August 27, 2005
Where has the Plame story disappeared to?
To those wondering -- either in fear or in hope -- why the Valerie Plame scandal has disappreared from the front pages and when it's going to come back, I say: Be patient.
Patrick Fitzgerald is no Ken Starr, with a stable of tame reporters to whom he leaks grand jury information every time it seems the scandal is cooling down in political terms. He's a prosecutor pure and simple. When he's ready to indict, he'll indict.
Fitzgerald's grand jury is scheduled to go out of existence in October, which creates a natural deadline but not a hard one: the judge can extend the term of the grand jury, or a new grand jury can pick up where the old one left off. Either course of action would keep Judith Miller in jail and the rest of the conspiracy in jeopardy.
