Stakes high as charges loom in CIA leak affair

Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Pictures / Reuters

WASHINGTON - The Bush Administration and all Washington were on tenterhooks as Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, wrapped up his inquiry into the CIA leak affair, amid suspense akin to the election of a pope.

With the Administration under siege on several fronts, there is strong speculation that the investigation could lead to the indictment of top advisers to President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, and possibly other senior officials as well.

All eyes were fastened on the District of Colombia federal courthouse on Pennsylvania Avenue where the 23-member grand jury investigating the case was meeting. A small army of TV crews and reporters waited for a Washington scandal's equivalent of white or black smoke to issue from the legal chimney.

The colour seemed to be a murky shade of grey. Fitzgerald is understood to have presented the conclusions of his two years of labours at a three-hour session, before the jury adjourned for the day.

Assuming that is so, jurors have to decide by simple majority whether he has made enough of a case to warrant whatever indictments he is seeking. This step is considered unlikely before tomorrow, when the jury's term expires.

Proceedings have been so shrouded in secrecy that for once even Washington's most loquacious insiders confess they do not know what will happen. Even at this 11th hour, Fitzgerald could ask for an extension of his inquiry - or even not seek any indictments. But the firm betting was that he would issue charges, today or tomorrow.

The investigation into who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, wife of Bush Administration critic Joseph Wilson, to the media has zeroed in on two of the Administration's most powerful officials, Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Cheney.

Her identity was divulged in a column by Robert Novak in July 2003 after her husband, a former ambassador, accused the Bush Administration of twisting prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi nuclear threat.

Two sets of charges are possible: one involving the leak itself, a criminal offence under US law, the other covering perjury or obstruction of justice arising from discrepancies in the grand jury testimony of the two aides.

Gamely, the White House is maintaining a pretence of business as usual, "focused on the issues that Americans care about", in the words of Scott McClellan, Bush's spokesman.

The Washington Post said it was unclear whether Fitzgerald spelled out the criminal charges he might ask the jurors to consider, or whether he had asked them to vote on any proposed indictments.

Rove's legal team made contingency plans just in case, consulting former Justice Department official Mark Corallo and Republican strategist Ed Gillespie to prepare a strategy for defending against an indictment in both court and the public. Fitzgerald met Rove lawyer Robert Luskin at a private law firm office, heightening White House fears for Rove's future. FBI agents working for Fitzgerald also checked facts this week that could be used in a case.

"Leakgate" is not another Watergate in the sense that, as far can be seen, neither Bush nor Cheney is directly in the line of fire. But for the Administration, the stakes are enormous.

On Capitol Hill separate trouble seemed to be brewing, this time over the President's Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers. Her withdrawal would be a huge embarrassment - but in the past few days it has started to look a distinct possibility.

Officially, the President is standing behind Miers, the White House counsel for the past 10 months, whose confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is to start on November 7. But, amid accusations of cronyism, almost a dozen Republican senators have expressed doubts about the nominee, while several leading conservatives have publicly urged Bush to come up with a better-qualified candidate.

And yesterday there were demonstrations outside the White House by anti-war protesters as the number of US troops killed in Iraq passed 2000.

But the greatest danger lies in the leak affair. An indictment would force Rove to step down, depriving Bush of his ablest adviser. Word is that the White House has lined up Gillespie, the former Republican Party chairman, as a temporary replacement. If Libby is charged, it would be a body blow to the most influential Vice-President of modern times. The investigation has become a metaphor for the alleged manipulation of intelligence to make the case for military action.

THE KEY PLAYERS

PATRICK FITZGERALD Special prosecutor

Fitzgerald is considered an uncompromising investigator who has helped convict militant bombers, mobsters and politicians.

He persuaded the judge in the leak case involving Valerie Plame to find reporters in contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury about their sources in the White House.

Fitzgerald, 44, interviewed President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney about their knowledge of the leak.

Before being appointed US Attorney in Chicago in 2001, the Brooklyn-born and Harvard-trained Fitzgerald was an assistant US Attorney in New York.

Considered an expert on terrorism, he led the prosecution that convicted Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and his followers in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing.

KARL ROVE White House aide

Rove, 54, is President George W. Bush's deputy White House chief of staff and top political adviser.

With a hand in everything from politics to foreign policy to personnel decisions, Rove plays a behind-the-scenes role more powerful than his title suggests.

Rove was praised as the chief strategist of Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns and reviled by opponents as a ruthless political operative.

Two years ago, the White House said Rove did not leak the identity of covert CIA operative Plame.

Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper has identified him as his source and columnist Robert Novak, the first to publish Plame's name, also spoke to Rove, legal sources say.

LEWIS "SCOOTER" LIBBY Dick Cheney aide

Libby, 55, is Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.

Known as "Vice-President Dick Cheney's Dick Cheney," Libby was a quiet force in building the Bush Administration's case for the Iraq invasion.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller identified him to the grand jury as the source of her information on Plame, although she said he did not identify her by name.

Libby also served in the Administration of President Bush's father as deputy under secretary of defence and was at the State Department during the Reagan Administration.

He was educated at Yale University, Bush's alma mater, and Columbia University law school.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS