A source "very deeply involved" in the Valerie Plame investigation tells CNN not to expect an announcement from Patrick Fitzgerald today. The report, if true, could mean any number of things. Maybe the grand jury is going to wait until later this week. Maybe Fitzgerald is going to seek an extension of his grand jury's term. Maybe there won't be any indictments at all.
But it's also possible that the grand jury will, in fact, issue indictments today but simply keep them under seal until Fitzgerald is ready to have them announced. Grand jury indictments typically remain under seal until they have been "returned" to a federal magistrate, but that procedure usually takes place on the same day an indictment is handed down. A prosecutor can keep an indictment under seal longer but usually does so only when there's a risk that the subject of the indictment may flee if he learns of the indictment before he's arrested. Karl Rove and Scooter Libby aren't exactly flight risks. Is the grand jury indicting someone -- someone outside the White House -- who might be? Would Fitzgerald have some other reason for keeping his indictments secret for now?
Blogger Steve Clemons said yesterday that an "uber-insider" source had told him that the grand jury would hand down indictments today but that Fitzgerald wouldn't make an announcement about them until tomorrow. Is that what's happening now? We'll know soon enough, even if for many "soon enough" isn't nearly soon enough.
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