Burnt Orange Report

Unnamed Source "Briefed" on Rove

By John Pruett

In today's NY Times, an unidentified source alleges that Novak first contacted Rove on July 8, 2003 with the Valerie Plame story, thus denouncing claims that Rove revealed her identity in an attempt to discredit her husband. However, I remain unconvinced.

First of all, who is this anonymous person who has been "officially briefed" about a private phone call between Novak and Rove? Who briefed this person? Was it Karl himself, or Bush, or Scott McClellan, or anyone in the Bush Administration for that matter? What were the motives of this person? Do other sources confirm the phone conversation in question and when it took place?

Secondly, the NY Times article ignores that Rove told CNN last year that he didn't know Plame's identity, yet the NY Times source claims that Rove learned her name and connection to Mr. Wilson from Novak. Did Rove know her name OR not know it? Which is correct?

Furthermore, even if he found out from Novak, then why did Rove push the story further by giving the information to Matt Cooper with Time magazine a few days later? At that point, Rove would not only be confirming a media rumor but also helping to spread Plame's identity to other reporters. To me that still counts as an attempt to publicly smear Wilson's credibility.

I, for one, feel that Karl Rove is the last person in the Bush Administration who deserves any slack, especially when that slack comes in the form of an uncorroborated anonymous source. In my opinion, Rove's history of dirty tricks, smear tactics, and general disdain for ethics and legality are alone enough to warrant a thorough investigation and a statement by Rove under oath.

As the NY Times article later states:

This is not the first time Mr. Rove has been linked to a leak reported by Mr. Novak. In 1992, Mr. Rove was fired from the Texas campaign to re-elect the first President Bush because of suspicions that he had leaked information to Mr. Novak about shortfalls in the Texas organization's fund-raising. Both Mr. Rove and Mr. Novak have denied that Mr. Rove had been the source.

It's great to see Democrats and other groups standing up and demanding that Rove be fired. The DCCC just released a video and online petition that you can sign. MoveOn.org also has an online petition. Bush needs to keep his word and get rid of anyone involved in the Plame affair. However, he probably realizes that firing Rove would effectively end his administration.