Rove Not To Be Charged... Libby Going Down

Twice in my lifetime the long arm of destiny has reached across the oceans and involved the entire life and manhood of the United States in a deadly struggle. There was no use in saying "We don't want it; we won’t have it; our forebears left Europe to avoid these quarrels; we have founded a new world which has no contact with the old. "There was no use in that. The long arm reaches out remorselessly, and every one's existence, environment, and outlook undergo a swift and irresistible change. What is the explanation, Mr. President, of these strange facts, and what are the deep laws to which they respond? I will offer you one explanation - there are others, but one will suffice. The price of greatness is responsibility. If the people of the United States had continued in a mediocre station, struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs, and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the world, they might have remained forgotten and undisturbed beyond their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilised world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes.

-Sir Winston Churchill, from an address "at Harvard to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree", September 6, 1943

[dhermesc]

Originally Posted by troy2000

I believe that lying about having 'outed' a CIA agent might be a little higher up on the list of no-no's than lying about getting oral sex.

Actually no one was charged with "outing" a CIA agent. When pressed on the subject Fitzgerald was asked the question directly and admitted that Plame's status was "Classified" (same as every person from the janitor on up at the CIA) and not "Covert". He also stated in his prepared remarks that Plame's position in the CIA was known in quarters of the general public, but not widely known. Basically had Libby have walked into the grand jury and said "Yeah, I told everyone about her" he would have walked away without a blemish on his record.

Since the stupid MFAH lied under oath he faces charges as he should. Problem is they may have trouble proving intent, which is a major aspect of the charges. Why would anyone tell a lie, then hand over the evidence that reveals that lie. Either Libby was a bungling fool, or a bungling criminal.

As for the Clintons, both were proven to have lied under oath as documented in the independent counsel investigation. Neither were ever charged for these crimes.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by dhermesc

Actually no one was charged with "outing" a CIA agent. When pressed on the subject Fitzgerald was asked the question directly and admitted that Plame's status was "Classified" (same as every person from the janitor on up at the CIA) and not "Covert". He also stated in his prepared remarks that Plame's position in the CIA was known in quarters of the general public, but not widely known. Basically had Libby have walked into the grand jury and said "Yeah, I told everyone about her" he would have walked away without a blemish on his record.

Since the stupid MFAH lied under oath he faces charges as he should. Problem is they may have trouble proving intent, which is a major aspect of the charges. Why would anyone tell a lie, then hand over the evidence that reveals that lie. Either Libby was a bungling fool, or a bungling criminal.

As for the Clintons, both were proven to have lied under oath as documented in the independent counsel investigation. Neither were ever charged for these crimes.

But when someone's status and occupation is classified, they are, by definition, covert. Several of Plame's former associates have said she was a "NOC" (non-official cover) agent; and the CIA, which should certainly know what status it bestows on its own agents, requested an investigation on the basis that her identity had been publicly compromised.

You're probably right about Libby skating if he'd been truthful; you'd think by his age he'd have learned when to apply the first lesson I taught my kids.

I'm not really interested in a career as a Clinton apologist. My point was the hypocrisy of people like Kay Bailey Hutchinson. She said Clinton's perjury was one of the most serious crimes possible when she voted for his impeachment, but described possible charges of perjury in this case as a "technicality."