Today's Developments In Plame Case

by Steve

The noose tightens.

Matt Cooper just posted his exclusive at Time.com about what he told the Grand Jury this week, and in response, the story that Karl heard about Valerie Plame from a reporter begins to unravel as his attorney now says that Rove may have heard about it from another administration official.

But here is a good example of Bush’s sense of humor and invulnerability:

It was my first interview with the President, and I expected a simple "Hello" when I walked into the Oval Office last December. Instead, George W. Bush joked, "Cooper! I thought you'd be in jail by now." The leader of the free world, it seems, had been following my fight against a federal subpoena seeking my testimony in the case of the leaking of the name of a CIA officer. I thought it was funny and good-natured of the President, but the line reminded me that I was, very weirdly, in the Oval Office, out on bond from a prison sentence, awaiting appeal--in large part, for protecting the confidence of someone in the West Wing.

Cooper then goes into a description of his testimony and reveals that the Grand Jury was very engaged in the questioning themselves, and was predominantly African American and women. This means that there won’t be a swath of white males in the jury room ready to excuse Rove or the Bush Administration on this one.

When you read Cooper’s account of his testimony, it seems to back up some of what Rove has told folks, with the exception of some the recent shoveling done by Robert Luskin, Rove’s attorney.

So did Rove leak Plame's name to me, or tell me she was covert? No. Was it through my conversation with Rove that I learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and may have been responsible for sending him? Yes. Did Rove say that she worked at the "agency" on "WMD"? Yes.

That may hurt Rove, and it appears that Cooper was asked questions aimed at determining if someone else committed perjury. Seemingly in response, the AP reported this in the last hour:

A lawyer familiar with Rove's grand jury testimony said Sunday that Rove learned about the CIA officer either from the media or from someone in government who said the information came from a journalist. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because the federal investigation is continuing.

OK, so the “someone in government who said the information came from a journalist” drags in any number of people, including Scooter Libby, his subordinates, John Bolton, and yes Judy Miller and Robert “Pussy” Novak.

It gets weirder and weirder every day, but the interesting thing is that Cooper’s piece generated the leak to the AP, so someone is really worried about this unraveling now.