Did Libby Obstruct Justice?
Did Libby Obstruct Justice?
The New York Times published two lengthy pieces on the CIA leak scandal – one personal account by reporter Judith Miller and one investigative piece by staff. For two pieces that comprise over 8700 words, there isn’t much useful information conveyed.
One thing did stick out: both pieces suggest that Scooter Libby, the Vice President’s chief of staff, may have engaged in obstruction of justice.
In 2004, according to an account by Miller, Libby’s lawyer Joseph Tate sought assurances that Miller’s testimony would exonerate Libby:
According to Ms. Miller, this was what [Miller's attorney Floyd] Abrams told her about his conversation with Mr. Tate: “He was pressing about what you would say. When I wouldn’t give him an assurance that you would exonerate Libby, if you were to cooperate, he then immediately gave me this, ‘Don’t go there, or, we don’t want you there.’ ”
Mr. Abrams said: “On more than one occasion, Mr. Tate asked me for a recitation of what Ms. Miller would say. I did not provide one.”
Tate denies the conversation ever occurred. Miller writes in her own article that the letter she received from Libby last month could be perceived as an effort to manipulate her testimony:
Mr. Fitzgerald asked me to read the final three paragraphs aloud to the grand jury. “The public report of every other reporter’s testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Ms. Plame’s name or identity with me,” Mr. Libby wrote.
The prosecutor asked my reaction to those words. I replied that this portion of the letter had surprised me because it might be perceived as an effort by Mr. Libby to suggest that I, too, would say we had not discussed Ms. Plame’s identity. Yet my notes suggested that we had discussed her job.
The Financial Times reported last week that “speculation is increasing that Mr Fitzgerald may be considering other charges, such as perjury or obstruction of justice.” Looks like that speculation may be well-founded.
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The Libby remark is very frightening.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:39 pmSounds to me like a whole bunch-o-folks who know'd 'bout Plame but Bush aint done nuthin'.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:43 pmFiring squads.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:49 pmBush said he "wanted to go beyond Iraq in dealing with WMD proliferation, mentioning in particular Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan", according to a note of a telephone conversation between the two men on January 30 2003.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:49 pmCorruption at it's best everyone! Sit back and enjoy the disintegration of the radical republican right, the neocons! Then we can get this country back on track by totally discrediting these foolish fantasizers.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:52 pm#5 Nigel Elliot: PNAC getting desperate.
October 15th, 2005 at 8:53 pmAt the very least, Libby seems to be acting in bad faith with his ultimate boss, Dubya, who ordered all to cooperate and release reporters to do so as well.
He has to answer to this. Or the next time Bush or Cheney answer questions they have to.
Of course, Scott McClellan could also be whacked about over this, but he's a programmed droid.
Here's the question, regardless of the outcome of the grand jury, is it okay that Libby didn't follow orders?
Put them in a box. I love it, they either fire Libby or call Miller and Abrams liars. Not a good choice.
Ha!
New on EWM, you won't believe this: DeLay Releases “Earle’s Gone Wild†Video
October 15th, 2005 at 9:26 pmI discussed the possibility of obstruction with a poster the other day. My point was that Libby's manipulative use of his waiver prevented Fitzgerald from getting testimony from Miller. Looks like I did pretty good for an armchair lawyer.
I'm positive that Libby will be indicted for obstruction.
October 15th, 2005 at 9:44 pmThe umpires want Chicago to win. It's fixed.
October 15th, 2005 at 9:44 pmIf, Tate, Libby's lawyer assisted Libby in instructing Miller on how Libby would like her to testify, Tate should be in trouble too.
October 15th, 2005 at 10:01 pmGo White Sox! If a catcher does not understand that when an umpire does not say "your out" it means the ball is still live then he should be kicked off of the team.
October 15th, 2005 at 10:03 pmTate is in trouble Alvord, thats why he's hiding.
October 15th, 2005 at 10:05 pmJudy Miller - Obstruction of Justice
Judy Miller talks about what she told the grand jury investigating the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, covert CIA agent: My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room - New York Times. She is clearly describing...
October 15th, 2005 at 10:07 pmI think Libby is toast. Miller should be, but she'll be a millionaire when it's all over:
http://greyhairsblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/what-hellmy-thoughts-too.html
October 15th, 2005 at 10:31 pmWhat about when an umpire misses the tag at first on the attepted steal? What about when the home plate ump misses the catcher's glove encroaching the batter? Sheesh!
October 15th, 2005 at 10:44 pm#10
The Officials in the USC/Notre Dame found it wasn't enough to wear a crucifix around their necks, rosary beads in their pockets, and cross themselves every time they threw a penalty flag. They tried but the Constitution won out. There is truly a separation between the church and football. DUHbya's intelligent designer ignored ND's play book.
Click on Clyde.
October 15th, 2005 at 10:49 pmJudd,
Regarding the second item...
The quote offered by Miller and the NYT is deliberately misleading because it chops off the critical, second half of Libby's sentence. I'm no Libby defender, but on this specific occasion they are misleading readers. I've discussed it here:
October 15th, 2005 at 11:27 pmhttp://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005732.php
Libby's an intermediate catch, I want Rove!
I want to see pictures of him wearimg prison jumpsuites. I want to see him share a jailcell w/ Tom DeLay.
In the meantime, I'll just do my part for the progressive universe. Paradise is only Cheney's resignation quickly answered by bush43's similar.
I can always wish, can't I?
October 15th, 2005 at 11:43 pmMiller's latest CYA attempt is laughable. How much more useful would it have been if she'd stepped up sooner, while her memories of the incidents were still fresh? But NOW, two years later, she can duck giving the prosecutor anything indictable by just "consulting her notes". While she gives a spirited defense of the Admin's actions, two words suspiciously absent from this pseudo-journalist's belated account tell the real story. The "aluminum tubes" which our little "Times WMD Expert" forgot to mention - and which she eagerly pimped - was a claim the CIA was attempting to shoot down (along with the "drones of death"). THAT discredited claim was pushed by her friends and sources in the White House Iraq Group.
October 15th, 2005 at 11:57 pmScooter is hardly Robibson Crusoe on this one. As Paddy Fitzgerald reaches for his shillelagh, my innards have begun to tingle. This is not a good time for recovering political junkies. I now run, from a sedentary position, with the pack of bloggers who have sniffed blood in the air. 'Tis for WHIG blood we bay. We are all over cyberspace like bull ants swarming roadkill. We want every which angle and we want it now. A little taste is never enough. A cyber-cafe is a safe injecting room. Boss Blog is the croaker.
October 16th, 2005 at 12:01 am#19 Ryan, I, too, was suspicious of the recent Al Qaeda letter, believing it to be another convenient distraction.
October 16th, 2005 at 12:02 amI have never forgotten in the early days after 9/11 the Govt. said they wuld engage in "disinformation" to throw off the enemy. They were pressured not to do so and they acquiesced -- or so they said; actually, they have continued to use disinformation against us - their enemy!
As for the forged Niger documents that started the Niger claim in the first place, I have been wracking my brain to recall where I read a logical connection of dots in our govt. leading to a conclusion that we may have forged it ourselves and had it "placed" in the Italian foreign service. Do you have a link you can direct me to about that forged Niger document. The MSM seems to have spent all their efforts focused on Plame and let this aspect fade away.
Libby surely is going down, but doesn't this make Tate guilty too?
October 16th, 2005 at 12:10 amThat's great -- I'm happy, but I want Rove, Cheney, Card, Gonzales, Hadley, Rice, Hughes, and a few others to go down with him.
Oh, and of course, Bushie!
October 16th, 2005 at 12:11 amAlthough it would be tempting to see him try to run the White House himself.
Thanks, Ryan. It's late now, but I will read it tomorrow.
October 16th, 2005 at 1:27 amDoesn't President Bush kniow that the "Pen is mightier than the Sword" Does the end justify the means? That is why I am against the war in Iraq. We are killing many innocent Iraq civilians with our bombs in the name of Democracy. Is it worth it? I don't think so.
October 16th, 2005 at 8:23 amThen there's the mysterious sniper-ing of the Italian Secret Service agent guarding that female journalist as she was making her way to safety. Who was the intended target: her or him?
The Italian (BCCI corruption) and British (David Kelly "suicide") govts are also implicated in Bushco's lies, resulting in murders both small-scale and grand.
NOTHING will stop them from trying to hang onto power.
And can't you hear Bush now, during Saddam's trial? "Now see, we got rid of this dictator. He killed his own people, and now they are free, with a Constitution and everything. They have freedoms. And I'm proud of our troops, whatever others might think of them. They are bringing peace to Iraq. And they will continue to do so, fighting terrorism and terrorists and others who want to harm and kill us."
October 16th, 2005 at 8:46 amWHIG --- what an unfortunate acronym! These creeps are Tories, not Whigs, as of old.
As for the "Firing squads" comment above---too good for them. Roll out the guillotine.
October 16th, 2005 at 9:09 amHow could Miller not know how to spell Plame didn`t she work with her?.And didn`t she push the lies about w.m.d.`s.
October 16th, 2005 at 10:50 amAre chiefs of staff entitled to secret CIA info? That seems to me to be the main question...
October 16th, 2005 at 10:54 amYes Romelee, Miller is guilty as sin.
Average, everybody on Airforce1 saw the memo about the Plame outing. Were they entitled to it? Thats not the question..the fact is they did see it and all on board had knowledge.
October 16th, 2005 at 11:32 amRyan and Marie, the Al Queada letter was a fake. Luckily only the sissy's of this country are falling for it. They're hiding under their beds at this very moment. It's a good place for them to be.
October 16th, 2005 at 11:34 amI would rather see Fitzgerald indict the whole lot of them with Conspiracy.
Conspiracy charges carry much stiffer sentences, including and up to a Life sentence.
But, in the end, Bush will just pardon all his cronies.
October 16th, 2005 at 12:27 pm[...] UPDATE Sun, 10/16/05 09:26 - The firing squad seems to be turning their rifles towards Lewis “Scooter” Libby based on the new information. [...]
October 16th, 2005 at 12:31 pmThe organized traitors in this administration, will do anything, to hold on to power. We demand unpresidented security for Mr. Fitzgerald. Pull them all out, we need a general cleansing of our country.
October 16th, 2005 at 12:39 pmplunger - your screed is too long. You mean well, but shorten it if you want folks to read it. & lighten up w/ the zionist conspiracy stuff. Conspiracies abound. No need to act like jewish ones are the only/or original ones, makes you sound kinda racist.
October 16th, 2005 at 2:22 pmkindness,
The Zionists influence of this administration is a 'conspiracy' theory. The NeoCons are heavily laden with rightwing zionists - and much of the intelligence supplied in order to justify the attack on Iraq (and now Iran) comes from the Israelis. You can ignore these facts as much as you want - but they are WELL established. It's only a conspiracy theory until it's proven, then it's a conspiracy!
As for being 'racist', being against radical zionism is no more racist than being against radical islam. Do you believe opposing radical islam is racist? If not, then you're a hypocrite!
Radical Zionism is as much of a threat to the world as radical islam and radical christianity. They are all RADICALISM, and frankly do not represent the traditional values of either of those religions in their best sense. They are a hijacked and radical set of movements that are real and dangerous. If you believe that radical Zionism "Is Judaism", then that's your ignorance - but don't slander others with calls of racism because they do not accept a radical agenda as reasonable or moral! It's not fitting, not just and simply NOT ACCURATE!
October 16th, 2005 at 5:56 pmSusan,
Yeah, I figured it was a fake, the timing was too convenient 'poll wise'. I think it's funny how embarrassing it must be for MightyManWhore who kept posting it like a religious document. (s)He's so easily duped! No wonder (s)He's a republican! Bahaha, how sad for Him/Her/It!
October 16th, 2005 at 5:58 pmSo Susan,
Last time a fake document like this surfaced to criticize Bush, they had Rather's head. Why aren't they asking for the head of someone in the government or Faux News for printing such an obvious fake? I mean, wasn't it them that kept saying that there's no room in journalism for this kind of sloppy and biased news? Oh wait - I almost forgot what utter stupid hypocrites republicans all are. Never mind...
October 16th, 2005 at 5:59 pmRather did possess a fake document but the contents were accurate...hey where is fake but accurate? Is he hiding under the bed with the hermaphrodite?
Ryan, at this point I don't believe anything this administration tells us.
Check this out. I use logic in this statement.
The amount of Iraqi's that voted on the constitution referendum is bogus.
Supposedly over one half (15 million) of Iraqi's went to the polls.
Which leaves those who didn't go to the polls.
One quarter are children and not eligible.
One quarter didn't vote.
Our govt is trying to convince us that all but one quarter of eligible voters in Iraq went to the polls. They accomplished something the U.S. has never accomplished. They accomplished this with threat of being blown to bits.
Uh, huh.....
October 16th, 2005 at 9:37 pmRyan - well you are impassioned about it eh? I think the bushco relationship with the Saudi's is more influential to world events, including Osama, Saddam, Al Queda than "radical" zionism.
I also fear the neocons who are apocolyptic in their support of Israel more than zionists, because zionists don't want the middle east to end up in 1 big mushroom clould. The apocolyptics do as they think that would usher in the return of their "savior". Also they outnumber the vanilla zionists.
Lastly, as a progressive, I support full rights for EVERYONE in and from the ME including ALL the countries there. Do I think that the Christian, Bedouin & Muslims are second class citizens in Israel? Yes they are. I wish they were not & support efforts to allow the other dispora's the same rights as the Jewish ones. ie - to be able to return to and live peaceably in their ancestral homeland with the same rights.
That is considerably different than your take, which I might say is somewhat racist. I don't really care what you think of me, but you have to live by your words here, that's all we got to go on. Peace out dude. Lennon was right.
October 17th, 2005 at 11:19 amKindness,
The NeoCons are largely right wing jewish zionists, and they share the same vision as many orthodox do in Israel. If not the full majority, then a substantial portion of israelis are still very moderate, and aren't as crazy as either the american or israeli right wing zionists are - both those groups are highly dangerous in both of our countries! Most israelis however feel frustrated and angry at the arab world, and are I think too close to the situation to always react rationally. I'm not faulting them so much as explaining it - I frankly can understand how both sides could feel frustrated.
This doesn't make me racist - it makes me a realist! The fact is the uber zionist who believe the messiah is gonna come with a united israel all believe in this as a necessary step to the culmination of their religion(s). Those people are somewhat fringe, but unfortunately have too much power in BOTH countries!
October 17th, 2005 at 6:47 pm