Scooter's hard blackmail: visavis R.Cheney

[Shanet Clark]

Members: an interesting case of counter intelligence affirmative action

for monsieur Libby////////

by Pete Yost Oct 6

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff intends to load up his criminal trial with information about nine national security matters, the names of foreign leaders and details about various terrorist groups, say court filings in the Valerie Plame leak case.

The papers filed this week hint at what has been taking place behind closed doors as Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald tries to limit the amount of classified data that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is permitted to use at his trial in January.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton is asking whether classified evidence would overlap Libby's likely trial testimony. Libby's lawyers have already said he will take the witness stand to deny lying to the FBI in its investigation of the Plame leak.

Even if prosecutors agreed ahead of time about the importance of "the nine national security matters" he wants to disclose, Libby would be entitled to introduce additional evidence, his lawyers wrote.

In court documents, prosecutors argued that it would be "unnecessarily wasteful of time" to allow Libby to present "names of foreign leaders or government officials of other countries, or the names and histories of various terrorist groups."

The danger for prosecutors is that the sheer volume and extreme sensitivity of classified information Libby wants to introduce could scuttle the trial.

Once the judge identifies classified information Libby is entitled to present in order to get a fair trial, U.S. intelligence agencies must rule on whether the secrets can be declassified. The case would collapse if the intelligence agencies refuse to declassify the information.

Libby is charged with five felony counts of perjury, obstruction and making false statements to the FBI.

He is accused of lying about how he learned of Plame's CIA employment and what he told reporters about her when her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was accusing the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to help sell the public on waging war against Iraq.

Libby plans to use what his lawyers call "a memory defense" and he must be allowed to demonstrate how busy he was, his attorneys say.

Any incorrect information the former White House aide gave investigators about his conversations with reporters was due to "the crush of Mr. Libby's duties," his lawyers said. Libby's main assertion in his statements to investigators was that he learned about the CIA identity of Wilson's wife from reporters.

Prosecutors say there is no dispute that Libby was busy, but that he should not be allowed at the trial to describe so much classified information _ "as if each particular item overwhelmed his ability to remember and to not fabricate other conversations."

Fitzgerald wrote that Libby's proposals for introducing classified information are "so extraordinary both in breadth ... and in depth" that the evidence takes on "a misleading aura, is confusing" if presented to a jury.

developed...........

[Thomas Graves]

Members: an interesting case of counter intelligence affirmative action

for monsieur Libby////////

by Pete Yost Oct 6

"... Libby plans to use what his lawyers call "a memory defense" and he must be allowed to demonstrate how busy he was, his attorneys say.

Any incorrect information the former White House aide gave investigators about his conversations with reporters was due to "the crush of Mr. Libby's duties," his lawyers said. ..."

developed...........

___________________________________________

Causes one to wonder why Libby didn't just say to the reporters, "Gosh, I don't remember guys, I've been really really busy recently. (Or maybe even, "No comment.") ?? LOL

--Thomas

___________________________________________

Edited October 7, 2006 by Thomas Graves

[Dawn Meredith]

I think it likely the idea is to ask for so much 'classified' materials that the judge will eventually have to rule the case can't go on for 'national insecurity' reasons...this ploy has been sucessfully used several times recently.

They called Reagan the teflon president but it seems these bastards can get away with anything.

Disgustingly scary times, these.

Dawn

[Brendan Slattery]

Let's call this the "sore loser" thread of the day. You couldn't get Rove, Cheney or Bush, so you had to settle for a pipsqueak like Libby. It is to laugh. Presumably, the moonbats who believe that Cheney was orchestrating the "Get Joe" conspiracy will also believe that Libby was ordered to avoid including her in his notes. LOL. When will you dopes realize that partisan hack Joe Wilson is the real villain?

Washingon Post:

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame’s CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming — falsely, as it turned out — that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush’s closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It’s unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

[Robert Charles-Dunne]

Let's call this the "sore loser" thread of the day.

Well, I guess we'll see how sore a loser you are after the mid-terms. Things aren't exactly looking rosy for you at the moment, are they?

[Dawn Meredith]

[quote name='Robert Charles-Dunne' date='Oct 9 2006, 10:09 AM' post='77245']

Let's call this the "sore loser" thread of the day.

Well, I guess we'll see how sore a loser you are after the mid-terms. Things aren't exactly looking rosy for you at the moment, are they?

Great post Robert. Of course with all the "problems" with electronic voting the Republicans can always just steal the election, in states where they are behind.

On Foley though, I don't think he should have resigned. I learned yesterday that the "boy" in question is 18. That is two consenting adults in my opinion. I was equally bored with the Clinton nonsense, all the money that was wasted over a damn b*** J**. Ken Starr was the real prev. Probably jealous that the ladies like Bill.

We need to be focussing on the real wrongs -the huge deficit, the illegal war, that the administration and buddies want to blend US, Canada and Mexico. One country. And all these nukes. W is nuts enough to use one on someone. We need to get these people out of office. We cannot afford two more years of these neo-cons.

Dawn

[Michael Hogan]

We need to get these people out of office. We cannot afford two more years of these neo-cons.

The Democrats cannot afford any complacency, even in the light of recent events. A lot can happen in the next four weeks. Election night promises to be interesting, to say the least.

[Shanet Clark]

good stuff..............

Peter caught my drift, this is a sure fire defense,

any intelligence stuff trumps the fair and speedy trial nowadays.....

[John Simkin]

The biggest US political court case for decades opened in Washington yesterday when Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff to vice-president Dick Cheney, went on trial for perjury. The trial in the district court, expected to last about six weeks, will focus on whether he lied over a CIA leak scandal. But it will examine more broadly the events that led the Bush administration to invade Iraq in 2003. Witnesses are likely to include Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.

[John Simkin]

In this article the author shows the links between the death of David Kelly, Valerie Plame, Joseph Wilson and Haliburton:

http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/03/why-plamegate.html

1. Plame worked for a CIA unit tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction and the A.Q. Khan network, which sold nuclear secrets and materials to "rogue" nations.

2. Cheney knew all about Khan in 1989 and did nothing to stop him.

3. Cheney's company, Haliburton, received a hefty fine in 1995 for selling dual-use nuclear equipment to Libya, then considered the most roguish of rogue nations. This scam would have brought Haliburton into close contact with the Khan network.

4. A Khan associate named B.S.A. Tahir, based in Dubai, was helping to supply centrifuge equipment to Libya. (Dubai front companies are used to ship American goods to "forbidden" countries.) Tahir works for a business concern called the Scomi Group. Scomi links up with Haliburton via a German concern called Cognis. The exact nature of these linkages are complex. (If you really must know all the details, go here and re-read the middle section until your eyes explode.)

5. David Kelly, the British scientist who acted as a weapons inspector in Iraq, warned of "dark actors" and predicted that he would 'probably be found dead in the woods.' On July 17, 2003, that is precisely what happened. Many people believe that he was murdered.

6. Valerie Plame was outed just a few days before Kelly died or (more likely) was killed.

7. Journalist Judith Miller of the New York Times was used by the OVP to spread disinformation. Judith Miller was also close to Kelly; she had used him as a source for an earlier book on germ warfare.

8. When the A.Q. Khan nuclear network was revealed to the public, Khan received no punishment from the Pakistani government -- and the White House did not protest.

[John Simkin]

Scooter Libby faces a total of up to 25 years in prison. Naturally, Libby's lawyers will appeal. Even if the appeal fails Bush will do what his father did and pardon all those who have been convicted of any crimes on behalf of the administration.

In this video, Howard Dean connects the dots between Libby, Cheney, the Bush Administration, the Iraq War, Walter Reed, intelligence deception, politicking rather than caring about the American people, etc etc...

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/48877/

[Ed O'Hagan]

Another interesting video of current vintage:

[John Simkin]

Scooter Libby faces a total of up to 25 years in prison. Naturally, Libby's lawyers will appeal. Even if the appeal fails Bush will do what his father did and pardon all those who have been convicted of any crimes on behalf of the administration.

I get no pleasure from being right. Anyone who knows anything about the history of the Republican Party knows this is how they behave in power. George Bush has just followed the Republican tradition of pardoning someone who has information about their own corruption. How can this be acceptable in a democracy? I wonder if Tim Gratz has anything to say on this. Maybe even he will be unable to defend this scandalous behaviour.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6263616.stm

US President George W Bush has intervened to prevent Lewis Libby, a convicted former vice-presidential aide, from serving a prison term.

President Bush described as "excessive" the 30-month sentence Libby was facing for obstructing an inquiry into the leaking of a CIA agent's name.

Though no longer required to go to jail, Libby is still due to serve a period of probation and pay a fine.

A leading Democratic politician said Mr Bush's decision was "disgraceful".

History will judge the president "harshly" for using his power to benefit his vice president's former chief of staff, Harry Reid, the leading Democrat in the US Senate, said.

Lewis Libby, also known by his nickname, "Scooter" Libby, was found guilty in March of perjury and obstructing justice in a case connected to Washington's decision to invade Iraq.

His trial stemmed from the accusation that the White House had illegally made public the identity of a serving CIA agent, Valerie Plame, in an apparent effort to embarrass her husband.

Ms Plame's husband, a former US diplomat, had publicly criticised the basis for the invasion of Iraq.

Libby was found to have lied to investigators about conversations where he mentioned Ms Plame but he was not convicted of having directly leaked her name.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, two years of probation and a fine of $250,000 (£125,000).

Democratic leader Harry Reid said the conviction was "the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war".

Responding to President Bush's decision to commute Libby's sentence, he said: "Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker in the House of Representatives, said Mr Bush's decision showed he "condones criminal conduct".

The prosecutor who led the case against Libby, Patrick Fitzgerald, challenged Mr Bush's statement that the sentence was "excessive", saying "all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals".

Hours before President Bush's announcement, an appeals court had told Libby he could no longer delay going to jail.

The judge ruled that Libby could not remain free on bail while his lawyer appealed against the sentence.

President Bush said he had until now refrained from intervening in the case, waiting instead for the appeals process to take its course.

"But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision," he said.

"I respect the jury's verdict," President Bush said. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr Libby is excessive," Mr Bush said.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

This was only ever going to in end one of two ways, either, "Bush pardons Libby" or " Scooter dies of a sudden heart attack"

[Guest Gary Loughran]

This was only ever going to in end one of two ways, either, "Bush pardons Libby" or " Scooter dies of a sudden heart attack"

Aren't you forgetting the old plane crash trick?