Cooper writes in this weeks issue that he testified that, although its not reflected in his notes or subsequent emails, he had a distinct memory of Rove ending the call by saying, Ive already said too much. Cooper writes this could have meant he was worried about being indiscreet or just late for a meeting or something else. I dont know, but that sign-off has been in my memory for two years, Cooper writes.
Cooper writes that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald asked me several different ways if Rove indicated how he had heard that (Valerie) Plame worked at the CIA. Cooper says he testified that Rove did not.
Cooper also writes about his August 2004 testimony before the grand jury relating to his conversation with Vice President Cheneys Chief of Staff I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby. Cooper writes that, like Rove, Libby never used Plames name or indicated that her status was covert and he never told Cooper that he had heard about Plame from other reporters, as some press accounts have indicated. On background, Cooper had asked Libby if he had heard anything about Wilsons wife sending him to Niger. Libby answered with words to the effect of Yeah, Ive heard that too.
The grand jury, Cooper writes, somewhat reflected the demographics of the District of Columbia. The majority were African-American women and disproportionately women. He writes that one third of his 2 1/2 hours of testimony was spent answering their questions, not the prosecutors, although he posed them on their behalf.
Cooper testified before the grand jury after a 14-month legal battle that went to the Supreme Court and complied only after receiving a specific waiver from his sources. He is one of four reporters known to have offered testimony to the grand juryalong with Tim Russert of NBC News and Walter Pincus and Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post. Hes the only one to write fully about the secret grand jurors and the special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald.
The full story is on TIME.com at:
https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1083870,00.html