Henry Waxman on Karl Rove: "The President Said He Would Fire Anybody He Found Responsible

A growing number of Congressmembers are calling on President Bush's senior advisor, Karl Rove, to resign if he won't publicly explain his role in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. This comes as multiple media outlets continue to piece together various parts of the story and the extent of Rove's involvement. Newsweek obtained an email from Time Magazine reporter Matthew Cooper confirming that Rove spoke with Cooper about Plame -- days before her name first appeared in a column by Robert Novak. Rove's attorney has now admitted that his client mentioned to Cooper that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA but claims that Rove did not reveal her name. It is a felony to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover operative. From the moment this scandal began, the White House has adamantly denied that Rove or any other administration official was behind the outting of Plame.

On Monday at the White House press briefing, spokesperson Scott McClellan was asked repeatedly about Rove's role. Among those questioning McClellan was Nation magazine reporter David Corn.

* White House press briefing, July 11, 2005.

Meanwhile, California Democrat Henry Waxman is calling for Congressional hearings, saying, "The new disclosures also raise issues about whether Mr. Rove acted alone or whether there was a conspiracy with other White House staff to use classified information for the political purpose of discrediting" Plame's husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson exposed one of the Bush administration's key justifications for the invasion-Iraq's alleged attempt to purchase uranium from Niger.

* Rep. Henry Waxman, Democratic congressman from California. He is calling for a hearing into Karl Rove's role in the outting of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame.
* David Corn, Washington Editor of The Nation magazine. He was the first journalist to report that someone in the White House may have committed a criminal act by revealing the identity of Valerie Plame. He is also author of The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception.
Read more at: http://www.DavidCorn.com.

LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/12/1411222