Half Full or Half Empty?

Kevin Drum, a glass half full kind of guy, seems to find solace in the possible expansion of the Valerie Plame investigation. The New York Times story he references points to the investigation of "possible discrepancies" in the documentary evidence and the testimony of some White House officials.

Given the quality and quantity of lies by administration flacks on matters of policy and character assassination I am not surprised at all that investigators suspect that some may have lied. I only hope that the investigation has the courage of its convictions.

Being a glass half empty person, I'm concerned with the last four grafs:

Mr. Fitzgerald, who has been in charge of the case for three months, has said he is nearing completion of the inquiry, the lawyers said. Some of them have suggested that he may be facing a problem if he declines to prosecute.

Prosecutors almost never make public the details of cases in which they investigate, but bring no charges. Federal law bars prosecutors from disclosing information obtained through a grand jury, the legal vehicle Mr. Fitzgerald has used to conduct his inquiry.

But in this case, being investigated in the heat of a closely fought presidential election, Democrats have been watching carefully for any sign that the prosecutor has favored the administration. Should Mr. Fitzgerald bring the case to a close with no indictments and no public explanation of his decision not to prosecute, he would almost certainly be subject to intense criticism from Democrats.

Several lawyers said Mr. Fitzgerald could ask a judge to allow him to issue a report. Or, they said, he could seek to employ a rarely used provision of the Justice Department's guidelines for prosecutors allowing grand juries to issue reports. But those sections of the prosecutor's manual appear to relate to public officials in organized crime cases.

In other words, he's not just investigating the leak anymore, he's considering options for how to end the investigation with a whimper, not a bang.