This Is The Absolute Very Least Thing That Should Happen To "Turd Blossom"

Jonathan Alter at Newsweek recently examined whether Karl Rove should lose his security clearance as a result of the TreasonGate Scandal. If he loses it, it would be pursuant to Clinton's Executive Order 12958, which prohibits "any knowing, willful or negligent action that could reasonably be expected to result in an unauthorized disclosure of classified information."

The order states that "the agency head, senior agency official or other supervisory official shall, at a minimum, promptly remove the classification authority of any individual who demonstrates reckless disregard or a pattern of error in applying the classification standards of this order."

This executive order clearly applies to Rove:

In the past, other officials have lost their security clearances for similar disclosures—even without a pattern. Former CIA director John Deutch and former national-security adviser Sandy Berger (who got in trouble after leaving office) both lost their clearances when they took classified information home without proper authorization. More recently, officials of the Coast Guard were sanctioned when they warned relatives of a possible terrorist threat against the New York City subways before public disclosure of the threat.

Unfortunately, losing his security clearance wouldn't necessarily prevent Rove from serving as deputy chief of staff:

Having his security clearance yanked would not require Rove to resign as deputy chief of staff to President Bush. But it would prevent him from taking part in policymaking that relates to national-security issues, which would mean a much-reduced role in the Bush White House.

Obviously, Bush will not act on this. My question is whether an interested party can file a writ of mandamus to force Bush to follow the law and strip Rove of his clearance. I don't know the answer to that question, because I'm just not as familiar with treason-related laws as I should be.

Meanwhile, a couple of things are happening on the Rove front. First of all, there is reportedly a debate going on in the White House with regard to whether Rove should be allowed to stay on (from The Washington Post):

Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.

If Rove stays, which colleagues say remains his intention, he may at a minimum have to issue a formal apology for misleading colleagues and the public about his role in conversations that led to the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, according to senior Republican sources familiar with White House deliberations.

Karl Rove apologizing? Who the hell is going to force him to do that, Bush? That will be the day.

The second thing occurring now with regard to Rove is that Fitzgerald is taking a closer look at the conversations Rove had with Matthew Cooper:

While Rove faces doubts about his White House status, there are new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy from Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame leak. The prosecutor spoke this week with an attorney for Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about his client's conversations with Rove before and after Plame's identity became publicly known because of anonymous disclosures by White House officials, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.

Fitzgerald is considering charging Rove with making false statements in the course of the 22-month probe, and sources close to Rove -- who holds the titles of senior adviser and White House deputy chief of staff -- said they expect to know within weeks whether the most powerful aide in the White House will be accused of a crime.

But some top Republicans said yesterday that Rove's problems may not end there. Bush's top advisers are considering whether it is tenable for Rove to remain on the staff, given that Fitzgerald has already documented something that Rove and White House official spokesmen once emphatically denied -- that he played a central role in discussions with journalists about Plame's role at the CIA and her marriage to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a critic of the Iraq war.

A major GOP talking point this past week contended that Rove was pretty much in the clear and that the Libby Indictment is really no big deal. It sounds like Fitzgerald might have some different ideas.

And finally, some good news for Scooter Libby with regard to his arraignment today:

Anticipating intense media interest, court officials arranged for the arraignment to be held in the oversized Ceremonial Courtroom, which can seat hundreds and is the largest courtroom in the federal courthouse here.

Not everyone gets to be arraigned in the big room. Way to go, Scooter.