This was just posted at Findlaw.
John Dean has a very interesting, if not altogether encouraging, take on what is coming from Fitzgerald. Some highlights:
Something is going to happen, and, I think, fairly soon. It has been many years since my conversations with well placed friends in Washington have reflected the sort of inside-the-Beltway tension that is now mounting. This tension was not matched during the Whitewater/Lewinsky investigation, nor during Iran-Contra. But it is very reminiscent of the wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in Nixon v. United States - the decision that famously forced Nixon to turn over his secretly recorded taped conversations -- and ended his presidency.
More from Dean below the flip.While Dean concludes that Cheney could be indicted. He thinks it's unlikely.
While I may be letting the air out of some rising balloons, I think Fitzgerald's silence has fed speculation that postulates indictments way beyond the realistic potentials.
The really big fish in this case is the Vice President. And I have little doubt, based on my knowledge of the case, and of the way Cheney typically operates, that a case could be made against him.
But Fitzgerald is an experienced prosecutor, and that means only if he found himself confronted with an exceptionally egregious case (the equivalent of Spiro Agnew's taking payoffs from Maryland contractors in his Vice Presidential Office), would Fitzgerald consider indicting Vice President Dick Cheney.
Ultimately, Dean seems to be backing off from his view that the Espionage Act is likely to come into play. He feels that national security considerations will deter Fitzgerald and that if indictments are forthcoming, it will be because:
In short, I think the frenzy is about to end -- and it will not go any further. Unless, of course, these folks were foolish enough to give false statements, perjure themselves or suborn perjury, or commit obstruction of justice. If they were so stupid, Patrick Fitzgerald must stay and clean house.
Of course, this is all speculation at this stage, and it seems pretty clear that some indictments will be coming down. Dean is very smart and has been around the block, so I thought it was worth calling attention to his perspective.