I know they are desperately trying to hand Rove, but they just cleared him in their reporting.

Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser, spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak as he was preparing an article in July 2003 that identified a C.I.A. officer who was undercover, someone who has been officially briefed on the matter said Thursday.

Mr. Rove has told investigators that he learned from the columnist the name of the C.I.A. officer, who was referred to by her maiden name, Valerie Plame, and the circumstances in which her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, traveled to Africa to investigate possible uranium sales to Iraq, the person said.

OK, so clearly Novak told Rove, who responded:

After hearing Mr. Novak’s account, the person who has been briefed on the matter said, Mr. Rove told the columnist: “I heard that, too.”

Now the desparate NYTimes is trying to grasp at this as a confirmation – but it is not. All Rove is saying is he ‘heard’ the same story – not that he could confirm or deny it. Remember Rathergate? But there is more

Asked by investigators how he knew enough to leave Mr. Novak with the impression that his information was accurate, Mr. Rove said he heard portions of the story from other journalists, but had not heard Ms. Wilson’s name.

Well, now we know why Miller is probably chilling out in the slammer.

But back to the Rathergate example where CBS’s desire to get Bush had them reading more into the WH response than was there. Filling in fantasy were no fact could be found:

White House officials may argue that Mr. Rove’s conversation with Mr. Novak did not amount to leaking the name of the agent. But to critics of Mr. Bush – including the Democrats who have called for Mr. Rove’s resignation – that is splitting hairs, and Mr. Rove in effect confirmed her identity, even if he did not name her.

LOL! That’s it folks. That is what the liberals will be taking to the American public as priority one facing this country. Over Iraq, terrorism, social security, the economy, health care…

Yep. They are sure Rove meant to confirm the story told to him by Novak when all he said was he had heard it. And I heard pigs could fly, once.

UPDATE:

Light posting this morning, but this story takes the cake for chutzpah by the liberal MSM. The only person out spinning is Wilson – wonder what he is doing? Could it be prepping the potential jury pool?

If you are going to start anywhere, you start with here

I have been debating this quite a bit a Redstate and here is their announcement of the news, also here

Mark Coffey, based on this news, has stopped waffling on whether Rove should leave and has firmly come down against the idea.

Ed Morrissey points out the NYTimes has to be getting information from sources able to indicate to them what a lost cause this is for the liberals.

Here is reaction at Powerline

UPDATE II:

Ed Morrissey covers Matt Cooper’s Mea Culpa and has an excellent observation

What an embarrassing denouement for the mainstream media and the Democrats in their zeal to target Karl Rove. No one except the darkest paranoid conspiracy theorists could believe that Rove or Libby deliberately sat around, knowing Cooper would call and eventually get around to asking about Wilson, and then use that opportunity to wreak revenge for Wilson’s serial lies in his by-lined NYT piece as well as his leaks to Walter Pincus at the Post.

Unfortunatley for the nation, the darkest paranoid conspiracy theorists are journalists.