PLAME GOSSIP

Big news in the Plame case. Plame Gossip has been quiet for awhile. With no public Fitzgerald actions in the last couple of days, I was beginning to wonder if the story had gone quiet through Christmas.

But, no. Our friend Jason at Rawstory is reporting, (oh, man, there's alot here.)

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is not expected to shut down his investigation into the leak of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson when he finishes his inquiry of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove's role in the leak, lawyers close to the probe said. ....

Individuals close to the probe say Fitzgerald is still investigating other unnamed White House officials. This part of the investigation, like that of Rove, is focusing on whether these officials committed perjury, obstruction of justice or lied to federal investigators during the early days of the investigation....

The investigation is expected to shift back to top officials in the Office of the Vice President, the State Department and the National Security Council, and may even shed some light on the genesis of the Niger forgeries, lawyers close to the case say......

Separately, these people said, the FBI's renewed interest in probing the Niger forgeries grew out of Fitzgerald's probe....

Some of those people, who sources close to the case would only say were "senior level," have cooperated with the prosecutor in exchange for immunity related to their role in the case. No plea deals have been entered into with any official, they added.

"Mr. Fitzgerald has secured the cooperation of certain individuals who faced the possibility of being prosecuted," one attorney close to the case said. "That's all I'm going to say."....

Sources close to the probe said the State Department official referenced in both stories is the same, and has been providing the special counsel with crucial evidence against certain White House officials for the past two years.

Hoooo boy, there's alot here. First, more prospective indictees apparently around the Vice President's office. The guessing game begins again. (Cheney? I don't think so at this point, or that, I think, would have been the lead, but Fitzgerald may be getting the riff raff in line before turning on the Don.)

Second a couple tantalizing mentions of the Niger forgeries, that this investigation "may even shed some light on the genesis of the Niger forgeries," and that it was Fitzgerald's investigation that prompted the FBI to reopen the forgeries case which the LATimes was reporting as now looking at "US citizens who advocated an invasion of Iraq."

If the Niger forgeries case is making headway, and overlapping with Fitzgerald's investigations into senior US government officials, this could be HUGE.

Lastly, further mentions of cooperating witnesses, a seemingly plural reference to cooperating "senior officials," and also a reference to a State Department official who "has been providing the special counsel with crucial evidence against certain White House officials for the past two years."

So, first impression is that the immunity bargainers are indeed singing, Fitzgerald appears to be working on more than just Karl Rove's testimony, and those significant mentions that Fitzgerald has had some involvement in the Niger forgeries.

Gonna go eat lunch and think about this a little. More later, certainly, but for now, I'll leave you with a question: If Fitzgerald does round up several more of these guys, and the seperate Niger forgeries investigation ties in a couple of them as well, what does this mean for this president? Just how much ignorance can he claim?

And, as a personal note, Thanks, Jason. You're breaking more stories than anybody else. Keep up the great work.

Update: I realized I left out that Rawstory has previously reported that John Hannah and David Wurmser are cooperating witnesses. Talk left is theorizing that Fleitz is the State Dept. leaker. Bolton's dirtywork guy, had his hands on the state dept memo identifying Plame, that's not a bad guess. (According to the WaPo's list, Fleitz was not a regular member of the WHIG, but did maintain his active CIA credentials, wearing two hats, while working for Bolton at State. Not essential, just unusual and interesting.)

(Also, keep your eyes open for news of Fitzgerald going back to the grand jury. My gut tells me that this is coming soon allowing for the holidays. If anybody sees it out there, even a rumor, post a comment and let me know. I'm getting that feeling again.)