murray waas

The special prosecutor investigating whether any Bush administration official may have violated federal law by leaking the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak recently informed a federal court that his investigation has been “for all practical purposes complete” since October 2004.The disclosure by special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald that he completed virtually all aspects of his federal grand jury investigation as long as six months ago was made in court papers the prosecutor filed on March 22. Despite the fact that the filing has been on the public record since then, it has not been previously been reported.

Fitzgerald made the disclosure in explaining why he considered the testimony of reporters for The New York Times and Time magazine so essential to his inquiry. Reporters Judith Miller of the Times and Matthew Cooper of Time have already been found to be in contempt of court for refusing to testify before the special prosecutor’s grand jury. Attorneys for both news organizations have appealed the contempt citations.

Fitzgerald implied in the court papers that if he were able to obtain the testimony of both reporters, he would most likely be able to close out his investigation once and for all. Most outside legal observers, and government officials with knowledge of the probe, as well as private attorneys representing individuals who are appearing before Fitzgerald’s grand jury interviewed for this article, say the fact that the prosecutor has considered his investigation virtually complete for several months indicates that he most likely will not bring any criminal charges.

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