The Insider’s Insider

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Patrick Fitzgerald is still interviewing people for the Grand Jury and that he called Rove assistants Susan Ralston and Izzy hernandez just last Friday.

Republican establishment groupies, The Note, which broke this story says this:

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.

That might be true, Perhaps these two are innocents. However, Susan Ralston’s name has the unfortunate propensity to pop up in conjunction with some serious GOP scumbags:

When Rove got to the White House in 2001, he hired as his personal assistant one Susan Ralston, who previously was Jack Abramoff’s personal assistant and was recommended by Abramoff for the job. Since then Ralston has become an insider’s insider. “She’s a remarkably gifted leader, playing a vital role,” Rove told the National Journal in its June 18, 2005 issue.

According to the Washington Monthly (June 1, 2004), Grover Norquist “had a deal with Susan Ralston, who until recently was the assistant to Karl Rove. An unnamed Republican lobbyist recently told Salon.com: “Susan took a message for Rove, and then called Grover to ask if she should put the caller through to Rove. If Grover didn’t approve, your call didn’t go through.”

“How did Norquist attain such influence over Ralston? Flowers every Friday? Redskins tickets?” the magazine wrote. “The answer, actually, is what the White House ethics lawyers call a ‘preexisting relationship.’ Ralston had formerly worked for lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a close friend of Norquist’s and a top fundraiser for House majority whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas).”

I have no idea what Fitzgerald’s looking at but it has something to do with Karl Rove. As Talk Left points out:

The two witnesses could be providing evidence that corroborates Rove’s version. It’s interesting, but not quite up to being a “dot” yet.

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