Washington,
October 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the
question mark over US Vice President Dick Cheney's role in a CIA leak
scandal thickened, the federal grand jury investigating the leak was
scheduled to meet Wednesday, October 26, amid signs the prosecutor in
the case was preparing to seek criminal charges.
Patrick
Fitzgerald, a US prosecutor, is investigating possible links between
White House aides and blowing the cover of CIA operative Valerie
Plame, according to the Agence France Presse (AFP).
Plame's
husband, former US diplomat Joseph Wilson said the administration
divulged his wife’s name to reporters in retaliation for his overt
criticism of Bush’s claims on Iraqi WMDs.
Plame,
a CIA expert on weapons of mass destruction, found her name dragged
into news reports in 2003 -- soon after her husband Wilson disputed
White House claims on Saddam Hussein's alleged nuclear weapons
program, according to AFP.
Citing
lawyers involved in the case, the New York Times said Dick
Cheney’s chief of cabinet I. Lewis Libby's notes revealed he had
learned about Plame in a conversation with Cheney on June 12, 2003 --
weeks before her name was revealed by a newspaper columnist, in
contradiction with earlier testimony to a grand jury that he had heard
her name from journalists.
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Libby was found to have learnt about Plame from Cheney in contradiction with earlier testimony to grand jury.
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While
the report has not so far proved wrongdoing on the part of Cheney or
Libby, it did add to the pile of questions surrounding the role of the
Vice President's office, and bolstered hints that Fitzgerald could be
mulling obstruction of justice or perjury charges.
On
Monday, October 24, Karl Rove, another US administration top-official
questioned in relation to the scandal, and Libby both attended a
cabinet meeting with Bush as the White House continued trying to save
face.
When
questioned on the recent finds, US President George Bush’s spokesman
Scot McClellan defended Vice-President Cheney.
"The
vice president is doing a great job as a member of this
administration, and the president appreciates all that he's
doing," said the spokesman.
Asked
whether the report cast doubt on Cheney's public truthfulness on the
scandal, the spokesman said: "You're prejudging things and
speculating and we're not going to prejudge or speculate."
Indictments
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"Anyone indicted, …should be treated the same and removed from the White House staff," said Schumer.
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The
grand jury session Wednesday follows a last-minute flurry of
interviews by investigators with Plame's neighbors and a former
colleague of top White House adviser Karl Rove.
Plame's
identity was leaked after her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, accused
the administration of twisting prewar intelligence on Iraq.
White
House officials were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the leak case
since any indicted officials were expected to resign immediately. If
indictments are brought, Bush was likely to make a public statement to
try to reassure Americans that he is committed to honesty and
integrity in government, according to Reuters.
Lawyers
involved in the case said, as per Reuters, Fitzgerald appeared close
to bringing indictments, with an announcement expected as early as
Wednesday, after the grand jury meets.
The
grand jury is slated to expire on Friday unless Fitzgerald extends it.
The
noose is tightening around to speak to the public on the scandal.
US
Senator Charles Schumer is one of the first members of Congress to
call for an independent investigation into the unmasking of the covert
CIA agent.
"I
write to encourage you (George Bush) to swiftly and strongly clarify
that anyone who is indicted in the ongoing CIA leak investigation will
be removed from the White House immediately and until the case is
resolved," the New York Democrat wrote in a letter to the
president Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
