As the PlameWatch Turns

The White House continues to spread misinformation about Karl Rove, declaring him "not worried" and "fine" as he faces a 4th appearance before the grand jury investigating the Valerie Plame case. According to today's NYTimes,

But some of the lawyers said Mr. Fitzgerald indicated that he had not yet made up his mind about whether to accuse anyone with wrongdoing and would use the coming weeks before the grand jury expires on Oct. 28 to decide the issue.

Mr. Fitzgerald's conversations with lawyers since late last week have left an ominous cloud hanging over the inquiry, sweeping away assurances from a number of officials and their lawyers that Mr. Fitzgerald was unlikely to find criminal wrongdoing.

In coming days, Mr. Fitzgerald is likely to request that several White House officials return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case - appearances that are believed to be decisive as the prosecutor proceeds toward a decision on whether to file charges.

Jane Hamsher at firedoglake says, "Oh I bet Special Counsel Fitzgerald already knows he's going to charge someone with "wrongdoing" (that's some euphemism) -- it's just a matter of how many "wrongdoings" he's going to pile one on top of another."

Well, the NYTimes says there's this possibility:

One new approach appears to involve the possible use of Chapter 37 of the federal espionage and censorship law, which makes it a crime for anyone who "willfully communicates, delivers, transfers or causes to be communicated" to someone "not entitled to receive it" classified information relating the national defense matters.

Under this broad statute, a government official or a private citizen who passed classified information to anyone else in or outside the government could potentially be charged with a felony, if they transferred the information to someone without a security clearance to receive it.

In related news, Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant takes a peek at Bush's unmentionables--his poll numbers. And it's not pretty.

Today's WaPo had this little treat for its readers: "Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) met for at least 30 minutes with the top fundraiser of his Texas political action committee on Oct. 2, 2002, the same day that the Republican National Committee in Washington set in motion a series of financial transactions at the heart of the money-laundering and conspiracy case against DeLay."

Read this. Your jaw will drop too. Atrios could barely muster, "Oh. My. God."

Oscar, this toon's for you.

On the Town: WaPo's Reliable Source spotted Mick Jagger and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean at an eclectic Cafe Milano table that included Shakespeare Theatre's Michael Kahn, D.C. Council member Jack Evans, developer Brad Dockser andbaseball booster Winston Lord late Wednesday night. Later, Jagger and Lord were spotted at Modern nightclub in Georgetown.

Clearly, I am not running in the right circles.