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October 28, 2005

Early Thoughts On Libby Indictment, Fitzgerald

Although my first reaction was a knee-jerk semi-defense of Libby and semi-attack on Fitzgerald, here are some second thoughts. Still tenative, still half-formed:

1) Libby is charged with misrepresenting, multiple times, under oath, the source from which he got the Plame tip. According to Fitzgerald, he repeatedly claimed he just got it from reporters-- under oath. According to Fitzgerald, too, he got the information from government sources, and he thinks he can prove that.

If this is true, then this is genuine perjury, and he's not being charged for merely having a hazy memory.

2) Fitzgerald answered my question regarding why the long investigation without any charges for the underlying crime (if one existed). He says (by analogy and implication) that he could not tell if Libby satisfied the criminal intent requirements of the laws against divulging classified information. (He says he's convinced Plame's status was classified, even if not covert.) Thus, while he seems convinced that Libby committed the "bad acts" of the statute, he cannot ascertain if he had the "bad motive" (crimnal intent, intent to harm the national interest, etc.) so that's why he couldn't bring charges against him on these grounds.

This would in fact be a fact-intensive inquiry, and would justify interviewing the relevant witnesses. So, if we take this as true, then Fitzgerald did not act in a partisan or overzealous manner by conducting this long, long, long grand jury inquiry.

So, as of the moment -- and again, assuming Fitzgerald is being straight with us -- Fitzgerald acted responsibily and Libby did commit some very stupid criminal perjuries, for which he should resign and be prosecuted.

I hope he can reach a deal; I don't really want to see him behind bars for a lengthy jail sentence, but, again assuming that Fitzgerald is being straight with us, he did commit the crimes he's charged with and must leave the government.

The Berger Precedent: Why is it that Democrats are offered sweetheart deals for serious, proveable breaches of national security, and Republicans are threatened with thirty years in the clink for perjury?

The Warden notes Libby should be offered...

A plea bargain, $50,000 in fines and removal of his security clearance for 3 years, just like Berger got. I'm sure this will be ok with the lefties, as they seemed satisfied w/Berger's sentence.

Won't happen. It's a Republican. Democrats get very generous benefits of the doubts, Republicans get the slammer.

posted by Ace at 03:47 PM

Comments

Agreed. A plea bargain, $50,000 in fines and removal of his security clearance for 3 years, just like Berger got. I'm sure this will be ok with the lefties, as they seemed satisfied w/Berger's sentence.

Posted by: The Warden on October 28, 2005 03:53 PM

Now how 'bout posting that cropped shot of Bbeck in the Ace of Spades tee? I need to be stimulated, dammit!

Posted by: The Warden on October 28, 2005 03:56 PM

I can't believe someone beat me to the Berger slam. Damn...

Are there recordings or corroborative eyewitnesses, or is this just three separate he said/she said recollections?

Sounds like a whole lotta bullshit to me.

Job 1 was to figure out how the hell Plame could have been covered by the statute. I thought that was already disproved by several different tests.

Posted by: Dogstar on October 28, 2005 04:04 PM

assuming that Fitzgerald is being straight

Taking so much of the MSM and rogue CIA dreck at face value looks like BDS to me.

Posted by: boris on October 28, 2005 04:05 PM

As I said in an earlier post on this subject:

"So who would perjure? Not any administration official. Rove and Libby and friends were probably advised from the start to tell no lies and that there was no crime. As a lawyer, I would be sure to inform them of that (and of their fifth amendment rights).

So, unless there is a desire to publicly embarrass themselves, there should be no charges against admin officials."

Well, I was wrong on the big question, but like Libby, I got it on the follow up. I was right that someone would have to act in a foolish manner, and from the prosecutor's side, it does not seem like a he said-she said scenario, but a "thats my story and I am sticking to it" scenario.

He should have just sat there and done his impression of a potato. Stupid.

Posted by: joeindc44 on October 28, 2005 04:11 PM

So...

Why DID Scooter give Judith Miller permission to talk if he was intentionally breaking the law?

Posted by: bbeck on October 28, 2005 04:15 PM

I wonder what happened to that vile POS lefty troll who claimed a star was added to the CIA Wall of Honor due to the Plame disclosure. Come out, little troll, and read this.

Posted by: spongeworthy on October 28, 2005 04:16 PM

He should have just sat there and done his impression of a potato. Stupid.

I find it amazing that after 50 years of Dragnet, Perry Mason, and Law & Order, anyone ever says anything at all to a prosecutor. Even if you never commit a crime, they'll back you into one through a purjury charge.

As much as I hate to say it, Rehnquist was probably right about Miranda.

Posted by: The Black Republican on October 28, 2005 04:23 PM

Oh yeah, Tubino came out and said she was a NOC.

Of course, if she was such a big deal, she should not have gotten her husband a junket with the CIA. And then the husband should not have gone to the NYT's.

The enraging thing is that the prosecutor started out this press conference with a lot of throwaway lines about how classified Plame was, but leaves it to the end of the talker to say, well "thats not what I'm saying."

Either way, its over. 2 years and they got Scooter because he tried to float a story to the grand jury. Sorry, no security laws or anything material violated. Have a nice life.

Posted by: joeindc44 on October 28, 2005 04:24 PM

*If* Libby is found guilty, the Berger Standard sounds about right to me.

Alternatively, if the left wants to set a harsher standard of punishment, then let's apply it to the next NYT reporter who compromises national security; if the Left objects, we can just remind them where we got the idea.

Posted by: utron on October 28, 2005 04:43 PM

Speaking of the NYT's, what about the outing of the CIA's underground terror airline system? That was a big deal.

As long as we are talking big deals, hasn't the UN Oil for Supporting Saddam report been published today?

All this media attention on the Plame Myth.

Posted by: joeindc44 on October 28, 2005 04:46 PM

Oh, please! How many grand juries out there are going on for 2 years looking into BS like this? This is not the even handled application of justice.

Posted by: Joshua Chamberlain on October 28, 2005 05:16 PM

P.S. Libby didn't take the Fifth because if he did, W would have had to fire him. And everyone would have assumed he outed Plame.

Posted by: Joshua Chamberlain on October 28, 2005 05:21 PM

I felt all along the whole deal had a stale lifeless quality. I'm no conspiracy theorist. Never have been, and never will be. But I honestly believe the CIA has been outed on this one. Whatever little pony party the Dems want to throw for themselves.

The larger shame is the Dems are cheering what I see as a very dangerous turf battle. One that has not enhanced national security. One can only hope that the public scenes, hide some rather intense beeootch slapping, taking place backstage?

The Dems ...... live and on the air, unaware.

Posted by: Elmo on October 28, 2005 06:18 PM

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This was her actual complaint. The mushed-up tomato looked like blood so it's a death threat and these violent attacks on me must stop. What is dis bitch, CNN?

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Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
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I posted his post on twitter and it's gotten 25K views so far. Thanks, Smell the Glove

Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
And then it's raining, feels like it's raining

TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
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Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

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Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
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REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

Hamas is Humiliating Trump's 'Board of Peace'
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