CBS To Report Fitzgerald Will Make His Decision Known Tomorrow

[Nbadan]

BREAKING: CBS To Report Fitzgerald Will Make His Decision Known Tomorrow
From the CBS Evening News, to air at 6:30PM:

CBS’ JOHN ROBERTS: Lawyers familiar with the case think Wednesday is when special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will make known his decision, and that there will be indictments. Supporters say Rove and the vice president’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, are in legal jeopardy. But they insisted today the two are secondary players, that it was an unidentified Mr. X who actually gave the name of CIA agent V alerie Plame to reporters. Fitzgerald knows who Mr. X is, they say, and if he isn’t indicted, there’s no way Rove or Libby should be. But charges may not focus on the leak at all. Obstruction of justice or perjury are real possibilities. Did Rove or Libby change statements made under oath? Did they deliberately leave critical facts out of their testimony or did they honestly forget? Some Republicans urged Rove to step down if indicted. Not a happy prospect for president Bush.

Any guesses on the iden y of Mr. X?

UPDATE: This bit from the CBS segment is also interesting –

SCHIEFFER: John, I am very interested in Mr. X. Is there any clue or hint as to whether he be - maybe someone who outranks Libby and Rove or would he be a lower-ranking official?

ROBERTS: The best guess is that Mr. X, even though his name is not known and some people are just speculating on who he might be or she might be, is somebody who is actually outside the White House, and in that case would be of a lower rank that both Rove and Libby.

Think Progress

Anyone wanna guess who this Mr X could be?

[Marcus Bryant]

Predictions:

If Rove is not indicted then Nbadan will blame the 'neocons'.

If Cheney is not indicted then Nbadan will blame the 'neocons'.

If Bush is not indicted then Nbadan...

[Nbadan]

From an email...

Aides To Be Indicted, Probe to Continue
by Larry Johnson
Wed Oct 26th, 2005 at 10:50:36 AM EDT

For your background, Richard was the first to tip me last year to the developing Larry Franklin spy scandal, which proved to be right. - LJ

Aides To Be Indicted, Probe to Continue
By Richard Sale, longtime Intelligence Correspondent for UPI

This comes to us courtesy of Pat Lang at turcopolier.typepad.com. I've found Richard to always be on target in my experience. -- Larry Johnson

Two top White House aides are expected to be indicted today on various charges related to the probe of CIA operative Valerie Plame whose classified iden y was publicly breached in retaliation after her husband, Joe Wilson, challenged the administration's claim that Saddam Hussein had sought to buy enriched uranium from Niger, acording to federal law enforcement and senior U.S. intelligence officials.

If no action is taken today, it will take place on Friday, these sources said.

I. Scooter Libby, the chief of staff of Vice President Richard Cheney, and chief presidential advisor Karl Rove are expected to be named in indictments this morning by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

Others are to be named as well, these sources said. According to U.S. officials close to the case, a bill of indictment has been in existence before October 17 which named five people. Various names have surfaced such as National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, yet only one source would confirm that Hadley was on the list. Hadley could not be reached for comment.

But letters from Fitzgerald, notifying various White House officiials that they are targets of the investigation, went out late last week, a former senior U.S. intelligence official said.

Most press accounts emphasized that Fitzgerald was likely to concentrate on attempts by Libby, Rove and others to cover up wrongdoing by means of perjury before the grand jury, lying to federal officials, conspiring to obstruct justice, etc. But federal law enforcement officials told this reporter that Fitzgerald was likely to charge the people indicted with violating Joe Wilson's civil rights, smearing his name in an attempt to destroy his ability to earn a living in Washington as a consultant.

The civil rights charge is said to include "the conspiracy was committed using U.S. government offices, buildings, personnel and funds," one federal law enforcement official said.

Other charges could include possible violations of U.S. espionage laws, including the mishandling of U.S. classified information, these sources said.

That Vice President Cheney is at the center of the controversy comes as no surprise. Last Friday, Fitzgerald investigators were talking to Cheney's attorneys, and detailied questionnaires, designed to pin down in meticulous sequence what Cheney knew, when he knew it, and what he told his aides, were delivered to the White House on Monday, these sources said.

The probe is far from being at an end. According to this reporter's sources, Fitzgerald approached the judge in charge of the case and asked that a new grand jury be empaneled. The old grand jury, which has been sitting for two years, will expire on October 28.

Thanks to a letter of February, 2004 in which Fitzgerald asked for and obtained expanded authority, the Special Prosecutor is now in possession of an Italian parliament nvestigation into the forged Niger do ents alleging Iraq's interest in purchasing Niger uranium, sources said.

They said that Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC's Washingfton office in an effort to determine if they played any role in the forgeriese or their dissiemination. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen, these federal sources said.

On the Hill, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), democratic whip, are asking for public hearings to lay bare the forgeries and how their false allegations ended up in President George Bush's State of the Union speech.

[Marcus Bryant]

Oh no. A 'smear' charge.

[Nbadan]

Speaking of smear jobs...

[SpursWoman]

But federal law enforcement officials told this reporter that Fitzgerald was likely to charge the people indicted with violating Joe Wilson's civil rights, smearing his name in an attempt to destroy his ability to earn a living in Washington as a consultant.

All the hoopla and wet panties for a libel or slander or whatever suit? What the ?

I thought everyone from Bush on down was going to be impeached and imprisoned and the Democrats were going to take over the world...

[Vashner]

I think he released the Jury today. Briefed the Judge that he works for at the courthouse. And will unseal whatever tomorrow.

EDIT: This way... the Jury get's out of being mobbed by media. And in the morning he can drop his nukes and spend the whole day dealing with it.

[Yonivore]

All the hoopla and wet panties for a libel or slander or whatever suit? What the ?

I thought everyone from Bush on down was going to be impeached and imprisoned and the Democrats were going to take over the world...

Actually, Al Franken says they're all going to be executed...

My guess, Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame are indicted. Won't that be fun?

[JoeChalupa]

Since there was so much hoopla over a blowjob, I can see how this is shaping up.

[SpursWoman]

Since there was so much hoopla over a blowjob, I can see how this is shaping up.

So democrats aren't above it all either, huh? I thought they didn't get their panties in a wad over silly things?

Actually, Al Franken says they're all going to be executed...

[JoeChalupa]

So democrats aren't above it all either, huh? I thought they didn't get their panties in a wad over silly things?

That's what I'm sayin'...hoopla over BS from both sides.

But in all honesty...this is much worse than a blowjob.

[Vashner]

Yea how the CIA sent an idiot that was not an agent then he did a public report in NYT... Yea that's worse than a BJ.

[Nbadan]

Actually, Al Franken says they're all going to be executed...

That was classic Al Franken on John Stewart

[Nbadan]

They said that Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC's Washingfton office in an effort to determine if they played any role in the forgeriese or their dissiemination. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen, these federal sources said.

This is the needle in the hay-stack, not the current charge of the indictments so much. Nobody wants Fitzgerald poking his head around asking questions about the pre-war, forged Niger do ents because, well, let's just say with what he already knows poking around in Niger, Fitz probably already has a good general idea who the forgery is going to lead back to. Now all he has to figure is how wide does he want to blow this case wide open?

[gtownspur]

That was classic Al Franken on John Stewart

he probably was reffering to all air america broadcasting