Plame Gossip - Conspiracy Theory

Another Plame article from Jason Leopold with a couple interesting bits. He names Robert Joseph, formerly the director of nonproliferation at the National Security Council, as a possible point source for the leak, but the real news to me in this is that he names the conspiracy.

The sources said it was during this time that Libby, Hadley, Joseph, Hannah and Rove plotted to silence Wilson by leaking his wife's name to a specific group of reporters, saying that she chose him for the fact-finding mission to Niger and as a result his investigation was highly suspect. It's unclear what role, if any, Cheney played, but the sources said Fitzgerald is trying to determine if the vice president was involved.

The sources said Hannah is one of the cooperating witnesses in the probe.

If this conspiracy of five is charged, it would cripple the White House, even without Cheney. If Cheney is implicated, the scandal would be huge. Charges around this leaking would be notoriously tricky, and perhaps that's why Fitzgerald is moving so slowly and trying to get each and every one of them to turn. Jason says to expect the investigation to stretch into spring.