Plame indictment -- how will it go down?

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

The prosecutor, Fitzgerald, was ostensibly given arm's length discretion from DOJ. In other words, he doesn't need to vet with higher-ups whatever it is that he plans to do.

So is it possible that he could actually indict Cheney and we wouldn't know it until it actually happened? (Remember that even if Cheney didn't do the actual leaking, there may be a conspiracy statute regarding the disclosure of agents' names.)

Oldsters will remember that that's how it played out with Agnew. He was indicted, pleaded no contest, and resigned all on the very same day. Smooth and swift.

[AZCat]

1. Can he indict Cheney?

I didn't think the Veep could be indicted. But if that's the way it went with Spiro, then...

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

4. Good question. I' m not sure.

The Agnew crimes were different, to be sure, since they dealt with kickbacks unrelated to his time as vice president.

But a felony is a felony; if the prosecutor believes that Libby and Cheney did this together, it would seem he'd have to indict both of them.

Any would-be constitutional scholars out there? (No, Ann Coulter, I didn't mean you; we need a rational discussion.)

[AZCat]

6. Ann trolls here?

Eek! I knew we had some foul RW trolls, but THAT is scary!

Quick! Get the Flit!

[Dookus]

9. Nothing in the constitution

prohibits the indictment of the President or the Vice-President.

[Ravy]

16. If they did indict him, could they FIND him????

There are LOTS of caves...

Ravy

[Fovea]

2. I would not expect that out of Cheney.

He will go down like a wounded antilope in a pack of cheetahs.
He is the defacto head of government, after all.

[Dookus]

3. actually

Agnew was not indicted quietly. He was ABOUT to be indicted, and he resigned.

[revcarol]

5. Scooter Libby will take the fall and not implicate the boss

who gave him the orders.Cheney will retire with Halliburton still paying a comfy retirement and the taxpayers will foot his retirement and his medical bills.

[JasonBerry]

7. I am wondering the same thing tonight

Have you heard the talk about a major newspaper getting ready to unload a bombshell about the investigation? I am wondering if it's getting ready to happen after looking at the Drudge Headline tonight which many times is a "scoop" of a developing news story that will appear in the papers. I think Cheney may very well be a target and is possibly about to go down. I actually hope Cheney stays on the ticket. I fear anyone else they replace him with would not be near the target as Cheney.
On edit: This is the Drudge headline over a picture of CHENEY as of 10:55 est 2-09-04:
Prosecutors conduct series of meetings described as 'tense, combative'... Armed with handwritten White House notes, detailed cell phone logs, e-mails between presidential aides and reporters, prosecutors demand explanations of conversations... Developing...

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

8. drudge photo tells the whole story!!

My goodness, it's the perfect metaphor for the last three years:

There's Cheney in the glare, with Bush standing stolidly and stupidly in the shadow. Who knows what Dick's saying -- "Yes, George, Iraq is in the Middle East, not quite as far as Iran but past Egypt" -- but it doesn't really matter. The duke and the dauphin!

Drudge doesn't say "Plame" outright, but with "reporters" and "e-mails," what else could he be alluding to?

[Stephanie]

10. Oh My God!

Could this be IT??????

Waiting for this day since JULY!

Am I dreaming? Could it be true?

CHENEY in orange jumpsuit and leg irons! frog marched out of the WH!

I am filled with joy at the thought! Might it really be happening?

[Stephanie]

12. photo is gone

Drudge does this all the time. WH must have a direct line to him to give him his orders.

[Stephanie]

11. Not clear if this sr admin official is the target or not?

"At first, the investigation seemed narrowly focused on trying to identify who at the White House provided the information about Ms. Plame to Mr. Novak. But more recently, prosecutors have focused on a Sept. 28, 2003, article in The Washington Post, which said the newspaper had been told that "yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife."

Prosecutors, referring to the story as "one by two by six," have sought to learn the identity of the senior administration official or the two top White House officials, believing that whoever provided the information to the Post knew who spoke with Mr. Novak."

[loudnclear]

13. Do you see anything about this in the headlines?

That's the answer to your question.

[Stephanie]

14. YES, it's in the headlines. Today's headlines, front page:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/10/politics/10LEAK.html?hp

Top Bush Aide Is Questioned in C.I.A. Leak
By DAVID JOHNSTON

The president's press secretary and a former press aide testified to a jury investigating who improperly disclosed the identity of a C.I.A. agent



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26979-2004Feb9.html

Bush Aides Testify in Leak Probe
Grand Jury Called McClellan, 2 Others

By Mike Allen and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 10, 2004; Page A01

A federal grand jury has questioned one current and two former aides to President Bush, and investigators have interviewed several others, in an effort to discover who revealed the name of an undercover CIA officer to a newspaper columnist, sources involved in the case said yesterday.

[loudnclear]

15. Thanks. But it's not getting more hype than Janets tit!

I am happy that it's back in the news. I haven't a word on the TV about it.