USA TODAY International Edition
Jury out in leak probe
White House anxiously awaits announcement
WASHINGTON — The grand jury investigating whether White House of cials illegally leaked the identity of a covert CIA operative met Wednesday without announcing whether anyone will be charged.
The grand jury, which hears testimony on the leak case on Wednesdays and Fridays, is scheduled to expire Friday. It’s unusual for indictments to be voted on the last day. The term could be extended, however.
“ Everybody in town is obviously focused on this, and those who might be affected are nervous,” said Charlie Black, a GOP strategist who advises the White House. People will be “ on the edge of their chairs for another day or two.”
For almost two years, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has been investigating whether Bush administration of cials broke the law when they told reporters that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA and had recommended that her husband go to Niger to determine whether Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium for a nuclear bomb.
Plame’s husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, found no evidence of the uranium deal and later publicly accused the administration of “ twisting” intelligence to justify the war with Iraq.
At least two reporters, Time’s Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller of The New York Times, have said they told the grand jury that deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove and I. Lewis “ Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, discussed Plame with them.
The charges could include perjury, obstruction of justice or violations of a 1982 law barring of cials from knowingly outing a covert agent or a 1917 law making it illegal to divulge national- security information.
The mood is particularly tense at the White House, where spokesman Scott McClellan declined to answer questions about the inquiry. He said of cials there are “ focused on the work at hand.” Rove and Libbywere at the morning senior staff meeting.
Outside the courthouse where the grand jury meets, cameras and correspondents from the major TV networks and news channels staked out the exits. “ We wait for little glimpses of news,” said CNN correspondent Bob Franken during a break from what he estimated would be 20 on- air reports Wednesday. “ But mostly we’re in a cone of silence here,” he said.
Some Bush allies are worried. “Most policy development has been frozen for 60 days,” said Scott Reed, another GOP strategist. “ These are tough times,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R- Texas. “ I wouldn’t say the party’s in a ditch, but there’s obviously a lot going on.” Contributing: Kathy Kiely