Leak probe casts wider net

According to the Wall Street Journal, the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name seems to have taken a larger turn. The WSJ is reporting that Peter Fitzgerald's investigation now targets Vice-President Cheney and the White House Iraq war planners.

[Those familiar with the case] now suggest [Fitzgerald] might be investigating not a narrow case on the leaking of the agent's name, but perhaps a broader conspiracy.

Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the "White House Iraq Group" which worked on setting strategy for selling the war in Iraq to the public in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion.

Josh Marshall sums up the implications of this broader inquiry:

If Fitzgerald has lassoed this operation into a criminal conspiracy, the veil of protective secrecy in which the whole operation is still shrouded will be pulled back. Depositions and sworn statements in on-going investigations have a way of doing that. Ask Bill Clinton. Every key person in the White House will be touched by it. And all sorts of ugly tales could spill out.

And frankly, it's about time. The President LIED in order TO GO TO WAR. Based on the "Bill Clinton standard," how is this not an impeachable offense?