Libby Indicted, Rove Still Under Investigation

The leaks surrounding the CIA leak investigation have proved correct: Scooter Libby has been indicted and Karl Rove has not, although the investigation into him will continue, according to CBS radio reports. So far, the online sources I’m finding are only reporting on the Rove non-indictment.

CBS: Libby to be Indicted (WTOP)

CBS News has learned that a grand jury will indict Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. The indictment will be for making false statements in connection with the CIA leak probe. That indictment will soon be announced. A source tells CBS that presidential confidant Karl Rove won’t face immediate indictment but will remain under investigation.

Reuters: Rove Will Not Be Indicted on Friday (WaPo – Reuters)

Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis Libby, and other top White House officials braced for criminal charges Friday from the federal grand jury investigating the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. But legal sources said special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has informed President Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, that he will be spared indictment on Friday, although he will remain under investigation and in legal jeopardy. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, had no immediate comment.

Source: Rove Won’t Be Indicted Today (AP)

Karl Rove won’t be indicted Friday as prosecutors and his lawyers try to resolve questions in the CIA leak investigation, two people close to Rove told The Associated Press. The White House, however, still braced for an indictment against another top aide. In discussions Thursday, Rove’s lawyer was told by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s office that investigators have not resolved all their questions about his conduct in the case and they will continue investigating, the people said, speaking only on condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy.

The radio reports have the announcement of Libby’s indictment/pending indictment coming from Libby himself.

(1020): White House Braces for Indictment; Rove Said to Be Spared for Now (WaPo)

White House officials braced for the possibility that Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff would be indicted in the CIA leak case today, while the lawyer for Karl Rove said the presidential confidant’s case is still under investigation. “The Special Counsel has advised Mr. Rove that he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges and that Mr. Rove’s status has not changed,” said Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, in a statement released this morning. “Mr. Rove will continue to cooperate fully with the Special Counsel’s efforts to complete the investigation. We are confident that when the Special Counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong.”

Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s office announced it would release information on the grand jury about noon today and would hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT. Fitzgerald has one indictment in hand, according to a source close to the investigation.

Rove provided new information to Fitzgerald during 11th hour negotiations that “gave Fitzgerald pause” about charging Bush’s senior strategist, said a source close to Rove. “The prosecutor has to resolve those issues before he decides what to do.” This raised the possibility of a new grand jury getting the case because the term for the current grand jury expires today.

The dragging out of the announcement, now that a decision has been made, is a head scratcher. Were it not for Fitgerald’s reputation for fairness, I would chalk it up to grandstanding.

Update (1514): See Libby Resigns After Indictment for more.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Charles Glasgow says:

    Do you suppose that Al Queada is behind all this.
    What a remarkable way to get the Bush administration impeached so that the Congress and the Judicial Branch are forced to rule like dictators?

  2. Katrina Luxembourg says:

    Comment on the First Comment: Talk about “Doublespeak!!” One, we created AlQueda. (Some Americans have a memory.) Two, a dictatorship IS THE FORCE OF ONE (the PRESIDENT’S administration) while Congress and the Justice SYSTEM is a group of hundreds of elected officials representative of the people, the direct opposite of a dictatorship. Let’s hope that this indictment is just the tip of the iceberg.

  3. Mike Smeltzer says:

    This first indictment is just the very tip of a black greasy iceburg, thats been begging to be dry docked. If Fitzgerald starts linking up with other prosecutors around the country and other countries the chain reaction of legal ignitions will grow to mind blowing proportions that even Einstein couldn’t began imagine!

  4. Mike Smeltzer says:

    This first indictment is just the very tip of a black greasy iceburg, thats been begging to be dry docked. If Fitzgerald starts linking up with other prosecutors around the country and other countries the chain reaction of legal ignitions will grow to mind blowing proportions that even Einstein couldn’t began to imagine!

  5. Croft Woodruff says:

    How naiive can any one be to even remotely suggest this scandalous outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame by a White House official may be the doing of Al Queada (as Posted by: Charles Glasgow at October 28, 2005 13:33). Such a statement connecting Al Queada to the “leak” would not say much for White House Security.

  6. Michael Marino says:

    “Pirates at the helm” Remember the real
    story is 9/11. See http://www.911truth.org. We
    wouldn’t be talking about anything that Libby
    or Rove did or any of this Investigation by
    Fitzgerald if there had been no 9/11. The official 911 Report is a complete distortion of what happened i.e., a LIE. See David Griffin’s book : The 911 Commission Report Omissions and Distortions.
    Treason is the real issue that the Congress is
    unwilling to talk about, save Rep. Cynthia
    McKinney. see http://www.stewwebb.com federal whistleblower.

  7. A. Sharma says:

    Keep in my mind, even after indicting these jokers they’ll simply be replaced by a new deception. We need to get to the “Puppet Masters” the ones pulling the strings. Otherwise this is all cosmetic and ‘the plan’ will continue to move forward.

  8. Final Eagle says:

    The only thing that I have to say is that “WHO STANDS TO GAIN”. It is obvious that someone is pulling the strings behind what is going on in our government. Who does stand to gain surely not the american people at least the poverty stricken and the working class. One needs to look deeper and realize that the plans to invade Iraq were drawn up year before by the very conspirtors who are backing up this puppet president. Where did these plans come from none other than Isreal so is the invasion of Iraq at the behest of the Isreali government? But who stands over these people? Lets us follow the money trail and discover that this comes from the International Bankers in London City England. The plans to destroy the twin towers was an operational plan that came out of the RIIA the Tavistock Institute. A think tank of the International Bankers. When we realize that the International Bankers are behind most of what transpires in this world we will start to ask the questions that need to be ask. WHY???

  9. Tabitha says:

    Here’s a thought:
    Before letting anyone into political office, subject them to a number of tests. Background check, lie detector, pyschological tests (with a lie detector), drug tests, financial audits of all major campaign funds with public disclosure of their contributors, ethics tests (lengthy), IQ tests (to avoid another Bush), etc. We’ll still get some interesting people but at least we can weed out the crazies, the ones who have sold their soul to special interests, the liars, the unethical and the flat out stupid. I am dead serious here. If I had to take an intelligence and honesty test for a position as a shoe salesman, why can’t we expect something similar from the people we let run our country?

  10. John says:

    Libby will be the scapegoat. It will end there. The American people will forget and move on to whatever else CNN and Fox tell them. Like they always do…