Fitzgerald Contemplating Hitting Rove With Plagiarism In Grand Jury Appearances
Longtime Bush Aide Denies Charges, Says May Have “Internalized” Testimony From Staffers, Others
Sources are telling The Garlic that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, as early as this week, may bring charges of Plagiarism against White House Special Councilor Karl Rove, for testimony Rove gave during his five Grand Jury appearances. Additional charges of Obstruction of Justice and Perjury could also follow the Plagiarism counts.
“Fitzgerald is livid,” offered Dix Whitcomb, editor of the newsletter "Our Laws Are Different".
“In preparing for the Libby case, and pouring over testimony of Libby and other staffers, Fitzgerald discovered that Rove has barely offered any of his own words,” added Whitcomb.
Lawyers and others familiar with the case say, ironically, Rove also lifted, and used as his testimony, passages from teen author Kaavya Viswanathan, who herself is facing plagiarism charges.
Rove Lawyer Blames “Extreme Publicity”
Robert Luskin, Rove’s attorney, issued a statement denying the charges that Rove committed plagiarism.
“Karl would never think of engaging in such a practice. It’s quite possible that he “internalized” portions of his testimony that came from other sources, likely from the extreme amount of publicity this case has generated,” read Luskin’s statement.
There are unconfirmed reports that former Time Magazine reporter Vivica Novak, in addition to warning Luskin of colleague Matt Coopers testimony to the Grand Jury, implicating Rove, Novak also made mention that rumors were making the rounds as to Rove’s alleged plagiarism.
“It was all over the Beltway,” said Ann Mitchell, veteran Capital Hill journalist. “I think the D.C. area boosted the sales of that teenager’s book, just to see what Rove was taking from it.”
Viswanathan, after receiving a $500,000 book deal, was discovered to have taken passages for her book “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,” from two books by author Megan F. McCafferty - the 2001 novel “Sloppy Firsts” and the 2003 novel “Second Helpings.
After a firestorm of publicity, Viswanathan, 19 and a Harvard undergraduate, apologized for the infraction, declaring it was “unintentional” and that she must have “internalized” McCafferty’s work, having read the books in high school.
Viswanathan’s publisher, Little Brown and Company, subsequently cancelled her book deal and pulled the work out of stores and off the market.
Rove Plagiarism Was Widespread
Fitzgerald is, reportedly, pulling transcripts of Rove’s testimony from the Grand Jury.
From a source that has seen the transcripts, and other court documents, say that Rove’s plagiarism was widespread.
Where, in “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,” Viswanathan wrote “Moneypenny was the brainy female character. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: smart or pretty,” a portion of Rove’s testimony read “Plame was the brainy CIA agent, just another example that female agents had to be smart or pretty.”
In his testimony on his conversation with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak, Rove reportedly disparaged Plame, telling Novak that “She [Plame] was a food masochist, overloading on Diet Cokes and Mrs. Fields cookies...”
Viswanathan writing had a passage in “Opal Mehta” that read: “In a truly masochistic gesture, they had decided to buy Diet Cokes from Mrs. Fields...”
A New Rove Book?
Sources say there are dozens and dozens of other examples, where Rove’s testimony mimicked, with only the difference of a comma or a hyphen, the words of Libby, Stephen Hadley, Vice President Dick Cheney and, even phrases from former Nixon Administration officials that were made during the Watergate hearings.
Whitcomb says that, in a sublime way, Rove’s plagiarism may end up being an asset to Rove, and, possibly, Libby, in his trial.
“He’s got Fitzgerald all tied up in knots over this,” said Whitcomb.
“We just might see on the shelves next year “How Karl Rove Got Kissed, Got Wild, But Got Off The Hook.”
White House Special Councilor Karl Rove may face plagiarism charges, as Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has discovered that, in five appearances before the Grand Jury, Rove has barely offered any of his own words
