On Fitzgerald And The Expiring Grand Jury... If This Is True, Then......

[WillyT]

According to this in the WSJ:

<snip>

Until now, Mr. Fitzgerald appeared to be focusing on conversations between White House officials such as Mr. Libby and Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political adviser, after Mr. Wilson wrote his op-ed. The defense by Republican operatives has been that White House officials didn't name Ms. Plame, and that any discussion of her was in response to reporters' questions about Mr. Wilson, the kind of casual banter that occurs between sources and reporters.

Mr. Rove, who has already testified three times before the grand jury and was identified by a Time magazine reporter as a source for his story on Mr. Wilson, is expected to go back to the grand jury, potentially as early as today, to clarify earlier answers.

Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the White House Iraq Group. Formed in August 2002, the group, which included Messrs. Rove and Libby, worked on setting strategy for selling the war in Iraq to the public in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion. The group likely would have played a significant role in responding to Mr. Wilson's claims.

Given that the grand jury is set to expire on Oct. 28, it is possible charges in this case could come as early as next week. Former federal prosecutors say it is traditional not to wait for the last minute and run the risk of not having enough jurors to reach a quorum. There are 23 members of a grand jury, and 16 are needed for a quorum before any indictments could be voted on. This grand jury has traditionally met on Wednesdays and Fridays.

<snip>

Link: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112907415441266084-VDsI1ez92Qlr0_XPP5IbwfiUKHI_20051111.html?mod=blogs

There are only 5 more times this Grand Jury can convene between now and the final date of 10\28. (I'm sure they can adjust that if necessary, but...) If they need to close early in case of problems gathering a quorum, we might have something by next week.

But...

If Fitz needs more time to widen this thing into the bowels of this White House, I for one am willing to wait. I'd love to see the frogs march as soon as possible, but if we can take down this entire administration, or at least kneecap it severely, I'm prepared to be patient.

I think.

:shrug::argh::shrug:

[Mandate My Ass]

1. Me too.

I am practically panting to see these losers exposed but he obviously got new info from Judy which could lead to him uncovering even worse crimes than we know about (hard to imagine I know). He's the real deal and if he wants more time, I say, give it to him.

It'll be worth the wait. And in the meantime, the GOP flopsweat is reaching Niagara Falls velocity.

[napi21]

2. I believe there will be a report issued before the GJ term expires.

And I hate to play lawyer here, but if you read that statement carefuly, it says "This grand jury has traditionally met on Wednesdays and Fridays."

Traditionally does NOT mean they can't or won't meet more often than that, or on different days than Wed and Fri. The other thing I might point out is that Judy testified yesterday! Unless my brain is really screwed up, yesterday was Tuesday!

It's wrong to assume there are only 5 more times they will meet.

I do however, expect to hear a final report from Fitz by Oct. 26th, and perhapse a bit sooner! I'm willing to wait and give him as much time as he needs to wrap up a nice neat little package...that is waterproof, and has a nice little guarantee tag attached!

[WillyT]

3. And As I Said In My Post...

I'm sure they can adjust that if necessary. I was saying, that in the 'normal' course of events, there would be 5 more meetings, and if the article is to be believed, they would not want to wait until the last meeting to indict.

My main point, was that if Fitz is finding new, and broader criminality, he should go ahead and ask for an extension. No need to try to cram 4 more months of investigation into a week and a half.

Fitz should take his time, and get it right. We can all wait.

:shrug::hi::shrug:

[CantGetFooledAgain]

4. Why can't we have the best of both worlds?

Why can't Fitzgerald go ahead and hand down the indictments that he is ready to make now (e.g. perjury, obstruction) and also extend the grand jury and keep working on the remaining issues? Is there some reason that this wouldn't be permitted?

I'm afraid that the WH is going to pull something out of their hat. For example, a "terrorist" bombing that just happens to completely destroy the building holding the grand jury records (I hope that they have backups of everything stored in secure locations).

Bush, Rove, Cheney...they need to be marginalized to the point where they have no options and no recourse other than to face justice. I think that indictments would have that effect, and I think that we can't afford to wait too much longer.

[WillyT]

5. I Don't Know If That's a Possibility, But I Like The Way Ya Think !!!

Id love for them to be able to do both. A good one, two, knock-out punch is just what these fascists need!

:bounce::hi::bounce:

[BrotherBuzz]

6. Why Can't Fitzgerald indict now, then form a second Grand Jury...

and continue an expanded investigation?

I think this nation deserves a bone thrown to them now, say, three indictments (Rove, Libby, and ?) for us to chew on while a new investigation continues and expands to include all of the White House rats (I count about twenty heads that need to be snagged).

[WillyT]

7. Sounds Good To Me Brother Buzz, But We Need A Legal Beagle Here !!!

I don't know the workings of Federal Grand Juries, especially when they are of the Special Prosecutor type.

Anybody else out there know???

:shrug:

Hey Bro! How's this year's vintage comin along?

:hi:

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Howard Cosell is all the lawyer I need....

and I'm taking his advice, "put the points on the board". ;)

[WillyT]

9. ANYBODY KNOW... If He Can Indict Now, And Then Again Later ???

On newly introduced charges, with a new Grand Jury?

:shrug: