Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has called for a new grand jury.
Why?
Does this erode the credibility of the Libby case? Is this in response to Woodward’s recent confession? Are we going to have to wait another two years to see results?
As partial as I am to this endeavor, I fail to see the strategy.
Have to go so this is just IIRC:
This is not news, the moment Fitzgerald said that the investigation was not closed regarding other suspects and the actual crime, it was obvious that one of the options was to convene a new grand jury as other news reported. This other grand jury will not start from 0, rather it will continue with all the evidence and information gathered by the last one.
We are in this situation because all the actions of the WH staff were geared to stonewalling the investigation with the now clear purpose to get into the deadline of the past grand jury.
The 11th hour maneuver of Rove and lawyers (that prevented Fitzgerald on dropping indictments on Rove IMO) will in the end be shown to be as just more “sand thrown at the umpire’s eyes” as Fitzgerald reported on the Libbi indictment, because in the end a crime was committed. Whoever authorized the leak needs to be found out.
Regarding Woodward, I have to go on the analysis from more progressive and liberal outlets that report that the Woodward flap is in reality bad news to the administration: Libbi was indicted for obstructing justice an lying to the grand jury, his actions are not exonerated by what other unnamed (this is were I see the problem for the WH) told Woodward, as many noted (except on the mainstream media), this is actually further evidence of a wide conspiracy. And it seems that this actually has generated more of an incentive to continue with the investigation.
It seems to me an indication of trouble for Cheney. Is he the one who tipped off Woodward? The other key players have issued denials.
Most likely, the other grand jury has gone home.
Federal grand juries typically sit for 18 months, actually convening probably three or four days a month, but it could be more often. Right before the Libby indictment was handed up, there was talk in the media that this grand jury was nearing the end of its term. I assume it has since been excused and a new one empaneled.
Most likely (though I don’t know), Fitzgerald’s leak investigation isn’t the only think this grand jusy is considering. It could be a specially-convened g.j., but more likely it’s investigating anything the prosecutors in the district want to bring before it.
Absoluely not. First, any crimes Libby committed w/r/t the release of classified information are still crimes even if someone else committed the same crime a month earlier. Second, Libby’s actual indictments are on perjury and obstruction charges; if he lied to the g.j., he lied, period. The fact that someone else revealed classified information to Woodward earlier than that doesn’t change that Libby allegedly answered g.j. questions falsely.
In part, yes. Woodward has already testified in front of the new g.j. and named his source, although the souce has still not been named publicly. The investigation continues as long as there’s more to investigate, and Woodward’s claims that someone other than Libby leaked potentially classified information to him means there’s another crimes besides Libby’s that was allegedly committed.
Nope. As GIGO notes, this g.j. is not starting from Square 1. It will have access to the testimony given before the first g.j.
Fitzgerald has convinced the first g.j. that there’s enough evidence of Libby committing crimes to prosecute him. He now has information from Woodward that someone other than Libby is also guilty of crimes, so he needs to investigate those as well.
The GOP has been deparately attempting to spin this as good news for Libby. Unfortunately, because CNN and the AP have their heads up their collective asses, their spin has been successful. But it’s bullshit. This has no positive effect on Libby, and it’s bad news for whoever was Woodward’s source, because he’s going to get indicted as well, most likely. (Unless for some reason he’s in a position to claim that he’s protected by some kind of big time Executive Privilege. Maybe he’d have success with this if Woodward’s source is who I think it might be.)
–Cliffy, Esq.
The previous grand jury’s term expired right after the Libby indictments announced. There is no legal requirment that indictments not be announced until the end of the grand jury’s term, so the calling of a new grand jury provides little basis for predicting how long it will be before we see new indictments, let alone how long the investigation will go on.
Fitzgerald extended the last grand jury’s term once, and he could not extend it further than that. So if he wished to continue, which he always indicated he did, he needed to empanel another grand jury.