Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

10/03/05

"With the coerced testimony of New York Times reporter Judith Miller in his pocket, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is now free to complete his probe of the Bush administration's 'outing' of CIA covert officer Valerie Plame. Fitzgerald might have difficulty proving that two government officials -- Karl Rove, the president's ruthless political operative, and I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff -- knew of Plame's covert designation and violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by intentionally leaking her identity. On the other hand, some analysts believe Fitzgerald will try to indict Rove and Libby on conspiracy charges, which are much easier cases to make. Only the special counsel knows the strength of his evidence, whether or not he will seek indictments, and on what charges. Because the term of the grand jury expires by the end of October, the public should know the outcome of Fitzgerald's inquiry by then. But President Bush has enough information now to fire both Rove and Libby...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1581


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp