Libby Indicted, Resigns

[wvjules]

Geoff, it's rather poor form to rain on the left's glee parade. They have so little to enjoy lately.

Actually I think the left has had plenty to enjoy lately.


TnKrBeLlA012 - As for the whole world being corrupt...well I'm not corrupt and can't think of many people I know that are. That's a cynical POV don't you think?

 

[Bob Slydell]

Hell, he should have just gotten indicted simply because he goes by the nickname "Scooter"

 

[Tigger_Magic]

the fact that approval rating for bush is in the toilet…….watching delay squirm……… watching the republican congress distancing themselves from the president …add to that miers….. kept me pretty amused even without the libby being indicted .....its just icing on top

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

 

[eclectics]

Geoff, it's rather poor form to rain on the left's glee parade. They have so little to enjoy lately.

Actually my smile gets bigger and bigger each day! I knew it was just a matter of time. If this goes any higher (although a VP's Chief of Staff is high enough) it wouldn't surprise me in the least. I'm sure the White House shredders have been humming late into the night!

 

[C.Ann]

the fact that approval rating for bush is in the toilet…….watching delay squirm……… watching the republican congress distancing themselves from the president …add to that miers….. kept me pretty amused even without the libby being indicted .....its just icing on top

-------------------------------

This Administration is a terrible embarrassment - to say the least..

 

[conciergekelly]

You know what they say...when you play with fire, you get burned.

 

[Viking]

Let's hope that this was just the beginning - and that it very soon leads to the fall of Cheney and Bush!!

 

[chris1gill]

-------------------------------

This Administration is a terrible embarrassment - to say the least..

That's a VERY nice way to say it C.Ann... I will echo your sentiment....

 

[sodaseller]

Wow, someone in the VP's office that few people had ever heard of until recently is indicted and this is supposed to be "the end" of it all for Bush.

Lost in the Left's glee are a few interesting points:

1) Fitzgerald appears to be trying to run the "Martha Stewart" playbook against Libby. Note that he wasn't charged with "outting" Plame. No one has, after all of the Grand Jury testimony heard. Obviously there isn't enough evidence for Fitzgerald to get an indictment for someone deliberately disclosing the name of an undercover operative. So all that comes out of the two years of effort are several "side" charges against one person. Charges none the less, but not nearly as damning as what many had hoped for. Joe Wilson isn't going to be able to stand in front of microphones today, waving a copy of the indictment, and say it proves his assertions that the Whitehouse knowingly "outted" his wife as a "payback" against him. In fact, Fitzgerald stated today "We’re not saying that Libby knowingly outted a covert agent."

2) The "Big One" appears to have gotten away. MoveOn's, et al, visions of Rove doing a "perp walk" look pretty far gone. Oh, I know, "he's been told it isn't over for him." But the Grand Jury has been dismissed and unless some new bombshell drops out of the air, I have a hard time seeing Fitzgerald going "Grand Jury shopping" like Delay's prosecutor. It doesn't seem to be his style.

3) On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say this rates a "3" at worst. I doubt it will scar Bush any more than Epsy's or Cisneros' (both Cabinet officials and not staffers) indictments did to Bush's predecessor. You all remember that, right?

4) Libby did the right thing and resigned.

1) Fitzgerald appears to be trying to run the "Martha Stewart" playbook against Libby. Note that he wasn't charged with "outing" Plame. No one has, after all of the Grand Jury testimony heard. Obviously there isn't enough evidence for Fitzgerald to get an indictment for someone deliberately disclosing the name of an undercover operative. So all that comes out of the two years of effort are several "side" charges. Charges none the less, but not nearly as damning as what many had hoped for.

Think this point goes down to the legal definitions in the IIPA. The press conference and the indictment both assert that her status was classified and not known outside the intelligence community, and that Libby knew that But Fitzgerald would not say she was "covert", a legal term of art in this context. That's a legal defense, but not a moral one. The indictment clearly charges that the Libby initiated disclosure (while in constant contact with an unnamed WH source), of a CIA operative whose identity he knew was classified. She was "outed" by Libby, and possibly others

2) The "Big One" appears to have gotten away. MoveOn's, et al, visions of Rove doing a "perp walk" look pretty far gone. Oh, I know, "he's been told it isn't over for him." But the Grand Jury has been dismissed and unless some new bombshell drops out of the air, I have a hard time seeing Fitzgerald going "Grand Jury shopping" like Delay's prosecutor. It doesn't seem to be his style.

Fox has reported what I assumed that meant - that he was ready to indict Rove, who is the likely unnamed WH source referenced in the Libby indictment, but, in a another display of professionalism and integrity sorely missing in the Starr investigation (one of many on display), gave Rove's team a chance to review and rebut an already returned indictment. According to Fox, Rove's team gave him some countervailing evidence he is still considering. He could, were his ethics Starrlike, proceed regardless of doubt. but he is looking at that first, to his credit. My guess is that he would have waited and announced Libby's indictment after that review, and either include Rove or not, but after all the leaks that said announcements this week, had to proceed to this point.

Paragraph 21 of the indictment

21. On or about July 10 or July 11, 2003, LIBBY spoke to a senior official in the White House ("Official A") who advised LIBBY of a conversation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson’s wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson’s trip. LIBBY was advised by Official A that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson’s wife.

Paragraph 1(f)

f. Joseph Wilson was married to Valerie Plame Wilson ("Valerie Wilson"). At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson’s affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.

Now it may be that Fitzgerald has decided not charge misuse of classified information, which that plainly was (read the whole indictment), and was going to pursue some form of perjury, which is inevitable based on two different version of events, and which his team found some more support for Rove's version. But it seems very likely that Rove is the one that deliberately elected to out Plame.

3) On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say this rates a "3" at worst. I doubt it will scar Bush any more than Epsy's or Cisneros' (both Cabinet officials and not staffers) indictments did to Bush's predecessor. You all remember that, right?

I never opine as to the political impact of any event, but in terms of moral seriousness, what Libby lied about is far more serious

 

[dennis99ss]

spin it right, spin it right....is all I can say. These indictments are pretty strong. Read the indictment. If I was Libby's counsel, I would be taking them very seriously. It is not simply a statement that was made by mistake, or one that he simply made because he could not remember what actually happened. It looks as if they might have him. And, the indictments are not simply perjury. They include obstruction, which is an intentional act. The evidence outlined looks strong.

So, right wing, blindly follow Bush, your administration did what Bill was indicted for, plus some. These charges are easier to prove that the outing charge. Libby stated that the reporters told him about Plume, while, he has a memo that says the vp told him. So, if the conversation happened with the reporters, and, Libby knew, who outed who. The obstruction charge being easier to prove, makes it a stronger charge.

Lets see, I imagine there will be a major offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan, here soon to take the press off this issue. Or, we will suddenly have to get our gas masks out because of some immediate threat.

Wag the Dog Bush, Wag the dog.

To those who do not believe it is serious, think again

 

[sodaseller]

Hell, he should have just gotten indicted simply because he goes by the nickname "Scooter"

Yes, but it let political junkies know who the "perp" was in mid 2004. All DC knew it, and Josh Marshall signalled it that way Link

Now, just for the sake of the conversation, let's say that the perp didn't know Plame was covert. As I've discussed previously, there are many reasons why this is extremely unlikely. But let's say it's so. If that's the case, it would become an issue of manifest negligence and recklessness that should in itself qualify as a firing offense.

Again, a hypothetical.

Let's say the leaker ... and well, hold on. We don't know the person's or persons' name. So let's assign them a nickname to use as a placeholder. Let's call the person Hopper.

Ok, so back to the leaker.

Let's say Hopper just knew that Joe Wilson's wife was involved at CIA doing some work on the WMD front (remember, Hopper had to know that, because the accusation was that she had gotten him the uranium gig.) We now know -- or we seem to know -- that Plame was not at that point involved in any particular operations the exposure of which would have led to immediate and grave harm to national security or a threat to her life. But if Hopper only knew vaguely that she was at CIA and working on WMD stuff, then it was possible she was abroad and in danger if her name was exposed. Or, more to the point, she might have been involved in a covert operation trying to shutdown a shipment of weapons-grade uranium from Pakistan to al Qaida terrorists in Yemen. Or perhaps the front energy company she worked for was involved in ferreting out a uranium shipment from the Russian mafia to al Qaida operatives in Hamburg?

 

[Sirius]

Lets see, I imagine there will be a major offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan, here soon to take the press off this issue. Or, we will suddenly have to get our gas masks out because of some immediate threat.

Wag the Dog Bush, Wag the dog.

To those who do not believe it is serious, think again

I too must wonder when someone will try and divert our attention.

 

[scubamouse]

Does anyone else think scooter will work out a plea and sing like a canary?

 

[DisneyDotty]

Geoff, it's rather poor form to rain on the left's glee parade. They have so little to enjoy lately.

Then why have we been so busy making popcorn and watching the show?



MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!


Has anyone ever figured out what the heck that song means?

 

[LoraJ]

The president is about to speak.

take a drink for every time he mentions the war on terror

 

[sodaseller]

Does anyone else think scooter will work out a plea and sing like a canary?

Not sure there is anything else to sing about, unless the Italian forgeries still factor in. Plus, you usually negotiate before the indictments is issued in public cases. Plus, Fitzgerald says it is near over. Think the only thing that remains is his analysis of supposed Rove exculpatory evidence, but that's speculation. This was a professional execution

 

[Sirius]

The president is about to speak.

take a drink for every time he mentions the war on terror

Do I have time to go to the liquor store?

 

[conciergekelly]

I too must wonder when someone will try and divert our attention.

Iran... Have you heard the drumbeat?

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Then why have we been so busy making popcorn and watching the show?

If I were you, I'd ask for a refund of your admission.

 

[DisneyDotty]

If I were you, I'd ask for a refund of your admission.
Nah--the show is courtesy of the GOP. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?