Though leaks about progress have been far and few between, Time has learned that a federal grand jury began hearing testimony this week in the ongoing investigation into who was responsible for leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent to reporters, including conservative columnist Robert Novak.
Time reported that, at this point, prosecutors are apparently “starting with third-party witnesses, people who were not directly involved in the leak of Plame’s identity,” but added, “Soon enough, witnesses with more direct knowledge will be called to testify, and a decision to subpoena journalists for their testimony will also be made.”
There aren’t any hints about who investigators are looking at or how close they are to issuing subpoenas, but the Time article is nevertheless helpful. It’s encouraging just to know that there’s a grand jury currently hearing testimony.
And, of course, the other piece of good news is that the existence of a grand jury is scaring the heck out of the White House.
“No one knows what the hell is going on,” says someone who could be a witness, “because the administration people are all terrified and the lawyers aren’t sharing anything with each other either.”
Sometimes it seems the Plame Game scandal is fading away because we don’t see it on the front page. The fact remains that progress is being made, albeit quietly. In other words, there’s hope for this one yet.