Where's the Outrage?

I thought that George W. Bush would surely grant I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby a full pardon.  Nope.

From TP:

Today is President Bush’s last full day in office, and according to Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff, he has decided not to pardon Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff Scooter Libby for his role in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity. The move has left many conservatives very disappointed:

“I’m flabbergasted,” said one influential Republican activist, who had raised the issue with White House aides, but who asked not to be identified criticizing the president. Ambassador Richard Carlson, the vice chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a neo-conservative think tank, added that he too was “shocked” at Bush’s denial of a pardon for Libby.

“George Bush has always prided himself on doing the right thing regardless of the polls or the pundits,” Carlson said. “Now he is leaving office with a shameful cloud over his head.”

The right-wing had been mounting a fierce campaign to secure a pardon for Libby. Fred Barnes wrote in the Weekly Standard that Libby necessitated a pardon because he was “an indirect victim” of Bush’s policies. And the Wall Street Journal editorial board claimed that Bush “owe[d] it” to Libby. In July 2007, Bush commuted Libby’s prison sentence.

Tags: Bush Administration, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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John Conyers of the House Judiciary committee would like to have a word with Scott McClellan. Unlike Sarah Taylor or many of the other former White House employees, Scott McClellan is willing and has agreed to testify before the committee. Now, this is big news. Keith Olbermann has the low down.

Tags: Countdown, Iraq, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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We have known about the President and Vice President’s web of lies which led up the war in Iraq for some time. The book Hubris, by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, does an excellent job of documenting what was wrong and why we knew them to be wrong. The Los Angeles Times runs a story today about the findings of the Senate intelligence committee. The article had to do with the difference between what the president and vice president said and what was actually known. These facts are in Hubris but it is the first time that a government committee has come to the same conclusion.

From LAT: Statements in dozens of prewar speeches and interviews created the impression that Baghdad and Al Qaeda had forged a partnership. But the report concludes that such assertions “were not substantiated by the intelligence” being shown to senior officials at the time.

Claims that Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta had met with an Iraqi agent in Prague, for example, were dubious from the beginning and subsequently discounted. The idea that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had provided chemical and biological weapons training to Al Qaeda hinged on intelligence from a source who soon was discredited.

Bush officials strayed even further from the evidence in suggesting that Hussein was prepared to provide weapons of mass destruction to Al Qaeda terrorist groups — a linchpin in the case for war.

In October 2002, for example, Bush warned in a key speech in Cincinnati that “secretly, and without fingerprints, [Hussein] could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.” The threat was repeated frequently in the run-up to war but was “contradicted by available intelligence information,” the committee says.

On post-war prospects, the report contrasts the rosy scenarios conjured by Cheney and others with more sober intelligence warnings that were being presented to senior officials.

Cheney’s prediction that U.S. forces would “be greeted as liberators” was at odds with reports from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, which warned nearly a year earlier that invading U.S. forces would face serious resistance from “the Baathists, the jihadists and Arab nationalists who oppose any U.S. occupation of Iraq.”

I interview Michael Isikoff about the Scooter Libby trial. I chat with David Corn about this important book. also.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Iraq, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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This is a rather long interview with Scott McClellan. For reasons that are unclear to me, the White House is really pushing back.

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As everyone knew when he left the White House, Scott McClellan was going to write a book. The main issue that the book had to deal with was McClellan standing up in front of the White House press corp, shortly after taking the job as president’s official liar spokesman, and stated that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with the leak of Valerie Plame’s name. Now, Scotty is coming clean. Everyone lied to him. The Vice President Cheney who wrote out the talking points. Karl Rove, Andy Card and I “Scooter” Libby lied to him. Most importantly, the President lied to him. This again puts president Bush in the thick of the CIA leak. Many progressives have suspected that Bush was involved from the beginning. Only later, did Cheney try to run interference for him.

One of the interesting questions, is why is this information coming out now? The McClellan’s book isn’t going to be released for another 12 -14 months. I’m sure that everything will become clear soon.

———–

From AP:

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recount the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby were “not involved” in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.

“There was one problem. It was not true,” McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Monday. “I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president’s chief of staff and the president himself.” (more…)

 

 Anatomy of a cover up? [5:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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Jon Stewart gives a pretty good interview.  Probably the best part of the interview was when she comments on Robert Novak.  She doesn’t say that he was a worthless neocon tool.  But she does say something about as good, “He has about as much credibility as this administration.”  I love it.

 

 TDS - Plame [6:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Katie Couric tried to portray the Wilsons are wreckless and bitter. What new information did Couric give us? Nothing. This was nothing more than at most a poor summary of what we already know. At least, it was a waste of time for the Wilson’s and the viewers. Where’s Mike Wallace, retired, Steve Kroft where is he? What about Bob Simon who was stationed overseas who had been captured during the first Gulf War? Instead we get Ms. Superficial asking questions like What happened when your name was leaked? Was the leak serious? The only stupid superficial question was wasn’t asked as what kind of handbag did you have with you? Maybe she did ask that question and it was edited out of the final version.

The only thing that was clear from this interview was that Valerie Wilson was an undercover CIA operative at the time she was outed by Robert Novak.

 

 Valerie Plame - 60 minutes [15:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Most informed Americans understand that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA operative. She was outed by Robert Novak because he wasn’t too bright. Yes, the Bush administration had feed her name to him (Richard Armitage didn’t really feed him her name but that’s a very long story). He had several warnings that intelligence reporters would have known what was up. Novak didn’t.

Anyway, so Valerie’s name is released. We all know the aftermath. She and her husband are smeared by the Right Wing. She does testify before Congress and clearly states that she was covert at the time of her outing. What I didn’t know what that Al Qaeda wanted to kill her. Larry Johnson, an ex-CIA agent, posted a story last night that Al Qaeda wanted to kill Valerie.

From Larry Johnson – In 2004 the FBI received intelligence that Al Qaeda hit teams were enroute to the United States to kill Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Valerie Plame. The FBI informed Valerie of this threat. This was just more “good” news piled on the fact that her intelligence career was in shambles, that intelligence assets she had recruited/managed were destroyed, and that she was unable to rebut publicly false and malicious smears of her character and reputation by a bunch of partisan Republican hacks. As the mother of two pre-school children, her first thoughts were about protecting her kids. She took the threat seriously and asked for help.

When the White House learned of these threats they sprung into action. They beefed up Secret Service protection for Vice President Cheney and provided security protection to Karl Rove. But they declined to do anything for Valerie. That was a CIA problem.

Johnson went on to note that the CIA didn’t do squat. Whatever happened to we protect our own? Oh, that’s the Army. What about we will not leave anyone behind? That’s the Marines. Shouldn’t the CIA have something similar? The Brad blog has some further information here. Still, I find this whole thing amazing.

Tags: Bush Administration, National Intelligence, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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I’m speechless at the gall of the Bush administration.

———

From CNN.com:

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by outed spy Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and other top Bush administration officials.

Plame had accused members of the Bush administration of leaking her identity. To knowingly disclose classified information to unauthorized recipients is a crime, and Plame’s position was classified.

U.S. District Judge John Bates said the lawsuit raises “important questions relating to the propriety of actions undertaken by our highest government officials.” But in a 41-page decision, he found Plame and her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, failed to show the case belongs in federal court. (more…)

 

 Countdown - Plame case [5:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Kinda of a confusing show.  In spite of this, we discuss NCLB and the Scooter Libby verdict.  We dispel many right wing myths. 

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 06-09-07 [49:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Just when you thought things would settle down so that we could step back and review the evidence, Libby pays his fine.  Bam.  He is done.  Which one of you can write a check for $250,000 and not have the check bounce?

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David Schuster does a very good job wrapping up all of the major events that have happened in the Scooter Libby trial. He covers all of the important issues. First, Scooter’s sentence wasn’t excessive to anyone who didn’t describe themselves as a personal friend of Scooter Libby’s or a neocon. Second, as I have mentioned before, Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA agent at the time of her outing. Third, since there was no underlying crime, Scooter should have never been prosecuted. If Scooter would not have lied then maybe Patrick Fitzgerald may have been able to assess if Intelligence Identities Protection Act had been violated.

Finally, I must say something about the craziness that is David Brooks. There was a time in which I thought that David Brooks was a thoughtful conservative. Lately, I have read some things that I have made me doubt my initial assessment. Yesterday, David Brooks decided to wrap up this “farce.” I’m not sure whether Mr. Brooks of the “liberal” NY Times has read anything about this case or has just listened to updates on Fox News. David spews all of the talking points facts be damned. O’Reilly and Hannity would be proud. David Corn, Washington Editor of The Nation, does a wonderful job of dissecting Brooks’ Op-Ed and pointing out factual errors, omissions and out right lies.

 

 Libby Trial summary [5:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Countdown, Media, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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From Countdown’s Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment:

… And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point and stabbed this nation in the back with it.

Were there any remaining lingering doubt otherwise, or any remaining lingering hope, it ended yesterday when Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence of one of his own staffers.

Did so even before the appeals process was complete; did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice; did so despite what James Madison—at the Constitutional Convention—said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes “advised by” that president; did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder: To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish—the President will keep you out of prison?

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental com-pact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens—the ones who did not cast votes for you. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party. And this is too important a time, Sir, to have a commander-in-chief who puts party over nation.

 

 Countdown - Special Comment [10:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Interesting that Schuster does not let Tucker get away with the common talking point that there was no underlying crime.

Oh and just to add fuel to the fire, Karl Rove’s security clearance has been renewed.   This is in spite of the fact that he leaked classified material to Robert Novak.

 

 Tucker - Schuster discuss Libby [4:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame were complete smeared by the Bush administration.  Keith has a very solid interview with Ambassador Wilson.  Olbermann ends the interview by reading Patrick Fitzgerald’s statement.

Please go to the Wilson’s web site and stay informed.

 

 Countdown - Joe Wilson [8:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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More outrage from the bloggosphere.  FireDogLake which has really covered this investigation for its earliest stages and several posts – here and here.  TPMMuckraker has also been on this story.  They have Cheney’s reaction here and they mention that convicted Alabama Governor Don Seigelman who was convicted of bribery by his political rival’s wife would like to get not Paris Hilton treatment but Scooter Libby treatment.

The Court of appeals started all of this craziness this morning when they rejected Scooter’s motion to stay out of jail pending appeal.

 

 Libby - No prison [4:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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WooHoo!! We knew it was coming. Dick Cheney was not going to see his cover, his shield, his condom, if you will, go to jail. I will have a ton more to say on this.

Bush who NEVER pardoned any of the folks on death row. Not one of the 154 people that were executed because he couldn’t find one thing wrong with their cases BUT Scooter Libby’s sentence was as he put it, excessive. I’m going to vomit.

It was a little murky before. Now, it is clear. In George Bush’s America, it is about privilege. It is not about justice. It about who you know. If you know the Vice President and the President, then you are able to do anything.

Update: Scooter will have NO consequences. He is labeled a felon for the time being. Bush hasn’t given Scooter a full pardon because the politics of that would be worse. I expect that Scooter will be given a full pardon before the end of Bush’ s term after the 2008 election. Scooters defense fund will pay the $250,000 fine. So, the bottom line – Scooter will have been forced to sit in a court room on uncomfortable chairs for several weeks straight. That’s it. No jail time. The fine is paid for. His record will be wiped clean at the end of Bush’s term. This comes from a man who claims to “respect” the rule of law.

Response from Patrick Fitzgerald’s office:

We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.

We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as “excessive.” The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.

Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process. (pdf here)

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I took 3 segments of MSNBC’s Countdown and cut out the fat. Alison Stewart begins with discussing General Pace’s issues. Peter Pace admits that he was let go today. Our good friend, Alberto Gonzales is still in hot water. This scandal will not go away. Finally, Libby’s attorneys are filing more papers in an attempt to try to keep Libby out of jail. Alison talks with Rachel Maddow of Air American about Scooter Libby.

 

 Countdown - WrapUp [8:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Iraq, US Attorneys, Valerie Plame by ecthompson
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The judge looks like he has been thoughtful and considered all of the information.  He does not think that the case will likely be reverse on appeal and I. Lewis Libby should go to jail.  Scooter Libby will have to report in 6 – 8 weeks. 

One of the things that many people have been saying was that Scooter Libby received a ridiculously harsh sentence.  Well, wasn’t that what Republicans wanted.  In the 80’s, a popular wave swept the country for harsher sentencing.  Republicans led this charge.  It is a Republican judge who was appointed by Bush, the nobler, who has sentenced Scooter.  I decided to look it up.  The average sentence from my crude research was 20 -22 months for perjury.  Scooter Libby was convicted for more than just  a single count of perjury but multiple counts and obstruction of justice.  (this article discusses the sentencing.)

 

 Countdown - Libby to jail [4:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Many Republicans including William Kristol, of the Weekly Standard, have been crying out for Scooter Libby pardon.  Why?  Because he was a Washington insider?  Because he was a high-ranking official in the Bush Administration?  I thought this was the party of law and order (pun intended).  Former Senator Fred Thompson was one of the architects have formed the committee to raise money for Scooter Libby’s defense.  The presidential hopeful has been an outspoken critic of this case.  He has clearly stated that Scooter Libby should not go to jail.

John Dean, former White House counsel, gives several reasons why President Bush may actually put himself in hot water by pardoning Scooter Libby.

I would be surprised if President Bush has learned from the mistakes of the past.  He is shown little or no capacity to learn from the past, in my humble opinion.

 

 Countdown - Pardon Libby, NOT [6:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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