Scooter Libby

That is what has happened to Scooter Libby. Of course the right wingers will downplay it as something so minor, even though they made it out as a capital offense when Clinton was disbarred.

Josh found this article that appeared in USA Today less than 2 weeks ago:

The Supreme Court made it harder Thursday for most defendants to challenge their federal prison sentences.

Appeals courts that review prison terms imposed by trial judges may deem them reasonable if they fall within federal sentencing guidelines adopted in the mid-1980s, the high court said.

The justices upheld a 33-month sentence given to Victor Rita for perjury and making false statements. Rita is a 25-year military veteran and former civilian federal employee.

The prison term falls within the guidelines range and was upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, posing the question of whether sentences within the guidelines ordinarily will be considered reasonable.

So will Bush also commute the sentence of this guy? The cases are very similar. Perhaps the White House needs to be asked about this today.

Not a pardon, but rather he commuted the sentence. That means no jail for Scooter. Bush says he felt the punishment was too harsh. So is that saying that lying about a blow job is a worse crime than lying under oath regarding the outing of a CIA agent? It appears so.

Bush just handed the Democrats a great campaign talking point. Only 19% of the people polled believe Libby should have been pardoned (and this is essentially the same). Let's see how Congress reacts to this now.

UPDATE #1

The Muckraker has Bush's statement up. I wonder why he just released a statement and chose not to address the nation? Sounds like the White House knew this would cause a shit storm.

Oh - and if you are ever called before the court, or involved in a legal investigation, go ahead and lie. George Bush sez it's ok. (end sarcasm).

UPDATE #2

Apparently the White House has turned off their phone lines. Sounds like they don't want to listen to the people they work for.

UPDATE #3:

Daily Kos has the reactions up of Democrats here and here. Sounds like it is time for Congress to open a full investigation into the leak and pull Cheney and Bush in to testify. Or is a blow job still more serious?

Scooter's motion to stay out of jail during appeals has been denied. This will definatley put pressure on Bush to pardon him, as he will be in jail within the next 4-6 weeks.

(And let's not get into jokes about pickles being in Libby after he arrives at the big house!)

Last night the subject of pardoning Scooter Libby was brought up at the GOP debate. All the conservatives said they would. Sam Brownback went as far as to say that Clinton only had his law license revoked for perjury. How quickly we forget the entire impeachment thing. (Oh and one other thing Sen. Brownback. If perjury was the only charge, Libby may have received a lighter sentence. There were 3 other charges and they all involved obstructing justice into a criminal investigation regarding our national security. Maybe to Republicans blow jobs are far more important than national security, but the Democrats feel national security trumps marital indiscretion.)

So now we have all the wingnuts beating their pardon chests harder and louder. From the National Review to William Kristol, the calls for pardon are getting louder. As matter of fact, today's Washington Post says that "pardon is a topic to sensitive to mention" in the West Wing:

The sentence imposed on former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby yesterday put President Bush in the position of making a decision he has tried to avoid for months: Trigger a fresh political storm by pardoning a convicted perjurer or let one of the early architects of his administration head to prison.

The prospect of a pardon has become so sensitive inside the West Wing that top aides have been kept out of the loop, and even Bush friends have been told not to bring it up with the president. In any debate, officials expect Vice President Cheney to favor a pardon, while other aides worry about the political consequences of stepping into a case that stems from the origins of the Iraq war and renewing questions about the truthfulness of the Bush administration.

The White House publicly sought to defer the matter again yesterday, saying that Bush is "not going to intervene" for now. But U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton indicated that he is not inclined to let Libby remain free pending appeals, which means the issue could confront Bush in a matter of weeks when, barring a judicial change of heart, Cheney's former chief of staff will have to trade his business suit for prison garb. Republicans inside and outside the administration said that would be the moment when Bush has to decide.

Just now breaking on MSNBC

Sounds like there is still a chance other charges could be filed down the road, but not highly likely. It is great to hear the facts straight from Fitzgerald's mouth. The one big fact - Valerie Plame's identity was being protected by the CIA. This is the one the wingnuts will try to spin.

Pleosi has released the following statement:

Today’s guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual.

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.

Harry Reid has also called on Bush to not pardon Libby:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today released the following statement on news that a jury has found Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice.

"I welcome the jury's verdict. It's about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics. Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney's role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct."

So now what? I say since Libby is guilty of trying to interfere with an investigation into the outing of a CIA agent and Bush wanted to know who leaked, Bush should demand further investigations. Of course that won't happen, so Bush is, in a sense, complicit.

That leads us to the obvious. It is time for serious congressional hearings into this matter. Dick Cheney must be forced to testify under oath before Congress. We are dealing with some of the highest crimes in the land here and they merit such attention.

Count 1 - Obstruction of Justice - GUILTY!
Count 2 - Perjury - GUILTY!
Count 3 - False Statement - Not Guilty!
Count 4 - Obstruction - Guilty!
Count 5- Perjury - Guilty

UPDATE:

Sentencing June 5th

Should know in about 20 minutes!

That is the latest piece by Froomkin in today's WaPo talking about the Libby trial:

There is a cloud over the vice president . . . And that cloud remains because this defendant obstructed justice," Fitzgerald said.

"There is a cloud over the White House. Don't you think the FBI and the grand jury and the American people are entitled to straight answers?" Fitzgerald asked the jury.

Libby, Fitzgerald continued, "stole the truth from the justice system."

This is a must read article that does a good job at summing the climax the month long trial. Marcy has done a great job at putting together a chronological list of Cheney's involvement and even said Fitzgerald is free to use it if he needs it to indict Cheney.

While the case of Scooter Libby is coming to a close, I got a feeling the entire Plame investigation is still far from over. The wingnuts have tried to say that the investigation ended when Fitzgerald announced his indictments against Libby, but Fitzgerald made it clear that this case was not closed and things could still come out, even in the trial.

Fitzgerald his the nail on the head by saying "Don't you think the FBI and the grand jury and the American people are entitled to straight answers?". Yes they do, but even more so, the families of the 3,100 plus soldiers that have died in Iraq deserve the truth. This case is about one of the key arguments for the Iraq war, an argument which has since been debunked. Perhaps it is time for the Democrats in Congress to put Cheney and Bush under oath and have them testify.

Today's New York Times has a great write up about Jane and the rest of the Libby bloggers over at Firedoglake.

The perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has drawn every major news organization in the country to the federal courthouse in Washington. But none has fielded a bigger team — or was more openly crushed by the defense decision this week not to put Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby on the stand — than Firedoglake.com.

After a day of updating the site, I finally had some time to catch up on the happenings of the day. One in particular really stuck out at me. The Associated Press has an article talking about Libby's defense, which says:

Three prominent journalists testified Monday that Bush administration officials volunteered leaks about a CIA operative, as I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's attorneys sought to suggest he was not responsible for exposing her.

(emphasis mine)

Here is my problem. I thought he was on trial for perjury. Why are they trying to defend him from the leak? My theory is that the defense is trying to give the prosecution bigger fish to fry in hopes that they will take their eyes off of Libby.

As you read the article you quickly realize there were others apparently involved in the leak. Ari Fleischer is one name that comes up (which we knew - he was given immunity). If you get a minute, give this article a reading and see what you think.