Okay. So, thanks to Newsweek scooping Time in its own backyard, we finally know the truth: that Karl Rove was the double-super-secret-can't-tell-pinky-swear source that released Matt Cooper from the prison/testifying dilemma just before he was to go before Judge "Vee vill make you talk" Hogan. But what exactly does that truth mean?
Rove told Cooper that "Wilson's wife" was an agent. We don't know whether he did so "knowingly," that is, whether he knew she was undercover (as for whether he had to name her, I'm going to go out on a legal limb here and say that "Wilson's wife" is sufficiently identifying). We do know that Rove told Cooper this before Robert Novak published his story.
Rove was Cooper's source. We still don't know definitively whether he was Novak's source, or, though doubtful, Judith Miller's. We know that there were two senior administration officials bandying about Plame's name. Who is the other one? (cough Triple-L Scooter Libby cough). Did the other one "knowingly" reveal Plame's identity?
What about Scott McClellan? He asserted that Rove had not leaked "classified information." What level of obfuscation was involved, if any, or did Rove do it all on the DL? The party line has always been that anyone who leaked confidential information would be fired. Now the White House has no comment, which made for a very uhappy press briefing for McClellan.(N.B. We're looking forward to McClellan's good first step).
Here's an insane thought: is this a pattern? Might Rove have been whispering damaging confidential information into reporters' ears "anonymously" for the past five years? (Per WaPo White House reporter Dan Froomkin, via FishbowlDC)
What about Judy? She is the last link in Patrick Fitzgerald's case. How will all this affect her? If Rove comes clean does she go free? If Fitgerald indicts him anyway does that have an effect? I should know this, but I don't. I'll find out and get back to you.
This is all very exciting, especially going on in concert with Bush's dropping approval ratings, the vast unpopularity of the Iraq war (which was premised on the tall tale of yellowcake leading to this whole imbroglio, remember), and the drama at the Supreme Court (we really, really hope that is all). This could be nothing, or it could be big. Stay tuned.
...or, just-start-getting-tuned: The first non-Reuters non-AP New York Times story about Rove and the Plame leak was published today at 5:57 pm. I just think that's so lame.
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