Fitzgerald's Decision Not To Indict Rove

Because of the intense legal focus applied by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the decision to expose the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame is one of the few decisions made by the Bush Administration in the last six years that we will understand, more-or-less, in full, when the dust finally settles.

Fitzgerald has decided not to indict Karl Rove, either because Rove is now cooperating with Fitzgerald, or, more likely in my view, because Fitzgerald has decided the primary crime was conducted by Vice President Cheney's office, and that Rove was merely the media contact for the smear-Joe-Wilson campaign. I'm certain that everyone at the top was involved, in one way or another, George W. Bush too, but criminal indictments require a high standard of proof, and Rove probably wasn't the guy in the driver's seat for this campaign.