Truespeak

Try as they might, the Republicans just can't get away from Rove-gate. Sure, they got a little reprieve with the nomination of Roberts but then today, there it was again: Washington Post, page A01, above the fold.

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

Plame -- who is referred to by her married name, Valerie Wilson, in the memo -- is mentioned in the second paragraph of the three-page document, which was written on June 10, 2003, by an analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), according to a source who described the memo to The Washington Post.

The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.

Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, though that designation was not specifically attached to Plame's name and did not describe her status as covert, the sources said. It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret.

Ahhhh! The media does its job. There will be plenty of time to discuss Roberts in the upcoming months. Right now, Rove's the word.

But while the WaPo story is nice, it looks as if there's more to come. According to Think Progress, the shit's going to be hitting the fan soon and it's not just splattering on Rove but Libby as well.

Two top White House aides have given accounts to the special prosecutor about how reporters told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to persons familiar with the case.

Lewis “Scooter'’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s identity.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told Fitzgerald that he first learned the identity of the CIA agent from syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who was first to report Plame’s name and connection to Wilson. Novak, according to a source familiar with the matter, has given a somewhat different version to the special prosecutor.

These discrepancies may be important because one issue Fitzgerald is investigating is whether Libby, Rove, or other administration officials made false statements during the course of the investigation. The Plame case has its genesis in whether any administration officials violated a 1982 law making it illegal to knowingly reveal the name of a CIA agent.

For almost five years now we've been watching the Bush administration deflect scandal after scandal. Fixing intelligence? Who cares? Not the media. Avoiding responsibility? So what? We've got Terri Schiavo to worry about. Lying about military service? Big deal! Homosexual fake reporters lobbing softball questions in the press room? Get out of town! Well, no more. They can deflect all they want, but there's simply too much shit flying around. The media smells blood and they're on the attack.

So what will Georgieboy do? Will he cut his losses or will he go down with the ship? Considering his debt to good ol' Karl, I'm guessing he'll ride this one all the way to the bottom. I can only imagine the dirt Rove's got on W. If Georgieboy kicks Karl to the curb, Karl could sing like a soprano in a Wagner opera. And don't think he wouldn't. Rove is a nasty mother-fucker. He'd cut his own mother if he thought there was some political capital to be earned. If Bush screws him, the knives will come out.

This could be good.