White House braced as inquiry into leaked CIA name ends

US VICE President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff could face obstruction and other charges over exchanges with a New York Times reporter people close to the case said yesterday.

Prosecutors are winding up an investigation of who leaked a covert CIA operative’s identity.

President George W Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, and Mr Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis Libby, were among the possible targets of the probe. Legal sources said special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was likely to decide this week whether or not to bring indictments.