Fitzgerald To Brief Grand Jury Wednesday

Fitzgerald to brief grand jury Wednesday

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Fitzge...n_to_1213.html

Jason Leopold
12/14/2005

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will present additional evidence to a grand jury Wednesday morning in the CIA leak case that could result in an indictment being handed up against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, sources close to the investigation told RAW STORY.

Although the grand jury’s term expires in 18 months, Fitzgerald is expected to wrap up the case as it relates to Rove before the end of the year, the sources said.

Fitzgerald intends to present the grand jury with the sworn testimony from Rove’s attorney Robert Luskin, and Time magazine reporter Viveca Novak. The sources close to the case said Fitzgerald is still intent on seeking an indictment against Rove on at least one count of making false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators when he was first interviewed in early October 2003 about his role in the leak.

Rove failed to tell investigators at the time that he had spoken about covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper and conservative columnist Robert Novak, who first published her name and CIA status in a July 14, 2003 column. Rove had been a source for both journalists. Cooper and Novak later cooperated in the case. Luskin said Rove had forgotten about the conversation.

Eleventh-hour testimony from reporter Viveca Novak—who Rove’s attorney Robert Luskin fingered as a crucial witness in keeping his client out of court—does not appear to have been helpful to Rove in dodging an indictment, the sources said.

In a bid to keep Rove out of Fitzgerald’s crosshairs, Luskin recently told Fitzgerald that he had a conversation with Time magazine reporter Viveca Novak in February 2004 where she inadvertently revealed that Rove had been a source for her colleague Matt Cooper. Luskin said this prompted an exhaustive search for evidence that Cooper and Rove spoke. The search turned up an email Rove had sent to then Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley just minutes after his conversation with Cooper in which he told Hadley what they had spoken about. Luskin said he promptly turned over the email to Fitzgerald and that led Rove to change his testimony.

A week ago, Fitzgerald briefed the second grand jury hearing evidence in the leak case for more than three hours. During that time, he brought them up to speed on the latest developments involving Rove and at least one other White House official, the sources said. The attorneys refused to identify the second person.