Vice President Cheney's top advisor I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby is expected to receive an indictment in the Valerie Plame leak case according to a report published in the 'New York Times.'
The report also indicated that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald will ask for more time to continue his investigation against President Bush's top advisor, Karl Rove. Rove will not be indicted today in the leak case but will still be under investigation for his role in the outing of a covert CIA agent. In fact, some sources claim that there may be a larger investigation going on into a possible conspiracy involving the secret deliberations made by administration officials when they made their case to invade and occupy Iraq.
Fitzgerald has scheduled a news conference for 2:00 PM EDT Friday afternoon to discuss his findings and to advise the American people what the next step will be in his investigation.
The fact that Rove will not be indicted today gives the Bush White House a sense of relief. However, Rove's effectiveness will be compromised by the continuing investigation. Mr. Libby is considered a very influential person at the White House mainly because Vice President Cheney has a lot of influence in this administration. Sources say Libby was one of the chief architects of the president's Iraq policy.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters, 'If the special prosecutor has any announcement to make then I think you could expect that we'll have more to say after that.' B
'The special counsel has advised Mr. Rove that he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges and that Mr. Rove's status has not changed,' said the aide's lawyer, Robert Luskin. 'Mr. Rove will continue to cooperate fully with the special counsel's efforts to complete the investigation. We are confident that when the special counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong.'
The country is awaiting the results of this ongoing investigation.
