Posting of CIA Leak Probe Documents May Signal Indictments Ahead

By Tom Hamburger and Richard B. Schmitt
Times Staff Writers

3:54 PM PDT, October 21, 2005

WASHINGTON — Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor rumored to be wrapping up the long-running investigation of the leak of a CIA agent's identity, set up a website this week posting previously filed documents in the case.

Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, said he "strongly cautions against reading anything into the timing" of the website launch.

However, others familiar with the case said it was unlikely that the prosecutor would set up an Internet page if his investigation was going to close without indictments.

The case has centered on top White House officials and whether they played a role in the public identification of the CIA agent, Valerie Plame, who is married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.

Fitzgerald's site, which appeared Wednesday, has an American flag with the words "Department of Justice" emblazoned over it. Underneath is the prosecutor's name in large type. Beneath that are five documents, including the Dec. 30, 2003 letter from acting Atty. Gen. James Comey appointing Fitzgerald to investigate the leak. Another entry includes a letter from Comey permitting Fitzgerald to expand his investigation to look into other possible federal crimes, among them perjury, destruction of evidence, intimidation of witnesses or obstruction of justice.

The inquiry was launched to find out whether members of the Bush administration violated federal law in leaking Plame's name, after her husband had criticized the Bush administration's "twisting" of intelligence to justify invading Iraq.

It is a felony under federal law to intentionally disclose the name of a covert CIA officer.

Defense lawyers believe that Fitzgerald may be considering such charges as making false statements to investigators, obstruction of justice and mishandling of classified information.

The case originated in July 2003, when Wilson wrote an opinion article critical of the Bush administration's use of intelligence in the months before the Iraq war began.

Wilson had been dispatched by the CIA to investigate reports that Iraq had sought weapons material from Africa. He found little evidence to support the claim.

Nonetheless, President Bush made reference to Iraq's interest in obtaining nuclear material in his 2003 State of the Union Address. A week after Wilson's article appeared, his wife's connection to the CIA was published in an article by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. At the time, it was believed her identity was leaked in an effort to undermine Wilson's qualifications for his CIA mission, suggesting he was selected because of nepotism.

Samborn said that setting up the website "is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time and finally ... made myself do it because of the increased volume of calls I am receiving from the press and the public."

The site can be viewed at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html.