Rove Cleared in Leak Probe, Lawyer Says; Truthout Stands By Indictment ReportsSo the lawyer for Bush adviser Karl Rove has released a letter to the media stating, “On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove.”
While Fitzgerald’s office is declining to confirm that information, the New York Times and others have enough faith in Luskin’s veracity to report the assertion as fact: Rove’s in the clear.
But Truthout.org — the one publication to report, repeatedly, that Rove was definitely going to be indicted — isn’t buying it.
I reached Truthout editor Marc Ash on his cel phone this morning. “I wasn’t aware that he had said that,” he said of Luskin’s announcement, but insisted that Truthout was “absolutely” standing by its earlier reporting.
“We’ve done a lot of work on this story, we’ve talked to a lot of people,” he said, “and some of the people who provided information for the story are absolutely in a position to know.”
So if Truthout’s reporting — by correspondent Jason Leopold — is correct, is Ruskin lying? “Robert Luskin’s allegations are in the best interest of his client, not necessarily the press,” Ash said. “I think that the information he is providing is directly contradicted by the information we have.”
