I too have been closely following the Plame/PropaGannon diaries and thought I might contribute something tangential by outlining the status of the grand jury investigation into the Plame leak.
The grand jury investigation began over a year ago (January 22, 2004) and all the big guns have been called in for interviews or testimony. But so far there's no indication that our boy "Jeff" has appeared before the grand jury.
"Among those who are known to have been interviewed by the FBI or testified before the grand jury are Bush White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, political adviser Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis I. Libby, Republican National Committee consultant Mary Matalin, former Cheney press aide Catherine Martin, White House press secretary Scott McClellan, communications director Dan Bartlett, deputy press secretary Claire Buchan, and former assistant press secretary Adam Levine. Bush and Cheney also have been interviewed, as has Secretary of State Colin L. Powell."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13258-2004Nov25
Grand Jury Time line
December 2003 - John Ashcroft recuses himself from the investigation.
"On Dec. 30, Deputy Attorney General Comey held a press conference to announce that Ashcroft had removed himself from the investigation. Comey said that the investigation would instead be headed by Fitzgerald."
Source: http://archive.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/01/09/dean_ashcroft/
January 22, 2004 - Grand jury begins
"Prosecutors are believed to be starting with third-party witnesses, people who were not directly involved in the leak of Plame's identity. .... One conclusion to be drawn from this latest step, said one lawyer familiar with the case, is that investigators clearly have a sense of how the case is shaping up. 'They clearly have a sense of what's going on and can ask intelligent questions' to bring the grand jury up to speed."
Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,581456,00.html
February 2004 - Scott McClellan and two former White House aides testify
"White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday that he talked to the grand jury on Friday. Mary Matalin, former counselor to Vice President Cheney, testified Jan. 23, the sources said. Adam Levine, a former White House press official, also testified Friday, the sources said. None is suspected by prosecutors of having exposed undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, but they were questioned about White House public relations strategy, the sources said."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A26979-2004Feb9
March 2004 - White House subpoenaed for records of administration contacts with media.
Note: this doesn't mean the journalists are on the subpoena list, just any documents or communications that the White house may have had with them in connection to the case.
Robert Novak, "Crossfire," "Capital Gang" and the Chicago Sun-Times
Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps, Newsday
Walter Pincus, Richard Leiby, Mike Allen, Dana Priest and Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post
Matthew Cooper, John Dickerson, Massimo Calabresi, Michael Duffy and James Carney, Time magazine
Evan Thomas, Newsweek
Andrea Mitchell, "Meet the Press," NBC
Chris Matthews, "Hardball," MSNBC
Tim Russert, Campbell Brown, NBC
Nicholas D. Kristof, David E. Sanger and Judith Miller, The New York Times
Greg Hitt and Paul Gigot, The Wall Street Journal
John Solomon, The Associated Press
Jeff Gannon, Talon News
Source: Original article published in Newsday (March 6, 2004) - I purchased it from their archive to verify list (above) See also- http://www.ariannaonline.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-455.html
March 9, 2004 "Federal Grand Jury could subpoena Talon News Correspondent"
Found this on the Navy Seals web site among others (gopusa.com, jeffgannon.com). This is the same article linked from previous Diaries (I & II).
Tuesday March 9, 2004[ed.note: The GOPUSA.com is the Republican news service, listed below, as Talon News.]
By Jim Hauser
Talon News
"WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the alleged improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July."
Note: This is a direct unattributed quote from the Newsday article referenced above.
More from same Talon News article:
"Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News....'I don't know why I'm on the list of journalists being called before the Grand Jury,' Gannon told Talon News."
Source: http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=2826
But he's not necessarily on the list to be called - see above.
June 2004 - Cheney interviewed (not under oath)
"Vice President Dick Cheney was recently interviewed by federal prosecutors who asked whether he knew of anyone at the White House who had improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer, The New York Times reports in its Saturday editions, citing people who have been involved in official discussions about the case."
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/02/politics/main620810.shtml
June 2004 Bush consults with private attorney
"This action by Bush is a rather stunning and extraordinary development. The President of the United States is potentially hiring a private criminal defense lawyer. Unsurprisingly, the White House is doing all it can to bury the story, providing precious little detail or context for the President's action....That attorney told me that he is baffled by Bush's move - unless Bush has knowledge of the leak. 'It would not seem that the President needs to consult personal counsel, thereby preserving the attorney-client privilege, if he has no knowledge about the leak,' he told me."
Source: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040604.html
June 18, 2004 - Alberto Gonzalez testifies
June 24, 2004 - Bush interviewed
"Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald and several assistants questioned the president for about 70 minutes in the Oval Office yesterday morning. A White House spokesman declined to comment on the substance of the interview but said Bush, who was accompanied by a private lawyer, was not placed under oath.... White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales testified on June 18 before a grand jury taking testimony in the case..."
Same article - speculation the investigation is wrapping up...
"Some lawyers representing witnesses in the case have speculated that the recent activity, including the interviews of the president and vice president, may signal that the investigation is close to completion. But others said they are less certain that the interview with senior White House officials represents a tying up of loose ends. Fitzgerald has subpoenaed reporters from Time and NBC to testify before the grand jury. Both media organizations are fighting those subpoenas in court. The subpoenas to reporters may be another indication that the probe is nearing an end, because Justice Department guidelines demand that prosecutors exhaust all other avenues before calling reporters before a grand jury."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3668-2004Jun24.html
July 16, 2004 - Colin Powell testifies
"Sources close to the case say prosecutors were interested in discussions Powell had while with President George W. Bush on a trip to Africa in July 2003, just before Plame's identity was leaked to columnist Robert Novak."
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5570006/site/newsweek/
August 2004 - Reporters challenge subpoenas
"Recently, two journalists, Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper and NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert Earlier, made headlines when they challenged subpoenas issued to them by a special grand jury investigating the leak. But Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against them, based on Supreme Court precedent. And he did so even though, according to his opinion, the grand jury may "delve into alleged conversations each reporter had with a confidential source." Russert decided to testify, with NBC issuing a statement that his limited testimony did not reveal any information "learned in confidence." But Cooper is still holding out, has been held in contempt of court, and is facing jail time - pending an appeal. Meanwhile, on August 13, the New York Times revealed that the grand jury had also subpoenaed one of its reporters, Judith Miller. The Times has vowed to fight the subpoena; but given Chief Judge Hogan's decision, there is little doubt that it will lose at the district court level. In addition, it has been reported that Walter Pincus of the Washington Post has also been subpoenaed - and the Post, too, intends to fight the subpoena."
Source: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20040820.html
October 7, 2004 - Judith Miller in contempt
"A federal judge [U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan] found New York Times reporter Judith Miller in contempt of court yesterday and ordered her jailed for as long as 18 months for refusing to answer questions before a grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative's identity to the news media. ... Hogan said Miller had no special right as a reporter to defy a subpoena in a criminal investigation, but agreed she could remain free on bond while the Times appealed his decision."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14777-2004Oct7.html
October 15, 2004 - Rove's 3rd appearance
"Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald questioned Rove about his contacts with journalists in what a source familiar with Rove's situation said was his third appearance before the grand jury."
Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,724804,00.html
November 18, 2004 - Matthew Cooper's appeal denied
"A federal judge yesterday refused to quash a subpoena seeking the testimony of Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper....Cooper's lawyers said Fitzgerald's demand for a second chance to question Cooper was "unreasonable and oppressive." But U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan said the focus of Fitzgerald's investigation has shifted unexpectedly since that interview and he rightly seeks to ask other questions."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58484-2004Nov17.html (Bold is mine)
This is the most substantive reporting that has appeared in recent months. There are some archived NY Times articles that I wasn't able to access that appear to have something to do with their reporter's subpoenas.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70917FF3E5C0C768DDDA80894DD404482
Here's an Op-ed piece from the WaPo written by Victoria Toensing, a GOP "partisan hack", who seems to think there was no crime in the first place (wtf?)
Op-ed The Plame Game: Was This a Crime?
By Victoria Toensing and Bruce W. Sanford
"It's time for a timeout on a misguided and mechanical investigation in which there is serious doubt that a crime was even committed. Federal courts have stated that a reporter should not be subpoenaed when the testimony sought is remote from criminal conduct or when there is no compelling "government interest," i.e., no crime."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2305-2005Jan11.html
Her story is rebutted in an excellent LTE from Christopher Wolf (atty to Wilson and Plame)
"In their Jan. 12 op-ed column ["The Plame Game: Was This a Crime?"] Victoria Toensing and Bruce W. Sanford misrepresented the scope of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which certainly does cover former covert agents who remain at risk (along with their contacts) even after their covert operations end."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16733-2005Jan17.html
Feb 1, 2005 - Extensive profile of Patrick Fitzgerald
Interesting background of the prosecutor. Picked out this tidbit on the ongoing Plame investigation.
"A federal appeals panel in Washington is due to rule any day on whether the reporters must testify, and his work on the leak investigation is not done."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55560-2005Feb1.html
OK. So I guess once this ruling comes down the investigation picks up again. Everyone keep your eyes and ears open for new developments. Hopefully someone gets indicted soon.
For additional background and legal info, Findlaw posts a summary of links of congressional documents, White House memos, and the journalists' Contempt orders and motions to quash.
http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/iraq/documents.html
In addition, John Dean (yes, that Dean) has been writing some good analysis on the Findlaw site.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040130.html (especially) and http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040604.html (referenced above)
Finally, this is my first diary. SusanG inspires yet another lurker to come out :-) If I make any mistakes in Kos protocol or otherwise, feel free to point them out. Thanks for reading (I know it's too long).