Fitzgerald sees new grand jury
proceedings
Reuters
Adam Entous
November 18, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sign he may seek new or revised charges in the
CIA leak case, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said on Friday his
investigation would be going back before a grand jury.
It was the first time Fitzgerald said he would be presenting information to
a grand jury since the indictment three weeks ago against Vice President Dick
Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
The investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative, which has
reached into the highest levels of the White House, could be moving into a new
phase that could lead to charges against other top administration
officials.
Lawyers in the case have said President George W. Bush's top political
adviser, Karl Rove, remained under investigation and could still be
charged.
Fitzgerald has been investigating the leak of Valerie Plame's identity for
two years and the grand jury that indicted Libby expired after it brought
charges against him for perjury and obstructing justice on October 28.
Plame's cover at the CIA was blown after her husband, former diplomat Joseph
Wilson, accused the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to
support invading Iraq. Wilson said it was done to undercut his credibility.
"The investigation will involve proceedings before a different grand jury
than the grand jury which returned the indictment" against Libby, Fitzgerald
said in a motion he filed providing for public disclosure of some evidence in
the Libby case.
The special counsel had said Libby was the first official known to have told
a reporter about Plame. But this week Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward
testified under oath that a senior Bush administration official had casually
told him a month earlier - in mid-June 2003 - about Plame's position at the
CIA.
STIRRING THE POT
Woodward's sworn deposition sparked renewed speculation about who first
leaked Plame's identity, and sent Bush administration officials scrambling to
deny involvement.
A lawyer in the case said Woodward's source had not previously testified
before a grand jury.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not answer directly whether Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was Woodward's source.
White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley, in Pusan, South Korea,
where Bush was attending an Asia-Pacific summit, left it to aides to put out
the word that he was not the source.
Neither was Cheney nor Bush, according to current and former officials and
their lawyers, none of whom would agree to be identified.
Plame's husband has called for an inquiry by The Washington Post into the
conduct of Woodward, who criticized the CIA leak investigation without
disclosing his own involvement.
In his court filing, Fitzgerald backed off seeking a blanket order to keep
all documents in the case secret and agreed to focus more narrowly on grand
jury transcripts and documents containing sensitive private personal
information.
The blanket protective order was challenged by Dow Jones, the publisher of
The Wall Street Journal, and The Associated Press and a hearing was scheduled
for later on Friday.
"We still have concerns but this goes a long way to addressing the major
problems," said attorney Theodore Boutrous, who is representing Dow Jones.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Will Dunham)
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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