FITZGERALD WILL SEEK INDICTMENTS

Story is still developing but sources close to the case say that he is going to seek indictments.

From the RAWSTORY

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has decided to seek indictments in the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson and has submitted at least one to the grand jury, those close to the investigation tell RAW STORY.

Fitzgerald will seek at least two indictments, the sources say. They note that it remains to be seen whether the grand jury will approve the charges.

Those familiar with the case state that Fitzgerald likely will not seek indictments that assert officials leaked Plame's name illegally. Rather, they say that he will focus charges in the arena of lying to investigators.

RAW STORY has not learned who Fitzgerald is seeking to charge. Reports indicate that of those fingered in the case, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is in the most jeopardy. President Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, also appears to have given conflicting testimony to the grand jury.

Fitzgerald may also charge those who leaked Plame Wilson's name to reporters. Rove and Libby have not been identified as the sources in Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 column which first identified Plame as a covert agent and the husband of Joseph Wilson, a critic of the Administration's Iraq intelligence. Novak cited "senior administration officials" as his sources for the report.

In a later column, Novak said one of his sources was "no partisan gunslinger."

RAW STORY revealed last week that David Wurmser and John Hannah, both aides who worked with Cheney, were cooperating with Fitzgerald's probe. The story was later confirmed by the New York Daily News.

Both were purportedly involved in passing information about Plame. Last week, Hannah's lawyer told Newsweek his client "knew nothing" about the leak and is not a target of Fitzgerald's investigation.

Meanwhile, the White House is sidestepping questions regarding Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the CIA leak.

From The AP

The White House on Tuesday sidestepped questions about whether Vice President Dick Cheney passed on to his top aide the identity of a CIA officer central to a federal grand jury probe.

Notes in the hands of a federal prosecutor suggest that Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, first heard of the CIA officer from Cheney himself, The New York Times reported in Tuesday's editions.

A federal prosecutor is investigating whether the officer's identity was improperly disclosed.

The Times said notes of a previously undisclosed June 12, 2003, conversation between Libby and Cheney appear to differ from Libby's grand jury testimony that he first heard of Valerie Plame from journalists.

"This is a question relating to an ongoing investigation and we're not having any further comment on the investigation while it's ongoing," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

Pressed about Cheney's knowledge about the CIA officer, McClellan said: "I think you're prejudging things and speculating and we're not going to prejudge or speculate about things."

McClellan said Cheney — who participated in a morning video conference on the Florida hurricane from Wyoming, where he is speaking at a University of Wyoming dinner tonight — is doing a "great job" as vice president.

The New York Times identified its sources in the story as lawyers involved in the case.

Oh, FITZMAS day is coming...