Honey, call the exterminator... there´s a rat inside the White House!

Karl Rove, President Bush´s favorite pet, is off the hook for the time being. Apparently, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and the grand jury couldn´t find enough dirt on the guy to indict him for his allege role in helping to expose Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA operative. Or did they?

The voluminous indictment handed up by a grand jury in Washington Friday against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby makes reference to a cooperating government official who apparently helped convince grand jurors that a crime was committed. The special prosecutor during a news conference said that the inquiry was continuing, but declined to say who was still under federal investigation. Rove´s own lawyer told the press that his client would not be indicted but was still not entirely cleared. Could it be that Karl Rove, Bush´s electoral architect, is cooperating in the investigation?

The case against Lewis, Vice President Dick Cheney´s former chief of staff, is a serious one. Perjury and obstruction of justice in a federal inquiry are charges that could mean anywhere between four to eight years in prison depending on the sentencing guidelines. The statutory prison term is about 30 years but, even if he goes to trial and is convicted, it´s very doubtful that he will serve a term that long. If Lewis decides to plead guilty to a lesser charge and cooperate, Fitzgerald could recommend a sentence of house arrest or even probation! This is where the scenario gets a little worrisome for the White House.

Let´s say Lewis intends to cooperate and implicates his former boss, the unflappable Mr. Haliburton, and other White House house officials, it would no doubt be a gargantuan scandal not only for the nation but for the tight-knit Republican hierarchy. (Much like Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" turning against his mob associates.) Friday´s indictment is a screw-turning-on-the-thumbs strategy that federal prosecutors like to use when they can only corner one of their targets. It is a glimpse of the dirt Fitzgerald was so far able to shovel. The unveiling of the indictment serves a purpose in pressuring the defendant, in this case "Scooter" Libby, and convince other potential targets to come forward.

If Karl Rove is ratting, then things aren´t all that cool between Bush and Cheney. If no one in either camp is cooperating now then the pot is still boiling and it is only a matter of time before it spills over.