Rove has notified Bush he will be indicted

Truthout has written today that anonymous sources advise that Rove has notified both President Bush and Chief of Staff Josh Bolton that Fitzgerald will indeed indict him. The indictment will certainly include perjury and lying to investigators. The delay seems to be involved in whether there will also be an indictment for obstruction of justice, a more serious crime than the others. Rove has said that he will resign from the White House as soon as the Special Prosecutor announces the indictments.

Rove is said to have told Bolten that he will be charged with perjury regarding when he was asked how and when he discovered that covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the agency, and whether he discussed her job with reporters.

Rove testified that he first found out about Plame Wilson from reading a newspaper report in July 2003 and only after the story was published did he share damaging information about her CIA status with other reporters.

However, evidence has surfaced during the course of the two-year-old investigation that shows Rove spoke with at least two reporters about Plame Wilson prior to the publication of the column.

The explanation Rove provided to the grand jury - that he was dealing with more urgent White House matters and therefore forgot - has not convinced Fitzgerald that Rove has been entirely truthful in his testimony.

Sources close to the case said there is a strong chance Rove will also face an additional charge of obstruction of justice, adding that Fitzgerald has been working meticulously over the past few months to build an obstruction case against Rove because it "carries more weight" in a jury trial and is considered a more serious crime.

Rove's unprecedented fifth meeting with the Grand Jury recently appears to be his effort to head off the obstruction of justice indictment. The threat of the indictments has been a major reason his efforts on Domestic Policy were not especially effective recently, leading to that part of his portfolio being taken from him.

My bet is that the first of the many pardons Bush will issue for his gang of crooks will be for Rove, probably right after the November election during the Congressional Christmas break. By the time Congress gets reorganized in January 2007 following the elections, Rove's pardon will be "old news."