob Woodward of The Washington Post more than two years ago that the wife of a prominent administration critic worked for the C.I.A. threatened [...]

This is going to be messy… Editor and Publisher Hullabaloo Washington Monthly The Mahablog firedoglake JustOneMinute azerbic War and Piece Talking Points Memo Yellow Dog Blog Shakespeare’s Sister No More Mister Nice Blog The Mixed-Up Files of Mr. Bob Woodward And many, many more…

Norman Podhoretz, the arch-Neo-Con, pushes back against those who would turn the Fitzgerald probe into an indictment of the rationale for the Iraq war (i.e., “most Democrats”). He lays the cards on the table, both about Joe Wilson’s Niger adventure and the state of pre-war WMD intelligence. It’s not so much a constructed argument as [...]

So the CIA is operating secret prisons in Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe and seeking exemption from rules against torture. And many people see in that confirmation of the old leftist warning that the CIA has become a dangerous shadow government, with global reach and an amoral, self-serving agenda that runs counter to basic American [...]

Marathon running at its best … Senator Harry Reid, has requested a Senate closed session to discuss the issue of intelligence used by the administration in presenting the case for the war in Iraq … In a speech on the Senate floor, Reid demanded the Senate go into closed session. The public was ordered out [...]

Is this the beginning or the ending of the story ? Based upon the media response since Fitzgerald’s findings were made public, there’s disappointment in the air that Rove has apparently escaped (relatively) unscathed, although perhaps a bit angrier, and an indictment relating to the Iraqi war has been avoided. The result seems to be [...]

With the Libby indictment finally being handed down, the question now becomes … “What’s his defense ?” Libby, who resigned as soon as the indictment was handed up, was operating amid “the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government,” according to a statement released by his attorney, Joseph Tate. [...]

That’s what an op-ed piece in the Washington Post this morning is demanding. From David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey: Fitzgerald, a highly respected federal prosecutor from Chicago, was given the task of investigating whether Bush administration officials had violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by “leaking” the identity of CIA employee Valerie [...]

I enjoy much of what Andrew Sullivan has to say on things, and his reader’s emails are oftentimes just as intriguing. I don’t know what Fitz knows. But I think he is one inch from prosecuting the leak itself – at least his public comments leave the impression that he’s pissed about it – and [...]

As most of you already know, Libby was indicted yesterday and Rove is still under investigation. Today I read a story about a senior administration official, known only as “Official A”, will most likely be called to testify in Libby’s trial. And given that Rove has said recently he first heard Valerie Plame’s name from [...]

The full text of the Libby Indictment.

From the AP: WASHINGTON (AP) — The vice president’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter’ Libby Jr., was charged Friday with obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that will throw a spotlight on President Bush’s push to war. Libby resigned and left the White [...]