Dum-da-dum-dum (Dragnet Theme)

Another step closer to Club Fed for Karl "Pillsbury Doughboy" Rove, it seems from a front page story in the Washington Post today.

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

Now another piece of the puzzle snaps into place, although others are still being fitted. For one, did Karl Rove see that memo when he was on Air Force One on the Bush trip to Africa with Colin Powell, Chimpie, and Ari Fleischer, among others? If Rove did read the memo, who would know he did? And, finally, has special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked the necessary questions of one of those who might have witnessed Rove's perusal of the memo?

One sweet detail in the memo is that it puts forth the State Department's case for why they believed Iraq was NOT seeking uranium from Niger, the very thing Ambassador Joe Wilson made known from his trip there. So, if Rove read a classified state department memo that supported Wilson's claim and also contained the identity of his wife flagged as "Secret," and if Rove used that information in his attempt to discredit Wilson, Rove is then guilty of violating, at minimum, his own signed non-disclosure agreement, and at maximum the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. If it's the latter, he could be facing ten years in a federal penitentiary. Given the venal, malicious, and dangerous manner in which this was done plus the fact that he withheld information on the case for over two years in an attempt to hide what he had done, there may be obstruction of justice charges and perjury thrown in as well. A "law and order" judge might decide to make an example of such a person in a time of war, wouldn't you think?

And here's a little bit of circumstantial evidence that does not bode well for Karl's other explanations of things:

The memo was delivered to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on July 7, 2003, as he headed to Africa for a trip with President Bush aboard Air Force One. Plame was unmasked in a syndicated column by Robert D. Novak seven days later.

"How convenient," Church Lady might have said.

And then there's the possibility of conspiracy charges piling up. Who knew what when? Who was in on the disclosure and smear of Wilson before the fact? Who knew later? Who among those who were on Air Force One that day have known about the illegal disclosure of Valerie Wilson's identity and know that Rove read that memo but have failed to come forth?

Two words to Karl and any other members of the pre- or post-crime conspiracy: Fresh Meat!