Just 17 days ago, Karl Rove was acting and sounding like a man who had dodged a bullet. His colleague Scooter Libby had been indicted and forced from the White House, but Rove, who appeared to be in prosecutors’ sights for months, “escaped” with his career in tact. A GOP insider who has regular contact with Rove told the NYT, “I’ve noticed a big difference. There’s a spring in his step, more focus, more — something. Some sort of weight off his shoulders.”
We now know the weight wasn’t lifted; it was just hiding well. Since Rove reportedly dodged the Plame Game bullet, he’s received a lot of news about the investigation — all of it bad.
First, Murray Waas reported that Fitzgerald is still eyeing Rove, and plans to press Libby on Rove’s role in the controversy. Second, Fitzgerald convened a new grand jury, strongly suggesting that he is considering additional criminal charges in the case.
Yesterday, matters continued to worsen for Rove when Time’s Viveca Novak agreed to cooperate with Fitzgerald’s probe. Specifically, she’ll answer questions about her discussions with Karl Rove’s attorney.
A second reporter for Time magazine has been asked to testify under oath in the C.I.A. leak case, about conversations she had in 2004 with a lawyer for Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, the magazine reported on Sunday.
The reporter, Viveca Novak, who has written about the leak investigation, has been asked to testify by the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, about her conversations with Robert D. Luskin, a lawyer for Mr. Rove, the magazine said.
The request for Ms. Novak’s testimony is the first tangible sign in weeks that Mr. Fitzgerald has not completed his inquiry into Mr. Rove’s actions and may still be considering charges against him.
The story may not be on the front page of the papers every day anymore, but the investigation is still going strong and Karl Rove remains in prosecutors’ crosshairs.
