Special prosecutor has no comment on clearing of Rove

Filed by RAW STORY

The office of the special counsel investigating charges relating to the leaked identity of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame has declined to comment on whether or not Karl Rove has been informed that he will not be indicted.

The Public Information Officer for the US Attorney's office in Chicago, speaking for the office of Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, quickly returned RAW STORY's calls for comment -- but had none to offer.

Rove's attorney Robert Luskin says Rove will not be charged in connection to the leak. Talkleft.com, who spoke with Rove's attorney, reports that Luskin has said no deal was ever struck, or even discussed.

"There has never, ever been any discussion of a deal in any way, shape or form," Luskin told Jeralynn Meritt of TalkLeft.
Mark Corallo, Rove's spokesman, also insisted that "absolutely no deal of any kind" had been made.

"There were no conditions attendant to the prosecutor's actions," Corallo told Greg Sargent at The American Prospect. "There never has been any discussion about cooperation or conditions or anything of the sort."

Rove testified before the grand jury a total of five times. Some legal experts considererd the outcome unusual.

"I've never seen, frankly, someone involved in an investigation of this kind given so many chances to continually correct and amend prior testimony. There are many prosecutors who would have indicted Rove on his first statement," George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley told CBS. "He was given a great deal of deference and quite frankly, assistance, by the prosecutor."