Plame gossip

I don't have time to really write about this right now, but there has been alot of really good Plame analysis in the last day or so.

The first is a really lengthy piece by Jeralyn at TalkLeft who runs through some details in the three major Plame pieces this week and postulates that the last minute meeting Fitzgerald had with Rove was Rove rolling over.

The second is from firedoglake who runs through the strength of the perjury case against Libby with eight specific examples of Libby discussing Plame's name before he claims to have heard it from Tim Russert.(who denies telling Libby)

Last we'll go back to Talk Left for an interesting discussion about an agreement between Fitzgerald and Libby to keep all the discovery private. This is big for a couple of reasons she outlines.

And, I'm gonna say it again, the more I look at this, the more convinced I am that Fitzgerald is going after Dick Cheney. If Rove is supplying evidence, even against Libby, it all works up the pyramid to Cheney. As the second article listed above indicates, there would be very little need for any information from Rove to convict Libby. His goose is already cooked, so, if Rove has struck a deal with Fitzgerald, the two possibilities are: 1. Evidence directly against Libby of a greater crime or other crimes for which he is not currently under indictment. 2. Evidence against Cheney.

On Olberman last night, John Dean, who maintains that Cheney is the target, was discussing Plame et al. Discussing the indictment, he said,

it has detail that typically you wouldn‘t find in a federal indictment.

In particular, it raises a statute that has nothing to do with the case against Libby, and that is the federal espionage statute, which he gets into in some detail, as well as the executive order that goes with it, that shows the standard of conduct.....

That‘s why I say I think Libby is the firewall. During the press conference, he said that it was the fact that Mr. Libby lied that made it impossible for him to make a judgment as to who might be guilty of what, as far as the substantive leaking crime was involved.So clearly, this has blocked his ability to get to those facts, and that‘s why he brought the indictment against Libby. But I don‘t think it‘s over.

Gotta Go.