Fitzgerald has decided to seek indictments, those near inquiry say

[gldstwmn]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Fitzge...ents_1025.html

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has decided to seek indictments in the outing of CIA operative 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.

Any possible indictments are now in the hands of the grand jury. They are expected to be made public later this week.

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 could 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.