Well, Jason Leopold is making that claim over at TruthOut. I usually don’t take TruthOut’s word for such things, although this seems like an odd set of facts to misreport. There’s more speculation on what’s happening (assuming the reports are accurate) at TalkLeft. Stay tuned to see whether this is baloney or the real deal.
Byron York reports, over at The Corner on a conversation he had with a Rove spokesman today regarding the TruthOut report:
It would be a very bold, and stupid, spokesman who gave definitive answers such as the above unless he was confident they were true. Then again, Scott McClellan gave definitive and incorrect answers about this case at one point because he was kept in-the-dark, but you would hope the same mistake wouldn’t be made twice.
The CW in Lefty Blogistan seems to be that Leopold is a fiction writer, not that they wouldn’t love for it to be true. There is a determined minority who believes that Leopold has scooped the entire MSM (for two full days now!). One way or the other, I think this story will be determinative of his credibility for all time.
One point of interest is that Rove was supposedly given “24 hours” to get his affairs in order; when 24 hours passed and nothing happened, Leopold claimed that he had goofed and that the story should have actually read “24 business hours,” meaning the clock doesn’t start running until Monday morning. This strikes me as a particular weak save, since I have never heard anyone use the terminology “24 business hours” in my life. But again, time will tell.
Also of note: Leopold claims that he will out his confidential sources if it turns out they made the whole thing up. Many people feel that this should be standard throughout the journalism profession as a whole, although it doesn’t seem to be.
Rove has still not been indicted. This is looking bad for those who rushed to “break” this story…
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While I consider myself to be a proud liberal, I have to say that TruthOut is a perfect example of partisan hackery (if I may be so bold as to make up a word). The only time they report on anything bad about Democrats is when it is about a Dem that they don’t like (i.e. Joe Lieberman) because they are not liberal enough for them.
The funny thing is that if Fitzgerald does end up indicting Rove- at any point in the future- Leopold will probably use that to say he was right and that he is vindicated.
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