Truthout seems to be using Sealed Case 128 to justify not revealing Jason Leopold's sources for his May 13 article reporting Karl Rove had been indicted.

Yes, there has been a sealed case 06cr00128 styled Sealed v. Sealed on the District Court's docket (available through Pacer) since it was filed on May 17. It says "no further information is available" or something like that. It is still sealed, I've checked several times since then. If my handwritten notes are correct, it's the only District Court criminal case filed between May 9 (case 122) and May 18 (case 131) that remains sealed.

But, I can't agree with Truthout that sealed case 128 may validate Jason's article and therefore justify not disclosing the sources who told them Rove had been indicted. Note, I said Truthout, not Jason. Jason was on Ed Schultz today (you can listen here) and made it clear that it is no longer his decision but his publisher's (Truthout) whether to out his sources as he once promised he would do if the May 13 article proved false.

Sometimes people just don't know when to cry "uncle." I do. I asked Robert Luskin this morning if Karl Rove has made a deal with Fitzgerald. His response:

There has never, ever been any discussion of a deal in any way, shape or form.

Which is exactly what Luskin told me weeks ago. It's over, folks. Karl Rove will not be charged with a crime. He's cooperated with Fitzgerald by testifying to the grand jury five times and providing whatever information he had without a safety net. Without a 5k. Without assurances he would not be indicted. That's a hell of a risk, but Luskin pulled it off. My hat's off to Luskin.

I opined repeatedly on TalkLeft and HuffPo that Karl Rove would be charged at least with making a false statement to investigators in the fall of 2003 before a grand jury was convened -- the Martha Stewart crime. That was wrong.

I'm ready to put this to bed. Karl Rove walked. He's one of the rare subjects of an investigation who was able to talk his way out of an Indictment.

And yes, I think Jason needs to out his sources. If there was and will be no Indictment of Rove, his sources lied. If any are lawyers at Patton Boggs, I hope they lose their jobs and their law licenses.

Patrick Fitzgerald has written a letter to Karl Rove's lawyer informing him that Karl Rove will not be charged with a crime in PlameGate.

In a statement, Mr. Luskin said, "On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove."

....In his statement Mr. Luskin said he would not address other legal questions surrounding Mr. Fitzgerald's decision. He added, "In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation. We believe that the Special Counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct."

Kudos to Mr. Luskin who did a heckeva job for Karl Rove.

Update: Here is the official press release (received by e-mail from Rove spokesperson Mark Corallo):

You will see an ad on TalkLeft for the next week that makes you angry. It opposes net neutrality. Personally, I support net neutrality. But TalkLeft does not accept or reject ads based on ideology. If the NRA wants to advertise here, they are welcome. Are there some ads I would reject? Yes, I'd refuse an ad for the she-pundit's book, the KKK, a radical right, fundamentalist organization or one that raves about the death penalty -- ads that made me cringe.

The issue of internet regulaton just doesn't fall in those gut, emotional categories for me. It takes money to spend the amount of time that I do on this site. I'd rather have ad revenue than continually ask readers for donations.

If you'd like to know how I feel about net neutrality, check out Save the Internet. Read both sides and make up your own mind. Then let your Senators know how you feel.

Congratulations, Dan!

Dan Abrams has been named general manager of MSNBC.

NBC News legal correspondent Dan Abrams was put in charge of MSNBC Monday -- and his first move was to take himself off the air there. It was not immediately clear whether the legal-oriented "The Abrams Report" will continue with a different host or whether it will be replaced by another show.

Update: I'm told there may be an exeption in the federal statute for grand jury subpoenas. Which might just leave the issues of whether Nifong should have obtained prior court approval for the subpoena and whether he needed individualized suspicion for each player whose records he subpoenaed.

********
Original Post:

It seems DA Mike Nifong has stepped in it again. Lawyers for 33 unindicted players Monday filed a motion to quash subpoenas he issued without a court order that requests home addresses and other personal information protected by federal privacy laws.

And back to the last Defense motion(pdf) to throw out the Court's initial order compelling the 46 players to provide photographs and other non-testimonial evidence, and evidence derived from them, such as the later photo identifications, I received a request to weigh in on the motion, and in particular, commenters nit-picking over phraseology, so here's my reaction.

Bump and Update: Professor Denbaux writes in to say the Guardian was incorrect in reporting that he represented one of the inmates who committed suicide. Here is his e-mail to me:

Everything in your latest post about the Guantanamo detainee who committed suicide unaware that he was one of 141 detainees that the United States had scheduled to be released is correct with one exception. That detainee, Al-Utaybi, was not our client. Apparently a London newspaper reported that Al-Utaybi, was our client without talking to us. The reporter apparently misheard something on BBC. We never spoke to the reporter who started the story. Joshua checked with BBC. BBC had it right.: our client told us that he wanted to die rather than stay in Guantanamo any longer. Immediately thereafter (when we had left) something happened and he was immediately extracted and force fed. The acts which caused the guards to rush in and extract him were never described to us. Fortunately, our client is still alive.

The fact that detainee Al--Utaybi was not our client does not change the horrific loss of life--which would have been avoided if the detainee had been told that the United States government had decided to release him. By the way, none of the 141 on that list have been told that they are to be released. No reason has been given for withholding this light of hope. Joshua beleives that our client may be (he certainly should be) on that list. If so, we want him to know.

The fact that the detainee who died without knowing that the United States had authorized his release certainly destroys the claim by the Deputy Secretary of State and others that he was a dangerous person willing to die to as a publicity stunt. Such a contemptable accusation becomes even worse when it turns out that the government knew that it was false when made.

Digby rocks today over at Firedoglake. The success of Yearly Kos was amazing, with no small part played by the FDL foxy ladies Jane and Christy, and reporters like Murray Waas. If, like me, you were not one of the 1,000 bloggers or blog readers at the event, you can catch what you missed on videos here. The Plame Panel with Jane, Christy, Marcy,Murray and Joe Wilson is here.

Digby's point is that blogs wouldn't exist without readers and commenters, and you all deserve to take a bow -- not because you're online, but because you are changing the national political conversation. We are going to take our country back. Since I can't write like Digby (let's face it, very few can) I'll quote -- and add my thoughts at the end:

Family Court Reno, Nevada Judge Chuck Weller was shot four times in the chest at the Reno courthouse today by a sniper who may have fired from a nearby parking garage. He is believed to be alive.

The suspect is still on the loose. Photos of the shooting are here.

How Appealing is tracking the news stories.

TalkLeft sends its best wishes to Judge Weller for a complete recovery.

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Amnesty International Switzerland has an amazing new ad campaign. Just scroll through all the pictures. The campaign is in German, so I have no idea what the text is, but the graphics are so universal, who cares?

Via Living on an Island, the overseas blogger whose created the WordPress theme Relaxation (out of hundreds, it's the one I selected for TalkLeft. How cool that he also cares about civil liberties.)

Update: TalkLeft reader PJ writes in that the sign reads, "It Didn't Happen Here, But Now." Another commenter says it is "It's Happening. Not Here. But Now." More translation below:

The ACLU argued its case against NSA warrantless electronic surveillance in a federal court in Michigan today.

A lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case said that the very statute the administration admits violating, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, provides the mechanism by which the president can properly order spying. The law even provides for warrantless wire tapping for 15 days after the start of a war or for 72 hours in specific cases, after which the government can seek a warrant, argued Ann Beeson, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The government has admitted the NSA is eavesdropping and not obtaining a warrant," Beeson said. "The Congress has expressly rejected language to broaden the president's authority."

Legal expert Andrew Cohen provides analysis in today's Washington Post.

Action Alert: Time to contact your senators. From Sen. John Kerry, who today introduced S. 2766 calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq by the end of the year:

In the next 24 hours, it is likely that the Senate will vote on my amendment which calls for the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq by the end of this year. For months, you and I have been pressing for this step. We've made it clear that we needed to set deadlines in Iraq -- and with the formation of an Iraqi unity government and the killing of Al-Zarqawi, this is a moment of truth in Iraq.

Now a critical vote is at hand. Our brave soldiers have done their work. It's time to put the future of Iraq in the hands of the Iraqi people.

Urge your Senators today to support withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2006.

You can read excerpts from Kerry's Amendment to S. 2766 here.