Here is a short sweet bedtime story for addicted Karl Rove addicts. So dreams of sugerplums dance in your heads. Tomorrow the Rove Grand Jury will meet again and RawStory reports that MSNBC reports Rove believes he is in legal jeopardy
Karl Rove has described his three and a half hour meeting with a grand jury as grueling, and is more worried about being prosecuted than ever, MSNBC is reporting. An MSNBC report tonight will reveal that one of Rove's lawyers said the presidential adviser described his fifth grand jury appearance as "hell." MSNBC's David Shuster is expected to be live on Keith Olbermann's 8pm show this evening, sources say.
The three and a half hour duration is considered highly unusual for a fifth appearance before a grand jury, Shuster reported. His report will re-air at 7pm EST. Also not boding well for Rove is the fact that the grand jury plans to meet tomorrow. Some are speculating that an indictment for Rove may be handed up tomorrow, though others have claimed such a fast turnaround time is unlikely.
NYT UPDATE BELOW FOLD: 2 - 3 Weeks For Fitz Decision!
UPDATE AT MIDNIGHT
OMG I think I'm going to die of waiting! Raw Story is now reporting that tomorrow morning the NYT will run a story saying Fitzgerald may take as long as two to three weeks to make up his mind if he will seek indictment of Rove!
Fitzgerald to decide whether to charge Rove 'within two to three weeks'
RAW STORY: Published: Thursday April 27, 2006
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel in the CIA leak case, is expected to decide in the next two to three weeks whether to bring perjury charges against Karl Rove, the powerful adviser to President Bush, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday, the NEW YORK TIMES will report Friday.
With the completion of Rove's fifth appearance before the grand jury on Wednesday, Fitzgerald is now believed to have assembled all of the facts necessary to determine whether to seek an indictment of Rove or drop the case.
Lawyers in the case said Fitzgerald will spend the coming days reviewing the transcript of Rove's three hours of testimony on Wednesday and weigh it against Rove's previous statements to the grand jury as well as the testimony of others, including a sworn statement that Rove's lawyer gave to the special counsel earlier this year.
A lawyer with knowledge of the case said that Rove has known for more than a month that he was likely to make another appearance before the grand jury, and that he has known since last fall that he would be subject to further questions from Fitzgerald before he completed his inquiry. Rove was relieved of his day-to-day domestic policy duties at the White House in a staff shake-up last week, but White House officials say that the change in Rove's job was unrelated to his legal complications.
I'm speechless. Why does he need 2 to 3 weeks? Aaaugghh!
END OF UPDATE
Excerpts From Transcript of David Shuster's Report
Before even getting into the content, can we pause for a moment to enjoy the fact that this is a report breaking from a major TV news network? Progress.
WHILE HIS SUPPORTERS CONTINUE TO PUT ON A GOOD FACE, SOURCES CLOSE TO KARL ROVE SAY THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR IS NOW MORE WORRIED, NOT LESS, THAT HE IS GOING TO GET INDICTED. THE SOURCES SAY ROVE WAS SURPRISED BY SOME OF THE QUESTIONS HE WAS ASKED AND BY THE FACT THE SESSION STRETCHED ON FOR THREE AND A HALF HOURS.
BUT THE GRAND JURY, ACCORDING TO SOURCES, ALSO PRESSED ROVE ABOUT HIS TESTIMONY IN 2004 WHEN HE FAILED TO REVEAL HE SPOKE TO TIME MAGAZINE'S MATT COOPER ABOUT VALERIE PLAME -- THE FORMER CIA OPERATIVE AT THE HEART OF THE INVESTIGATION.
[Scott Fredericksen, former independent counsel] "Grand jurors asking about why he didn't recall his conversation in the original grand jury means they are focusing on the charge itself: Did he perjure himself? And they are not yet convinced of his explanations, that's why they are asking those questions."
The Seven Month Delay!
All of these gigantic media cases become so complicated, it can be difficult for even hard core addicts to follow. Until the case can suddenly be boiled down to one key indictable piece of evidence or smoking gun. In this case, instead of the 18 1/2 minutes gap in the Nixon tape, we now have the "Seven month gap.". The amount of time it apparently took Rove to come forward to remember his involvement with Matt Cooper. And a confession he did not make until after his lawyer was tipped off that Fitzgerald already knew this from Viveca Novak.
ROBERT LUSKIN SPOKE OF A CONVERSATION WITH TIME REPORTER VIVECA NOVAK AND A TIP ABOUT WHAT HER COLLEAGUE MATT COOPER MIGHT TESTIFY TO. LUSKIN AND ROVE THEN SEARCHED FOR WHITE HOUSE INFORMATION TO REFRESH ROVE'S MEMORY AND FOUND A WHITE HOUSE E-MAIL ABOUT THE ROVE-COOPER CONVERSATION. THEN, ACCORDING TO LUSKIN, ROVE CHANGED HIS TESTIMONY.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE TIME LAPSE FROM THE NOVAK TIP TO THE NEW ROVE TESTIMONY... WAS 7 MONTHS.
AND FROM THE DATE WHEN PROSECUTOR PATRICK FITZGERALD FIRST ORDERED MATT COOPER TO TESTIFY TO WHEN ROVE CHANGED HIS TESTIMONY WAS JUST DAYS.
Fredericksen: "Mr. Fitzgerald is a straight shooter, I have no doubt in my mind he has told them very clearly why he has Rove in there. It's because he wants to determine whether Mr. Rove was telling the truth when he first appeared before the grand jury."
Fitzgerald Always Indicts Official A? LOL
But the most compelling hint of all for me tonight it this news that Fitzgerald "always" indicts "Official A." I found this to be hilarious. Which is probably a sign it's time to call it a day. But a good day.
BY ALL ACCOUNTS, VOLUNTEERING TO TESTIFY TO A GRAND JURY IS A RISKY PROPOSITION... LAWYERS SAY IT IS USUALLY DONE WHEN THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT MAY STOP AN INDICTMENT. AND THE SIGNS FOR ROVE HAVE BEEN OMINOUS FOR MONTHS. IN THE LIBBY INDICTMENT, ROVE WAS REFERRED TO AS "OFFICIAL A." THAT'S A DESIGNATION PROSECUTORS ARE REQUIRED TO GIVE WHEN THEY ARE REVEALING PERJORATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT A PERSON NOT YET CHARGED.
Fredericksen: "When your client is identified in that manner, it's a cause of great concern."
THAT'S BECAUSE PROSECUTORS ALMOST ALWAYS END UP INDICTING SOMEBODY IDENTIFIED AS OFFICIAL A. AND IN LOOKING THROUGH THE RECORD OF PATRICK FITZGERALD, HIS OFFICE HAS EVENTUALLY INDICTED OFFICIAL A IN EVERY CASE.
Conclusion
Wouldn't it be great to get a Karl Rove indictment tomorrow? I don't see any reason to put it off any longer.
I'm reminded of the Eurythmics old song. .
"Sweet dreams are made of this."
Sweet dreams readers. Tomorrow could be the day.