C.I.A. Leak Inquiry Is Near End, Prosecutor Says
By ADAM LIPTAK

Published: April 8, 2005
New York Times


An investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. officer, Valerie Plame, has been "for all practical purposes complete" since October, a special prosecutor told the federal appeals court in Washington last week. All that remains, said the prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, is his effort to compel two reporters to testify "and any further investigation that might result from such testimony."

The reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, have refused to appear before the grand jury investigating the disclosure of Ms. Plame's name because they are unwilling to discuss conversations they had with sources. In February, a three-judge panel of the appeals court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ordered them jailed for as long as 18 months in an effort to force them to talk.

The reporters remain free while they pursue appeals.

Mr. Fitzgerald discussed the status of his investigation in a March 31 response to a request from the reporters that the full appeals court hear the case. His statement that the investigation is all but done, which was also included in an "emergency motion for expedited consideration" filed in the appeals court two weeks ago, may mean little more than that he is eager to wrap up his work.

But lawyers involved in the case and experts in media law said the statement suggests that Mr. Fitzgerald has not yet developed evidence that any government officials, in talking to reporters about Ms. Plame, violated an obscure 1982 law that makes it a crime to identify undercover officers in some circumstances.

Robert Novak, the syndicated columnist, published Ms. Plame's name in July 2003, eight days after her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former diplomat, published an Op-Ed article critical of the Bush administration in The Times. In his column, Mr. Novak wrote that he had learned from "two senior administration officials" that Ms. Plame was "an agency operative." Mr. Cooper contributed to a later article about the Plame matter that said Time had received similar information, and Ms. Miller conducted reporting for an article but did not publish one.

Legal experts said Mr. Fitzgerald's statement raised questions about the direction of the investigation, which may have changed its focus from the disclosure of Ms. Plame's identity to obstruction of justice or perjury by an administration official.

The statement also seemed to suggest that Mr. Novak had nothing to fear from Mr. Fitzgerald.

"It tells us Fitzgerald's done with Novak, one way or the other," said Floyd Abrams, the lawyer representing Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper. "It can mean that Novak has appeared and testified, or that he hasn't appeared and Fitzgerald is not going to force the issue."

Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper, on the other hand, face the prospect of jail in a case where it is possible that no crime has been committed, said George Freeman, an assistant general counsel of The New York Times Company.

If Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation "is for all practical purposes complete," Mr. Freeman said, "maybe he should issue his report and we might find out that the reporters' testimony is unnecessary."

James Hamilton, Mr. Novak's lawyer, and Randall Samborn, a spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald, declined to comment.