Oh man, BIG New York Times article on Rove, and it's got lots of new stuff

Wow. New article, lots of good stuff.

First, we've got the new fact that Scooter and Rove were working closely together on how to fight back against Wilson and the uproar over the 16 words. That suggests that the special prosecutor might be interested if they conspired, I mean, worked together on preparing their testimony?

At the same time in July 2003 that a C.I.A. operative's identity was exposed, two key White House officials who talked to journalists about the officer were also working closely together on a related underlying issue: whether President Bush was correct in suggesting earlier that year that Iraq had been trying to acquire nuclear materials from Africa....

People who have been briefed on the case said that the White House officials, Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr., were helping to prepare what became the administration's primary response to criticism that a flawed phrase about the nuclear materials in Africa had been included in Mr. Bush's State of the Union address six months earlier....

At the same time, they were grappling with the fallout from an Op-Ed article on July 6, 2003, in The New York Times by Mr. Wilson, a former diplomat, in which he criticized the way the administration had used intelligence to support the claim in Mr. Bush's speech.

The work done by Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby on the Tenet statement, during this intense period, had not been previously disclosed....

Next we find out that all things go through Karl Rove. We knew that, and it made us ask originally how Karl never saw the Plame memo, which is what he suposedly told the grand jury. Hmmmm...

The effort was particularly striking because to an unusual degree, the circle of administration officials involved included those from the White House's political and national security operations, which are often separately run. Both arms were drawn into the effort to defend the administration during the period.

Then we read that Karen Hughes is now feeling some heat, and gosh, right before her confirmation hearings on Friday. Should the Senate really be confirming a woman involved in a criminal investigation involving national security secrets? Hmmmm....

In another indication of how wide a net investigators have cast in the case, Karen Hughes, a former top communications aide to Mr. Bush, and Robert Joseph, who was then the National Security Council's weapons proliferation expert, have both told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that they were interviewed by the special prosecutor.

Ms. Hughes is to have her confirmation hearing on Friday on her nomination to lead the State Department's public diplomacy operation. Mr. Joseph was recently confirmed as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. As part of their confirmation proceedings, both had to fill out a questionnaire listing any legal matters they had become involved in....

Then we get to Ari. Ari told the grand jury that he never saw the memo. But last weekend it was reported that Ari was soon walking around Air Force one actually CARRYING the memo. Uh oh.

The investigators have been trying to determine who else within the administration might have seen the memo or learned of its contents. Among those asked if he had seen the memo was Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, who was on Air Force One with Mr. Bush and Mr. Powell during the Africa trip right after Mr. Wilson's article appeared. Mr. Fleischer told the grand jury that he never saw the memo, a person familiar with the testimony said....

Here's where we find out that Rove says he never saw the memo. Uh huh.

Mr. Rove has also told the grand jury that he never saw the memo, a person briefed on the case said.

And then, the piece de resistance - John friggin' Bolton gets involved. Oh yes, it's a dream come true scandal, folks.

Democrats who have been eager to focus attention on the case have urged reporters to look into the role of a number of other administration officials, including John R. Bolton, who was then undersecretary of state for arms control and international security and has since been nominated by Mr. Bush to be ambassador to the United Nations.

In his disclosure form for his Senate confirmation hearings, Mr. Bolton made no mention of having been interviewed in the case, a government official said.