White Hot House News

Earth is not the only planet that’s getting hot: Bushworld is getting scorched around the edges, and the flames may be making their way towards the center.

The latest shoe to drop is the report, first from a blog reporter and now from Bloomberg News, that because the Grand Jury testimony of Karl Rove and Lewis Libby (v.p. Cheney’s chief of staff) on how they learned the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson (they said from reporters) was contradicted by the testimony of the reporters, they may be facing perjury charges.

Other reports suggest perjury may be the least of their worries. A number of stories in the Washington Post and elsewhere quote sources saying that Valerie Plame’s name was contained in a classified State Department document that White House aides were seen reading on Air Force One, that the mention of her name was annotated with the word “secret,” and that the entire document may have been classified “Top Secret,” which would make revealing its contents a serious federal crime. Since neither Rove nor Libby was on the plane for the trip in question, there may be other names of interest to the Grand Jury.

Republican majorities in the House and Senate are ignoring all of this, and refusing to hold hearings. Democrats are holding their own informal inquiry, but this is becoming a National Security issue. It's going to be more and more difficult for Republicans to continue ignoring their constitutional responsibilities, especially if constituents start to remind them.