ALLEN: “A Likely Scenario For What Happened Today Is Patrick Fitzgerald Got Some Indictments”

Hotline says Time Magazine’s Mike Allen “has some of the best sources in Washington.” Here’s what he had to say about the leak scandal tonight on Hardball:

MIKE ALLEN: A lot of activity happening that we’re not seeing. A likely scenario for what happened today, Patrick Fitzgerald got some indictments from this grand jury. He is now able to go to the…

CHRIS MATTHEWS: You think they’re sealed right now?

MIKE ALLEN: Very possible. What I’m told is typically, in a case like this, he could get the indictments and now he can go to the targets and say, you can plead to these or I’ll go back Friday and get more. You have 12 to 24 hours to think about it.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: And he can give them a little Whitman Sampler of suggestions pleading to the charge of obstruction or perjury or…

MIKE ALLEN: I can add a bunch of counts. You can take a couple of counts or we can do a bunch more.

Later on Olbermann, The Washington Post’s Jim VanDeHei (who also has “some of the best sources in Washington”) assures us the wait is almost over: “I do not think we’ll see any extension of this grand jury. We will know on Friday what’s going to happen here.”

www.thinkprogress.org