A great piece by John Dean on Rove/Plame. Rove's got problems.

[jmcon007]

John Dean has a great analysis, covers a lot of bases and I believe he's got Rove hemmed in.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0715-01.htm

[Samuel Pepys]

1. Posted elsewhere

Hi, I'm new and late to this discussion. Perhaps someone out there has already explained why Robert Novak is still writing his column and Judy Miller is in jail? Has no one asked Novak to produce his sources, both of them, at least? He started the fight, how has he managed to stay unbloodied? Have I missed something? Can you please point me toward an explanation?

[Eloriel]

4. Well, near as I can tell, we just don't know for sure

Time will tell, perhaps.

There are rumors (or reports?) he sang like a canary to Fitzgerald, and if so perhaps he bought himself some latitude. Maybe he still will be in trouble. We just don't have tghe answers -- yet.

Edited: Forgot to say WELCOME TO DU!! :bounce:

[EVDebs]

6. She doesn't want to out her Operation Mockingbird connections

Which is a domestic/illegal CIA operation.

[Zuni]

2. That was an absolutely excellent article

I very much enjoy John Dean's editorials. He is one of the smartest cats out there. And he knows how the WH really works on the inside, especially a completely unethical WH

[jmcon007]

8. I agree. John Dean was poison to Nixon and his incite is poison to

Bush. The venom is 'truth'.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Rove goose cooked by Bush admin precedent

Executive summary: Bush administration threw the book at a federal employee for leaking like Rove did. If the Truth party (Dems) can hold the Say-Anything-for-Power party (Reps) to any shred of consistency, then Rove's goose is cooked. However, the Power party is as slippery as a greased pig.

Also posted here: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20050715.html">Originating FindLaw site
and here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/15/dean.rove/">CNN column

[martymar64]

5. I can't wait to hear from the Grand Jury

That's when the speculation ends and the real fun begins.

[gkhouston]

7. snort. true enough

If you think the Republicans are frantically spinning right now, just wait. It'll be like roaches that have just been sprayed with Raid.

[Ready2Snap]

9. Not that the Freepers don't already hate him

as the Judas that betrayed Nixon, even though he was apparently the only staffer to warn Nixon he was headed for trouble.

Dean lays out a valid, compelling and cogent arguement for why Rove's head is on the block.

[93ncsu]

10. Unfortunately ...

The Jonathan Randel case was nothing like this one. Randel sold information that he stole from DEA databases to a UK tabloid.

Why Dean fails to mention this key piece of information in his piece should raise some eyebrows ...

[Zensea]

11. So what?

I don't see how stealing the information changes the case.

I think John Dean might know a little bit about these sorts of things.

I'm not quite sure why it should raise any eyebrows at all. It's not like he's got any particular stake in the outcome.

[93ncsu]

12. The big difference is that ...

Randel actually personally and physically stole information from a DEA database and then sold it to a newspaper. There is currently no public information suggesting such actions by Rove.

If it turns out that Rove merely passed on information that he was given, then that is entirely different than him personally obtaining the information from CIA files and distributing it.

The bottom line is that it would be a very hard case to prosecute. Randel actually copped a plea and admitted to the theft and sale of government information.

John Dean is a lawyer. I am a lawyer. He just has better connections than I do ;-) .

[nickgutierrez]

13. Well, that is an interesting point

The issue of how Rove got a hold of this information is a crucial one - one would imagine that it shouldn't be possible for a man in his position, especially a cruel, vengeful man like Rove, to have access to this sort of sensitive information. So we're left to wonder who told him about Ms. Plame, which is a whole new criminal investigation altogether.

[Carolab]

14. IMHO, Rove is a sort of distraction from the real issues.

Like who leaked the information in the first place, to whom, and how? And, then, beyond that is the nature of the leak, which was to discredit certain persons because they didn't like them telling the truth about the lies that led to Iraq.

This shouldn't be just about Rove. It should be about this administration and its cover-ups.

[Seabiscuit]

15. The nice thing about Dean's piece is it focuses on other legal violations

and isn't limited to the one federal law that's been the focus of the news (and on DU) all week.