Happy October!

This is usually one of my most favorite months of the year. It's an amazing time in sports, between the baseball play-offs and the start of the hockey season. And my birthday is mid-month as well.

But, more than that, this might be the month that Patrick Fitzgerald wraps up his investigation into what has become known as "l'affaire Plame". While the momentum has been waning recently, there are two importance pieces of news today worth discussing-- and which might have important repercussions in the Washington news world.

The first came in today's Washington Post, where reporters Jim VandeHei and Walter Pincus write that "[a] new theory about Fitzgerald's aim has emerged in recent weeks from two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor...They surmise that Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife. To prove a criminal conspiracy, the actions need not have been criminal, but conspirators must have had a criminal purpose."

Now couple the above with a tidbit George Stephanopoulos dropped out of nowhere on ABC’s "This Week", saying that -- according to his sources -- that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of the Plame discussions.

Wow. Hard stop. Think about what this means if both of these reports are accurate and how this will change the news cycle, piling on top of all the other Republican-related investigations. Again: Wow.