Libby indicted - five counts

I *knew* that one of the best things about staring this thread would be the Felix post. My only (slight) dissapointment is his failure to once again use the phrase "scumbag Democrat DA" to descibe Fitzgerald. But I'll bet I won't have to wait too long. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Dude, you were on ignore in my prior incarnation, and you're on ignore now. Have a Merry Fitzmas!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Felix_Nietsche]

My only (slight) dissapointment is his failure to once again use the phrase "scumbag Democrat DA" to descibe Fitzgerald.
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I don't have a high opinion of most prosecutors/DAs. It seems it is the rare prosecutor that does not abuse his power. Like the old saying goes; 'Power corrupts..absolute power corrupts absolutely.' I wish the USA had some of the features of the English legal system where you could pay to have a privately financed prosecution. Giving the DAs a monopoly on this power is a mistake.

I think Rudy Giuliani was a scumbag DA. He indicted a bunch of stock brokers, had them arrested and handcuffed at work in front of there coworkers, AND........there was press that coincidently were present to video the whole scene. Oh yes....and these brokers were eventually no billed. Rudy G. loved having cameras around....

I think Patrick Fitz is a typical prosecutor. And I do NOT mean this as a compliment. He had to justify two years of spending tax payer money and he has FAILED to indict anyone on blowing Valerie Plames cover. End-of-Story. This can not be spinned away. He knows he does not have a case on the Valerie Plame matter yet he had to show something after two years. I would not call him a scumbag but I would call him a typical 'Rudy Giuianni' grandstanding DA..... I did not think it was appropriate or ethical of Fitz to publically lambast Libby for supposedly blowing Valerie Plame's cover when he did not even have the evidence to prosecute Libby for doing so. He should either INDICT or shutup.....

I fault him for the numerous press leaks around this case. The information that was leaked was information that only the DA or grand jury would know.

Ronnie Earle is a special case. Being a Texan I have been exposed to Earle's shenanigans for years in the local newspaper and yes, I consider him a scumbag partisan DA. I have a $1000 bet with another poster on the DeLay case and i feel VERY confident I will win the bet.

[bholdr]

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The crime is that we have government officials on both sides of the political spectrum spending an inordinate amount of time engaged in petty politics, partisan bickering, dirty tricks, cover-ups, scheming, and legal battles.

These people are stealing tax money by not earning their salaries, and by wasting the time of lawyers, judges, etc., who could be doing real work if they weren't tied up with this crap.

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very well said, but, how to fix it? ...cost of doing business, imo.

[bholdr]

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I wonder why, after 2 years, he can't either indite Rove or let him off the hook. As I understand it, he is keeping the investigation into Rove open, maybe even extending the Grand Jury. Perhaps Rove really is off the hook.

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he's continuing hoping scooter will flip and implicate bigger fish... rove, cheney, etc...

[richie]

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The Democratic party has been taken over by idiots. Typical Democrats are NOT represented by the party as it is today. It's a shame too, because I don't mind Democrats, I simply can't stand liberal/socialists.

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I would agree with this. I would also state that conservatives are NOT represented by the Republican party as it is today. I'm a conservative/libertarian, but this administration has clearly abandoned the conservative philosophy.

[richie]

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I heard several troubling statements by Patrick Fitz.
(1) He made a long speech implying that Libby blew Valerie Plame's cover....YET....he did not have the evidence to charge him for this. But this did not stop him from painting Libby as guilty of blowing her cover. I think this stinks of grandstanding and he was over-the-top in implying this when NO ONE has been indicted for doing so. If he had evidence that a law was broken about revealing a covert CIA agents cover, THEN INDICT SOMEONE FOR DOING SO. If you don’t have the evidence to indict (much less prove), then ethically Fitz should have kept his mouth shut.

(2) He lectured the press of the dangers of blowing the cover of a CLASSIFIED CIA agent and that this hurts us all. All CIA employees are classified but not all COVERT. The law that Libby was being invested for was blowing the cover of a COVERT CIA agent. I think Fitz was being a little cute with his language and deceptive. What he failed to say was that she was NO LONGER covert and therefore the law did not apply.

(3) After extensive investigation, Libby is being charged for a lying about a crime that he did not commit. To go one step further, Fitz could not even find enough evidence to determine if even if a crime of a revealing a covert agent was even committed. Fitz has spent two years of tax payer’s money and he was running up against a deadline of the grand jury being dismissed and at the last moment he makes these charges. Something is rotten in Denmark….

(4) He failed to give closure to the investigation but did concede that the bulk of the investigative work was complete. I suspect he will take a crack at Libby to see if he will rat out others to avoid an indictment. This will not happen.


I don't know whether Libby tried to deceive the grand jury/prosecution or not. What I do know is that Libby left a million dollar law practice to take a $100K govt job. I do know is VERY strange that he would deliberately perjure himself while giving notes to the investigators that contradicted himself. To believe that he did this intentionally is to believe that an experience lawyer who was well versed in the laws of perjury and obstruction of justice would:
(1) Perjure himself.
(2) Give notes to the prosecution that contracted his own testimony.

If I’m a smart successful lawyer that is going to perjure myself, I’m going to DESTROY MY PERSONAL NOTES that would contradict my sworn testimony. A more likely explanation is that his recollection of two-year-old conversations was faulty. JEEZ…..Don’t ask me about conversations that are TWO WEEKS old much less conversations that are two YEARS old.


Predictions:
*Libby that left a million dollar law practice to take a $100K govt job will be in court for the next several years.
*Karl Rove is pretty much exonerated of blowing the cover of a CIA agent. The standard of indicting someone is not high (HENCE the old joke that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich). Fitz conceded that the investigation portion is pretty much over but he will empanel another grand jury. He may think that he can persuade Libby to rat out others but I this will NOT happen.
*Libby is pissed. A faulty memory of conversations that are two years old will cost him a lot of time and money in court. He will no longer voluntarily cooperate with Fitz.
*The Dems will try to make political hay of this and as usually they will overplay their hand. Despite several attempts, Bush43 will not be affected. No one even heard of Libby before this. He is easily replaced.
*Indictments are a dime-a-dozen. Proving indictments are tough. Libby will get a smart defense attorney that will conduct a harsh cross examination and it will be revealed that certain members of the press will be caught lying to the grand jury (Judy Miller for one). The prosecution’s case will fall apart and Libby will be acquitted.
*Robert Novak source that started this feeding frenzy was neither Rove nor Libby. THIS WILL BE A HUGE REVELATION.

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WOW, I guess I didn't need to spend time listening to Sean Hannity today. I could've just read this post instead. Good job, Sean, er, Felix [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]