Is Rove Next?
Posted by Randy Gainer
The indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on five counts, including obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the FBI, and perjury to the grand jury, has caused many to question whether Karl Rove will be also be indicted shortly. Paragraph 21 of the Libby indictment states:
On or about July 10 or July 11, 2003, LIBBY spoke to a senior official in the White
House ("Official A") who advised LIBBY of a conversation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson's trip. LIBBY was advised by Official A that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson's wife.
It appears to some that "Official A" is Karl Rove.
Earlier this summer, a legal commentator stated "There is no question that if a senior administration official who had access to Plame's identity leaked that secret information to Novak, that official, if found, will face prosecution under the statute [the Intelligence Identities Protection Act]." Eunnice Eun, "Journalists Caught in the Crossfire: Robert Novak, The First Amendment, and Journalist's Duty of Confidentiality," 42 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1073, 1074 (2005). Perhaps because "Official A's" role in leaking Ms. Plame's status to Novak has been established so firmly that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald feels confident enough to cite it as a fact in the indictment that Rove is reportedly "willing to talk" to Fitzgerald, allegedly to cut a deal.
If Rove is the "Official A" named in the Libby indictment, he could be prosecuted under a provision of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act ("IIPA") if Plame's status at the CIA's Center for Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control ("WINPAC") was covert and if the CIA was taking "affirmative measures to conceal" her covert CIA job. See 18 U.S.C. section 421(a) and (b). Further, for the statute to apply, "Official A" would have had to "intentionally" disclose her CIA role, which must have been classified, and she would have had to have served overseas during the five years before her status was disclosed. See 18 U.S.C. section 426(4)(A). The second and third parts of this three-part requirement apparently existed. As for intent, paragraph 21 of the Libby indictment phrases "Official A's" discussion with Novak passively, "Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA employee." Novak, however, has said that he was given the information by two senior administration officials and that he did not provide the information to them. "Journalists Caught in the Crossfire," 42 Am. Crim. L. Rev. at 1076, citing Timothy M. Phelps & Knut Royce, "Columnist Blows CIA Agent's Cover," Newsday, July 22, 2003 at A4. Fitzgerald's recent talks with Rove may be focusing on the intent element of a charge under the IIPA.
Rove could also be indicted, as Libby has been, for allegedly giving false statements to the FBI and grand jury.
