The Post report Thursday did not name its sources, saying "officials acknowledged privately" that an indictment naming a member of the administration could come this year.

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has been investigating the release of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, which is a crime for a government official. But the Post said legal experts said there are other possible problems related to the case, including perjury and obstruction of justice.

Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper appeared Wednesday before a federal grand jury convened to look into the case. Another reporter, Judith Miller of The New York Times, remains jailed in Virginia because she refuses to appear before the grand jury.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has been linked to Cooper but Rove's attorney Robert Luskin said, "Cooper's truthful testimony will not call into question the accuracy or completeness of anything Rove has previously said to the prosecutor or grand jury," the Post reported.