July 4, 2005 | Broadcast

American Morning

In Washington to discuss this and other issues, Democratic consultant Vic Kamber and former RNC Communications Director, Cliff May.

So, first time caves and now they get scooped.

Wow, Cliff, it’s tough, huh?

CLIFF MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes, it’s — it is tough. And this is a tough time for journalists, and not least, of course, for Matt Cooper and for Judy Miller of the “New York Times.” They still face the possibility of going to jail over the demand that they reveal all their sources. And they’re not…

M. O’BRIEN: All right, there’s a lot of circumstantial here, it seems… MAY: There certain…

M. O’BRIEN: … that it could be Karl Rove. What do you think? MAY: I know about as much as you do or Victor does, which means we don’t know. Karl Rove talks to a lot of reporters. His attorney has been unequivocally, saying Karl is not the source of any leak about Valerie Plame being a CIA agent. So we don’t know.

If he was, obviously, it’s going to be very embarrassing and possibly there’ll be criminal liability.

M. O’BRIEN: Victor, what do you think the chances are of that happening?

VIC KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Well, I think the sharks you were talking about are actually here in Washington, D.C., not in Florida or Connecticut.

M. O’BRIEN: It’s a tough town.

KAMBER: And they’re hovering around the White House.

I think right now all we can go on is the basis of what Rove’s lawyer said, that, yes, they spoke, but, in fact, he wasn’t the source of the information. Matt Cooper, as I understand it, or “Time,” as I understand it, is going to reveal their source. They’re trying to protect him from going to jail and he outright is going to give the source. And at that point we’ll know. And I think if it is Karl Rove, I think there will be criminal charges. If it’s the man in the moon who gave the source, then Karl Rove is free. He’s just going to be known as a talker to the press.

M. O’BRIEN: Cliff, if that does, in fact, happen, what are the political implications, do you think? MAY: Well…

M. O’BRIEN: Cliff? MAY: Yes, I guess I would just — I would say it depends on whether or not it’s simply an embarrassment, which it would very much be, or whether there’s criminal liability attached to it. And that’ll depend on the independent prosecutor who has been working on this case for a very long time now.

KAMBER: There’s no doubt that the leak was meant to hurt the credibility of the people in question and to protect the president. So I would hope that it would be more than an embarrassment. I would hope — we’re talking about putting people’s lives in danger… MAY: Well…

KAMBER: … I would hope there would be criminal actions taken and that the president would feel compelled to remove Rove from his sensitive positions.

M. O’BRIEN: All right, gentlemen, let’s move to another side of government here.

Let’s go to the judicial branch, shall we, and talk about the Supreme Court vacancy which just came to pass last week.

Alberto Gonzales, attorney general, friend of the president, mentioned frequently, which leads me to believe there’s no chance he’ll get nominated.

What do you think, Cliff? MAY: I think there’s a chance. I think that this president, as you know, likes to do things that are historic. There are sort of two ways for him to do it at this point. One is to nominate Gonzalez, who would be the first Hispanic to serve on the bench…

M. O’BRIEN: But won’t he upset the far right? MAY: And the other possibility — yes, it probably would.

The other possibility would be to nominate a strong conservative and move the court in that direction, which is something he’s promised to do.

So, yes, the far right will be disappeared if he — if they — if Gonzalez is the choice, because they’re not convinced he is somebody who is an originalist, a strict constructionist…

M. O’BRIEN: Right. MAY: … somebody who says the constitution is the law, we interpret it, we don’t make social policy from the bench.

They don’t know that he’s not that, but they fear that he may not be that.

M. O’BRIEN: Yes.

Vic, what do you think?

KAMBER: Well, I think, first of all, it’s not the far right, it’s the fringe right. The president’s not up for election again. He has a chance to do something historic here. His first and foremost concern right now is confirmation and confirmation, I think, without a major fight.

Gonzalez, I think, brings him that opportunity.

M. O’BRIEN: Well, why not a fight? Why not go for a fight?

KAMBER: Why? If you — he’s got talent that he can go to. He’s got conservatives. No one is suggesting he’s going to pick a moderate or a liberal. He’s going to pick a conservative.

M. O’BRIEN: Oh, so you don’t think Gonzalez will be picked?

KAMBER: I’m suggesting to you why not Gonzalez, who I think would be the least fight he would face…

M. O’BRIEN: Right.

KAMBER: … because he’s just gone through a confirmation hearing and while it was close, I think they’ve gone through everything. So, I mean, I — if I’m the president or I’m his adviser, I’m going to say, one, pick a conservative; two, pick somebody that can be confirmed so that we can get this process over. Gonzalez seems to fit both of those criteria right now. Why go for a fight just for the sake of a fight, especially when you have other legislative agendas that haven’t moved at all?

M. O’BRIEN: All right, gentlemen, thank you very much.

The sharks are circling in Washington.

Vic Kamber and Cliff May, always a pleasure having you drop by. MAY: Thank you.