Shades of Hutton as inquiry puts heat on the President's men

Shades of Hutton as inquiry puts heat on the President's men
By David Charter in Washington



HE HAS been likened to Eliot Ness, the fearless Prohibition-era prosecutor who brought Al Capone to justice. Like Ness, Patrick Fitzgerald hails from Chicago and has a reputation for being meticulous, impartial and relentless.

But Mr Fitzgerald, 44, an independent attorney-general, is not investigating an underworld godfather. He has spent almost two years probing the highest levels of the US Government in an investigation that threatens to land some of the most senior figures at the White House in court. During his inquiry into the leak of a CIA agent’s name to the media, Mr Fitzgerald has privately interviewed President Bush, the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, and a host of their officials.

Washington is abuzz with speculation that, perhaps as soon as this week, Mr Fitzgerald could indict Karl Rove — Mr Bush’s most senior adviser and the man the President calls his “architect” — and Mr Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Charges could come under espionage laws that prohibit the identification of a secret agent, or perjury laws covering obstruction of justice.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1832418,00.html

Bush aides fear indictment after CIA leak inquiry
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 19 October 2005
The Independent

A nervous White House is bracing itself for the worst as the inquiry into the leak of the identity of a CIA agent reaches its climax, possibly with the indictment of one or more officials as early as this week.

Every sign is that Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, is close to wrapping up his 22-month-old grand jury investigation, in which attention has focused on two top aides - President Bush's adviser Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the chief of staff to the Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Mr Fitzgerald has lifted a corner of the rug on the bitter struggles before and immediately after the Iraq invasion between Mr Cheney's office and the CIA. The struggles came amid the unravelling of the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

The investigation began after the conservative columnist, Robert Novak, revealed the name of the CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose husband, the retired diplomat Joseph Wilson, was a fierce critic of the war. Mr Novak leaked the name of Ms Plame in July 2003.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article320544.ece