Lawyer: Rove Knew Who DoJ Was Interviewing & Which Witnesses Were Cooperating
Investigative reporter Larisa Alexandrovna has posted a piece at Raw Story looking into the truth behind the implications found in today's Karl Rove Wall Street Journal editorial - statements he makes that seem to imply that Rove knew who the Department of Justice "was interviewing and which witnesses were cooperating."
The article at Raw Story highlights the quotes from the Rove op/ed piece and investigates whether they reveal that Rove received information in inappropriate manners from the House Judiciary Committee and the DoJ.
The gist of the concerns are found within these Rove statements:
“Committee staff confided to me that they considered her an unreliable witness,” Rove says of Simpson. “I also understand that Mr. Siegelman and Ms. Simpson refused to cooperate with the Justice Department’s review of his claim of political persecution, while I willingly gave sworn testimony.”
The Dana Simpson Rove refers to in the editorial is, of course, whistleblower Dana Jill Simpson. Rove tries to discredit Simpson in the op/ed piece - thus the revelations of contact with House Judiciary and DoJ - because Simpson has links to the Don Siegelman prosecution in Alabama. She claimed that Rove was directly involved in the prosecution of the former Alabama governor.
Alexandrovna's Raw Story feature includes conversation with the former attorney of Ms. Simpson, Priscilla Duncan, who has provided copies of email correspondence between Duncan and the DoJ concerning the Office of Personal Responsibility. OPR was involved in the investigation of U.S. Attorneys Leura Canary and Alice Martin, investigation prompted by Simpson's affidavit testimony in which she alleged that then-Republican Congressman Bob Riley's campaign advisor, Bill Canary, had said in a conference call that "Rove had spoken with the Department of Justice" and that "his girls would take care of" Gov. Siegelman. The OPR apparently began to investigate Simpson and her personal life. Canary's wife is Leura Canary, U.S. attorney for the middle district of Alabama.
Simpson’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, along with other evidence, prompted an investigation into Leura Canary and Alice Martin by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which is tasked with investigating corruption allegations against attorneys employed by the Department of Justice.
- snip -
Pricilla Duncan, Simpson’s former attorney, said during a Thursday morning phone interview that she was concerned and wanted to know “how Rove could possibly know who the (Department of Justice) was interviewing and which witnesses were cooperating or not?”
When asked for comment, Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, clarified Rove’s statement about Simpson refusing to cooperate. He wrote in an email to Raw Story, “I think he’s referring to the current round of hearings/interviews. You are correct that she provided an affidavit and interview previously. She did decline to cooperate with the OPR investigation at Justice.”
Luskin declined, however, to comment as to how he found out Simpson had not testified.
In addition, Alexandrovna talks with Harper's Scott Horton about Rove's statement that he was in contact with House Judiciary Committee staffers in discussions about Simpson's reliability.
According to Alexandrovna, Horton says that he is not surprised that this had happened, “namely that Rove was communicating with G.O.P. staffers throughout the process to get information about the investigation — a process that violated his understanding with the Committee."
I encourage everyone to please read Larisa's entire article. I attended the DoJ corruption panel at Netroots Nation at which Gov. Siegelman spoke and posted about it here. Included there is the statement, in its entirety, that Gov. Siegelman and his legal representation have released that gives the "legal crux" of his recent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court: "How the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling in the Siegelman Case Puts Every Elected Official at Risk"
Gov. Siegelman wrote before he was released: "All roads lead to Rove."