Posted on 10/26/2005 12:10:24 PM PDT by inpajamas
WASHINGTON—The federal prosecutor investigating the alleged involvement of White House officials in the leak of a CIA operative's identity spent most of the lunch hour today meeting with the chief judge of the federal district court in the nation's capital, Judge Thomas Hogan.
As reporters massed outside an elevator lobby leading to the grand jury rooms, the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, apparently slipped out a back exit to conduct the noontime meeting with Judge Hogan.
Mr. Fitzgerald declined to comment as he and a colleague emerged from the judge's chambers just before 1 p.m.
The prosecutor's visit to the chief judge could signal that Mr. Fitzgerald is seeking to extend the term of the grand jury that has been investigating the leak. Judge Hogan would need to approve any extension to the grand jury's term, which was set to expire on Friday....
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
I hope this extension thing is not so--I for one am f***ing sick and tired of this fiasco jerking everyone around. Either indict or end it now ALREADY!!!
Steve, you could at least use a proper verb. Like 'theorizing.' But I do still believe that whatever the judges saw was, to them, impressive.
You don't think Spitzer has a bite? He's made my life miserable on several fronts and I'd like to take him to my vet and have him debarked. He's an idiot to be sure and I think the fixes to his stunts are worse than the original problems.
It's possible; fame can do strange things to people . . . or rather people can do strange things for fame.
Your post brought this question to mind: was Andrea Mitchell also Novak's source?
""If that a@@hole can't figure it out by now, he is one of the most lame prosecutors in history." There's two possibilities to this... 1- the Fitz ain't got nothing and is asking advice on closure, OR....
2 Fitz is in the FIX with the RATS! The longer the RATS prolong this, the more chances the LIES and mudslinging at W's administration will stick!!"
Rose, these are the exact same things the left was saying about Ken Starr. If the charges are false then it will be brought out. We have to show that we're interested in justice and not cover-ups.
Have you all read this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1508920/posts?page=42#42
I posted this on another thread - as long as we're writing "spy thrillers", I'll add mine ;-)
Ravingnutter's post (see link above) is interesting.
Tin foil hat on - I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but I've felt that the CIA has been involved in this mess - there are things just don't add up. If many in DC knew that Plame was not a covert agent and worked at the CIA (IIRC reading that Andrea Mitchell admitted as such on MSNBC), why didn't the Admin say, no law was broken because x,y,z, but, instead, he let the investigation move forward? If Wilson lied to Congress, I don't understand why he hasn't at least been reprimanded for that.
Perhaps Pres Bush let the investigation move forward to uncover some of the mess that was going on at the CIA and/or Joe Wilson (and his compadres, whether in the DNC or the CIA). Larry Johnson used to be a snarky guest on shows from time to time - - haven't seen him in quite awhile - -Since this issue involved the CIA, I'm a bit surprised he hasn't been on spewing this venom - -coincidence? [Note: 1 of the articles speculated that Johnson and some other disgruntled ex-CIA agents were the ones that forged the yellow-cake document and gave it to the French or the Italians]
Depending upon what Fitz has and is really investigating (e.g., forget the Plame name game leak, Rove and Libby and look to Wilson, Plame, and/or the CIA and/or ex-CIA), couple of sections of the US Code are interesting (albeit, some may be a stretch or difficult to prove).
TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 45 > § 953
§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 45 > § 954
§ 954. False statements influencing foreign government
Whoever, in relation to any dispute or controversy between a foreign government and the United States, willfully and knowingly makes any untrue statement, either orally or in writing, under oath before any person authorized and empowered to administer oaths, which the affiant has knowledge or reason to believe will, or may be used to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government, or of any officer or agent of any foreign government, to the injury of the United States, or with a view or intent to influence any measure of or action by the United States or any department or agency thereof, to the injury of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 37 > § 793
§ 793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
(d) Whoever, lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or
(e) Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or
TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 37 > § 794
§ 794. Gathering or delivering defense information to aid foreign government
(a) Whoever, with intent or reason to believe that it is to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, communicates, delivers, or transmits, or attempts to communicate, deliver, or transmit, to any foreign government, or to any faction or party or military or naval force within a foreign country, whether recognized or unrecognized by the United States, or to any representative, officer, agent, employee, subject, or citizen thereof, either directly or indirectly, any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, note, instrument, appliance, or information relating to the national defense, shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for any term of years or for life, except that the sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the jury or, if there is no jury, the court, further finds that the offense resulted in the identification by a foreign power (as defined in section 101(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978) of an individual acting as an agent of the United States and consequently in the death of that individual, or directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack; war plans; communications intelligence or cryptographic information; or any other major weapons system or major element of defense strategy.
Then we don't have to worry about Joe sneaking out of the country this weekend.
I have to chuckle about that now. Sure the libs succeeded at the time at making republicans radioactive, but even then, in the '76 presidential election, Carter only managed to barely win over the bumbling Ford, only to be plagued by a TRULY crumbling presidency, opening the doors for Reagan to swoop in. Even a few liberals I know wish Ford had won instead of Carter, believing it would have prevented a Reagan Revolution. The dems should be careful what THEY wish for, yes history could repeat itself again--only not in the way they hoped.
Perhaps permission to write a report rather than indictments?
Makes sense. TV talking heads have been asking why, too.
If the administration investigated Joe's "treasonous" behavior directly, he would complain that they are persecuting him because he is a "whistleblower."
This way, Joe has let the guillotine drop on his own neck.
Lugsoul is a major %#@.
Forgetting your FR courtesy?
This afternoon Sean Hannity had Victoria Toensing (helped write the "criminal outing law") as a guest and they were discussing whether the CIA, Wilson, and Plame were part of a coup to bring down the Bush whitehouse. If the inital request from CIA to DOJ to start the "outing" investigation was classified, why was it leaked to the MSM????
The referral itself has never been made public. The fact that it occurred has. It has even been referenced in letters to DOJ I have seen that are publicly available.
"If the inital request from CIA to DOJ to start the "outing" investigation was classified, why was it leaked to the MSM????"
Things are getting so convoluted I can't even think about it anymore. Political guys playing political games and it never ends.
12 of the 23, if they are all sitting. There has to be a quorum.
The country almost went to hell with Carter. Bringing in Reagan made that catastrophe worth it. Is the rise of any current or future Republican worth a Hillary admin with congressional majorities? Remember in '74 the lefties in the Dems were the low level congressmen. the party was still run by adults. Those lefties are the party today and the younger Dems are even more leftwing. Today I don't think any future outcome is worth a repeat of '74.
Maybe I should've said 'chases ghosts' instead. So much trumped up garbage he pursues - Grasso jumping out in my mind. A total political hack.
Too many of these prosecutors want to make a name for themselves. At least Fitz had the cases come to him for the most part and then tries to make the most of them. While I think he's overzealous that's still better than Spitz who goes out and creates cases to make a name for himself. Political hack is about right although it is fairly tame for my taste.
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