Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. grand jury hearing evidence in the leak of a CIA agent's identity won't announce any indictments today, a Justice Department official said.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald met today with grand jurors at the federal courthouse in Washington. Fitzgerald made no comment as he and his staff arrived at 9 a.m. for the start of the session, which lasted about three hours.

The grand jury was empanelled to investigate who in President George W. Bush's administration disclosed the identity of covert operative Valerie Plame after her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly questioned whether the administration twisted intelligence to make the case for invading Iraq.

Fitzgerald has been focusing on the actions of longtime Bush adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, people familiar with the case have said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan repeated past administration refusals to comment on the case. ``Everybody's focused on the priorities of the American people,'' McClellan told reporters today. He added, though, that White House aides ``are following developments in the news.''

The Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition he not be identified, said there were no plans to make any statements on the matter today. The term of the grand jury expires in two days.

`11th Hour'

``We are now in the 11th minute of the 11th hour,'' said criminal defense lawyer J. Bradley Bennett, who has no direct involvement in the case. ``All the indications are that we will still hear something by Friday.''

Bennett, a partner at the Baker Botts law firm in Washington, said Fitzgerald still has several options, including extending the grand jury, empanelling a new one or bringing indictments and filing them under seal.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were conducting interviews in the case as late as Monday, the Washington Post reported today. The agents sought out Plame's neighbors in Washington to ask whether they knew she worked at the Central Intelligence Agency. That suggests the prosecutor may be seeking to show Plame's employment was covert, the newspaper said.

The investigation also has ensnared Cheney. Libby's notes show he learned about Plame's CIA connection a month before she was publicly identified by syndicated columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003, the New York Times reported Oct. 24.

Questioning

Bush and Cheney have been questioned by investigators in sessions held in their offices. Rove has made four appearances before the grand jury and Libby has testified twice.

As many as two dozen current or former administrations also have been questioned, either by investigators working for Fitzgerald or before the grand jury, according to lawyers familiar with the case and published reports. Among them were former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Bush adviser Karen Hughes. In addition, Fitzgerald has sought information from at least a half dozen reporters, including NBC's Tim Russert, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of the New York Times.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Keil in Washington at dkeil@bloomberg.net; Cary O'Reilly in Washington at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 26, 2005 12:46 EDT