Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald?

Is Fitz about to drop a legal bomb on the W.H.?

Dare we hope?

NO QUARTER: Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald?:

Looks like Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney charged with investigating the leak of that identified Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA officer, has hit a real nerve and is on the verge of dropping a new legal bomb on the Bush Administration. How else to explain the sudden surge of criticism directed against Mr. Fitzgerald? A story in today's New York Times by David Johnston is the latest salvo in what looks like a coordinated assault on the steely-eyed prosecutor. Plameologist EmptyWheel has a terrific post at The Next Hurrah dissecting Johnston's shoddy attempt at journalism. His piece, at best, is speculative analysis. Unfortunately, it is uninformed analysis.

Now, I'm up front about my bias in this case. Valerie Wilson is an old friend and colleague who was an excellent case officer until Robert Novak, citing Bush Administration sources, flagged her as a CIA employee. Until that day in July 2003, her husband and her friends (who were witting of her true employment status) protected her cover. She was in the process of shifting from 'non-official cover' status to 'official cover'. Both types of cover are protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.