Rove testifies for fourth time
WASHINGTON – The grand jury investigating the CIA leak case pressed White House senior adviser Karl Rove Friday to more fully explain his conversations with reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame, including discrepancies between his testimony and the account provided by a key witness in the investigation, according to a source familiar with Rove’s account.
Making his fourth appearance before the grand jury, Rove answered a broad range of questions for more than four hours, including why he did not initially tell federal agents about a July 2003 conversation about Plame with the witness, Time magazine’s Matthew Cooper, the source said.
Rove’s defense team asserts that President Bush’s deputy chief of staff has not committed a crime but nevertheless anticipates that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald could find a way to bring charges in the next two weeks, the source said.
“The special counsel has not advised Mr. Rove that he is a target of the investigation and affirmed that he has made no decision concerning charges,” Robert Luskin, Rove’s attorney, said in a statement.
Fitzgerald is believed to be in the final days of a 22-month investigation into whether any administration officials knowingly identified Plame to the media to retaliate against her husband, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war. White House officials are bracing for the possibility that Rove; I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff; or other officials could be indicted.
But it remains a mystery who – if anyone – will be charged in the case. The grand jury expires Oct. 28.
One person who will not be charged is Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who spent 85 days in jail for refusing to testify in the case before making two recent appearances before the grand jury. Miller was recently told by Fitzgerald that she is only a witness in the case, according to a source close to Miller.
Rove, the mastermind of Bush’s political career, who is considered the leading architect of White House political and policy plans, has emerged as a central figure in the investigation. In addition to his four trips to the grand jury, he spoke with investigators several times early in the probe.
His story has changed from the earliest days, when he told reporters he had nothing to do with the leak of Plame’s name. Since then, Rove has testified that he discussed Plame in passing with two reporters, including Robert D. Novak, whose July 14, 2003, syndicated column first publicly identified Plame as a CIA operative married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
On July 6, 2003, Wilson said publicly that he had found no evidence for the administration’s claim that Iraq was seeking uranium for use in a nuclear weapons program. Wilson had been sent to the African nation of Niger by the CIA to investigate that claim.
But Rove has maintained that he did not name Plame or disclose her covert status, and it is not clear whether his remarks amount to a crime.
The source close to Rove would not provide details of Friday’s exchange, other than to say the grand jury was very interested in discrepancies in testimony. Rove initially did not tell federal agents about his conversations with Cooper. In an earlier grand jury appearance, he testified that the purpose of their conversation was welfare reform, not Wilson or Plame.
But Cooper testified that he did not recall discussing welfare reform at all. He said he had detailed notes on their discussion about Wilson and Rove’s passing reference to Wilson’s wife.
There is also a mystery about a missing e-mail. The e-mail – from Rove to a White House colleague – shows Rove discussing his conversation with Cooper and saying he waved the reporter off Wilson’s allegations. It did not surface until earlier this year, well after the investigation was in full swing.