Well, we all remember Bob Novak's meltdown on CNN's "Situation Room." But few of us appreciated at the time that Novak's antsiness here and in earlier "Capitol Gang" exchanges with Margaret Carlson and
Al Hunt actually represented a legitimate source of stress for the ol' Douchebag of Liberty. That stress was the realisation that he was about to play a pivotal role in bringing down Karl Rove and - perhaps - the Vice President of the United States.
Amazing revelations await below the fold!
A Testy and Antsy Novak
Remember this scene?
It was an amazing episode in current affairs, causing no small amount of jaw-dropping and hilarity. But in the context of Patrick Fitzgerald's recent revelations that "Official 'A'" leaked Valerie Plame's name to Bob Novak, re-read now the exchange between James Carville and Bob Novak:
NOVAK: Let me finish what i'm going to say, James. I know you hate to hear me...
CARVILLE: He's got to show the right wingers he's got backbone. Show them you're tough.
NOVAK: i think that's bullshit and I hate that. Just let it go.
"Just let it go"? Let what go? Had Carville and Novak had some prior exchange over this matter of showing right-wingers that "he's got backbone"?
Or consider this earlier exchange between Margaret Carlson and Novak on the June 8, 2005 "Capital Gang" :
HUNT: Margaret, is Deep Throat now going to be used as an excuse for retaining anonymous sources?
CARLSON: I hope so! We need some excuse because, as Ben Bradlee said, it's under attack. And at the very moment Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are -- are out in the public again and reviewing this, Matt Cooper and Judy Miller are possibly going off to prison for protecting some thug in White House who gave them bad information and who won't -- who won't admit that he or she did it.
So you know, there's a lot at stake. We all have to be careful that we're not being used, figure out what axe to grind the person might have, but it's -- it's one of the ways that you have to use to get information out.
HUNT: Chuck Colson, you know, the ex-con, was shocked that a public official violating the public trust. I don't think there's anybody here -- maybe John Sears, but nobody here is going to -- going to -- going to be shocked at the use of anonymous sources, are they, Bob?
NOVAK: Well, no. We use anonymous sources all -- you can't -- you can't exist in this town without anonymous sources, particularly on a story like Watergate. But just on a normal little story, a little -- a little story I'm doing on -- on how -- whether the president's doing a good job on congressional relations -- nobody's going to talk to you on the record on that. And these editors, self -- self-important editors and reporters that say, We're going to -- we're going to give it -- put a stop to this -- so I get a -- I give -- I hope that this does stop some of that, but I'm afraid it won't.
<snip>
CARLSON: And someone in the White House wanted to dish out a story about Joe Wilson's wife, to be mean and undercut the story and whether -- and now won't be called to account for it, while two reporters march off to jail. Now, that's a -- you know, I think there should be some way that if a source lies to you or commits a crime, that then the privilege is diminished.
HUNT: Certainly, if they lie to you, but not if they're wrong. There are some people who...
CARLSON: No, not if they're wrong...
HUNT: ... said if they're wrong...
CARLSON: ... but if...
HUNT: Some people want to be...
CARLSON: But this -- this is...
NOVAK: I do -- I do believe...
CARLSON: This is a lie.
NOVAK: ... one of the (INAUDIBLE) of journalists, since we have my colleague, Margaret, making rather broad declarations, I don't think reporters should make judgments and declarations on things they don't know anything about.
CARLSON: Well, we wouldn't have a show!
Fitzgerald and Novak
Now we have these excerpts concerning Bob Novak and his source from Patrick Fitzgerald's press conference:
FITZGERALD: And he [Libby] told the FBI that when he passed the information on on July 12th, 2003, two days before Mr. Novak's column, that he passed it on understanding that this was information he had gotten from a reporter; that he didn't even know if it was true.
<snip>
QUESTION: For all the sand thrown in your eyes, it sounds like you do know the identity of the leaker. There's a reference to a senior official at the White House, Official A, who had a discussion with Robert Novak about Joe Wilson's wife. Can you explain why that official was not charged?
FITZGERALD: I'll explain this: I know that people want to know whatever it is that we know, and they're probably sitting at home with the TV thinking, "I'm want to jump through the TV, grab him by his collar and tell him to tell us everything they figured out over the last two years."
We just can't do that. It's not because we enjoy holding back information from you; that's the law.
And one of the things we do with a grand jury is we gather information. And the explicit requirement is if we're not going to charge someone with a crime; if we decide that a person did not commit a crime, we cannot prove a crime, doesn't merit prosecution, we do not stand up and say, "We gathered all this information on the commitment that we're going to follow the rules of grand jury secrecy, which say we don't talk about people not charged with a crime, and then at the end say, well, it's a little inconvenient not to give answers out, so I'll give it out anyway."
I can't give you answers on what we know and don't know, other than what's charged in the indictment.
It's not because I enjoy being in that position. It's because the law is that way. I actually think the law should be that way.
We can't talk about information not contained in the four corners of the indictment.
My Analysis
Bob Novak named Karl Rove - Official A - as the person who leaked Valerie Plame's name. My guess is that the charges brought against Libby are part and parcel of Fitzgerald getting his ducks lined up before he proceeds with or unseals indictments concerning the leak itself. He needs, as he put it in his press conference, to recover the truth from Libby's alleged lies and obstruction.
Libby's trial will do this. It will do it by compelling public testimony from people who were barely able to tolerate the anonymity of giving evidence before a Grand Jury.
Whatever his motivation, we may soon be thanking Bob Novak for providing the evidence that may lead to charges against Karl Rove of leaking classified information.