I got this letter from a very well-connected NY source who has never steered me wrong before. He got it from an advisor/consultant to international corporations. We'll see how true it is in the next few days!
"Below, some extremely sensitive information about the impending
conclusion of the Valerie Plame investigations. The sources include two
senior members of the Senate and key staffers; counsel for individuals that
have been called before the grand jury; and two journalists taking a
lead position in investigating the case. the following represents a
composite of the information from those sources.
Plamegate coming to conclusion. The investigation has focused mostly
closely on Vice President Cheney and his staff, as well as U.S.
Ambassador to the UN (and former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control) John
Bolton and his staff. We are told that eight indictments have already
prepared, with the possibility of another ten. These indictments include
senior white house staff, most notably Vice President Cheney's chief of
staff Scooter Libby, Fred Flights (Special Assistant to John Bolton),
and--very surprisingly--National Security Adviser Steve Hadley.
Apparently, Libby and Hadley have both been told by their lawyers to
expect indictments. The indictment of senior Bush political advisor
Karl Rove seems highly probable.
Most critically, a plea bargain process has evidently been opened with
Vice President Cheney's lawyer. That does not mean that an indictment
is coming. But I've some critical background around the issue.
In the past several days, former Secretary of State Colin Powell had a
meeting with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), primarily about the
McCain-sponsored amendment on inserting a rider prohibiting torture onto
the U.S. defense budget (a bill which Powell has himself been lobbying
heavily for, against objections of President Bush).
During the meeting, Powell recounted to the senator that he had
traveled on Air Force One with Bush and Cheney, and brought to their attention a
classified memorandum about the issue of whether there was indeed a
transaction inolving Niger and yellow cake uranium. The document
included Ambassador Joe Wilson's involvement and identified his wife,
Valerie Plame, as a covert agent. The memorandum further stated that
this information was secret. Powell told McCain that he showed that
memo only to two people--President and Vice President. according to Powell,
Cheney fixated on the Wilson/Plame connection, and Plame's status.
Powell testified about this exchange in great length to the grand jury
investigating the Plame case. According to sources close to the case,
Powell appeared convinced that the vice president played a focal role
in disclosing Plame's undercover status.
In his conversation with McCain, Powell felt that--at a minimum--there
would be a serious shakeup at National Security Council as a
consequence. In particular, Vice President Cheney would no longer hold
a pivotal role in U.S. national security affairs. Powell apparently did not
discuss the potential of a Cheney resignation.
Lead Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has apparently been looking at the
precedent of formerly indicted Nixon Vice President Spiro Agnew. This
shows the likely path, because addressing executive immunity and
privilege questions would necessarily begin start with a plea-bargain
deal that would entail a resignation.
This is all likely to occur within the next week. 28 october (next
Friday) is the last day of the Grand Jury, and no requests have been
made to extend their session. Ihe investigator is expecting to wrap up
by then.
There are enormous implications for what would be the biggest White
House shakeup since the Iran-Contra Scandal in the Reagan era. President
Bush's approval rating at 39% has already led to a significant decrease
in policy efficacy with key legislators in Congress (which I've already
discussed at length elsewhere). I'll spin out the broader policy
implications when i have some time to write at greater length, but i
wanted to get this out immediately.
One interesting point though--it is worth noting that a parade of
senior Republican senators have evidently been privately pushing McCain to
lobby to be Cheney's replacement. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has
also been mentioned. meanwhile, the white house has already been developing
countermeasures--notably including senior White House officials
privately voicing President Bush's disappointment in Karl Rove's
involvement in the case, calling it 'misconduct.' An urgent search for
a Rove replacement is already underway."
UPDATE!
An observant reader just pointed out a major problem with the report: Bush and Cheney never fly on the same plane. I'm not as convinced now as I was when I posted this. We'll see what happens next week.
UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!
When my pal, "the impeccable source," sent me the above I was so excited-- excited the way any patriotic American would be, at the prospect of an early demise to the proto-fascist regime, and excited because I thought, "WOW! I have a scoop!" Well, it sure drove traffic to this site. But am I ever embarrassed! And I want to apologize to all my readers. This thing has been circulating for a few days and it appears to be made up. Some of it may turn out to be true but the above is just rumor-mongering and I am so sorry to have been a part of it. And thanks to the readers who pointed out the inconsistencies and fallacies. I'll be more careful from now on.
graphics thanks to 2PoliticalJunkies (via Jane Hamsher)
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