Article: Rove steps in it

First, read throughKarl Rove's stunningly cocky op-ed in the Wall Street Journal--

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203550604574360500363745662.html

--then read this important xposÃ � by Larisa Alexandrovna.

It's important to all those of us who care about, like, justice, and the truth. That may not be enough to interest AG Holder, but it should push us to keep pushing him, and Obama, to pay attention.

MCM

Rove op-ed reveals he had inside information about probe

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BY LARISA ALEXANDROVNA

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/20/rove-op-ed-reveals-he-had-inside-information-about-probe/

Lawyer declines to say how he found out accuser didn't talk to Justice Department

Karl Rove's latest attempt to proclaim his innocence and demand apologies from those who have accused him of being behind the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman may backfire if it turns out that Rove was improperly receiving inside information after leaving his position as Deputy White House Chief of Staff.

"For more than two years," Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal, "House Judiciary Committee Democrats and the New York Times editorial board have argued that I personally arranged for Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman to be prosecuted in 2004 for corruption and ordered the removal of eight U.S. attorneys in 2006 for failing to investigate Democrats. The Washington Post editorial board also echoed this last charge. The Times and the Post have published a combined 18 editorials on these issues, which were also catnip to House Judiciary Committee Democrats."

Rove then goes on to attack Dana Jill Simpson, an Alabama Republican lawyer turned whistleblower who has linked him to the Siegelman prosecution. In doing so, however, he raises serious questions of impropriety by revealing that he has received confidential information from both the House Judiciary Committee and the Department of Justice.

<snip>

Columbia law professor and legal contributor to Harper's Magazine, Scott Horton, who has been investigating the matter, confirms part of Duncan's account.

"Rove's claim that Simpson failed to cooperate with the DOJ investigation is untruthful - and this is a point I have studied," Horton wrote in an email to Raw Story.

"In fact what happened was this: DOJ investigators contacted Simpson's attorney and asked her whether Simpson had any information to share beyond her testimony and the documents she produced to Congress. She said "no." That was the end of it. Simpson was entirely willing to meet and discuss the matter with the investigators - unlike Rove. And also unlike Rove, she had already testified and been crossexamined under oath and had produced her documents, so it was not really necessary."

Lisa Howard of OPR did not return calls for comment.

Rove's claims of an inside source at the House Judiciary Committee

<snip>

"But this shows just what I expected," Horton continues, "namely that Rove was communicating with G.O.P. staffers throughout the process to get information about the investigation - a process that violated his understanding with the Committee. Just as he violated his agreement by giving "exclusive" interviews to the NY Times and Washington Post before the process was completed. What this shows is two-fold: Rove isn't bothered in the slightest by breaking his agreements, and Rove is the master of the half-truth and the outright lie."

Requests for comment to the House Judiciary Committee were not immediately returned.

Larisa Alexandrovna is managing editor of investigative news for Raw Story. Contact: larisa@rawstory.com.
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