The latest head-scratching twist in the Fitzgerald investigation unfolded over the weekend, when Time reporter Viveca Novak wrote about her grand jury testimony informing the prosecutor of a conversation that she had with Karl Rove lawyer Robert Luskin. After learning that Fitzgerald might be calling her to testify, wrote Novak:

“I hired a lawyer … but I didn’t tell anyone at Time,” Novak wrote of the days leading up that interview. “Unrealistically, I hoped this would turn out to be an insignificant twist in the investigation and also figured that if people at Time knew about it, it would be difficult to contain the information, and reporters would pounce on it.”

With this, she becomes the second high-profile journalist to see the public’s right to know as an obstacle and not a cause. Bob Woodward, still inspiring a whole generation of reporters.

[John Gress/Reuters]

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• Time reporter Viveca Novak says Karl Rove was the likely source of a July 2003 article about Valerie Plame. Novak: “I remember [Rove's lawyer] looking at me and saying something to the effect of ‘Karl doesn’t have a [Matt Cooper] problem. He was not a source for Matt.’ I responded instinctively, thinking he was trying to spin me, and said something like, ‘Are you sure about that? That’s not what I hear around Time.’ He looked surprised and very serious.” [Time, NYT, WSJ]
• Sen. Frist threatens to use the “nuclear option” to save Samuel Alito from a filibuster. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “We’re not close to a deal.” [WP, NYT, LAT]
• White House flack Trent Duffy: “What you will see more of next year is the president going back to the basics — winning the war and growing the economy and creating jobs.” [WT]
• Sen. Clinton’s quiet, centrist approach to Iraq “is drawing increasing scorn from liberal activists.” [WP]
• Ronald Brownstein on Alito’s abortion memos: “It’s still not clear these disclosures will seriously threaten Alito’s confirmation. And if they do not, both sides might need to rethink basic assumptions about the politics of the Supreme Court.” [LAT]
• Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.) tours battleground states for a head-start on ‘08. Warner: “As Democrats, what we have to do is put forward ideas and candidates that can win in places like Florida, that can win in places like Virginia.” [NYT]

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• Congress is expected to vote next week on the renewal of the Patriot Act; Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) threatens to use the filibuster. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• House votes mostly along party lines to pass more tax cuts. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Administration linked Iraq and al Qaeda with information received from prisoner who “fabricated [the tie] to escape harsh treatment”; Democrats seek access to White House documents about prewar intelligence. [NYT, NYT]
• Time reporter Viveca Novak meets with Patrick Fitzgerald regarding her conversations with Karl Rove. [NYT]
• Second business partner of Jack Abramoff is near a plea agreement with prosecutors. [WP]
• American and Saudi officials wrote about Osama bin Laden’s interest in using civilian aircraft back in 1998. [NYT]

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• Animatronic anchors Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff (hybrid models with auto-shutdown and cruise control) will continue to host ABC’s “World News Tonight,” winning out over standard transimission hostbot Charlie Gibson, who still runs on diesel. [ABC]
• Hacktasatic Jon Friedman calls “The Week” journalism’s “first blogazine.” No, wait — it’s a magalog! A Zlog? What does that make “The Best Week Ever”? A blogedy? And the “Nightly News” — that’s a blogcastnewslog. CNN’s Blog Report is a bloport. And Times Select still sucks. [CBS Marketwatch]
• Anchlogger Brian Williams is a “dog person.” HOW CAN HE BE A BLOGGER THEN? [WaPo]
• FishbowlDC on the quitting/re-hiring of Postie Gabe Escobar: “Escobar is one of the Post’s only Hispanic editors (the only other one we can think of is Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, Assistant Managing Editor/Sports.” National Book Award Finalist American Chica author and editor of Washington Post Book World Maria Arana, on the other hand, is just a girl who likes to read. [Fishbowl DC]
• Howie Kurtz on why the MSM blogs (Mblogsmers): “Actually, we’re just trying to look cool.” [WashingtonPost.com]
• David Corn hearts Viveca Novak, can’t guard her husband. Perhaps her conversation with Rove’s lawyer sparked a revelation: “maybe my client did not tell me everything.” [DavidCorn.com]

• Lawyers at the Justice Department warned that Rep. Tom Delay’s (R-Texas) redistricting plan was illegal under the Voting Rights Act but senior officials vetoed their findings. [WP]
• Senate Armed Services Committee seeks answers about Pentagon’s propaganda campaign in Iraqi media. Scott McClellan: “We’re very concerned about the reports. We have asked the Department of Defense for more information.” [NYT]
• Revelations about Samuel Alito’s views on abortion “are stiffening Democratic resistance and complicating the nomination for moderates in both parties.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.): “Certainly the chance of a filibuster is greater today than it was the day Alito was nominated.” [WP, NYT]
• Conversation in 2004 with Time’s Viveca Novak is said to have motivated Rove to change his testimony in the leak investigation. [NYT]
• Prosecutors are investigating whether Jack Abramoff “brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors.” [NYT]
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) breaks from most in her party with support of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) plan for withdrawal. Strategist: “If Karl Rove was writing the timing of this, he wouldn’t have written it any differently, with the president of the United States expressing resolve and the Democratic leader offering surrender. For Republicans, this is manna from heaven.” [WP, WT]
• Bush marks World AIDS Day: “I believe America has a unique ability, and a special calling, to fight this disease.” Dean says the administration has “stood in the way of important global efforts to curb this disease.” [WP]

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• Viveca Novak’s testimony is said to be central to Karl Rove’s defense. Source: “This is what caused [Patrick Fitzgerald] to hold off on charging.” [WP]
• Interest groups and individuals are increasingly “concluding that the commingling of money and politics has gone too far”; lobbyists and lawmakers are “now facing what could be a wave of prosecutions in the courts and an uprising at the ballot box.” For the first time, the “public’s negative feelings exceeded its positive feelings about both political parties at the same time.” [WP]
• Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) resigns after pleading guilty for accepting $2.4m in bribes: “In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame.” [WP, NYT, WSJ, LAT, USAT]
• Bush promotes his guest-worker program and advocates border security measures: “The American people should not have to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful society. We can have both at the same time.” Proposals face uphill battle in Congress. [WP, NYT, WSJ, WT, NYT, USAT]
• Cheney’s office has not been forthcoming with disclosure of travel expenses. Center for Public Integrity: “[T]he public is kept largely unaware of where he and his staff are traveling, with whom they are meeting and how much it costs, even though tax dollars are covering the bill.” [WP]
• Administration moves to hype the advances of the Iraqi Army, “a move designed to shore up domestic support for the Iraq war while setting the stage for a reduction in U.S. military troops next year.” [WSJ]

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