Anyone Having 2006 Flashbacks?

Because I am.

I find myself writing long weedy posts about Cheney’s role in the CIA Leak Case. And Karl Rove spent a long day answering questions about his role in a crime. (h/t fatster)

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was deposed Tuesday by attorneys for the House Judiciary Committee, according to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel’s chairman.

Rove’s deposition began at 10 a.m. and ended around 6:30 p.m, with several breaks, Conyers said.

Conyers would not comment on what Rove told congressional investigators, what the next step in the long-running Judiciary Committee investigation would be or whether Rove would face additional questioning.

“He was deposed today,” Conyers said in an interview. “That’s all I can tell you.”

Eight and a half hours? That’s a lot of questions.

Supposedly, there will be transcripts produced, Harriet and Karl will review them, and then we’ll all get our greedy little hands on them. Given that it’s summertime in our nation’s capital, it’ll take at least a few weeks for all that to transpire.

But we might get a Karl transcript before we get a Cheney interview.

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  1. acquarius74 says:

    Thanks, Marcy. Wonder what Rove pulled out of his newest “reality” to snow those stern letter writers? Remember what Scotty McClellan told that same House Judiciary Committee: Doubtful that he’d trust Rove even under oath.

    I don’t believe there’s a gullible bone in Chairman Conyers’ body, but he doesn’t seem to have enough clout to move an issue to accomplishment.

  2. bobschacht says:

    Oh, goody!

    BTW, got your pixie dust lunch box ready. Where do I send it?
    You have my email addy, don’t you?

    Bob from HI
    returning home tomorrow!

    • fatster says:

      Bob, this is probably a stupid idea, but I was wondering if you rounded up the cost of the lunch box and let us know, that those of us tilting toward the impecunious side of the income scale could make contributions to the “Marcy Wheeler Fundraiser” in that amount. You know, we could be the Marcy Wheeler Pixie Dust Lunch Box Brigade.

      (If too stupid for words, please ignore this message.)

      • bobschacht says:

        Follow the link. I paid $13.72 at the store. On-line, it’s $10.50 +PSH of $5.
        I dunno, the Marcy Wheeler Pixie Dust Lunch Box Tote Brigade sounds kinda kool to me. Nice idea. Anything to push up the pledge. I guess I get to claim charter membership in that Lunch Tote Brigade. w00t!

        Aloha,
        Bob from HI

        • fatster says:

          You are the FOUNDING Member of the Marcy Wheeler Pixie Dust Lunch Tote Brigade. And I must say, however much I liked that 1776 number on the fundraising thermometer, as you can see, I did send it up a tiny bit. Many thnx.

        • pdaly says:

          ooh, if we could get one for EW, signed by PapaDick himself!

          (or would W have to sign it, too, to make it legit?)

        • fatster says:

          You kidding? Signatures from either of those *(insert bad bad words here)* would surely poison her lunch!

          Of course, we could always redact them. Huh?

        • freepatriot says:

          the Marcy Wheeler Pixie Dust Lunch Box Tote Brigade REGIMENT sounds kinda kool to me

          we’ve been experiencing some growth in the past few months, so we had to upgrade the group

          must be all the Froomkin addicts lookin for a fix …

        • Leen says:

          “experiencing some growth in the last few months”

          Must be a bunch of folks dreaming about accountability and justice.

        • bobschacht says:

          Progressive Democrats of America has an Issue Organizing Team devoted to Accountability and Justice. We got a pep talk from EW herveryownself a few weeks ago. (Unfortunately, I was traveling that day and missed it!)

          This PDA IOT has been organizing demonstrations to impeach Jay Bybee, appoint a special prosecutor, etc.

          Bob from HI
          Returning home today!

        • Leen says:

          this neighborhood is committed to Justice and accountability. Now that the work, research, evidence that EW and Company keep stirring up and bringing to the fore front..more and more will be coming here for hope

        • WilliamOckham says:

          You are such a geek… Of course it takes one to know one. I’ve been spending so much with the CREW email doc dump that I feel like I’ve been living in Nov. 2005…

        • Rayne says:

          Oh, that explains where you’ve been, should have guessed you were buried up to your ears in CREW-mail. Hope you are finding some tasty morsels in that debris field!

      • freepatriot says:

        24 hours from Home

        really ???

        and, like, don’t you LIVE in Hawaii ???

        you must swim faster than the average Bob, eh ???

        (duckin & runnin)

      • klynn says:

        I have got to get one of these and track down my special pixie dust comment from way back, where I defined pixie dust in EW’s honor! (I cannot remember the post unfortunately) I’ll have to search for it and then keep a printed copy in my new pixie dust tote.

        Great link!

        • bobschacht says:

          Just for fun, I might start a Facebook group to give the Marcy Wheeler Pixie Dust Brigade a home. Membership requirement would be the donation of at least $15 to the Wheeler Support Campaign. Purchase of Disney “Pixie Dust Hits the Spot” lunch tote optional.

          And to Rayne @18, yes, a netbook should fit just fine in the Pixie Dust lunch tote, along with the power supply cord and one or two accessories.

          Bob back in HI

  3. Leen says:

    Karl seems to have been successful at flipping the script and telling so many lies that one would think that all of the hoping praying and all of the goats that some of us have sacrificed …that those lies and spin would eventually catch up with him. Justice… Accountability? I think that is what they call it.

    The “no one is above the law” myth

    • Rayne says:

      And I’d just mentioned to Marcy that I thought we were good for volumes of timeline content until mid/late August.

      Jeebus.

      We are going to be snowed under with data. Better retrieve that shovel from the back of the closet, we’re going to need it.

  4. obsessed says:

    Hopefully his many months at Fox News will have dulled his wits.

    Were there any ringers among the questioners?

  5. BoxTurtle says:

    Over 6 hours is a LOT of “I can’t recall”. I wonder if he actually said anything.

    Boxturtle (I doubt Conyers softballed ANY questions)

  6. Leen says:

    did someone ask Cheney to shut his pie hole? he was all over the place a while back? Who told him to go back to his bunker?

  7. FrankProbst says:

    did someone ask Cheney to shut his pie hole? he was all over the place a while back? Who told him to go back to his bunker?

    I think he only surfaces when a major revelation is about to come out. No Cheney means no bombshells in the near future.

    • plunger says:

      When Cheney was on TV every day recently – his message was, in effect, when Bin Laden strikes (appears to strike) in the US again, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Having planted that seed, Cheney’s subsequent disappearance from the airwaves in recent weeks must be viewed in the context of two additional factors:

      1. On June 30th, “analyst,” Michael Scheuer, went on FOX’s Glenn Beck show to proclaim that the only chance for America is for Bin Laden to detonate a bomb in this country. Olbermann covered it last night.

      2. Biden went on the record this weekend giving Israel the green light to bomb Iran.

      Viewed in context, it would seem that the Masters Of The Universe are preparing the public and the world for another “pretext.” If recent history is any guide, the threat of terror attacks, and actual terror attacks, seem to coincide with investigations such as these, that pry too deeply into the conspiracy – threatening their most valued assets. Terror serves both as warning (to back-off), and as punishment (for following the law).

      REMEMBER THIS:

      Published: July 7, 2005

      WASHINGTON, July 6 – Judith Miller, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge declared that she was “defying the law” by refusing to divulge the name of a confidential source.

      And then this:

      The country’s worst-ever terrorist atrocity during London’s morning rush hour on July 7, 2005

      In the context of this:

      On the July 17, 2005, Meet the Press, reporter Matthew Cooper said that Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide was among the sources for a Time magazine reporter’s story about the identity of a CIA officer …

      The “White House had insisted for nearly two years that vice presidential chief of staff Lewis Libby and presidential adviser Karl Rove were not involved in the leaks of CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity.” –Associated Press, July 17, 2005

  8. fatster says:

    I just saw your link up there at 15. Apologies. Yeah! I can double that comfortably. Many thnx.

    • Rayne says:

      Huh. That is very interesting and worth keeping an eye on. One wonders if the South Korean outages are merely a coincidence…

  9. FormerFed says:

    An all day deposition is a very tiring experience. And I was always telling the truth – I can only imagine the stress that even an accomplished lier like Turdblossom was under. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving a**hole.

  10. pdaly says:

    Rove was deposed today?

    Could this explain Scott McClellan’s curiously wordless link to emptywheel’s post earlier today?
    (As Neil noted here http://emptywheel.firedoglake……ent-170853 )

    If people were looking up Scottie for any response to Rove’s deposition, emptywheel’s post would have been McClellan’s reply.

    • pdaly says:

      Yes, my computer has been slow to refresh tonight.

      Cheney’s working on his memoirs, so I assume there’ll be a book signing. How to get him to sign a lunch tote instead of a lousy book…
      Well, I might need to subcontract this out to the The Peanut–if Christy doesn’t mind, and if the Peanut knows how to deflect a sneer and get the job done.

      And fatster’s words at 35 ring true. Maybe a signed one just for the display case.

  11. timbo says:

    Hopefully it leads to something meaningful…like enforcement of the laws and Constitution…rather than the mediocre one and a half party state we’ve seen ruining the country for the past decade or so.

  12. freepatriot says:

    calm down, ew

    we’ll get you a transcript soon

    till then, try to amuse yourself by reading some nice confessional bullshit from donald dumsfeld

    there are a lot of lies and half truths in there

    that should keep you occupied for a few minutes

    anybody else feel like the government is trying to keep the wolves away from the pork chops ???

    Note to Obama and congress:emptywheel is gonna chew you guys up on this any way, and the suspense just pisses her off, so why bother ???

  13. alinaustex says:

    I truly remain positive about the final outcomes for actual accountabilty from this criminal regieme formerly known as gwb43 -Moreover I still maintain with reasonable optimism that all those that have aggrieved our laws and Constitution will be made to pay -including Turdblossom .( Sheesh eight hours of depositions -thats a long time to tap dance -even for a pro like kkkarl ! )
    When my optimism prove truly held -in the end – Marcy Wheeler’s reporting & timelines will be one of the primary reason that the wrong doers are punished.
    (Just wish the MSM reporter critters “lurkering” here reading this would grow a bigger pair and do some original reporting on any of these timelines – or at the very least give a byline or two to Ms Wheeler -and send her some funding – Yeah this “lurker without testicles ” comment is addressed to you Mr Isikoff & Mr Fineman …)

    • fatster says:

      This doesn’t specifically address your question, but it seems the intention was that he be under oath.

      “The agreement called for Rove to testify “under the penalty for perjury,” Conyers has said. The committee could release the transcripts afterward, but the agreement also allowed for public testimony.”

      Link.

  14. BayStateLibrul says:

    I experience my flashbacks, after a few brewskis.
    It seems like we are still chasing down the ghosts of Rove, Cheney, and Bush past.
    They are so elusive, devious, and corrupt liars.
    Ozzie Guillen said “Wrigley Field is just a bar.”
    Life is more than a metaphor for baseball.
    We won’t give up until they are behind bars…
    Long live Wrigley and the Cubs…

  15. Leen says:

    ot
    Klynn did you watch “This week” on Sunday. What did you think about what Biden said about Iran/Israel..potential attack on Iran

    • klynn says:

      Just read your Oxdown on the Biden appearance and went to your links.

      I was a bit floored by also reading the Pickens story right after reading your post.

      Biden on Isreal, resolutions at the UN, Pickens backing out of green energy, a cyber attack on US federal websites and South Korean gov websites, Cheney is quiet…

      Tin foil head wrap has me asking, “What the ____ is going on folks?”

      • Leen says:

        cheney has been very very quiet wondered a while back who asked him to zip it? Does he answer to anyone besides his dark dark shadow?

        • klynn says:

          My guess is the OPR report will be released either on the day Israel strikes or on the day the Obama’s announce the baby-coming news. Which ever event is left after the OPR report release will be the event to release the Harriet-Rove House Judiciary transcripts.

          Shiny objects and Pixie Dust still fog the way to truth and justice.

  16. BayStateLibrul says:

    Update, I heard on NBC News this morning, that Rove’s interview is not ended. The reporter said he would meet again with the Committee, but gave no details…

    • BoxTurtle says:

      It is wrong of me to enjoy anothers discomfort, but….

      BAWHAHAHAHAHAHA…*snigger*…*snort*….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

      We need to start a pool:

      1) How many times did he respond some form of “I don’t recall”?
      2) How many times did he claim 5th amendment?
      3) How many times did he claim some form of privilege? (Executive, lawyer-client, Dr-Patient, or whatever)
      4) How many times does he successfully avoid answering a question WITHOUT using one of the above?

      Boxturtle (And everytime he manages to work in 9/11, we ALL take a drink!)

  17. klynn says:

    Hey,

    I have been catching up because I just got back on Sunday night. What I did follow, while I was gone, was mostly UN related info – especially UN resolutions irt Israel. Just the UN activity had me curious what undercurrent of power was shifting and how soon.

    I’ll watch it. Thanks for the heads up.

  18. Leen says:

    Just reread your post “Given that it’s summertime in our nation’s capital, it’ll take at least a few weeks for all that to transpire.”

    How long ago did they subpoena Rove? How long did this take?

  19. Mary says:

    Yeah – a lot like 2006. Obama claiming Executive branch torture is a ’state secret’ and he can summarily direct DOJ to not investigate it; massive US citizen surveillance still ongoing but now with legislative blessings; Obama going Chertoff one better and claiming that *clean team* statements work to get around torture; Obama claiming forever detention powers post “not guilty” verdicts … I guess one thing that has changed is that now the Dems are on board with formally installing a pro-torture Gen Counsel at CIA.

    From the article:

    Luskin said there was an agreement that the depositions would remain confidential until they were completed. However, in a court filing Monday, the Justice Department indicated that the deposition set for this week would be the committee’s last

    .

    Cue the, “but even so, the depositions still need to remain confidential, because, well, that’s just the kind of thing us guys here at the Department of Law do these days, by golly. Only dead fish float to the surface … U betcha? ” They may as well make Palin their mascot and put Holder in an updo.

    @46 – Hope you are finding some good stuff in there.

    • Mary says:

      something you won’t be seeing from Members of Congress, who have even more protections. And even more depressing, you could have it happen – a member of Congress take the floor and detail “classified” information on kidnap and torture of innocent people, on disappearing children, and the US press would barely cover it, if at all.

  20. fatster says:

    Greenwald:

    “All of this underscores what has clearly emerged as the core “principle” of Obama justice when it comes to accused Terrorists — namely, “due process” is pure window dressing with only one goal:   to ensure that anyone the President wants to keep imprisoned will remain in prison.  They’ll create various procedures to prettify the process, but the outcome is always the same — ongoing detention for as long as the President dictates.”

    Ackerman is all over this, too. Link.

  21. foothillsmike says:

    I wonder how the depositions would have gone if they used a little sleep deprivation techniques popularized by his boss.

    • BoxTurtle says:

      Available evidence suggests poorly. Rove would say anything to get it to stop and it’d get thrown out of court. Holder can tell you all about that over an alka seltzer some time.

      I think the best technique for Rove is perfectly legal: A photo of a prison cell and the reminder that perjury can bring several years. Rove WILL NOT take that bullet for anyone, he’ll squeal like a pig.

      Boxturtle (I suspect Rove is suffering a little incidental sleep deprivation due to his testimony)

      • victoria says:

        I’m just concerned that perjury, from Rove, would not bring any consequences. I seriously doubt that the WH and Holder would permit it to happen.

        • fatster says:

          Not a chance. The laws, and penalties for breaking them, only apply to us “little people”. With a few exceptions (Siegelman, et al.).

  22. victoria says:

    From TMP, according to AP, “The agreement called for Rove to testify “under the penalty for perjury,” Conyers has said.”

    So, what the hell does that mean? NOT under oath, would be my uneducated guess. So in this scenario, “testify” means what? Discussion, little chat, “I don’t recall”, or “kiss my ass”.

  23. perris says:

    that long deposition is very good news to me, contrary to republican belief, rove is not an intelect and not quick on his feet, he can only recite prepared statements and I do not believe he can withstand questioning under oath, especialy where those posing the questions have avenues to fact check

    I really think this will lead to some very edifyind information