And counting. At 12 noon eastern time the paperwork will be released in the Fitzgerald probe with his news conference scheduled for 2:00 PM.

The special counsel investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative’s identity will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday to discuss the status of the probe, his office said in a statement.

The statement said information on the case will be available at noon.

The announcement came after the federal grand jury weighing criminal charges over the leak began meeting with special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, with the expectation of criminal charges in the long-running investigation.

Legal sources said Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis Libby, appeared likely to be charged, and perhaps other officials also.

But legal sources said Fitzgerald had informed President George W. Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, that he will not be indicted on Friday, although he will remain under investigation and in legal jeopardy. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, had no immediate comment.

That was a very short meeting with the Grand Jury, maybe 60 minutes. Must be simple formalities.

UPDATE:

And folks at The Note notice how good a mood Bush and Rove are in today! Interesting…

“The President was definitely in a good mood — he came out and did a quick head fake (basketball player like move — very Allen Iverson head fake especially for someone with a bum knee) as if he would come talk to us and then went the other way and started smiling and sort of laughing. He then pretended not to hear us shouting (Reagan ear cup thing).”
…
Rove left his home at 7:45 am ET. When Rove left his house and got in his car, a reporter yelled: “Are you in good spirits. Are you in a good mood?”

Rove replied: “A very good mood today. I’m going to have a very good day.”

And then he smiled and waved.

Very interesting. More coming…

Something on the CIA response (damn I wish Mac Ranger was back on line – hope you are OK Mac)

Quick!!! Before any Fitzgerald announcement or leak, read all about how current and former CIA agents are psyched beyond belief that the White House is in trouble over the leak investigation, which the spooks see as just desserts for dissing the Agency and allegedly pressuring analysts to reach political conclusions. Note the on-the-record quotes of crowing.

It is from a WSJ article that is subscriber only (of course).

UPDATE II:

Michelle as an Indictment Watch post up to watch (her news alerts are the fastest since she is a professional).