ABC News: Two Rove aides testify before Grand Jury (Ralston & Hernandez)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238

Based on ABC News sources (and our own video camera) it appears that at least two witnesses testified before the grand jury last Friday, both close associates of Karl Rove.

ABC News has learned that one was Susan Ralston, Rove's long-time right hand. The other, per ABC News' Jake Tapper, was Israel "Izzy" Hernandez, Rove's former left hand (and now a top Commerce Department official). It isn't clear if either had been asked to testify before last week.

We should Note that Ralston and Hernandez are two of the nicest people in Washington and their being called to appear is a necessary reminder of the Caputoean phenomenon from the Clinton Era, which some have forgotten. When there are special prosecutors, a lot of kind, innocent people can get caught up in the investigation, often saddling them with huge legal bills and emotional stress.

[Old_Fart]

1. Novak

Why isn't Novak in jail?

[Dudley_DUright]

2. I was just about to post the same thing

Just saw the good news on Daily Kos. :-) Rove is definitely in the cross-hairs. Could not happen to a nicer guy. :sarcasm:

[Justitia]

3. What the hell kind of bullshit article is this? These poor "nice" people?

Get a grip! What crappy personal editorializing is this junk?

You lay down w/dogs, you're gonna catch their fleas.

Sorry, but if you voluntarily work for a traitorous bastard and further his demented plans for the rest of us, you DO NOT qualify as "nice" in my book!

What utter crap!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

5. Unless these folks were simply "gophers"...

...and their ONLY responsibility was to go for coffee, go for lunch, go for Rove's dry cleaning...they were present when Rove did what he did.

So...while it may be an inconvenience for them to appear before a Grand Jury, that's their tough luck. Their knowledge of what happened falls somewhere between zero and one hundred percent, and that's why they were called to testify...to determine that percent.

These folks are not victims.

[Al-CIAda]

11. go for coffee? go for lunch?

A "right hand/ left hand" 'top aide' does more than coffee. They help dig and bury the bodies.

[senseandsensibility]

10. Agree.

You beat me to it.

[BootinUp]

4. veddy veddy einterezhting...

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Beady-eyed little motherfucker..........

Sorry, I just had to say that.

[Starfury]

7. "...nicest people..." & "...kind, innocent people..." - Check this out!

Susan Ralston:

In 2001 Abramoff's personal assistant, Susan Ralston, took a similar job under Karl Rove in the White House. This move essentially made Ralston "Rove's gatekeeper."
http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/05/dean_says_bush.php

As Rove's executive assistant, she described her typical 13- to 15-hour work day as tough. Her job, she said, include "assisting her boss in strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison and inter-governmental affairs efforts at the White House."
http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/pe/pe003369.htm

When Rove got to the White House in 2001, he hired as his personal assistant Susan Ralston, previously Abramoff’s personal assistant. Ralston has since become an insider’s insider. -- Norquist reportedly made a deal in which Ralston would take messages for Rove at the White House, then call Norquist to tell her whether she should put the caller through.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Jack_Abramoff


Israel "Izzy" Hernandez:

Mr. Hernandez has been a policy assistant to President Bush since his days as Texas governor. He now holds an important position in the office of senior advisor Karl Rove in the White House. Earlier, Mr. Hernandez was the first person Mr. Bush hired when he decided to run for governor of Texas.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/influentials/details.asp?id=360&year=2002

President Bush has nominated Israel Hernandez, an openly gay man, as assistant secretary of commerce. Hernandez was formerly Karl Rove's right hand man and waited till Bush was sworn in for a second term before telling the President that he is gay, Rush & Molloy report today.
http://towleroad.typepad.com/towleroad/2005/06/bushs_gesture_o.html


Just some random google search results to show that these aren't innocent naifs....

[dmr]

8. READ the article about Rove linked to this one!!!!

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=50318
- snip -

"What is not widely known, however, is his close connection with Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of the lobbying scandal in which Washington is now embroiled. Rove let archconservative operatives like Grover Norquist call shots at the White House. And just this week, a Texas judge ruled that a former Rove lieutenant must face felony charges of money laundering for Tom DeLay's political operation.

- snip -

-- When Rove got to the White House in 2001, he hired as his personal assistant Susan Ralston, previously Abramoff's personal assistant. Ralston has since become an insider's insider.

-- Norquist reportedly made a deal in which Ralston would take messages for Rove at the White House, then call Norquist to tell her whether she should put the caller through.

-- John Colyandro wrote direct mail pieces for Rove in the 1980s. When he was hired as executive director of the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, he was described as a "longtime pal of Rove's." This week, a judge said Colyandro must stand trial for laundering over $600,000 in corporate campaign contributions.


There's never been a doubt about Norquist having a hand in DC politics, but from this article it looks like Norquist is Rove's brain.

[snippy]

9. All part of what the Court of Appeals called "the plot against Wilson." nt