November 10, 2005: Time Reporter Tells Fitzgerald of Conversation with Rove’s Lawyer

Time reporter Viveca Novak testifies in the Plame Wilson leak investigation. She and her lawyer, Hank Schuelke, meet in Schuelke’s office with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald agrees to limit his questioning to Novak’s conversations with Robert Luskin, the lawyer for White House political adviser Karl Rove (see March 1, 2004). In Novak’s later writing, she characterizes the questioning as “No fishing expeditions, no questions about my other reporting or sources in the case.” Fitzgerald says he wants to “remove the chicken bone without disturbing the body.” He asks general questions about when and how often Novak met with Luskin during the period from the fall of 2003 through the fall of 2004; Novak says they met about five times, but she took no notes from their meetings as Luskin did not speak as freely when she took notes. Then Fitzgerald gets to the “chicken bone,” asking if Luskin ever discussed Rove telling reporter Matthew Cooper that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA agent (see 11:00 a.m. July 11, 2003). Novak reveals the contents of her conversation with Luskin, and tells Fitzgerald that she believes the conversation may have occurred in May 2004, though she is not sure. As the meeting comes to an end, Fitzgerald tells her that he may want her to testify again, this time under oath. He does not foresee needing to bring her before his grand jury. Eight days later, Schuelke will inform Novak that Fitzgerald does indeed want her to testify under oath (see December 8, 2005). [Time, 12/11/2005]