WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 - 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.
With the term of the grand jury expiring Oct. 28, lawyers in the case said they assumed Mr. Fitzgerald was in the final stages of his inquiry.
So there's no final report yet? Well, this could mean one of three things. First, Fitzgerald is making up some indictments to hand down--either for this week or next week, certainly before the gran jury closes down. And if he's going to hand down indictments, he's got plenty of people to choose from--Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, VP Dick Cheney. I've even heard rumors of other Bush aids as listed for indictments--Mary Matalin being indicted? What is certainly amazing is how close Fitzgerald is keeping his cards to his chest, where just about everyone--from reporters to bloggers--are trying to find out who is going to walk the perp walk. The second possibility is that he may just close the investigation without issuing a report or handing down indictments. Of course that amounts to Fitzgerald committing political suicide. By simply shutting down the investigation, Fitzgerald opens himself up to criticisms and investigations from both the Democrats and liberals, after spending so much time and taxpayer monies on this case. Of course, this would be a wet dream for the Republicans and the Bush White House. A huge firestorm will certainly ignite between both political spectrums, causing even more suspicion and acrimony against the Bush White House by liberal and Democratic partisans. The third option would be that Fitzgerald submits a report later on this month, but does not hand down indictments. With this option, his report will be picked apart on both sides of the political spectrum. The Democrats and liberal blogosphere will certainly shred him with any inconsistencies that are gleaned from the report. The Republicans and Bush White House will be happy because Rove, Libby, and Cheney may be free from suspicion by the special prosecutor. Of course, a political firestorm will also ignite by the liberal and Democratic partisans, but the anger will be directed against both the Bush White House and Fitzgerald. The press reports say that Fizgerald will go to Washington DC to announce his decision, rather than stay in Chicago where Fitzgerald's office is based. If Fitzgerald is going to Washington, then he has to have something to say--otherwise his reputation is going to be politically creamed.
So we're stuck waiting until Fitzgerald pops his head up.
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