Sealed Indictments

[troubleinwinter]

from David Corn:

"Two words we should think about: sealed indictments." That was said to me by a trustworthy Washington reporter who has been covering the Plame/CIA leak case. He wasn't making a prediction; he was raising a possibility. It could be that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald might choose to file sealed indictments before the grand jury expires at the end of next week. That would mean that the names of the indicted would be unknown to the public--unless the information leaked.

Why would Fitzgerald do this? Perhaps he has not finished investigating. It could be that recent developments--Judy Miller's testimony, Karl Rove's return to the grand jury, the Daily News story that indicates Rove and George W. Bush discussed the leak (and Rove's involvement in the matter) two years ago--have provided him additional leads to chase down. (The Daily News story--see the items below--does raise important questions.) In such a case, Fitzgerald might want to bank several indictments, impanel a new grand jury, and keep digging. This is--needless to say--speculation. But anyone waiting anxiously for indictments should keep this scenario in mind.

http://www.davidcorn.com

If this scenario occurs, could persons under indictment continue serving with security clearances while the further investigation takes place?

Good news if it means Fitz would investigate more deeply/widely, but bad news if the criminals are left roaming through our government.

[Jersey Devil]

1. If that were so he would request the GJ term be extended

and so far he hasn't done that. He may, however, have already obtained sealed indictments and could have been using them all along to plea bargain with those indicted in exchange for their testimony.

[troubleinwinter]

3. Do you know the timeline for requesting an extention?

[Jersey Devil]

8. Any time before the GJ expires, but

I'm certain he would not wait until the last possible minute because the court may want to schedule a hearing or require briefs, etc. I am fairly certain that if he was going to seek an extension he would do it no later than Mon or Tues.

[electropop]

4. I'm OK with it if he does request an extension.

More time to nail more crooks with bigger charges. Patience is a virtue in this case - time is on our side.

[troubleinwinter]

6. I agree, nailing more crooks, but

if there are to be 'sealed indictments', I assume that would be announced before the close of this GJ session???

(so I can at least break open some cheap champagne to hold me over til the real party begins)

[hang a left]

10. I don't think time is on our side with Bolton at the UN and

the aggressive stances against Syria and Iran.

[troubleinwinter]

13. Exactly. My fond hope

is that Bolton is indicted with the rest of them.

If indictments are public, these criminals are outta there.

If they are sealed, do the criminals continue on their path to destroying the world, lying, cheating, stealing, while enriching themselves and their pals???

Sealed indictments leave us in the hands of indicted criminals.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Very intersting.

[troubleinwinter]

5. Kicking in hopes of an answer to this question

"could persons under indictment continue serving with security clearances"?

[movonne]

7. I would like to know this answer too...

[AlCzervik]

9. It would be frustrating if they were sealed----but just knowing

there were indeed indictments would make me happy, i could wait a little longer.

[crispini]

11. Here's a permalink

http://www.davidcorn.com/archives/2005/10/sealed_indictme.php

[troubleinwinter]

14. THANKS, Crispini!!! Very helpful.

[Coexist]

12. what about the request by Congress for Fitz to expand his investigation?

Maybe they would be sealed so he could effectively work while he expands his investigation.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/091505fitzgeraldletter.html
<snip>
Washington, D.C. - Troubled by what they see as violations of federal law that prohibit making false and fraudulent statements to Congress, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and 40 of his House colleagues today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asking that he expand his investigation of who in the Bush Administration revealed to the news media that Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a covert agent for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Hinchey and his colleagues urged Fitzgerald, who was designated as special prosecutor for the case, to examine the causes behind the exposure of Plame's identity -- specifically, the Bush Administration's false and fraudulent claims in January 2003 that Iraq had sought uranium for a nuclear weapon, which the Administration used as one of the key grounds to justify the invasion of Iraq.

"In order to fully investigate the disclosure of an undercover CIA agent's identity, it is clear that you should fully investigate the reasons for that disclosure," Hinchey and his colleagues wrote to Fitzgerald. "As we outline below, we believe that members of the Administration may have violated laws governing communications with Congress with respect to assertions about Iraq’s nuclear capabilities. Ambassador Wilson’s efforts to publicly contradict these assertions seem to be the reason for the uncovering of Mrs. Wilson’s identity. It is very likely that you would encounter these assertions during the course of your investigation, and thus their legality should be the subject of your investigation."

[troubleinwinter]

15. Does make me wonder

Whether there was a response, whether Fitz was already looking into it.

[Coexist]

16. haven't heard yet.

[carolinalady]

17. How long can they stay sealed? n/t

[troubleinwinter]

18. Another good question!

I would THINK only until the new GJ ended. Seems to me I read that the new GJ would sit for 6 months. ????