CIA Leak Prosecutor Goes to Grand Jury

WASHINGTON - Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald early Wednesday went before a federal grand jury looking into the leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

It is believed to be only the second session the prosecutor has had with the grand jury which is examining questions left unanswered in the Plame affair. The only other time Fitzgerald was seen going before the new panel was Dec. 7.

An earlier grand jury expired Oct. 28, the day it handed up an indictment against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Libby is scheduled to go on trial next January.

Fitzgerald's unfinished business includes White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, who was under investigation when the previous grand jury that indicted Libby expired.

Rove's legal problems stem from the fact that it was not until more than a year into Fitzgerald's criminal investigation that the White House adviser told the prosecutor about disclosing the CIA status of Wilson's wife to Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper on July 11, 2003.