All things considered, the Libby indictment handed down today was narrower than I expected. As I read it, all five of the counts come down to Libby's lying to investigators and the grand jury about his contacts with the press. The counts seem pretty clearly valid and tight on the law, although none go to the substantive offense for which Libby was investigated.

  The nature of the counts sheds some light on what we have seen in the investigation for the last two years. In particular, Fitzgerald presumably was focused on getting the testimony of Cooper and Miller because Libby told investigators and the grand jury that he hadn't leaked anything to them; Fitzgerald needed their testimony to prove that false. On an entirely speculative front, Miller and Cooper might have refused to testify because they knew Libby had lied to investigators and the grand jury, and therefore knew that their testimony would directly contradict Libby's and lead to obtstruction and perjury charges. That might explain Judith Miller's reticence to believe that Libby had released her from her duty of confidentiality: Why on earth would Libby volunteer to let Miller hand over evidence that would lead to his felony conviction?

  Finally, it seems to me that Fitzgerald is being pretty careful here. He has Libby in what appears to be a direct lie to investigators and the grand jury, and he's not reaching for more. At least with Libby. At least for now.