* hamsher:Okay I just listened to the Jason Leopold interview. Missed the beginning. Here are my chronological notes:
leopold got serious level of level of detail.
fitz arrived at paton boggs (luskin’s law firm) at 11:30 on friday, spent many hours there
rove was at the law firm also, with secret security
spent many hours on a plea agreement that ultimately was rejected [leopold doesn’t say who rejected]
at the end of the negotiations, fitz handed indictment papers to luskin
fitz said at that time that rove had 24 business hours to get his affairs in order
leopold states that he feels very confident about this information. he states that a source that burns him will no longer be anonymous.
asked about mainstream media, leopold says he isn’t sure why they aren’t reporting this, offers a few thoughts on this. also points out how ny times has failed, sat on the nsa story, etc.
leopold’s confidence in this story is based on the level of detail that he has received about the paton boggs meeting, which he describes as “just too real”
leopold notes that rove’s speech is off the aei website, but leopold has not confirmed anything with the aei.
leopold states that he is an agressive reporter, but he would never get in front of a story this big without thinking and fact checking.
leopold notes that his sources are aware that he would no longer be obligated to keep their identity secret if they led him astray.
when leopold speaks with people at the white house, the tone is that they are loyal to rove, but ready to get rid of the cloud that he has brought over the administration.
leopold stated that the announcement that bolten would be shaking up the wh staff came after he had been informed by rove that he was meeting with the gj for a fifth time.
leopold doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of a sealed indictment, as he states that he believes that the indictment that fitz gave to luskin was “sealed” because it was not yet made public, at which point it would be unsealed. this is not my understanding of the definition of “sealed”, so leopold loses some credibility here although he acknowledges that he is not a lawyer and seems confused about this point.
leopold believes the indictment will be made public any time this week, after monday, which is the expiration of the 24 business hours. does believe that it will be this week and not later. [so announcement will be made any time from Tues through Fri - we will hear somethign this week]
leopold stated that luskin, not fitz, was the one who requested the fifth gj appearance. [i’m not sure that we knew this yet here at fdl - although not sure whether i trust leopold on the legal stuff very much]
leopold closed by stating that he and truthout fully understand the significance of this story. this is not a story that he and truthout would go with if they were “not confident that the details were bulletproof”
[look forward to hearing the thoughts of fdl on this. generally, he sounded confused on legal matters but decisive on the basic facts.]"
"Leopold said he would out his sources if the story turned out not to be true? That’s FANTASTIC. That really turns this whole thing into a win-win. If Rove has already been indicted, we all celebrate. If not, we get to show that the blogosphere has higher standards than the MSM when Leopold outs his sources.
I for one am applauding"