Robert Luskin

The message reached Karl Rove on his BlackBerry: “FITZGERALD CALLED. CASE OVER.”  read more »

The message reached Karl Rove on his BlackBerry: “FITZGERALD CALLED. CASE OVER.”  read more »

Time correspondent Viveca Novak, on leave since December after her embroilment in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak case, left the magazine last week. Novak was one of three staffers in Time's Washington bureau to take a buyout in Time Inc.'s most recent round of staff reductions.

"She voluntarily resigned," managing editor Jim Kelly said.

Novak was brought in to talk to special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in November, after the prosecutor learned that she had discussed the Plame leak with Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin. In those discussions, Novak had told Luskin that Rove was a source for Time's Matt Cooper--a connection that the lawyer had previously not known.

Novak did not alert Time editors to her involvement in the investigation for 10 days, until Fitzgerald called her back to testify under oath. "Nobody was happy about it, least of all me," Novak wrote for Time in December. That was her last Time byline.

Novak could not be reached for comment.

--Gabriel Sherman

In its Dec. 5 issue, Time magazine reported that special counsel Patrick J.  read more »

Time reporter Viveca Novak is scheduled to give a sworn deposition to special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald tomorrow, a spokesperson for the magazine confirmed.

Novak is expected to discuss under oath her conversations with Robert Luskin, Karl Rove's attorney, in May 2004.

The New York Times reported last week that Novak may have told Luskin that Rove had been Time reporter Matt Cooper's source in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak affair.

Novak will give her deposition to Fitzgerald tomorrow without going before the grand jury. Fitzgerald's spokesperson Randall Samborn declined to comment. Novak and her attorney, Henry Schuelke, did not return calls seeking comment.  read more »

--Gabriel Sherman

“I hate bullies,” said Karl Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin.    read more »