Rove's fate in the USA firing probe is now in the hands of the Special Prosecutor.

by Biloxi

From the House Judiciary Committee website on Tuesday, House committee chairman John Conyers Jr. said this on the USA probe: "I have provided a copy of the materials released today to special U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy to assist in her effort to determine whether federal criminal charges are appropriate and to pursue any such charges."

The decision on whether Rove and others will or will not be prosecuted is now in the hands of Ms. Dannehy. A lot of folks continue to ask why AG Holder is not going after Rove and the others in the USA probe. People have to keep in mind that Conyers had opened up an investigation into the attorney firings and former AG Michael Mukasey appointed a Special Prosecutor for this probe because of the demand by the Inspector General and Congress. Holder knows that he cannot interfere in the House committee's investigation. What do we know up to this point on Dannehy's investigation?:

Well, we do know that Dannehy subpoenaed former New Mexico Senator Pete V.Domenici for an interview in February of this year.


Washington Post:

At the time, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine urged prosecutors to use their subpoena power to compel documents and testimony about the dismissal of New Mexico U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias, whose pace on criminal investigations involving Democrats in the state drew complaints from Domenici and then-Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.).

Dannehy had interviewed White House political affairs deputy J. Scott Jennings who worked alongside with Karl Rove. Rove was interviewed in May.

However, Jason Leopold provide this interestingnugget in a June article:

According to legal sources, over the past several weeks Gonzales’s former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, has provided damaging information to Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy, an Assistant U.S. Attorney from Connecticut, about Gonzales. Sampson is said to have told the special prosecutor that Gonzales was far more engaged in the attorney firings than he had previously disclosed to Dannehy, in Congressional testimony and in interviews with Justice Department watchdogs.

Sampson, these sources said, is also facing obstruction of justice charges and the sources familiar with his interviews with Dannehy said he had provided detailed information about Gonzales’s role in the firings in hopes of staving off the possibility of criminal charges he may face for his role in the dismissals. The legal standard for an obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and perjury charges is specific intent.

With that in mind, the legal sources added that although Dannehy has collected voluminous evidence over the past four months that would appear to suggest Gonzales and other Bush administration officials may have committed crimes related to the attorney firings–including perjury and conspiracy–it’s also possible that criminal charges won’t be filed if she believes she cannot prove intent.

Stay tuned!