Fitzgerald Responds To Libby Commutation

Not surprisingly but extremely shocking news today came from the White House when Bush essentially pardoned Scooter Libby, saving him from jail time but not the fine and probation (for now). This is yet another sad day for the rule of law in America. Patrick Fitzgerald, the man that prosecuted Libby weighs in with a statement read by Keith Olbermann.

Valerie Plame Will Testify In Front Of Congress

Now that Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff is a convicted felon, Congress is finally looking into the details of Plamegate and the treasonous activites that the White House (allegedly) committed in order to silence their critics about the war. Of course Fitzgerald did not charge anyone in the Bush Adminstration with a crime in regards to outing covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame, but lying under oath about the matter is still a serious offense. Serious enough that now Libby is looking at up to 25 years in federal prison.

Henry Waxman (D-CA) is beginning hearings to investigate the matter and pull the facts out that have seemed pretty damn visible to the public for quite sometime. As the Chairman for the Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, Waxman is ready to get to the bottom of the matter. That tenacity Waxman is known for in the past 30 years will come out in the following weeks.

From Rawstory:

Rep. Henry Waxman will lead a hearing of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform on "whether White House officials followed appropriate procedures for safeguarding the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson," according to a statement at the committee's website. Plame Wilson will be one of the witnesses.

The notice also states that other expert witnesses will be joining the former CIA officer and discussing "the disclosure and internal White House security procedures for protecting her identity from disclosure and responding to the leak after it occurred."

Waxman's office also posted a letter in which he praised Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who successfully prosecuted top White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and asked him to appear before the committee.

"Congress has a responsibility to examine the policy and accountability questions that your investigation has raised. As a result of your investigation, you have a singular understanding of the facts and their implications that bear directly on the issues before Congress," Waxman wrote.

Waxman also intends to question Patrick Fitzgerald on what he learned about the matter while prosecuting Libby. In a very diplomatic tone, the Special Prosecutor said this about testifying in front of Congress, "We will do what's appropriate." What is appropriate is the American people see justice about the matter, just as Scooter got his.

The Libby Verdict: GUILTY!

Scooter I Libby was found guilty on four out of five counts against him. Except for the false statement count, he was found guilty for obstruction of justice and perjuring himself. These are serious crimes and he is about to pay the price for being a shill of the Bush Adminstration. The full five counts would have warranted 30 years, but these four provided the bulk of that time.

Now the question is, will he make a deal for the higher-ups, or simply be the fall guy and wait for Bush to pardon him in early 2009?

Libby Trial Ends With Fireworks

The defense repeats the argument that Scooter is a busy man. However Fitzgerald lays it down in the end. Take it away ladies:

Libby's Defense Rests

Now that the defense and the prosecution has rested, it is on to closing statements and finally the trial is put into the jury's hands. Here we have the fine bloggers from FDL, Next Hurrah, TalkLeft and DailyKos that have been covering the trial down in D.C.

Libby Claims He Took The Blame For Rove

The trial is just under way and the fireworks have already begun. The defense's opening statement portrays Libby as the set-up guy to protect Bush-Brain Karl Rove from taking the heat over leaking information to the press. Oh goodie, it is a bad day to be a Republican, ain't it?

From MSNBC (video included):

In their opening statements, Libby's attorneys said Bush administration officials tried to blame him for the leak to cover up for presidential adviser Karl Rove’s own disclosures.

Attorney Theodore Wells said Libby went to Cheney in 2003 and complained that the White House was subtly blaming him for leaking Plame’s identity to columnist Robert Novak.

“They’re trying to set me up. They want me to be the sacrificial lamb,” Wells said, recalling the alleged conversation between Libby and Cheney. “I will not be sacrificed so Karl Rove can be protected.”

As you can see from the top of the article, Special Prosecutor Patrick 'Fitzmas' Fitzgerald states otherwise, claiming that Libby constantly lied to save his own ass. When you make up a story in front of Federal investigators and a grand jury, expect to be grilled by skilled attorneys like Fitzgerald.