Rove’s lawyer: Truthout fiasco is the anti-Rathergate (Update: Truthout “stands down”)

posted at 8:09 pm on June 14, 2006 by Allahpundit
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A-yup:

The weekend Mr. Leopold’s story went online, Mr. Luskin said he had “mainstream-media reporters calling me saying, ‘I’m embarrassed to make this call, because I know this can’t be true—I’ve covered this story, I understand the process, I’ve got my sources—but my editors tell me I need to call and ask, “Is there any truth in this?”’

“That is a function of the tension that there is now between the mainstream media and the blogosphere. On the one hand, it seems to me that the CBS National Guard stories were the poster child for the principle that sometimes the blogosphere keeps the mainstream media accountable, and it seems to me that this story is, if you will, the poster child for the fact that the blogosphere is itself often not accountable, and that there are a universe of folks out there who have got personal or political agendas who were masquerading as news sources. That is just as destructive in its own way, or more than the mainstream media’s insularity is on the flip side.”

He doesn’t distinguish between the left and right sides of the blogosphere, but it’s safe to say that Karl Rove’s lawyer knows the score. Although, in the left’s defense, they did get former man-whore Jeff Gannon booted out of the daily White House briefing a few years ago. So it’s not like they haven’t had any blog successes.

Which reminds me: I happened upon this dKos entry from early April in my travels today. Yet another item in their famous track record of accuracy.

Update: In case you’re wondering, no, there’s nothing new at Truthout about any of this since yesterday morning.

Update: Turns out my last update is wrong wrong wrong. Truthout posted something new a little more than an hour ago which says they’re running away — I mean, “standing down”:

Obviously there is a major contradiction between our version of the story and what was reported yesterday. As such, we are going to stand down on the Rove matter at this time. We defer instead to the nation’s leading publications.

In that Mr. Luskin has chosen the commercial press as his oracle – and they have accepted – we call upon those publications to make known the contents of the communiqué which Luskin holds at the center of his assertions. Quoting only those snippets that Mr. Luskin chooses to characterize in his statements is not enough. If Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has chosen to exonerate Mr. Rove, let his words – in their entirety – be made public.

They promise a “comprehensive accounting” of the whole mess on Monday — but they’ve already said they won’t burn their sources. Why?

Thanks to Nighthaven for the tip.

Update: The current bright-side spin: Rove walking free is a good thing for Democrats.

Blowback

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