Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The prosecutor probing the leak of a CIA agent's name intends to seek an indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief aide and wants to extend the inquiry to continue investigating President George W. Bush's top political adviser, a person familiar with the case said.

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald today will ask a federal grand jury to indict I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, on a charge of making false statements to the panel, the person said, confirming a New York Times report. The grand jury was set to expire today, and Fitzgerald wants to keep hearing evidence regarding presidential adviser Karl Rove, the person said.

Fitzgerald ``has advised Mr. Rove that he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges,'' Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement. Rove ``will continue to cooperate'' with the probe, Luskin said.

The Justice Department scheduled an announcement on the status of the investigation at noon Washington time. Fitzgerald will hold a news conference at 2 p.m.

At the heart of Fitzgerald's 22-month probe is whether any administration official violated a 1982 law designed to protect the identity of covert agents.

Witnesses who have testified before the panel and attorneys familiar with the case have said that in recent months it has expanded to examine whether administration officials gave false statements, obstructed justice or committed perjury.

No Comment from Bush

Bush left the White House this morning without making any comments on his way to Norfolk, Virginia, for a speech on the campaign against terrorism. ``If the special prosecutor has any announcements to make then you can expect we will probably have more to say,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with the president.

The grand jury began assembling shortly before 9 a.m. Washington time and Fitzgerald arrived a few minutes later. Fitzgerald, responding to a request from congressional Democrats, said in a letter to lawmakers today that he won't make a public report about his investigation when the probe is finished.

An indictment of Libby would deal a blow to Cheney and extend the legal drama over the fate of Rove, who for more than 20 years has been Bush's top political adviser and the architect of his presidential campaigns. Fitzgerald's actions also are sure to focus attention on the administration's rationale for the war in Iraq as support for that effort is waning.

Calls to Joseph Tate, Libby's lawyer, weren't returned.

Rove's lawyer said he expected his client to be cleared.

``We are confident that when the special counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong,'' Luskin said.

Origins

The case began after syndicated columnist Robert Novak revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame in a July 14, 2003, column. Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who wrote an essay in The New York Times eight days earlier saying the administration had ``twisted'' intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein was seeking to buy nuclear materiel in Africa.

Wilson had traveled to Africa in 2002 to check out intelligence claims about Hussein and concluded they were false. Yet Bush cited the claim in his 2003 State of the Union address, using it to buttress his case for invading Iraq later in the year. Novak, citing two administration officials, said Wilson made the trip at the recommendation of his wife, the CIA agent.

Approval Ratings

Bush's job approval ratings are at or near all-time lows amid voter unease over the course of the war in Iraq, rising gasoline prices and uncertainty over the direction of the economy and the nation. An Oct. 21-23 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found 55 percent of adults disapproved of how Bush is handling the presidency and 42 percent approved. That's up from the 39 percent approval rating he had in the poll one week earlier, which was the low mark for his presidency.

The person familiar with the case, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that the charge against Libby would come as Fitzgerald moves to extend the panel's tenure, which usually expires after 18 months. Sheldon Snook, a spokesman for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that Fitzgerald met for 45 minutes with Chief Judge Thomas Hogan on Oct. 26, without saying what they discussed.

Under Justice Department guidelines, prosecutors must provide a judge with compelling evidence for continuing a grand jury.

A White House official said earlier in the week that anyone indicted would be expected to resign.

Libby, 55, is Cheney's national security adviser as well as his chief of staff. A longtime Republican defense adviser, he previously worked with Cheney at the Pentagon during the administration of Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush.

Libby has testified under oath that he may have first heard of Plame's name from reporters, an assertion contradicted by reporters who gave Fitzgerald testimony largely limited to their conversations with Cheney's top aide.

A person familiar with the case said that Libby told the prosecutor he first learned of Plame's identity from NBC News correspondent Tim Russert. Russert has told the prosecutor he didn't discuss Plame's identity with Cheney's aide. The New York Times reported this week that Cheney brought up the CIA connection of Wilson's wife in a June meeting with Libby, according to notes made by Libby.

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net; Richard Keil in Washington at dkiel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 28, 2005 12:15 EDT