@Randem

You didn't think I forgot about Turd Blossom, did you?

A recent Time magazine article indicates that White House officials learned of Valerie Plame's relation to Joseph Wilson weeks before his op-ed piece in the New York Times. What this means is that Rove is caught in yet another lie (which his lawyer has repeated) where he said he learned who she was from a reporter.

As the investigation tightens into the leak of the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, sources tell TIME some White House officials may have learned she was married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson weeks before his July 6, 2003, Op-Ed piece criticizing the Administration. That prospect increases the chances that White House official Karl Rove and others learned about Plame from within the Administration rather than from media contacts. Rove has told investigators he believes he learned of her directly or indirectly from reporters, according to his lawyer.

Think Progress goes into more detail about this.

ABC News: The Note reports today that Rove's two closest cronies have been brought in for testimony today.

Based on ABC News sources (and our own video camera) it appears that at least two witnesses testified before the grand jury last Friday, both close associates of Karl Rove.

ABC News has learned that one was Susan Ralston, Rove's long-time right hand. The other, per ABC News' Jake Tapper, was Israel "Izzy" Hernandez, Rove's former left hand (and now a top Commerce Department official). It isn't clear if either had been asked to testify before last week.

DailyKOS seems to think this is a good indication that Rove is the target of this investigation.

Labels: national security, politics