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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. I. LEWIS LIBBY, also known as "SCOOTER LIBBY"

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by mc mark, Jan 18, 2007.

  1. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    He'll likely be pardoned if he's a good soldier.
     
  2. Sishir Chang

    Sishir Chang Member

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    Here's the article from MSN

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17479718/?GT1=9145

    Jury convicts Libby on four of five charges
    Verdict in CIA leak case reached on 10th day of deliberations
    BREAKING NEWS
    NBC News and news services
    Updated: 8 minutes ago
    WASHINGTON - Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.

    Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was accused of lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity to reporters. He faces up to 25 years in prison.

    Libby was acquitted of one count of lying to the FBI.

    The verdict came on the 10th day of deliberations by a panel of seven women and four men. The announcement was made by Randall Samborn, a spokesman for special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It was read in the courtroom where jurors heard 19 witnesses during the five-week trial.

    Libby is the only person charged in the case, which grew out of an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.

    Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who emerged in mid-2003 as an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's case for the Iraq war.

    Fitzgerald says Libby learned about Plame from Cheney and other officials in June 2003 and relayed it to reporters. Libby’s defense team argued that Libby recalled his conversations to the best of his ability. Any inaccuracies he made to the FBI or a federal grand jury were the result of a faulty memory, attorneys said.

    U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered a pre-sentencing report be completed by May 15. Judges use such reports to help determine sentences.

    Libby faced two counts of perjury, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said he discussed Plame’s name with reporters and, fearing prosecution, made up a story to make those discussions seem innocuous.

    Key to several charges were Libby’s recollections of conversations he had with Tim Russert of NBC’s “Meet the Press” and former Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.

    Following are the individual charges and their corresponding verdicts:

    Obstruction of justice: GUILTY
    False statements to FBI investigators (Russert conversation): GUILTY
    False statement to FBI investigators (Cooper conversation): NOT GUILTY
    Perjury to the grand jury (Russert conversation): GUILTY
    Perjury to the grand jury (Cooper conversation): GUILTY
     
  3. gifford1967

    gifford1967 Member
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    It's a good day when even people at the highest levels of government are held accountable for their actions. There are many other other governments or periods in time,when a person like Libby would have punished for his lies in service to power. It is to our system's credit that this can happen here.

    And Patrick Fitzgerald deserves a huge amount of respect for pursuing this case so diligently and without a bunch of self-promoting bs.

    Good on him.


    That said, I think it is very likely that Libby will be pardoned. But that won't change the fact from now on he will always be a convicted felon scumbag.
     
  4. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Looks like Fitz is done!

    Oh well --

    Fitzgerald: No further investigation planned

    In a lengthy press conference with reporters after the announcement of four guilty verdicts, federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that he did not expect the results of the trial of former White House advsier I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to result in further investigations or charges.

    http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Fitzgerald_No_further_investigation_planned_0306.html
     
  5. No Worries

    No Worries Member

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    If Libby can appeal until Decemeber of 2008, he will never set foot in jail. Time for the lawyers to earn their money.
     
  6. weslinder

    weslinder Member

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    Based on the questions that jurors asked during this trial, (i.e. What is the definition of reasonable doubt?) Libby will get another trial. If, by then, the prosecution has figured out what actually happened, they'll get a conviction again.

    This was just like the Michael Jackson case. Smoke everywhere, but the prosecutor never really could show us the fire.
     
  7. basso

    basso Member
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    my sentiments pretty much...

    [rquoter]Libby Guilty, Cheney Gets 30 Years, Bush Impeached

    (2007-03-06) — Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, convicted today of four counts of lying to federal investigators about a law that he didn’t break, said he feels “very badly” that Vice President Dick Cheney now faces up to 30 years in federal prison, and President George Bush will be impeached.

    “I know that this case wasn’t about me, or even about Valerie Plame,” said Mr. Libby, “so I don’t take it personally. But Dick Cheney and George Bush are fine men and I hate to see them suffer.”

    Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald celebrated the jury’s verdict as a “vindication of the American legal system.”

    “It’s a good lesson to our children that we are a nation of laws,” said Mr. Fitzgerald, “and when serious charges are made about laws that haven’t been broken by high-ranking officials, justice demands that someone be convicted of something, and that someone goes to jail.”

    Mr. Fitzgerald, asked what he would do now that the trial is over, said, “I’m going to Disney World to give Snow White an opportunity to perjure herself.[/rquoter]
     
  8. FranchiseBlade

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    That was actually humorous. I don't agree or think it is accurate, but I can see the humor in the piece.
     
  9. gifford1967

    gifford1967 Member
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    scoot scoot scoot over to FreeRepublic. You'll find plenty of like-minded wingnuts that pretend they don't understand why perjury and obstruction of justice are serious crimes when investigating the outing of undercover CIA agents.
     
  10. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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  11. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    A juror speaks --


    At some point, the jury began to feel like they were deliberating on charges for the wrong man.

    "What are we doing with this guy? Where's Rove? Were are these other bad guys," he said. "It seemed like Libby was the fall guy."

    He added, "Some jurors commented 'this sucks' for Libby."

    According to Collins, the jury believed that the former White House aide was "tasked by Vice President Dick Cheney to talk to reporters" about Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.


    http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Juror_says_Libby_seemed_like_fall_0306.html
     
  12. basso

    basso Member
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    unfortunately, Fitz already knew who leaked Plame, Armitage and Fleisher, so what we actually have is perjury regarding an act that may not be a crime, and for which no one will be charged. seems pretty pointless to me. but i do agree, that if scooter lied to the GJ/FBI, that it's a serious matter. just don't think it merited all the money, time, and ink that's been spilled on the case.

    ultimately, it appears the jury convicted Libby as a proxy for his boss and rove. they couldn't convict cheney, so they took what they could get. you go to war with the dick you have, i suppose.
     
  13. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Scooter is a great prison name don't you think?
     
  14. basso

    basso Member
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    underscores my point above. it wasn't about libby. walton, IMHO, was pathetic, and allowed fitz to "cloud" cheney in the juror's mind, w/o out formally charging him.

    Walton=Ito
     
  15. BMoney

    BMoney Member

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    Yeah, except this prosecutor got a conviction.
     
  16. thegary

    thegary Member

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  17. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Fitzgerald seems to agree with you.

     
  18. No Worries

    No Worries Member

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    Fitzgerald: No further investigation planned

    IIRC Wilson will be on Larry King tonight. I wonder what he will have to say wrt Cheney and Rove (and anybody else directly involved in the leak) on why Fitz did not go after them.
     
  19. rimrocker

    rimrocker Member

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    Rule of law.
     
  20. rimrocker

    rimrocker Member

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    White House Doesn’t Rule Out Pardon for Libby

    The White House said it wouldn’t comment on the Libby case.

    Well, okay, maybe just a little.

    Notably, the administration refused to rule out a pardon for the former senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, convicted today of perjury and obstruction of justice. At a lively daily briefing for reporters, spokeswoman Dana Perino said in response to questions that “there’s a process in place for all Americans if they want to receive a pardon from a president.” She added that she wasn’t characterizing Libby’s prospects of getting clemency if he eventually does apply. “I don’t think that speculating on a wildly hypothetical situation at this time is appropriate,” she said.

    Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada had immediately called for President Bush to pledge that he wouldn’t pardon Libby, who now faces a prison term. Some legal observers thought Libby put himself on a track to ask for a pardon by not calling Cheney as a witness or rehashing many potentially embarrassing or incriminating events.

    Perino also described Bush’s whereabouts when the verdict was announced (he was in the Oval Office with Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and senior adviser Dan Bartlett) as well as his reaction (sadness for Libby and his family). She added that the president respected the jury verdict. In response to questions, she also disagreed with the suggestion that the verdict reflected a culture of corruption in the administration or a cloud on the vice president’s office. And she acknowledged that it can be “frustrating” to go through such a lengthy investigation into “unpleasant” issues.

    She initially said it was appropriate for Reid to make his comments about the verdict, but when asked why it then wasn’t appropriate for the White House to comment, too, she said she wasn’t “going to make a judgment on Sen. Reid.”

    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/03/06/white-house-doesn’t-rule-out-pardon-for-libby/
     

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