Rove, Cooper, Plame, O'Donnell
Posted by Trott
According to Editor & Publisher, Lawrence O'Donnell says that it was Karl Rove who told Matt Cooper that Valerie Plame was with the CIA.
While I do not claim to know whether and to what extent Karl Rove was involved in the Plame affair, this particular rumor is a crock.
I don't see how O'Donnell is in a position to know what he claims to know. It seems like it would have to be something he got second-hand. He's probably repeating a rumor that he was told by someone slightly better placed than he is. This is why he writes of having the tale "reconfirmed" by another "source" in his entry for the Huffington Post blog--he does not have first-hand knowledge about the contents of Cooper's notes and emails.
Furthermore, Rove is not a moron. If he wanted to leak something, he wouldn't tell Matt Cooper himself. He'd get a subordinate to tell Matt Cooper. Rove The Evil Genius would have to be Rove The Collosally Stupid Evil Genius to leak something to the press himself. "Collosally Stupid" and "Genius" are mutually exclusive, ergo Rove is not Cooper's source for the Plame information.
(Weasel time: This certainly does not rule out that Rove is the source for Cooper's source. But that's not what's being claimed by O'Donnell. Furthermore, this analysis depends on me knowing how Washington insiders leak to the press. Which I don't.)
It does appear to be the case that Rove was one source for Cooper's story, as reported in Newsweek. But that doesn't make him the source of the leaked information about Plame. In fact, if I had to guess what's going on here, I'd bet it goes something like this:
According to Editor & Publisher, Lawrence O'Donnell says that it was Karl Rove who told Matt Cooper that Valerie Plame was with the CIA.
While I do not claim to know whether and to what extent Karl Rove was involved in the Plame affair, this particular rumor is a crock.
I don't see how O'Donnell is in a position to know what he claims to know. It seems like it would have to be something he got second-hand. He's probably repeating a rumor that he was told by someone slightly better placed than he is. This is why he writes of having the tale "reconfirmed" by another "source" in his entry for the Huffington Post blog--he does not have first-hand knowledge about the contents of Cooper's notes and emails.
Furthermore, Rove is not a moron. If he wanted to leak something, he wouldn't tell Matt Cooper himself. He'd get a subordinate to tell Matt Cooper. Rove The Evil Genius would have to be Rove The Collosally Stupid Evil Genius to leak something to the press himself. "Collosally Stupid" and "Genius" are mutually exclusive, ergo Rove is not Cooper's source for the Plame information.
(Weasel time: This certainly does not rule out that Rove is the source for Cooper's source. But that's not what's being claimed by O'Donnell. Furthermore, this analysis depends on me knowing how Washington insiders leak to the press. Which I don't.)
It does appear to be the case that Rove was one source for Cooper's story, as reported in Newsweek. But that doesn't make him the source of the leaked information about Plame. In fact, if I had to guess what's going on here, I'd bet it goes something like this:
- Rove is identified as a source in Cooper's notes and/or emails.
- This bit of information gets out and about in the Time office and ultimately makes its way to O'Donnell.
- Somewhere between Time and O'Donnell, "Rove is one of Cooper's sources" gets changed into "Rove is the source that Cooper is going to jail to protect."
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