Luskin’s Word Parsing Suggests Rove Is A Target
Luskin’s Word Parsing Suggests Rove Is A Target
Previously, Robert Luskin, Karl Rove’s lawyer, has insisted that Rove was no a target of the leak investigation. From the Washington Post, 10/6/05:
Robert Luskin said, Fitzgerald assured him in October and again last week that Rove is not a target of his investigation.
Today, Luskin has a different talking point:
I can say categorically that Karl has not received a target letter from the special counsel.
This is significant because, while U.S. Attorneys normally informs someone of their status as a target with a letter, they are not required to do so. Rove could have been warned he is a target with a phone call or an in-person warning. Here’s a relevant section of the USDOJ Guidelines (Ch. 7, Section 1, Part 1):
As the grand jury investigation concludes…attorneys will usually inform counsel for potential defendants of the status of the investigation. In most instances, potential individual defendants will be sent a letter identifying the individual as a target of that investigation, i.e., one who may be considered for indictment.
The fact that Luskin has changed his talking point suggests that Rove is now a target and has recieved a target warning by some means other than a letter. Indeed, the AP reports prosecutors “have warned they cannot guarantee [Rove] won’t be indicted.”
The real question Luskin needs to be asked: Has Rove received a target warning of any kind?
UPDATE: The above is excerpted from guidelines created for the antitrust division which are relevant but not directly applicable to the Rove case. Directly applicable is Section 9-11.151 of the Grand Jury manual, which also indicates that notification by letter is not required.
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So he still hasn't come out and admitted that Rove has been contacted, but he is changing his wording around. To me, that means Rove HAS been contacted. And we will see this soon.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:16 pmA little off topic here, but I just read an excellent overview of what exactly is/has happened in Iraq and what Goerge Bush said in his (Harriet Miers cover up) speech today.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20051006/cm_thenation/127274;_ylt=A9FJqYEwkUVDlYEArAj9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
I figured you guys would find it insightful as well.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:27 pmAt this point we can only hope......Blessings
October 6th, 2005 at 6:27 pmMaybe they sent Rove a tee shirt with a bull's eye on the front of it. . . subtle and cute for the Rovester!
October 6th, 2005 at 6:30 pm"Rove could have been warned he is a target with a phone call or an in-person warning."
Coulda woulda shoulda. If Judd's not careful he may wet his pants.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:33 pmRoll over Rover.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:43 pmThe real question Luskin needs to be asked: Has Rove received a target warning of any kind?
I think it has to be a letter, by DOJ guidlines.
Anyway, that might still get a dishonest yet truthful answer from old "Gold Bar" Luskin.
If Fitz sent the letter to Rove, care of his Atty, Rove never received it. Luskin did. This would not be too unusual to nominate one's Atty for receipt of service. But it would still allow Luskin to say "Rove has not received" a letter.
Same if Fitz got the Phone notification. Rove didn't receive it, Luskin did.
Better question was asked yesterday: "Is Rove a target?" That got the popular "No Comment."
Connect the dots.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:44 pmblue state red rove is on the Hot Seat....... Why else was there a misplaced Terror alert in New York
Anything to take the heat off the W.H. cause its getting hot as hell I bet bush is really yammering over his drinks,wonder how much his face is twitching....
October 6th, 2005 at 6:45 pmWhich suggest that rove is trying to divert the blame to someone else. I bet there's a sporting chance that he throws cheney in the ditch...
October 6th, 2005 at 6:48 pmjunior:
October 6th, 2005 at 6:49 pm"Glug glug glug, (long pause) dammit, this stuff aint workin' the way it used to, I still feel like an idiot."
You should also see http://talkleft.com/new_archives/012634.html for a terminalogy of target letters. From there:
some people, including at least one news service, misapply the term "target letter." Just so it's clear, a "target letter" is what the prosecutor provides to a witness who has been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury. It is an advisement of rights, particularly the right to counsel and the right to not testify.
Once the investigation is complete and the grand jury has heard all the evidence and is about to return Indictments, target letters are no longer used.
Once an indictment is returned, the Prosecutor may notify the lawyer for the indicted person and concerning agreements on whether a summons will issue or arrest warrants, and, if it's going to be an arrest warrant, whether the person will be allowed to surrender at the courthouse or FBI office rather than be arrested at home or at work and bail amounts can be agreed upon. At this point, the case is past the "target letter" stage. The notification of indictment and arranging surrender can be formal (by letter) or by a telephone call.
October 6th, 2005 at 6:58 pmCheck out the following link by emptywheel...
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2005/10/anatomy_of_a_wh.html#more
It is an excellent bit of journalism that summarizes the scandal from it's start to today... It is going to be a preview of the news reports that will be printed during the pending trials....
Tommydee
October 6th, 2005 at 6:59 pm#7 Quaker, you are probably right. My guess is that the cleaning lady answered the phone call though and told the caller "no english".
October 6th, 2005 at 7:02 pm#2
Thanks for the link!
October 6th, 2005 at 7:05 pmJudd is as anxious as a pimple-faced 14 year old at a skatin' rink.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:09 pmSorry, Blue State (5), there's only one guy about to piss his pants, and he's heading back to the grand jury, letter or no letter.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:10 pmWith Luskin's parsing of words using Ocam's Razor I'm left wondering if the "target letter" hasn't already been delivered as part of the on-going negotiations between the various parties. The message was perhaps not in the form of a physical document, rather as part of the series of conversations.
In the best possible worlds, Rove and his legal eagle have already had to work out some form of "graceful" exit for the Fat Man.
I can't wait to see how this unfolds.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:13 pmHey, Patriot, nice crack against old Judd. I laughed my ass off with that remark about him being as anxious as a pimple-faced 14 year old.
But correct me if I'm wrong, Patty, as I couldn't help but picture the pimpled-faced kid as Karl Rove. I mean, if we wasn't both conservatives, wouldn't Rove remind you of the kind of shitty little snotnose the school bully liked to kick the crap out of?
By the way, old Blue State Red up in #5 is one of us. He kinda reminds me of the school bully I was telling you about.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:20 pmI believe it's Ockham's Razor. Perhaps I am Incorrect though.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:20 pm#20 - I left out one too many "c's". It's Occam's Razor. Sorry 'bout that.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:26 pmRove was born soft. And he is soft. He could take some cues from Judd.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:26 pmAN INDICTMENT A DAY SENDS THE REPUGS AWAY!
Rover Boy is singing like a canary. He may not have the bird in hand (that is DUHbya's ploy--see http://www.storytimedolls.net/mmff.html) but I'll lay my usual odds, $20 to a glass of warm pee, that he is certainly handing in the Bush bird.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:27 pmI just got kicked off Redstate.org.
There's an article on there about 30 pieces of silver by "Thomas"
Why don't you guys crash their party.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:35 pmHis thread is a joke about being conservative.
William of Occam or Ockham (Eiter is considered correct) was a 14th Century English philosopher whose major contribution was "Occam's Razor." A logic assumption that stated "Never posit a plurality without necessity." Which translates to today's simile with the duck (quacks, walks, looks, etc) and leads to the assumption that the most obvious answer is usually the correct answer.
Rover boy done rolled over on DYHbya and Uncle dick.
October 6th, 2005 at 7:43 pmWow, those redstate.org guys are weird. I didn't even know you could get internet access from a militia compound in rural Montana but somehow they managed!
Ok, I know they don't ALL live in a compound. snark.
October 6th, 2005 at 8:23 pmThe suspense is killing me! Justice must be served.
October 6th, 2005 at 8:25 pmI so want all of them to be indicted. At this point, I want more than perjury - I want consipracy! I want perp walks!
I just went over and read a little bit of RedState (too much and your eyes will start to bleed).
This is funny shit:
"I am, first and foremost, a Republican because the Republican Party holds, as one of its most elementary tenets, that human life deserves protection from the earliest stages."
Yeah, except for when that person becomes 18 years of age and are old enough to die in a republican waged war or can be killed for doing something wrong in a republican state.
These republicans are such a fvcking joke.
October 6th, 2005 at 8:27 pmRight on!
October 6th, 2005 at 8:29 pm#2 I read the article that you posted Spudge_Boy. If only it could be required reading for all chickenhawks, neocons and any other republicans wanting to "stay the course".
Everyone should it though. Very good piece. Here is another link to it. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=27274
October 6th, 2005 at 8:51 pmI just went to redstate.org. What a bunch of creeps! Talk about braindead, automaton sheeple. I'm going to delete their cookie from my temp folder ASAP just to be safe.
October 6th, 2005 at 9:08 pmSomething for the topic. Little Karl Rove had better grow eyes in the back of his head. 2 Ton Tony is looking for someone to become his wife and cellmate. He needs his socks and underwear washed regularly too. And I bet he'll be tossing his salad on a regular basis also. His chubby butt will be fluttering nightly like he's in a wind tunnel. Bye-bye Karl! You dickhead!
October 6th, 2005 at 9:14 pmI was reading Time and they quoted libby as writing to miller (non-capped names intentional(disrespect))as such: "Out west, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters , because their roots connect them. Come back to work -- and life." Am I the only one or does this sound like code language? And if it is what is the code? Pin it on somebody they spent time in Aspen with?
October 6th, 2005 at 9:27 pmIf it is some kind of code it sounds like a lot of people inside this administration are worried that "they turn in clusters" means that the ones that are being indicted and investigated are going to rat them out to save their own asses. Who really knows? Doesn't Dick(head) Cheney vacation out west?
October 6th, 2005 at 9:36 pmTarget letters are sent only to those defined below as targets:
The manual contains several references to suspects, subjects and targets. A suspect is used generally to describe anyone who comes under suspicion by law enforcement. A subject is defined as "a person whose conduct is within the scope" of a grand jury probe. A target is "a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime."
October 6th, 2005 at 9:51 pmPoll: Bush Ratings Hit New Low
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/06/opinion/polls/main924485.shtml
I love this one!
U.S. MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM
President Bush
Now
5%
9/2005
5%
Terrorism
Now
4%
9/2005
6%
More people think Bush is the most important problem than think "terrism" is.
What say you, grue state bled?
October 6th, 2005 at 11:25 pmFitzgerald applying new legal theories to bring charges in the case,
He has obviously been reading citizenspook
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001262430
And Johnston observed, "Recently lawyers said that they believed the prosecutor may be applying new legal theories to bring charges in the case.
"One new approach appears to involve the possible use of Chapter 37 of the federal espionage and censorship law, which makes it a crime for anyone who 'willfully communicates, delivers, transfers or causes to be communicated' to someone 'not entitled to receive it' classified information relating the national defense matters."
October 6th, 2005 at 11:48 pmI like them staying the course, that way they don't wiggle around as we take them down, one by one. Jack Daniels never tasted so good when you run out of political capital, especially if you never had any you dumb mutha F#$%^ er.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:53 amThat's what Bush is drinking! Fermented political capital.
He should've spent it before it fermented. Now he can only get wasted on it.
Poor old drunk.
October 7th, 2005 at 2:19 amHuh,
Did you notice the bush overall job approval ratings hit 37%?
This is like 1970s and nixon era polling numbers - I wonder what an indictment for him, cheney, rove and libby would do to those numbers...
October 7th, 2005 at 3:35 amI have said for the last 3 plus years we wouldn't see another domestic terriorist attack unless it directly BENEFITS BUSHCO.
With the GOP (not GOD) imploding, indictments coming down daily I knew dumbya and his handlers would try to play the 9/11 card. They did. I call Bushit!
If you think about it, Muslims probably don't hate us individually. The only face of the USA they see overseas is the one of foregin policy. If they have a problem, be sure it is with our policies and politicians, not us individually.
I think the terriorists are not as organized and armed as the powers that be would have us believe. Before the "election" the terror alert colors were used for political (GOP) gain. It is so today.
They even timed the press releases for our evening commute home. If you listen, they say they knew about these "threats" before they said anything. Bushit.
We could all probably live in peace and respect our differences were it not for our "der leaders".
October 7th, 2005 at 4:10 amAgain, Dumbya and his handlers are shaking in their boots.
It shows, and for the first time maybe the press is not backing down?
I know America is not buying it.
October 7th, 2005 at 4:12 am#33, I said from the get-go that was code for the ship is sinking, and come on the life boat.
Out west means Arnold-grop-n-ator and turning in clusters is code for the neo-nazi-bushco. (no tin foil, just operation paperclip)
Spy in the WH, leaking info to the phillipines? Can you say ollie north and pasty?
Come on, there is an old saying in Texas ... or tennesee... or Oz..... Fu*****k me once..... not twice....
These bozos can not even get a new M.O., it is the same azzholes screwing you over now that have been for the last 4 decades. Wake up and see paragraph above.
October 7th, 2005 at 4:18 amSorry to go off topic, but I think it's now official. Harriet Miers was a decoy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/06/AR2005100601468_pf.html
October 7th, 2005 at 6:51 am"There are 1,084,504 lawyers in the United States." Some would say that's 1,084,503 too many...
Sorry, lawyer jokes never get old...
October 7th, 2005 at 8:02 am#44 Jay I agree she is decoy. The Bushie and cronies have something big plan for us. I would not put anything passed them.
October 7th, 2005 at 8:27 amCan you say Luttig?
October 7th, 2005 at 8:39 amA cluck cluck here, a cluck cluck there. everywhere a cluck cluck.
Two Political Factions that answer to the same Economic powerhouse.
Republicans VS Democrats Divided for/by the 'Centre' = Syntheses.
The Un-elected Party.
Media is CENTRE.
CFR is CENTRE.
RAND is CENTRE.
RIIA is CENTRE...
cluck cluck.
October 7th, 2005 at 9:07 amI also suspect Miers is a red herring. O'Connor should be persuaded to stay in her seat until after 2006, when it will be harder for an extreme Bush nominee to survive.
October 7th, 2005 at 9:35 amCheck this out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidehike/46001297/
LOL
October 7th, 2005 at 9:59 amI'm a lefty, but this post is stupid. If you read the news, there have been widespread rumors that Rove got a target letter. Luskin is obviously responding specifically to this new rumor. That is the most logical explanation for his new choice of words. You need to find some better tea leaves to read.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:37 pmThere seems to be a lot of confusion about Roves re-appearance once again in front of the grand jury.
Rove REQUESTED of Fitzgerald that he be allowed to testify once again to "CORRECT THE RECORD".
Rove has evidently lied to the grand jury, and wants to amend those lies by now telling the truth. This is, in criminal parlance, conscience of guilt. He covered for someone, probably Bush, and now wants to retract that little white lie.
You see, Rove thought this would all go away, thought there was nothing to it at all. But he was wrong. His ass is in the sling.
But you knonw something. The reverse could be true. Rove might want to correct a truth he told, with a lie concocted by he and Bush.
October 7th, 2005 at 1:18 pm#52 - This is what I love.
Rove has evidently lied to the grand jury, and wants to amend those lies by now telling the truth.
Pablo, the grand jury has just recieved new information and tesimony from Miller. It is only common sense that it make create new questions.
Your bias is so blinded that you draw desired conclusions before hearing the facts. If Rove has committed a crime he will be indicted.
October 7th, 2005 at 1:26 pmI’m a lefty, but this post is stupid. If you read the news, there have been widespread rumors that Rove got a target letter. Luskin is obviously responding specifically to this new rumor. That is the most logical explanation for his new choice of words. You need to find some better tea leaves to read.
Comment by Kop — October 7, 2005 @ 12:37 pm
A left-handed person isn't the same as a politically left-leaning person, but nice try. Thanks for playing, and losing.
October 7th, 2005 at 5:03 pmWar Protest - Nov 10 2005 Take a day off! – Please Read
If you feel, as the majority of Americans and people throughout the world do, that the war in Iraq is wrong, and you wish you had a way to show the Bush Administration, the Government of the United States, and the world, how you feel about it, then join us in our world wide walk out on November 10th 2005.
Show the world how you feel, and just how many of us feel this way. Let’s drive the point home by taking away from them their most precious item; money.
On November 10th 2005, unless you hold a position which people rely upon in the event of an emergency (you work at a hospital, a firemen, policemen etc), don’t go to work. Try not to drive your car; don’t watch T.V.; don’t use the internet. Stay at home. Read a book. Play with your kids. Engage in a hobby.
Plan a vacation day at work. Call in sick. Use your best judgment on how to take this day off.
If we don’t get their attention this way, we’ll just do it again, until we do.
If the people speak, and speak together, they have to listen.
Please email this to as many of your friends and colleagues as you wish/can.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:42 pmDarn it Smedley, you guys picked the same day as us. We thought Nov.10th would be the day where we would show our support for the War effort. We plan on showing this support by making sure we all makes it to work that day, even if we are a little ill. No car pooling either, we’ll all be driving individual vehicles wherever possible. Oh yeah, and we will just keep doing this every day too, until you guys start to pay attention and listen to reason.
October 7th, 2005 at 9:11 pm