REUTERS: DECISIONS TO INDICT WITHIN DAYS

[brettdale]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2005-10-06T010649Z_01_KWA603946_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-LEAK.xml

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal prosecutor investigating who leaked the identity of a CIA operative is expected to signal within days whether he intends to bring indictments in the case, legal sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday.

As a first step, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was expected to notify officials by letter if they have become targets, said the lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Fitzgerald could announce plea agreements, bring indictments, or conclude that no crime was committed. By the end of this month he is expected to wrap up his nearly two-year-old investigation into who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

The inquiry has ensnared President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The White House had long maintained that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with the leak but reporters have since named them as sources.

Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, declined to say whether his client had been contacted by Fitzgerald. In the past, Luskin has said that Rove was assured that he was not a target.

Libby's lawyer was not immediately available to comment.

"It's an ongoing investigation and we're fully cooperating," said Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride.

The outcome of the investigation could shake up an administration already reeling from criticism over its response to Hurricane Katrina and the indictment of House Republican leader Tom DeLay on a conspiracy charge related to campaign financing.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified to the grand jury on Friday about the conversations she had with Libby.

Plame's diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, has accused the administration of leaking her name, damaging her ability to work undercover, to get back at him for criticizing Bush's Iraq policy.

Fitzgerald's agreement to limit the scope of Miller's testimony to her conversations with Libby -- a proposal he rejected a year earlier -- suggested that Libby had become "the focus of interest," said one of the lawyers involved in the case.

After initially promising to fire anyone found to have leaked information in the case, Bush in July offered a more qualified pledge: "If someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my administration."

[Vanje]

1. Wheeeee!

!

[Stand and Fight]

2. And so it begins... Praise God!

Recommended to Greatest Page.

[katty]

39. Amen! and pass the popcorn and Cristal

[napi21]

3. Not to worry, the rest of the Pubbs will force Shrub to fire anybody

who is indicted! He may not say that! I'd expect to hear something like, it's unfortunate that these great people have received indictments, and I'm releasing them from their responsibilities to me and the country so they can give full time effort to clearing their good names!

HA HA, wait and see!

[Stand and Fight]

10. I think we have a psychic on our hands folks! n/t

[napi21]

14. You think I'm a psychic? Hardly!

Remember, it's the Pub rules that demand that anyone indicted must resign their position! DeLay tried to have that changed, but failed! Do you honestly believe the rest of the Pubs will let Shrub keep potential felons? Lots of those folks are up for reelection. They won't take that chance!

[kestrel91316]

13. Nope, he is going to say they are all phony indictments, not

legitimate, all lies, and they will not step down or step aside. NOT ONE. They will all continue in their jobs, and nobody will be able to do a damned thing about it. And the Repukes will not impeach. They will just laugh at Fitz.

[napi21]

16. I'll stop arguing this tonight. Let's just wait and see.

Reelection is THE MOST important thing to those in the House and Senate. If they see this as harming that chance....

Well, I'll wait and see.

[yodermon]

17. on pardoning..

Can shrub* pardon someone AFTER they have been indicted, but before they are tried & found guilty?

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. No, he cannot

[kestrel91316]

22. Oh yes he can, just like Gerry Ford pardoned Nixon after Nixon

resigned and before he could be prosecuted for anything.

This is a good possibility. Indictments come out one day, and Bush stays up all night signing pardons which he announces the next day. He is power-hungry enough to do this.

[katty]

35. Rover to the doghouse/others?this IS the turning point

[aquart]

4. Indictments coming during George's speech, perhaps? Thursday?

[katty]

36. MY Bet is FRIDAY indictments--Weekend talkingheads on fire

[crispini]

5. I may have to go buy some champagne.

Or would that be a jinx? I'll wait.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Will the Chimperor be named an unindicted coconspirator

like Nixon re: Watergate?

[Stand and Fight]

I hope Bush's fall is more damaging though.

The cocksucker deserves nothing less than the worst possible outcome.

[katty]

38. Bush will get the Watergate/Nixon deal -smile,wave and get on that plane

[Stand and Fight]

7. Please Adhere to DU Copyright Rules.

That is, a limit of FOUR paragraphs.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. popcorn

champagne?

This could be good

:popcorn: :toast:

[spanone]

37. shit meet fan...

[Fovea]

9. Remember that section of the movie

All the President's Men, where they just did a sequence of newspaper headlines to finish the narrative?

I can't help feeling that I will look back at these recent headlines with a similar emotion in future days.

[Independent_Liberal]

11. Kick!

[Kingshakabobo]

12. I can't wait! I feel like a six year old on christmas eve.

If it helps, I'll leave cookies out for Fitzgerald.

[Greeby]

15. This is gonna be fun

:popcorn: :beer:

[Just Me]

18. Ohhhhh,....be still my heart.

:scared:

[CoffeeCat]

20. I hate to be a nervous Nelly, but...

I'm concerned that Libby will be the only one indicted.

We all know that this reaches up to Junior.

However, it's a question of what proof Fitz has.

It concerns me that Fitz agreed to allow Miller to only testify about her conversations with Libby. I'm wondering if that means he decided that it was better to indict at least one--than to have nothing at all.

If my thinking is off, let me know. I'd like to be wrong.

[goclark]

21. And who will take his job?

"If someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my administration." - the Chimp


Everyone in the Crime Family should be in chains.

My ultimate goal is to get tickets to the Netherlands for the trial of the Century.

If they can't be tried for War Crimes, I want to be wherever they are when they go to jail.

Do you think that they will have an ebay bid for front row seats?

[katty]

41. JumboTron in Times Square-Ding Dong the Kings are Dead

[AintIgreat]

23. Kicked!! and lets Bring those Republikkkans down

[NNN0LHI]

24. BIRD FLU! n/t

[cantstandbush]

25. I bet there will be no indictments. Just thinking how corrupt this

administration and Republican party is. Fitz is probably scared to indict.

[Cary]

26. Maybe that's why they haven't pull the old smear-a-roo on him . . .

yet?

[ProfessorGAC]

27. He Wasn't Afraid In Illinois

He went after the top drawer folks and he got them. A dozen convictions so far, and the ex-Governor on trial right now!

Fitz doesn't operate that way.
The Professor

[Cary]

32. Agreed.

But it's curious that the right hasn't tried to smear Fitzgerald. Isn't it?

[savemefromdumbya]

33. they tried to bomb him but....

but they got caught. I hope he doesn't ride in any planes soon. Something doesn't smell right though.....

[mattomjoe]

28. If he was really afraid I would think he would have walked away

long before now

[Walt Starr]

34. He wasn't afraid to indict John Gambino

He wasn't afraid to indict the Blind Sheikh.

He wasn't afraid to indict George Ryan.

He wasn't afraid to indict Daley cronies.

I don't think you have a clue who Patrick Fitzgerald is.

[DemocracyInaction]

29. Talking heads say he has to indict someone

Just what I've been picking up over the number of days---talking heads saying that after all this stuff with Miller, etc. that Fitzgerald definitely has to be announcing indictments. It would be a mess for him if after all this he said "nothing here-move on". It seems like he really needed the Miller testimony to put the frosting on the cake. Keep fingers crossed.

[katty]

40. more than just ONE!

[lonestarnot]

30. Shit ... just waiting and watching! Want those pics released on the same

day!

[Avalux]

31. *Please edit your post - 4 paragraphs only*

From DU rules:

"Do not post entire copyrighted articles. If you wish to reference an article, provide a brief excerpt and include a link to the original source. Generally, excerpts should not exceed three or four paragraphs."

thank you.

[npincus]

42. HOLY SHIT

if indictments do not come down, I will be severely depressed and demoralized, similar to the feeling after the last presidential election results were announced.