scooter libby goes to jail (unless bush pardons him)

“Scooter” Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was found guilty by a federal grand jury today for his role in the Plame affair. Here’s a clip from the “Washington Post“:

A federal jury today convicted I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby of lying about his role in the leak of an undercover CIA officer’s identity, finding the vice president’s former chief of staff guilty of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, while acquitting him of a single count of lying to the FBI.

The verdict, reached by the 11 jurors on the 10th day of deliberations, culminated the seven-week trial of the highest-ranking White House official to be indicted on criminal charges in modern times…

Up until now, Bush said that he couldn’t comment publicly, as it was an “ongoing investigation.” Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose CIA agent wife, Valerie Plame, was outed by Libby, is asking Bush and Cheney to come forward, now that the trial is over with, and comment on the roles that they each played. And, it sounds as though the jurors would like to hear what they have to say as well. According to at least one of them, there was the belief on the jury that Libby was just the fall-guy for higher-ups. And, it would seem, Democratic leaders would agree. Here’s a quote from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

…This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed — at the highest levels of the Bush Administration — a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq…

So, who knows how far this might go. Clearly there are a lot of people out there who want for this to go higher up the chain of command. I don’t know what’s possible at this point though, at least with regard to the Valerie Plame matter. (I suspect it’s too late for Scooter to cut a deal.) Maybe it’s time to shift the focus to the politically motivated firing of eight U.S. attorneys. It seems like the hearings in the House and Senate may really be picking up some momentum.

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11 Comments

  1. egpenet
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 12:39 am | Permalink

    Pardon, me?

  2. stevarino
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 12:23 pm | Permalink

    I sure hope Libby goes to jail, so he can suddenly become a born again Christian, write his bestselling memoirs, and have a crappy fundamentalist comic book written about his life. It worked for Chuck Colson.

  3. repub79
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 12:50 pm | Permalink

    It really must suck to be you guys. The Prosecutor really had no case and what made it even worse was that Valerie wasn’t even a covert agent and yet the judge didn’t want the jury to know that she was in no danger what so ever. As for the lawyers that were fired. They were Clinton’s lawyers and Bush kept them until recently. Nevermind the fact that when Clinton took office he fired most of Reagan’s people as soon as he took office.

    You need to do your reseach before you post your liberal hatred. Get the real facts and you might change your tune.

  4. mike_1630
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 1:08 pm | Permalink

    Did that guy just cover every single current Rush talking point all in one comment. Nice.

    As for Libby… I think “scooter” is a great prison nick name. :)

  5. repub79
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 1:14 pm | Permalink

    I just don’t know how you guys think you’re so informed when you don’t even listen to media that’s not owed by the Liberals. Why don’t you listen to both sides before making your decision? It can’t hurt to be a little more informed. No I did not quote Rush, I listen to him on occasion and find him annoying but I’m not quoting him.

    Just think about it and try it. You really might see the light.

  6. t.d. glass
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 1:27 pm | Permalink

    Sorry, but it looks like you’re the one without the facts here, sir.

    Valerie Plame was still a covert agent.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11179719/site/newsweek/

    And not only was she put at risk, but every one of the contacts she had in the region were put at risk as well. Even conservatives with the CIA have said as much.

    Know your facts.

    And be less confrontational. You’ll find people here are pretty open-minded.

  7. stevarino
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 1:30 pm | Permalink

    I’m just proud that I’ve been denounced as a liberal under the “you guys” banner. This is an accomplishment for me.

  8. trusty getto
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 4:14 pm | Permalink

    What repub79 appears unable (or unwilling) to comprehend is that the trial obviously wasn’t about being a covert agent or being in danger. It was about retaliating against a public servant for little more than speaking the truth, and then unsuccessfully trying to cover up that retaliation.

    One might argue that it was also about loyalty, though Libby’s — not Cheney’s.

    If, due to my RegisterFly issues, the link doesn’t work, try this one.

  9. egpenet
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 4:50 pm | Permalink

    Look out, guys, here comes “repub80” and “repub81” and they don’t look happy!

    Liberal hatred? Sheeesh! Most folks I know don’t hate ANYBODY! What we HATE are the dumb and awful and hurtful and illegal and criminal things some folks do … Karl Rove, Scooter Libbey (found guilty on four counts by a jury of his peers), the VP (whose own heart and cirulatory system is ganging up on him), our President … I don’t HATE them: it’s what they do and how they do it … hate THAT, all right.

  10. edweird
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 5:08 pm | Permalink

    You know, I’m really tired of being labeled by obtuse trolls who know nothing about me accept where I stand on one particular issue. Whew! I feel better now.

    Anyway, does anyone know when the treason trial begins? I really want to see that. Oh wait, nevermind. It’s not going to happen. Ever.

  11. oliva
    Posted March 7, 2007 at 8:53 pm | Permalink

    You know how people will ask, Where were you when . . . ?

    That’s what it was for me that morning in July 2003 when I read Joseph Wilson’s op-ed in the NY Times–looked up onto a gorgeous field of tall grass, sunshine everywhere, a white horse grazing (no lie). I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

    It had been such a painful year–all that effort to stop what we felt sure was coming, then those horrible few first months of the war. No help in sight. Such grief and helplessness that we’d lost our country to a bunch of bad guys and people who voted for them. And then: the op-ed. It was a mind-blowing moment. On the op-ed page some truly courageous words–finally the possibility of truth coming out. Triumphant moment. Huge moment. So Cheney was right to be scared of the power of Wilson’s words. Just wish he, and the others, had been stopped much earlier than that, so the op-ed wouldn’t have been necessary. And the war could have remained their unrealized dream.

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