Plamegate is about to bust wide open.  The storm clouds are gathering.

First, there’s this Financial Times story informing that Fitzgerald’s probe has widened.  He’s apparently looking at pre-war intelligence handling, including a majority of the WHIG membership. So the political use of intelligence information has now become a matter of interest for Fitzgerald — especially given that it may have been used as a weapon against the critics of the Administration.

Then, there is the NY Daily News reporting that a "senior cooperating witness" within the WH has flipped and has been helping Fitzgerald. And that all eyes are absolutely on Dick Cheney.

UPDATE:  The Bush turncoat?  It’s John Hannah says the grapevine.  He’s a Cheney aide.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  It really looks like John Hannah.

A CLARIFICATION:  No, not John Hannah, the actor.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE:  WaPo reports that Fitzgerald has “assembled evidence that suggests Cheney’s long-standing tensions with the CIA contributed to the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame,” and reiterates that Cheney was the ringleader of the White House campaign to “convince Congress and the American public that invading Iraq was central to defeating terrorists worldwide. Cheney, a longtime proponent of toppling Saddam Hussein, led the White House effort to build the case that Iraq was an imminent threat because it possessed a dangerous arsenal of weapons.”

AND STILL YET ANOTHER UPDATE:  Rumors of Cheney resignation reach fever pitch