The Washington Post and New York Times have detailed stories — both on the front page — about the latest developments in the Plame Game investigation. From the reports, it sounds as if investigators are closing in on the leakers and that indictments are just around the corner.
Going over both articles, we learn that a federal grand jury has heard testimony from several major players over the last two weeks: press secretary Scott McClellan, former Cheney aide Mary Matalin, and former White House press official Adam Levine. The Post explained that these three are not considered suspects by prosecutors.
Other White House staffers recently interviewed by the FBI include Karl Rove, communications director Dan Bartlett, former press secretary Ari Fleischer, Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and another Cheney aide, Cathie Martin. (Noticeably absent from the list is John Hannah, a Cheney aide identified by UPI as a top suspect.)
To be sure, prosecutors are getting very serious about the investigation. The Times reported:
[P]rosecutors have said they would charge White House aides with obstruction of justice or false statements if they failed to provide truthful statements about specific conversations that some aides could not clearly recall among the hundreds of conversations with some White House reporters, the lawyers said.
Prosecutors have emphasized the seriousness of the case, informing the White House employees that they are “subjects” of the inquiry. In legal terminology, a subject is in potentially greater jeopardy of being accused of a crime than a witness. But a subject is in a less threatening situation than a target, someone who may expect to be charged.
The Times also noted that the aides’ grand jury appearances have been described as “tense and sometimes combative.” If White House officials have nothing to hide, and are anxious to help get to the truth, I can’t imagine why they’d be “combative” with federal investigators, can you?
Also important, the Post explained that investigators also have phone logs indicating that “several White House officials talked to columnist Robert D. Novak shortly before July 14,” the day he published the report leaking Valerie Plame’s name to the world.
It appears that the focus continues to swirl around Cheney’s office.
One set of documents that prosecutors repeatedly referred to in their meetings with White House aides are extensive notes compiled by I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and national security adviser. Prosecutors have described the notes as “copious,” the lawyers said. In addition, the prosecutors have asked about cellphone calls made last July to and from Catherine J. Martin, a press secretary for Mr. Cheney.
And finally, the Post also noted in its story that a “parallel investigation” by the FBI has been ongoing into who, exactly, was responsible for forging the documents that led the White House to say Iraq had sought to purchase uranium from Niger. Reportedly, this inquiry has also reached a “critical stage.”
The answer to that question may be relevant to the Plame Game scandal. After all, Joseph Wilson came forward to debunk the Niger claim, which in turn infuriated the White House, which in turn led the White House to leak the identity of Wilson’s undercover CIA agent wife.
I realize that the Plame Game scandal may not be receiving the attention of, say, a pop singer’s breast being visible at the Super Bowl, but it’s nevertheless reaching a critical mass. At this point, we have a federal grand jury moving towards indictments and several White House staffers having been identified as “subjects” in a criminal investigation. And all of this is happening just as the election season is picking up.
And, best of all, it’s only going to get more intense in the coming months.
As Atrios says all the time, “pass the popcorn.” This is going to be fun to watch.