These things take time, especially if the prosecutors want to do things right and make sure they build a solid case. But good news is that the Plame investigation is going strong.
The Justice Department has added a fourth prosecutor to the team investigating the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity, while the FBI has said a grand jury may be called to take testimony from administration officials, sources close to the case said.
Administration and CIA officials said they have seen signs in the past few weeks that the investigation continues intensively behind closed doors, even though little about the investigation has been publicly said or seen for months.
While the administration might want to see this thing go away, you can bet the CIA is keeping a close eye on the matter. And if they are happy with the progress, then we can probably assume it's going well.
The Democrats, too, seem to be demanding some accountability from the administration:
On Monday, the Senate minority leader and the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft demanding more information about the probe. "We request that you provide us with an overall status of the investigation, including the number of people the Justice Department has interviewed, the number of briefings you have received, the general types of information you are briefed on, what conditions you have placed on the scope of these briefings to ensure the independence of this investigation, and whether you have discussed this case with senior administration officials outside the Justice Department," wrote the senators, Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Carl M. Levin (Mich.).
It's interesting that while the Starr inquest leaked like a sieve, this one has been air tight. Of course, there would be too much irony if an investigation about a leak was itself leaking...
As for Bush/Rove, their only concern is election night 2004.
White House officials profess to be unconcerned about the outcome of the investigation. Some administration officials said they believe charges will eventually result, although it could be as long from now as 2005. A Republican legal source who has had detailed conversations about the matter with White House officials said he "doesn't get any sense at all that they're worried or concerned, or that they're covering up."
Still, the White House is eager for the findings to emerge soon, or wait until after the November election. "The only fear I've heard expressed is that the investigation will be too slow or too fast and will kick into a visible mode in a way that is poorly timed for the election," the Republican said. "If they prosecuted someone tomorrow, I don't think the White House would care. And they can do it in December 2004. They just don't want it to become an issue in the election."
Of course, what "Republican legal source" (White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales?) would say, "Yeah, they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They are scared shitless!" Publicly, they have to shrug off the issue. Any hint of fear would be interpreted as guilt.
But of course, their fear is betrayed by their concern for the investigation's timing.
While we're at it, let's read into this a bit more. The administration must be confident that the leaker won't be someone as high up as Rove. A Rove indictment tomorrow would have huge repercussions for Bush's reelection effort. The people in the crosshairs (and Rove must know exactly who they are) must be mid- to low-level officials. Big enough to cause problems closer to election day, but not big enough to cause problems this far out.
A Rice indictment would be catastrophic to the administration. She's probably out. Would "Scooter" Libby qualify as a "mid-level" official? He's gotten most of the early blame for the leak. And as Cheney's chief of staff, he's no small fry. But he's obscure enough, well outside the public eye, that his indictment would be relatively easy to gloss over.
One thing to remember is that only the original leaker will likely be punishable. So while Rove and/or his minions might've done their best to spread the story around, they are probably immune from legal repercussions unless conspiracy can be proven (e.g. Rove or Rice gave the order to leak the information).
I can't imagine it was that hard to find the original leaker. The investigators must be seeking information about others who might've been involved. The longer this thing drags out, the better the chance we may see some real fireworks.