"Cheney's office at center of CIA leak indictment" -- Reuters article

[Matt Holcomb]

October 29th, 2005 2:41 pm

Cheney's office at center of CIA leak indictment

By James Vicini and Adam Entous / Reuters

WASHINGTON - The indictment of former top White House aide Lewis Libby in the CIA leak investigation will put Vice President Dick Cheney's office at the center of court proceedings, with the potential of a politically damaging trial for the beleaguered Bush administration.

Libby, who resigned on Friday as Cheney's chief of staff after being indicted for obstructing justice, perjury and lying, is expected to make his first court appearance in the next week or so for an arraignment.

The indictment means the next stage of the case will play out in open court, in contrast to the secret two-year grand jury investigation directed by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into the leak of a covert CIA operative's identity.

Libby's indictment represented the first criminal charges arising from the investigation, and Fitzgerald said the probe would continue. One key figure still under scrutiny is President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, lawyers involved in the case said.

At the arraignment, Libby, 55, who faces up to 30 years in prison, is expected to plead not guilty, and the judge in the case could set a trial date.

Lawyers involved in the case said Cheney himself and other top White House officials named in the indictment could be called as witnesses. A trial could expose the role played by Cheney's secretive office in seeking to discredit a leading critic of the intelligence used to justify the Iraq war.

"It's a horrible situation for the vice president. Libby has been so close to Cheney," said one of the lawyers involved in the case. "If there's one thing that's got to be open, it is a criminal trial and the vice president is a key witness."

Another lawyer said it is clear from the indictment that any trial would have to delve into the private conversations between Cheney and Libby about the CIA operative, Valerie Plame, and her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson. Wilson had challenged the administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

CONVERSATIONS WITH CHENEY AT ISSUE

The prosecutors will seek to prove that Libby's statements are lies by going through a very detailed chronology of the events that occurred in the vice president's office, including conversations with Cheney, one of the lawyers said.

"It has the potential to be politically damaging," the lawyer said. "What exactly were they doing in that office in their discussions about Wilson?"

According to the indictment, Libby learned from Cheney himself on June 12, 2003, that Wilson's wife worked in the counterproliferation division of the CIA.

The White House is already reeling from the mounting U.S. death toll from the Iraq war, the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and from the withdrawal of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, under fire from Bush's conservative power base.

The charges accused Libby of lying to FBI agents who interviewed him on October 14, 2003, and November 26, 2003, committing perjury while testifying under oath to the grand jury twice in March 2004, and engaging in obstruction of justice by impeding the grand jury's investigation.

Libby's lawyer, Joseph Tate, promised a vigorous defense to the charges. "As lawyers, we recognize that a person's recollection of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred," Tate said.

"This is especially true in the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government," he said.

Wilson's attorney has been considering whether to bring a civil lawsuit against Libby and any others who may have been involved in the leak of his wife's identity.

Looking ahead, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "At this point it's important that we don't prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial."

He added, "I think the special counsel indicated in his remarks he wanted to move as quickly as possible. I think all of us would like to see that happen."

[Mulhollanddose]

Sandy Berger steals top-secret documents, from the National Archives, incriminating to the Clinton Administration and Scooter Libby gets more attention...Media bias?

[Mulhollanddose]

My colleague Cliff May has already demonstrated the bankruptcy of the narrative the media relentlessly spouts for Bush-bashing public consumption: to wit, that Valerie Wilson, nee Plame, was identified as a covert CIA agent by the columnist Robert Novak, to whom she was compromised by an administration official. In fact, it appears Plame was first outed to the general public as a result of a consciously loaded and slyly hypothetical piece by the journalist David Corn. Corn's source appears to have been none other than Plame's own husband, former ambassador and current Democratic-party operative Joseph Wilson — that same pillar of national security rectitude whose notion of discretion, upon being dispatched by the CIA for a sensitive mission to Niger, was to write a highly public op-ed about his trip in the New York Times. This isn't news to the media; they have simply chosen not to report it.

NationalReview

[Rodeo]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
Sandy Berger steals top-secret documents, from the National Archives, incriminating to the Clinton Administration and Scooter Libby gets more attention...Media bias?

Yea, I heard there was some tomfoolery going on in the Grant administration too!

Dirty liberal media, concentrating on the vice president's chief of staff being indicted for leaking classified information and then lying about it! Damm them!

More stories about Sandy Berger! More stories about Sandy Berger!

[Matt Holcomb]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
Sandy Berger steals top-secret documents, from the National Archives, incriminating to the Clinton Administration and Scooter Libby gets more attention...Media bias?

Do you have any factual information to back up your assertion of bias? If you don't, then it's a pretty feeble attempt on your part to convince the gullible that there is a left-wing agenda to undermine the Bush administration via media bias.

Personally, I don't care how the media choose to portray things. The reality is that Libby has been indicted for obstructing justice, and that Cheney is more dangerous and reprehensible than all the world's terrorists combined.

[CamB]

Well Mul, if that's true (which is not possible to tell from the NR article, because it just makes an assertion and I can't be arsed trying to find the alleged article), it begs the question why Libby lied about it.

And generally, you still have to ask why it is acceptable for senior members of your Administration to smear and discredit through background talks to the press (who - if we believe you - are liberal and won't listen to anything in support of Bush anyway ) rather than publicly through legitimate channels?

It will be interesting to see if Libby is convicted.

Matt - when you say "Cheney is more dangerous and reprehensible than all the world's terrorists combined" you're sounding like a liberal version of Mul...

[Matt Holcomb]

Originally posted by CamB
Matt - when you say "Cheney is more dangerous and reprehensible than all the world's terrorists combined" you're sounding like a liberal version of Mul...

Well, Cam, I fervently believe that he is. And my opinion of him has nothing to do with my political leanings.

It is a moral opinion.

What is your opinion of him?

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by Rodeo
More stories about Sandy Berger! More stories about Sandy Berger!

Sandy who?

[CamB]

Same as Bush - they think what they're doing is right, and either don't recognise or don't care about the inherent selfishness or far reaching consequences of their actions.

I also think they're too optimistic and intolerent of dissent against them to a fault. Basically, I think they're working on an "end justifies the means" mentality, but that doesn't mean I think they're worse than terrorists.

[Shaun 84 Targa]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
Sandy Berger steals top-secret documents, from the National Archives, incriminating to the Clinton Administration and Scooter Libby gets more attention...Media bias?

hey Troll boy, do you type the Sandy Berger stuff each and every time or do you copy and past Flintstone style?

just wonderin.

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
hey Troll boy, do you type the Sandy Berger stuff each and every time or do you copy and past Flintstone style?

just wonderin.

Which way irritates you more?

[Matt Holcomb]

Originally posted by CamB
Same as Bush - they think what they're doing is right, and either don't recognise or don't care about the inherent selfishness or far reaching consequences of their actions.

I also think they're too optimistic and intolerent of dissent against them to a fault. Basically, I think they're working on an "end justifies the means" mentality, but that doesn't mean I think they're worse than terrorists.

Cam,

Cheney's ulterior motives, one of which is to secure the long-term future of Halliburton and other corporations that exist thanks to the military-industrial complex, are breeding terrorists. He's not at all interested in curbing acts of terrorism and creating a safer world for future generations.

Cheney is happy for U.S. soldiers -- and innocent civilians of the world -- to die needlessly for the greater good of corporate America. If he harbours imperialist motives, then they would not be rooted in misplaced idealism, but, rather, in the desire to secure long-term contracts -- to make fat cats even fatter.

Look, we’re talking about an unhealthy man, who, for over twenty years, has lived with the image of Death, scythe in hand, constantly in his peripheral vision. But I don’t think he fears death now. So when an aide walks into his office and tells him that another battalion of U.S. soldier has been slain in Iraq (if he’s told at all), he probably just shrugs and says, “oh well”.

When someone like that wields the sort of power that Cheney does, well, it’s cause for the same level of fear that one must reserve for barbarous terrorists who, like Cheney, do not fear death.

[speeder]

Originally posted by Matt Holcomb
Cam,

Cheney's ulterior motives, one of which is to secure the long-term future of Halliburton and other corporations that exist thanks to the military-industrial complex, are breeding terrorists. He's not at all interested in curbing acts of terrorism and creating a safer world for future generations.

Cheney is happy for U.S. soldiers -- and innocent civilians of the world -- to die needlessly for the greater good of corporate America. If he harbours imperialist motives, then they would not be rooted in misplaced idealism, but, rather, in the desire to secure long-term contracts -- to make fat cats even fatter.

Look, we’re talking about an unhealthy man, who, for over twenty years, has lived with the image of Death, scythe in hand, constantly in his peripheral vision. But I don’t think he fears death now. So when an aide walks into his office and tells him that another battalion of U.S. soldier has been slain in Iraq (if he’s told at all), he probably just shrugs and says, “oh well”.

When someone like that wields the sort of power that Cheney does, well, it’s cause for the same level of fear that one must reserve for barbarous terrorists who, like Cheney, do not fear death.

Well put. I will absolutely dance on his grave.

[RoninLB]

Sandy Berger got a light spanking due to the fact that a big wooping would have caused integrity damage to the Nat'l Archives. The institution was considered more important than bs politics.

If anyone has a prob understanding Bush it's understandable. He's not the superstar that Clinton was not does he seek to be. Bush's somewhat simple moves and speeches are clear for historical records to understand. Whether you like them or not doesn't matter.

[Matt Holcomb]

Originally posted by speeder
Well put. I will absolutely dance on his grave.

I'll join you.

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by speeder
Well put. I will absolutely dance on his grave.

The moonbats agree...Larry, Moe and Curly Joe.

[Mulhollanddose]

Lets see: 1) Sandy Berger steals documents incriminating to the Clinton Administration, to defraud the 9-11 investigation, regarding terrorism...2) Scooter Libby lies about telling the truth about Valerie Plame, about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson conspiring for the DNC.

What's worse?

[speeder]

Future visits to DC will include stopping for a good cry at the Iraq war memorial followed by a cleansing dance party at Cheney/Wolfowitz/Perle's grave sites.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
...2) Scooter Libby lies about telling the truth about Valerie Plame, about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson conspiring for the DNC.

What's worse?

This is worse

"The indictment amounts to an allegation that he lied about what he knew about an underlying "crime" that wasn't committed."

[speeder]

Let me say that again.