I was waiting to see who was going to be the first to mention that new FEC nominee Robert Lenhard is married to Viveca Novak, a reporter for Time magazine who recently testified before the grand jury investigating the Plame Affair and potential liability for President Bush’s Chief of Staff, Karl Rove. The first mention I have seen comes in this post by Arianna Huffington on the “Huffington Post” blog. But she not only mentions the connection; she suggests the FEC appointment was motivated to thank Novak for her testimony, which some believe has helped Karl Rove. “Imagine that: Novak provides Bush’s Brain with a possible get-out-of-jail-free card and — just weeks after she tells Fitzgerald things Rove’s lawyer desperately wants the special prosecutor to hear — Bush taps her hubby for the FEC post. Now I’m not saying that one is payback for the other. But it sure is convenient. It may not be a case of quid pro quo but, if you were to make a list of things that would begin to repair the damage done to the credibility of the media, this sure wouldn’t be among them.”
One problem with this theory is that Lenhard’s name has been in play for this position for a year and a half, well before anyone could have imagined such “payback.” On June 2, 2004, I linked to this AP report on efforts by Senator McCain to block Lenhard’s appointment to the FEC as a replacement for the pro-reform FEC commissioner, Scott Thomas.
I suppose the Lenhard-Novak story is an illustration of the occupational hazard of both spouses being Washington players. But the Huffington Post allegation is unfortunate, and does not appear to be based on reality.
UPDATE: The Lenhard nomination talk (and opposition) dates back to 2003.>