Well, you don’t need me to tell you that George Tenet resigned, that’s for sure. I was hoping to catch the final rebroadcast of Bill Maher on Larry King last night, but it was not shown as CNN was way too hyped about their second hour of telling us for the twenty-seventh time that, yes, Tenet still has resigned.

The question is, why did he resign? Saying it is because of “personal reasons” is so much of a cliché that no one takes it seriously. Some think it was because of the investigations into intelligence handling. Others think Tenet is being the loyal fall guy for Bush.

And then there’s the resignation of James Pavitt, the Deputy Director for Operations at the CIA, who just announced his resignation. Kinda makes you think that a lot is going on here that we don’t know about, and a lot of people are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In news that may or may not be related, the story has leaked that Bush has spoken to, and is considering hiring, private counsel in the Valerie Plame affair. As you recall, it was reported that at least two senior White House officials committed a federal felony by vindictively releasing the identity of a covert CIA operative, and at this time there is a grand jury investigation into the matter. Just like the Tenet resignation, this has many scratching their heads and wondering why–does Bush expect some serious flak to come directly at him? Or is he just being cautious?

One source says that it is damnably serious: Capitol Hill Blue–not always the most reliable news source, I must warn–has released a story that witnesses testifying before the grand jury in the Plame affair accused Bush of knowing about the Plame leak and not doing anything to stop it. If (a) this report is accurate and (b) it can be proven that Bush knew, that would make him an accessory to a federal felony. Which kind of puts this in the too-good-to-be-true category, so I am taking this with a grain of salt and waiting for other independent sources to confirm.

The relevant part of the Capitol Hill Blue article reads:

Witnesses told a federal grand jury President George W. Bush knew about, and took no action to stop, the release of a covert CIA operative’s name to a journalist in an attempt to discredit her husband, a critic of administration policy in Iraq.

Their damning testimony has prompted Bush to contact an outside lawyer for legal advice because evidence increasingly points to his involvement in the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name to syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

The move suggests the president anticipates being questioned by prosecutors. Sources say grand jury witnesses have implicated the President and his top advisor, Karl Rove.

If anyone hears anything more on this tack, please let me know.