Via the NYT: No Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak

The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials said yesterday.

The prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, is not expected to take any action in the case this week, government officials said. A spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald, Randall Samborn, declined to comment.

A final report had long been considered an option for Mr. Fitzgerald if he decided not to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, although Justice Department officials have been dubious about his legal authority to issue such a report.

By signaling that he had no plans to issue the grand jury’s findings in such detail, Mr. Fitzgerald appeared to narrow his options either to indictments or closing his investigation with no public disclosure of his findings, a choice that would set off a political firestorm.

[…]

It is not clear whether Mr. Fitzgerald has learned who first identified the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, to the syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak in July 2024.

Some of the lawyers in the case say Mr. Fitzgerald seems to be wrestling with decisions about how to proceed, leaning toward indictments but continuing to weigh thousands of pages of documents and testimony he has compiled during the nearly two-year inquiry.

In recent days, Mr. Fitzgerald has repeatedly told lawyers in the case that he has not made up his mind about criminal charges.

And the wait continues.

Meanwhile, the story speculates as to Rove’s replacements, just in case:

Among the names being discussed to take some of Mr. Rove’s responsibilities should he have to step aside, an outside adviser to the White House said, are Dan Bartlett, currently Mr. Bush’s counselor; Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Robert M. Kimmitt, the deputy Treasury secretary.

More: Meanwhile, James Joyner notes rumors that Cheney will resign and Rice will be appointed VP. However, I have to concur with James’ basic conclusion:

This thing has dragged on for years now and it seems that all we have is two senior White House advisors telling reporters that Joe Wilson got the job because his wife, a CIA officer, suggested he be hired. And for that we’ll have a political shakeup of a level not seen since Watergate?

I don’t think so.

Indeed.

Quite honestly, this has never looked like anything more than typical politics unless it can be proven that Libby, Rove or somebody knew that Plame was covert and they outed her for political reasons anyway. And in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t as if she had been undercover infiltrating the Kremlin when Novak published her name. That the outing may have damaged her career is a possibility (although being married to Wilson has to have cut down on exactly how much deep cover work she would likely be doing in the future), but the exact dire consequences of these events have never been fully spelled out to me.

Interpreting these events has been very difficult, as it has been almost impossible to get good information. Further, given that the press is salivating over the possibility of a serious indictment (partially because many of them don’t like this White House, but mainly because the press loves a scandal), it is difficult to know how much wishful thinking goes into the reporting.

It is clear that when obviously partisan sources are discussing the matter that those predisposed to be allied with the administration downplay the whole thing, while those opposed to the administration see a scandal of monumental proportions.

I wish the Fitzgerald would issue his report or indictments so that we can move on beyond the speculation.