No, Virginia, There Is No Santa Claus [UPDATED]

Or if there is, he's a Republican. News reports spread quickly this morning, first from The New York Times and then rapidly spilling over into The Washington Post and other venues, that Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, had been told by Patrick Fitzgerald that the prosecutor "does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove." What a dispiriting way to start the day.

But then again, that's all we’ve got so far. The AP tells us that Fitzgerald spokesman Randall Sambor has not only declined to comment on Rove, he wouldn't even comment on the status of the CIA leak investigation itself. Is it ongoing? Is it over? He's not telling. And on closer examination, Luskin's statement isn’t as clear-cut as it seems, either. The money quote is that Fitzgerald "does not anticipate seeking charges." That's not a definitive no, and it's easy to infer that some sort of conditions are attached. As Luskin reminded the Post this morning, "We've always said he [Rove] did everything he could to cooperate." Hmmmm. How much cooperation would that be? Will Rove be testifying against Scooter Libby? Has Rove provided evidence against other as yet unindicted figures? If Rove doesn't follow through on any agreement he may have made with the special prosecutor, could that affect just what Fitzgerald might anticipate in the future? There are very few people who have definitive answers for those questions today. In the meantime, Christy has a couple of posts at firedoglake this morning, and Jeralyn is usually good for informed speculation at TalkLeft.

UPDATE--This is one of the fastest updates I've ever come up with. Following my own link to TalkLeft above, I found a new post Jeralyn wrote since I checked earlier. She talked with Luskin, who unequivically denied that Rove had made any sort of deal with Fitzgerald. Here's the quote: "There has never, ever been any discussion of a deal in any way, shape or form." Not much wiggle room there, and this investigation has been full of twists and turns (surely a John Grisham novelization is in the works), but for the time being, that looks pretty definitive.