US officials brace for decisions in CIA leak case

[Changenow]

Oct 5, 2005 — 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.


more

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1187623

[xultar]

1. I refuse to believe this. Justice isn't something that this administratio

can allow.

[cal04]

5. I agree I am very skeptical that anyone in this corrupt

administration will ever get caught for anything

[Terre]

31. Well, start with some visualizations then

and you can begin here:



:party:

[boston bean]

2. WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Let the heads begin to rollllllllllllllllllllllllllll

:woohoo:

[cal04]

3. maybe that is why Rove' s MIA

As a first step, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was expected to notify officials by letter if they have become targets


Word on Capitol Hill is that Rove has received a "target letter," or a letter from the prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson telling him that he is now a target in the investigation. To date, no reporters have been able to confirm this account.

President Bush has declined to say whether he would fire Rove if he were indicted. He has said that he would fire any White House staff that was found guilty in the case.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Rove_missing_from_events_Word_on_1005.html

[kohodog]

4. Looks like things are heating up.

The DC rumor mill has been swirling today (not to mention DU), and it looks like indictments are finally coming. The question may not be "if", but "how many?"

[Orsino]

7. ...and how much Gonzales can do to cripple them. n/t

[AlCzervik]

6. Friday news dump? thats my guess.

[boston bean]

8. if there are indictments of senior white house officials, it wouldn't

matter if they dumped the news on Saturday morning at 3am.

[AlCzervik]

10. it will be after hours for sure unless nothing happens in which case

i'll be drinking until 3 o'clock in the morning.

[boston bean]

11. lol, i will probably join you if that's the case!

[indie_voter]

12. Who gets to release the news? Dept of Justice? Or Fitz? n/t

[AlCzervik]

15. well i would think that Fitxgerald would have a news conference

and he would annouce whatever the result is.

[jody]

9. I don't believe anything will happen. Neocons are utterly ruthless and

fanatically believe they are right. A few lies and cover ups won't bother them at all.

[David Zephyr]

13. America's Crucible: Are we a republic or a fascist dictatorship?

With blanket censorship of our media --- and let's face it, we have ourselves a real political black out in this nation with regards to freedom of speech now coupled with an intimidated and whipped press --- we are about to learn everything we need to know about the real state of our union.

If Fitzgerald does not indict at least Karl Rove and Scooter Libby and a few more, we can all draw one single conclusion folks: we have entered a completely new era in our nation's history: fascism.

The stacked Supreme Court has again and again gone to bat against the Constitution to protect George W. Bush and Richard Cheney from the early days of the 2000 election to the unbelievable winking at Dick Cheney's secretive energy meeting with the Taliban in 2001 before the horrific events of 9/11. Remember "Quack, Quack"?

Remember Diebold?

Of course, Dick Cheney and George Bush were involved in leaking the name of Valerie Plame along with Colin Powell and Condi Rice. They all should be indicted. I doubt they will. "It wouldn't be prudent."

But, should Patrick Fitzgerald also fail to indict Karl Rove and Scooter Libby for their vindictive crime against Joseph Wilson and his wife then, ladies and gentlemen, you can know beyond any reasonable doubt whatsoever that we have slipped into a very, very dark period as American citizens. Why? Because we will then know clearly that the people that own the country anyway now intend to use the powers of government only to suppress their enemies and to absolve them whenever they break the law.

This is the crucible for all of us. Hyperbole? Nope.

And guess what? This is all completely out of our hands.

[jody]

20. We're a plutocracy. Bush and the neocons are just pawns for those who

finance their deeds. The same thing happened in Germany in the 1930s but Hitler got out of control. Even then, the corporatists survived and today exert considerable power in government.

[jazzjunkysue]

26. Cleptocracy. Get it right.

[jody]

30. No, I have it right. Plutocracy is a system of government whereby wealth

and the benefits that wealth accrues lead to a concentration of power in the hands of those with disproportionate access to financial resources.

[jazzjunkysue]

33. Joke! Cleptocracy isn't a real word. It just sounds good.

Better to keep our sense of humor amid all the lying and covering up.

[maryallen]

22. Well said ...and absolutely correct.

[David Zephyr]

23. I think this is the whole ball of wax.

And I'm not sure that Fitz will do the right thing. As an American and as a civil libertarian, I sure hope so...

[JDPriestly]

14. Lawyers usually do things at the last minute.

So I would be surprised if Fitzgerald/s office and/or the grand jury make a public announcement until closer to the end of October.

[Kelvin Mace]

21. I would give a kidney

to see the indictments handed out in the middle of Bush's speech tomorrow.

[shavedape]

32. drag him off the stage in cuffs

and frogmarch him right outta the white house!

[HuffleClaw]

16. "prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was expected to notify officials..."

they get ADVANCED WARNING of their impending prosecutions ? what shit is that ? really, why not call up the local coke dealer to tell him he'll be raided in the morning ? this reminds me of that 24 hour grace period the white house got in some investigation so of course they went on a shredding spree.
i'd like to think fitzgerald will do the right thing, but somehow i doubt it. i see three possibilites. one, he goes after the principals, two, he attacks the media, three, a whitewash. the secrecy surrounding this thing has been very impressive. i can't recall when similar proceedings have been kept so air tight. of course, that could be good or bad. its really up in the air.
that sudden (ok, its from LAST month, but its news NOW for some reason) story about some 'white house spy' is rather curious. could be the usual 'blame the furriner' ploy, or a simple distraction. it appears the white house and its minions are pretty spooked about a lot of things. their attempt to subvert the iraqi voting process just tanked, the torture pics are waiting in the wings, tom delay's troubles are becoming worse by the day and the 'official' death toll in iraq is nearing the 2000 mark. and there's 1000 dead from katrina and counting, but you sure wouldn't no it, that story's been hushed up too.

[Kagemusha]

18. He has to do it. It's the law.

And the only reason he didn't do this long, long ago is because he didn't have the evidence to confirm suspicions that would make Rove and Libby official targets (that's what the reporters' testimony was all about, it seems).

[grytpype]

17. It's finally here.

It will be worth the wait if it is HALF as good as the rumors are predicting...

Rove a target,
Over a dozen indictments,
Maybe 22 indictments! Rove and 21 close friends!!!

[AuntiBush]

28. Have Faith.

It's all we have at this moment. I believe "the Dem Powers to Be" are preparing us, but for what? If we think about it calmly, Dem's have been in control many, many decades before the Neo-Con Nazi's worked behind scenes for their take-over.

I learned as a teen, that sometimes it's better to remain silent, reserved per se, and let thine enemies hang themselves. They do a much better job of it then you could.

Think: Why the complacency for Miers nomination from many Dems?

A build-up, maybe.

Buckle-up. Weird roads a 'coming.

[David Zephyr]

19. Just one more time for the record. Read and enjoy the lie.

Scott McClellan to White House Press Corp regarding Karl Rove and Scooter Libby and the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity: "Those individuals - I talked - I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands."

--White House Briefing, 10/10/03

[williesgirl]

24. There is a God and he doesn't sleep! Let's pray this happens. n/t

[kostya]

34. So, maybe Fitz will indict on the anniversary of that McClellan comment.

:kick:

[woodsprite]

25. I think I'll send my kids to school tomorrow with a lil' customized

"bug out" bag --- just in case...

[jazzjunkysue]

27. Cowbell, please.

[Ksec]

29. Oh Please let it happen....please.

It would just give me renewed faith in this country.