Plamegate happenings

As you no doubt know, the Plame leak investigation has heated up once again over the past few days.

First, Judy Miller stepped down from the martyr podium and testified to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on Friday. Her cover story is that Libby finally gave her a waiver, so she no longer had to protect him. God bless 'er.

Then, over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that Fitzgerald might be seeking conspiracy charges in his probe, which could possibly throw the noose around a number of people in and around the White House.

According to the Post, "two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor while representing witnesses in the case" contend that "Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife."

To add to the intrigue, George Stephanopoulous on This Week claimed that one of his sources says Bush and Cheney were involved in the scheme. That could, of course, mean big trouble.

Fitzgerald is reportedly close to wrapping up the case, since Judy's testimony was one of the last pieces of the puzzle. He could act on his findings as early as this week -- or by the end of this month, at the latest.