I'm imagining this brief conversation late tonight between Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney (courtesy Bob Dylan):

When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm trav'lin' on
Don't think twice, it's all right

Will he do it again tomorrow? CNN reports Fitzgerald is focused on perjury.

I think:

• the charges were submitted to the grand jury yesterday but no vote was taken.
• Final plea negotiations will take place today.
• The grand jury will do its final vote tomorrow. Those that didn't accept Fitzgerald's offer may face additional counts.
• An announcement will be made tomorrow as to both indictments and plea agreements
• This grand jury will be released.
• A different grand jury may be assigned in the future to investigate related issues that go beyond the leak of Valerie Plame's identity and the coverup.

by TChris

While the headline to the linked story labels Judge Ian O'Flaherty a “maverick,” it might be more accurate to call him “brave” for standing up to M.A.D.D. and all the legislators who cower before the group’s lobbying power. Judge O’Flaherty is concerned about drunk driving laws that require a court to presume a defendant guilty of impaired driving if the defendant has a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.08. The judge concluded that the presumption unconstitutionally conflicts with the presumption of innocence and with the defendant’s right to remain silent, and (to the frustration of prosecutors) has repeatedly ruled in the driver’s favor when the test result is the only significant evidence of the driver’s impairment. (Judge O’Flaherty’s first decision to that effect was reported here.)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has issued this statement (received by e-mail) on Harriet Miers' withdrawal as Supreme Court nominee. I agree with him.

“The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination. Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues.

“I had recommended that the President consider nominating Ms. Miers because I was impressed with her record of achievement as the managing partner of a major Texas law firm and the first woman president of the Texas Bar Association. In those roles she was a strong supporter of law firm diversity policies and a leader in promoting legal services for the poor. But these credentials are not good enough for the right wing: they want a nominee with a proven record of supporting their skewed goals.

by TChris

The president announced his intent to select a replacement for Harriet Miers in a “timely manner.” Miers was torpedoed by extremist critics in the president’s own party, raising the fear of an appeasement pick.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) cautioned Democrats to be careful what they wished for. "For those who were concerned that Harriet Miers was too conservative, you should not be too sanguine about this," Obama said.

Dick Durbin warned that the president is “almost certain to turn to a nominee that is embraced by the conservative wing of the Republican Party.” Harry Ried cautioned the president not to travel that road:

Patrick Fitzgerald says there will be no leaks announcement today.

Rove's legal team made contingency plans, consulting with former Justice Department official Mark Corallo about what defenses could be mounted in court and in public.

It sounds like today will be the final day for those under the gun to make a deal.

by Last Night in Little Rock

This just in from CNN: President Bush has withdrawn the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court at her request. The NY Times article is here:

On February 11, 2004, Newsday (quoted at length here) reported that former White House Press Aide Adam Levine testified before the Plame grand jury for 45 minutes on Friday, February 6. The paper also reported:

In the grand jury sessions, press aides were confronted with internal White House documents, mainly e-mails and telephone logs, between White House aides and reporters and questioned about conversations with reporters, according to sources and reports.

Levine's lawyer, Dan French, has confirmed for the Washington Post that Levine was interviewed again Tuesday by a member of Fitzgerald's legal team regarding a July 11 conversation Levine had with Rove. This is the same date that Rove and Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper spoke - in a conversation that Rove apparently didn't recall during his initial questioning by FBI investigators or before the grand jury. The Rove-Cooper conversation is the one Fitzgerald reportedly is examining in deciding whether to charge Rove with perjury.

by Last Night in Little Rock

For the last two days, I haven't been able to get this line from the movie The Ref (1994) out of my mind:

Connie Chasseur: Who would catch a criminal, and then let him go free?

Mary Chasseur: Republicans.

Not much attention has been paid here to international press reports of the current state of the Bush presidency. Tomorrow's Independent has this description:

Senior White House officials face indictment over CIA leak. Protests across US as military death toll in Iraq passes 2,000. Republicans may force retreat over Supreme Court nomination

This perception, quite accurate I think, doesn't help him.

...the leak investigation has become a metaphor for the alleged manipulation of intelligence to make the case for military action.

Political Wire recommends this Atlantic Monthly profile (free link) of Karl Rove. I'm struck by this statement:

In the rare instances when he has failed to set the terms of debate, Rove hasn't fared nearly so well.

But the fact that he can't control Fitzgerald's playing field may make him more ruthless:

It is frequently said of him, in hushed tones when political folks are doing the talking, that he leaves a trail of damage in his wake—a reference to the substantial number of people who have been hurt, politically and personally, through their encounters with him. Rove's reputation for winning is eclipsed only by his reputation for ruthlessness, and examples abound of his apparent willingness to cross moral and ethical lines.

We have another day at least to wait. As Murray Waas says today, quoting former Nixon Aide Leonard Garment:

"We do not know what is happening, and that is what happening."

While you're waiting, here's my list of fellow Rove and PlameGate obsessives I read at least once a day:

• Jane and Reddhed of FireDogLake, who got this well-deserved and outstanding review today from Ron Rosenbaum at the New York Observer.
• Tom Maguire of Just One Minute
• Huffington Post, particularly the Patrick Fitzgerald page
• Digby

Other excellent analysis: