Rove Off the Hook, but Dems Still Ignoring Reality

How sad it this. Rove has been acknowledged as not having done any wrong in the Plame case, but the Dems spitting mad that the Administration is leaking facts.

Democrats on Tuesday said they would do all they could to keep alive the larger issues of the case, the most significant investigation to date into the workings of the Bush White House. Lacking a Rove indictment, they will attempt to focus public attention on the revelations that Rove and former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - and even Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - were involved in various decisions to leak information aimed at discrediting a critic of the Iraq war.

"The notion of the leak and the overall White House involvement, that ain't over," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the Democratic committee that sets strategy for House races. "Obviously, we know that 'Scooter' Libby is not Karl Rove. But you have the vice president of the United States involved, or at least his office was involved."

Still missing that the release of information to "discredit" a critic of the Iraq war is in fact the legal declassification and release of the facts in the case. If they mean that "discredit" is to provide the truth to the scenario, then I'm fine with that. But I don't think that that is what they mean nor does it fulfill their political needs.

And of course, since the criminal investigation found nothing, there needs to be a congressional investigation.

Another leading Democrat, Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, said that Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's decision not to indict Rove should trigger a congressional investigation into whether the top White House aide mishandled classified information when he discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with a reporter.

Waxman argued that although Fitzgerald conducted a "narrow" criminal investigation, Congress should examine the broader issue of whether Rove deserved to keep his high-level security clearance.

And we all know how effective these investigations are. But hey, go right ahead, I'm sure there isn't anything more important that they could be doing. And everyones favorite, Chuck Schumer want a report NOW.

One Democratic lawmaker who has been pressing for tough action on the leak, Senator Schumer, said he had "every confidence" in the decision about Mr.Rove, but wanted Mr. Fitzgerald to issue a report detailing how the disclosure took place and who was responsible. "We still need to make sure that anyone who did that is given the appropriate punishment," the senator said.

So if the law finds no wrong doing, make sure that the congress gets into penalizing people for political reasons. Nice that Fitzgerald at least points out that he can't legally release any of the information that Schumer so desperately wants.

At a press conference last year, Mr. Fitzgerald said that, unlike independent counsels appointed under a now-expired statute, he could not make his findings public.

"I do not have the authority to write a report, and, frankly, I don't think I should have that authority," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "I think we should conduct this like any other criminal investigation: charge someone or be quiet."

At least Fitzgerald is striking me as honest.