Plame affairs
by kos
Sun Oct 02, 2005 at 02:49:24 PM PDT
[Stephanopoulos:] Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it's a manageable one for the White House especially if we don't know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.
And this is entirely relevant, because Fitzgerald may be moving toward the "conspiracy" route.
But a new theory about Fitzgerald's aim has emerged in recent weeks from two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor while representing witnesses in the case. They surmise that Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife. To prove a criminal conspiracy, the actions need not have been criminal, but conspirators must have had a criminal purpose.
In other words, he may not just be targetting the two leakers themselves (Libby for sure, and maybe Rove?), but everyone involved in orchestrating the smear campaign against Wilson. That would definitely include Rove. And if Stephanopoulos' source is correct, that could go much, much higher.
It's a good time to be a criminal defense lawyer.
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