By now you’ve probably heard the good news about the indictment of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby for two counts of perjury, two counts of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice. It’s worth a read. This is the lone indictment to come out of this probe so far but it is clear from the charges that it cannot be the only one. Though the term of the current Grand Jury is ended today Fitzgerald made it clear in his statement today that he is likely to empanel another one as his probe continues. The end of the Grand Jury term does not mean the end of the investigation, far from it. This is just one phase of what may likely be a long process, especially with a prosecutor as meticulous as Fitzgerald.

Consider, charging someone with obstruction of justice, as I understand it as a non-lawyer, generally suggests that there was some ongoing crime for which justice was being obstructed. Now it is always possible that the crime was lying to the Grand Jury but that’s actually a rather thin hope for the wingnuts to hang their beanies on. Because this isn’t an indictment against someone’s secretary or accountant, Scooter Libby is, as the indictment indicates was employed as Assistant to the President of the United States, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States, and Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs

This guy didn’t just work for Cheney, he worked for Bush as well, worked directly for Bush and likely saw him many times a week if not many times a day. Remember also that he’s charged with lying about where he heard of Valerie Wilson and that means someone other than Tim Russert told him, someone who had a reason to want her outed, someone who had a reason to undermine Joe Wilson, someone who had something pretty damn big to hide.

The ship of state has hit the iceberg now but those on board, especially those privileged few at the top, haven’t yet noticed just how badly damaged it is or that its sinking is inevitable.

Oh, and Fitzgerald really sticks it to the wingnut spin machine in his statement, pretty much right out of the gate.

Before I talk about those charges and what the indictment alleges, I’d like to put the investigation into a little context.

Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community.

Valerie Wilson’s friends, neighbors, college classmates had no idea she had another life.

The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well-known, for her protection or for the benefit of all us. It’s important that a CIA officer’s identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation’s security.

Valerie Wilson’s cover was blown in July 2003. The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published a column on July 14th, 2003.

But Mr. Novak was not the first reporter to be told that Wilson’s wife, Valerie Wilson, Ambassador Wilson’s wife, Valerie, worked at the CIA. Several other reporters were told.

In fact, Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie Wilson.

Take that, Fox News.