Roundup of the Latest Developments in Plame Case

By: Lesley Messer Coverage of the Cooper/Miller/Plame/Rove affair continues undiminished, with far too much for E&P to handle each day. So here is a brief rundown to at least hit a few high and low points.

* The LA Times reported that Karl Rove has "great credibility" with the general media and that Rove is used to finding himself in print. His role of sculpting President Bush's image and helping his rise to power almost demanded a close relationship with journalists.

* Jim VandeHei quoted an unnamed senior White House official today in a front page Washington Post piece: "No one has asked him [Rove] what he told the grand jury. No one has deemed it appropriate. What you all need to figure out is, does this amount to a crime? That is a legitimate debate." Still, some aides said they were concerned about the unknown. "Is it a communications challenge? Sure," the official said. VandeHei also noted that William Kristol, a conservative commentator with close White House ties, said it would be hard to imagine a prosecutor conducting an investigation that has landed one reporter in jail and challenged the constitutional rights of the journalism profession without indicting someone. Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald "is the problem for the White House, and we have no idea what he knows," Kristol said.

* The Wall Street Journal published an editorial praising Rove for telling the truth about Plame without explicitly breaking any laws. The op-ed read, "In short, Mr. Rove provided important background so Americans could understand that Mr. Wilson wasn't a whistleblower but was a partisan trying to discredit the Iraq War in an election campaign. Thank you, Mr. Rove."

* The New York Sun reported that Democrats have been singing another tune when it comes to Karl Rove. Reporter Josh Gerstein wrote that while the President expressed great confidence in his top adviser, Democrat John Kerry countered, "The White house's credibility is at issue here, and I believe very clearly, Karl Rove ought to be fired." New York Senator Hilary Clinton reacted by saying, "I'm nodding."

* The Boston Globe columnist Robert Kuttner authored a retraction of his last story holding that special counsel in Valerie Plame leak case, Patrick Fitzgerald, could be protecting the Bush White House. However, he did assert that the Bush administration may still be hiding something and he heavily implied that that "something" was Rove's involvement with the outing of Plame.

* The Washington Post published an article by Howard Kurtz that said that some legal analysts were critical of Judith Miller's stance in the leak probe. "Although many media advocates hail Miller's sacrifice for what she and the Times see as a bedrock of journalistic principle of protecting a promise to a source," he wrote, "some legal analysts say her imprisonment stems from a confrontational legal strategy adopted by the Times." He also wrote that Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said that it was "strange" that there is no proof that Miller did not seek a personal waiver from her source(s).

* The New York Times reported that on Monday, top editors at Time Inc. met to discuss the discontent amongst Time magazine's staffers in Washington D.C. and New York. The concern is that Norman Pearlstein's decision to give up Matthew Cooper's notes could affect the rapport that reporters have with future sources.

* The New York Observer published a similar article, and in it, included an conversation with Time magazine's managing editor, Jim Kelly regarding the leak of Cooper's correspondence with Rove. "We don't know who the emails were forwarded to," he told the paper. "We don't know how many people are in possession of them. I'm not shocked or surprised that what we handed over 10 days ago has been leaked."