What May Be Behind Fitz's Decision To Forgo A Public Report

by Steve

The New York Times is running a story in Wednesday’s edition that makes two new points: first, according to sources, Fitzgerald will not be taking any action this week. With the grand jury meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week, this means that Fitzgerald will be reviewing the case and possible conclusions with them on Wednesday and Friday of this week before anything will come down next week. But it is the second piece of news that troubles me.

The Times also reports that Fitzgerald has decided not to issue a final report of the investigation, even though Democrats have already asked for one. This means that Fitzgerald has left himself with two choices: he will either shut down his inquiry next week with nothing of consequence and no public report of the evidence collected and grand jury decisions, or he will put the whole case and investigation into whatever indictments he and the grand jury make. That is an all-or-nothing proposition that frankly has me concerned, given this late date just before the conclusion of this grand jury.

Yet the Times correctly points out that even a special prosecutor is limited in what he or she can release publicly if it is the result of secret grand jury deliberations, so Fitzgerald may simply be putting the part of his case that he can fully justify into any indictments, and leaving the rest buried while insulating himself from charges of having a political agenda. The down side of course, as the Times also noted, is that we may never know the full story of the Administration’s misbehavior here if a final report is never issued. But given the national security implications behind this case and the three-judge panel’s support for Fitzgerald to proceed, it could very well be that Fitz will go public with what he can show are clear violations of the law, and allow other, less-certain and murky activities whose revelation would certainly damage national security to stay secret.

Lastly, I wonder what impact Fitz's decision to forgo a public report will have on other potential “flippers”, who may now want to come forward with damaging stuff in the next several days?