Rove and Ashcroft face new allegations in
the Valerie Plame affair
Village Voice
by Murray Waas
August 13th, 2005 2:39 PM
Justice Department officials made the crucial decision in late 2003 to
appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak of the identity of
undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame in large part because investigators had
begun to specifically question the veracity of accounts provided to them by
White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, according to senior law
enforcement officials.
Several of the federal investigators were also deeply concerned that then
attorney general John Ashcroft was personally briefed regarding the details of
at least one FBI interview with Rove, despite Ashcroft's own longstanding
personal and political ties to Rove, the Voice has also learned. The same
sources said Ashcroft was also told that investigators firmly believed that
Rove had withheld important information from them during that FBI
interview.
Those concerns by senior career law enforcement officials regarding the
propriety of such briefings continuing, as Rove became more central to the
investigation, also was instrumental in the naming of special prosecutor
Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
Up until that point, the investigation had been conducted by a team of
career prosecutors and FBI agents, some of whom believed Ashcroft should recuse
himself. Democrats on Capitol Hill were calling for him to step down, but he
did not. Then on December 30, 2003, Ashcroft unexpectedly recused himself from
further overseeing the matter, and James B. Comey, then deputy attorney
general, named Patrick J. Fitzgerald as the special prosecutor who would take
over the case.
The Justice Department declined to publicly offer any explanation at the
time for either the recusal or the naming of a special prosecutor—an
appointment that would ultimately place in potential legal jeopardy senior
advisers to the president of the United States, and lead to the jailing of a
New York Times reporter.
During his initial interview with the FBI, in the fall of 2003, Rove did not
disclose that he had ever discussed Plame with Time magazine correspondent
Matthew Cooper, according to two legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the
matter. Federal investigators were also skeptical of claims by Rove that he had
only first learned of Plame's employment with the CIA from a journalist, even
though he also claimed he could not specifically recall the name of the
journalist.
As the truthfulness of Rove's accounts became more of a focus of
investigators, career Justice Department employees and senior FBI officials
became even more concerned about the continuing role in the investigation of
Ashcroft, because of his close relationship with Rove. Rove had earlier served
as an adviser to Ashcroft during the course of three political campaigns. And
Rove's onetime political consulting firm had been paid more than $746,000
for those services.
In response to these new allegations, Representative John Conyers of
Michigan, the current ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and
former chairman of the committee as well, said in a statement: "There has long
been the appearance of impropriety in Ashcroft's handling of this
investigation. The former attorney general had well documented conflicts of
interest in this matter, particularly with regard to his personal relationship
with Karl Rove. Among other things, Rove was employed by Ashcroft throughout
his political career, and Rove reportedly had fiercely advocated for Ashcroft's
appointment as attorney general. Pursuant to standard rules of legal ethics,
and explicit rules on conflict of interest, those facts alone should have
dictated his immediate recusal.
"The new information, that Ashcroft had not only refused to recuse himself
over a period of months, but also was insisting on being personally briefed
about a matter implicating his friend, Karl Rove, represents a stunning ethical
breach that cries out for an immediate investigation by the Department's Office
of Professional Responsibility and Inspector General."
A Justice Department spokesman declined on Friday to say what action, if
any, might be taken in response to Conyers' request.
Also of concern to investigators when they sought Ashcroft's recusal,
according to law enforcement sources, was that a number among Ashcroft's inner
circle had partisan backgrounds that included working closely with Rove.
Foremost among them was David Isrealite, who served as Ashcroft's deputy
chief of staff. Another, Barbara Comstock, who was the Justice Department's
director of public affairs during much of Ashcroft's tenure, had previously
worked for the Republican National Committee, where she was in charge of the
party's "opposition research" operations.
"It would have been a nightmare scenario if Ashcroft let something slip to
an aide or someone else they had in common with Rove . . . and then word got
back to Rove or the White House what investigators were saying about him," says
a former senior Justice Department official, familiar with the matter.
Although not reported at the time, when Ashcroft recused himself from the
Plame investigation, Deputy Attorney General Comey said in a statement that the
A.G.'s personal staff was also being fully recused in the matter.
Indeed, the appointment of Fitzgerald as special prosecutor and the recusal
of Ashcroft came just three weeks after Comey, then the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, was named to be deputy attorney general. Comey
himself was no stranger to the issue—even before he took office.
During his Senate confirmation hearings, Comey had pledged that he would
personally see to it that the independence and integrity of the investigation
would not be compromised in any way.
At one point during those hearings, Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) cited
the close relationships between Ashcroft and Rove, and also between Ashcroft
and others also likely to be questioned during the leak probe. Schumer asked
Comey:
"How could there not be an appearance of a conflict given the close nexus of
relationships?"
"I agree with you that it's an extremely important matter," Comey
replied.
Within days of his taking office, several career Justice Department
prosecutors took their own longstanding concerns to Comey, telling him that
perhaps it would be best for Ashcroft to recuse himself, the same legal sources
said. A smaller number also advocated the appointment of an outside prosecutor
to take over the matter completely.
The combination of Ashcroft's close relationship with Rove, the omission of
critical information from the FBI by Rove during his initial interview with
agents, that Ashcroft had been briefed about that interview in particular, and
the-then recent appointment of Comey, all allowed for a forceful case being
made by career Justice Department employees be made that the attorney general
should step aside and a special prosecutor be named.
But says one government official familiar with the process: "When Ashcroft
was briefed on Rove, that ended the argument. He was going to be removed. And
there was going to be a special prosecutor named."
The new disclosures as to why Ashcroft recused himself from the Plame case
and why a special prosecutor was named are important for a number of
reasons:
First, they show that from the very earliest days of the criminal probe,
federal investigators had a strong belief and body of evidence that Rove and
perhaps other officials might be misleading them.
Second, the new information underscores that career Justice Department
staffers had concerns that the continued role of Ashcroft and other political
aides might tarnish the investigation.
Finally, the new information once again highlights the importance of the
testimony of journalists in uncovering whether anyone might have broken the law
by disclosing classified information regarding Plame. That is because both Rove
and I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick
Cheney—who are at the center of the Plame investigation—have said
that they did not learn of Plame's employment with the CIA from classified
government information, but rather journalists; without the testimony of
journalists, prosecutors have been unable to get to the bottom of the
matter.
Several journalists have testified to Fitzgerald's grand jury, but New York
Times correspondent Judith Miller, who has refused to identify her confidential
sources, was ordered to jail by Federal District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan on
July 6, where she remains.
The initial criminal investigation began well before the case was turned
over to Fitzgerald in December 2003. It started shortly after conservative
columnist Robert Novak first identified Plame as an undercover CIA officer, in
a July 14, 2003, column.
The column was written during a time when senior White House officials were
attempting to discredit Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV,
who was then asserting that the Bush administration had relied on faulty
intelligence to bolster its case to go to war with Iraq. Wilson had only
recently led a CIA-sponsored mission to the African nation of Niger to
investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was covertly attempting to buy enriched
uranium from the African nation to build a nuclear weapon.
Wilson reported back to the CIA that the allegations were most likely the
result of a hoax.
When Wilson sought out White House officials, believing they did not know
all the facts, he was rebuffed. He then went public with his criticism of the
Bush administration. It was then that senior administration officials began
their campaign to discredit Wilson as a means of countering his criticisms of
them.
Rove and Libby, and to a lesser extent then deputy National Security Council
(NSC) adviser Stephen J. Hadley (who is currently Bush's NSC adviser), directed
these efforts. Both Rove and Libby discussed with Novak, Cooper, and other
journalists the fact that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, and that she was
responsible for sending him to Niger, in an effort to discredit him.
The manner by which Rove and Libby learned of Plame's employment at the CIA
before they shared that information with journalists is central to whether any
federal criminal laws regarding classified information were violated. Rove and
Libby have reportedly claimed they learned of the information from journalists.
Rove in particular told FBI officials that he first learned of Plame's
employment with the CIA from a journalist, but drew their suspicions when he
claimed that he could not recall the journalist's name.
Plame's employment with the CIA had been detailed in a highly classified
State Department memorandum—circulated to senior Bush administration
officials—in the days jut prior to conversations between Rove and Libby
and journalists regarding Plame.
Dated June 10, 2003, the memo was written for Marc Grossman, then the
undersecretary of state for political affairs. It mentioned Plame, her
employment with the CIA, and her possible role in recommending her husband for
the Niger mission because he had previously served in the region. The mention
of Plame's CIA employment was classified "Secret" and was contained in the
second paragraph of the three-page classified paper.
On July 6, 2003, Wilson published his now famous New York Times op-ed and
appeared on "Meet the Press." The following day, on July 7, the memo was sent
to then secretary of state Colin L. Powell and other senior Bush administration
officials, who were scrambling to respond to the public criticism. At the time,
Powell and other senior administration officials were on their way to Africa
aboard Air Force One as members of the presidential entourage for a state visit
to Africa.
Rove and Libby apparently were not on that trip, according to press
accounts. But a subpoena during the earliest days of the Plame investigation
demanded records related to any telephone phone calls to and from Air Force One
from July 7 to July 12, during Bush's African visit.
On July 8, Novak and Rove first spoke about Plame, according to numerous
press accounts. That very same day, as the American Prospect recently
disclosed, Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller also discussed
Plame.
On July 9, then CIA director George Tenet ordered aides to draft a statement
that the Niger information the president relied on "did not rise to the level
of certainty which should be required for the presidential speeches, and the
CIA should have ensured that it was removed." Rove and Libby were reportedly
involved in the drafting of that statement's language.
Two days later, on July 11, Rove spoke about Plame to Time magazine's
Matthew Cooper.
On the following day, July 12, an administration official— apparently
not Rove or Libby—told Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus that Wilson
was sent to Niger on the recommendation of his wife, who worked at the CIA.
Two days after that, on July 14, Novak published his column disclosing
Plame's employment with the CIA, describing her as an "agency operative" and
alleging that she suggested her husband for the Niger mission.
And on July 17, Time magazine posted its own story online, which said:
"[S]ome government officials have noted to Time in interviews . . . that
Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. These officials have suggested that she was
involved in her husband's being dispatched to Niger." Facing jail time for not
disclosing his source, Cooper recently relented, and disclosed that Rove was
one of his sources for that information.
But it was Rove's omission during an initial interview, back in October
2003, with the FBI—that he had ever spoken with Cooper at
all—coupled with the fact that Ashcroft was briefed about the interview,
that largely precipitated the appointment of Fitzgerald as special prosecutor,
according to senior law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.
Comey, then only recently named deputy attorney general, called a press
conference and dramatically announced: "Effective today, the attorney general
has recused himself . . . from further involvement in these matters."
He also said he was naming Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who also serves as U.S.
attorney in Chicago, as special prosecutor to take over the case. To further
assure his independence, Comey also announced that he personally would serve as
"acting Attorney General for purposes of this matter."
Last week, however, Comey announced he was leaving the Justice Department to
become the general counsel of the defense contractor Lockheed Martin. In his
absence, Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum is the most likely choice
to be named as the acting deputy attorney general, and thus the man overseeing
Fitzgerald's work. But McCallum has been a close personal friend of President
Bush. Justice Department officials are once more grappling as to how to best
assure independence for investigators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are
unlikely not to question any role in the leak probe by McCallum.
[Update: Since this article was originally posted, the Justice Department
announced that David Margolis, an associate deputy general, would take the
place of outgoing Deputy Attorney General James Comey in supervising
Fitzgerald's investigation.]
(Alberto Gonzalez, who succeeded Ashcroft as attorney general, had
also—like Ashcroft—recused himself from the case. Gonzalez had
overseen the response of White House officials to requests from investigators
working the Plame case while he was White House counsel, and has also been a
witness before Fitzgerald's grand jury.)
In the meantime, Fitzgerald's investigation appears to be in its final
stages.
Nineteen months ago, when Comey appointed him as special prosecutor,
reporters pressed Comey during the announcement as to what was behind his
dramatic action. All that he would say at the time was: "If you were to
speculate in print or in the media about particular people, I think that would
be unfair to them.'
Then he added, almost as an afterthought: "We also don't want people that we
might be interested in to know we're interested in them."
|