Second TIME reporter to testify in CIA leak probe News
Second TIME reporter to testify in CIA leak probe

[JURIST] Viveca Novak, a TIME magazine reporter who covered the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, has been asked to testify by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] in the leak investigation [JURIST news archive] which is now going before a second grand jury [JURIST report]. Novak has been asked to testify under oath about conversations she has had since May 2004 with Robert Luskin, attorney for Karl Rove, the White House's deputy chief of staff. Novak will be the second TIME reporter to testify after Matthew Cooper testified [JURIST report] about his conversations with Rove in July 2003. Plame's cover was blown after her husband and former diplomat Joseph Wilson publicly denounced the Bush administration for manipulating intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. Viveca Novak is not related to columnist Robert Novak, the columnist who first revealed Plame's identity publicly. Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the first official indicted after a two-year grand jury investigation, has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges [PDF indictment; JURIST report] of perjury and obstructing justice and has resigned from the administration. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Israeli Knesset passed a law declaring Jerusalem the country's capital

Israel's Knesset passed a law on July 30, 1980, declaring that the "complete and united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel." The international community largely rejected the move as 1947's UN Resolution 181 (II) intended to establish Jerusalem as a separate entity from both Israel and Palestine. US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in 2017 recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The UN's General Assembly reacted to the development by passing Resolution ES‑10/19, rejecting Jerusalem's capital status by a 128-9-35 vote.

President Johnson signed Medicare bill

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare bill, which went into effect the following year to provide comprehensive healthcare coverage for senior citizens in the US. Learn more about the history of Medicare.

Otto von Bismark dies

On July 30, 1898, Otto von Bismark died at age 83 in Germany. Bismark served as Prime Minister of Prussia until German unification in 1873. He then served as the first Chancellor of the German Empire. Bismark is perhaps best remembered for engineering the unification of Germany, but he was also responsible for the creation of the German social welfare system.