Grand Jury may be expiring, but Fitz Is Expanding His Operation

[Hardrock69]

October 26, 2005
New Information: First the Website, Now the New Office Space

Patrick Fitzgerald's intermediaries denied that there was any significance to the establishment of a new website, minimalist as it is, for the Office of the Special Counsel which is investigating the "outing" of Valerie Plame Wilson's covert CIA responsibilities to the media.

Fitzgerald's people said that the investigation coming to a close and the website going up was just coincidence.

Well, news has just reached TWN that Patrick Fitzgerald is expanding not only into a new website -- but also into more office space.

Fitzgerald's office is at 1400 New York Avenue, NW, 9th Floor in Washington.

What I have learned is that the Office of the Special Counsel has signed a lease this week for expanded office space across the street at 1401 New York Avenue, NW.

Another coincidence? More office space needed to shut down the operation?

I think not. Fitzgerald's operation is expanding.


http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001033.html

[Hardrock69]

October 27, 2005
Retraction: Sources on Office Expansion Wrong

Part of the process of reporting is doing the best one can do to source information, and seek double confirmation regarding stuff we post.

The source of mine in the real estate brokerage arena has called to retract information shared with me that the Office of the Special Counsel was expanding into 1401 New York Avenue. He states that "he just got it wrong."

In addition, the second source -- in the building -- says that he had a miscommunication with someone about this.

This was a flop. I believe in telling what I hear -- on both sides -- whether TWN got it right or wrong.

And in this case it was wrong.

On other fronts, thus far I am standing with what I posted the other day about the mult-point run-down of what Fitzgerald was doing. While he hasn't called a press conference today, which was told to me, there seems to be some likelihood that the other pieces have occurred.

I am not an expert on idictment process, but I did speak to someone who is such an expert today. As I have been informed, the Special Prosecutor can ask the grand jury to issue an indictment. That indictment request is filed with the judge in a case. If a request is made to "seal" the indictment -- it shrouds everything, and keeps the process secret.

Thus, indictments may have been filed yesterday -- and some are reporting that they were. Letters -- according to my sources -- were received by Tuesday by all indictment targets.

I am still a bit confused by the on-off information on the office space -- but I have to step back from this retracted information. If, however, Fitzgerald was expanding office space in Washington (he has office space at 1400 New York Avenue), that expansion could serve either an extension of the investigation -- or prosecution.

But for the time being, that is a dead end. Not fun.

-- Steve Clemons