Libby says he believes he will be exonerated

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

16 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lewis Libby, who resigned on Friday as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, said he believed he would be found innocent of the charges against him in the CIA leak investigation.

"I am confident that at the end of this process I will be completely and totally exonerated," Libby said in a statement issued by his lawyer, Joseph Tate.

Libby was indicted for obstructing justice, perjury and lying after a two-year probe led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

He could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051028/ts_nm/bush_leak_libby_statement_dc

[joemurphy]

1. Sure, and I believe in the Easter Bunny too. n/t

[DakotaDemocrat]

2. Scooter, so you want to go to trial then?

What will your boss say to that...

Pleading out means you're pleading guilty - not that you are exonerated...

[rodeodance]

4. a good criminal lawyer could do just that.

[texpatriot2004]

15. I don't think BushCo wants him in a situation where he can't take

the 5th. I don't think they want him to testify.

[Mithras61]

16. Maybe there's a flight in a small plane in Irvin's future... (n/t)

[oustemnow]

3. "I am not a crook!"

Seems I've heard that somewhere before...

[Mithras61]

5. Well, what else could he possibly have said?

Did you really think he would issue a statement saying "I'm guilty as sin, and deserve to hang"?

edited for spelling...

[Yupster]

25. Just sounds like every other defendant

Some end up being found guilty and others innocent. That's why they have trials.

[spindrifter]

6. This is like his Aspens

remark--what he's really saying is that at the end of this we will know in detail how other B*shies put him on the spit and turned him
v-e-r-y slowly so they could get him j-u-s-t right.

[hjash]

7. Pardon?

Did anyone stop to think that Bush may just pardon this guy and call it a day?

[Mithras61]

8. Pardon him for what?

If he's innocent, then there's no need for a pardon. If he's guilty, a pardon just tarnishes the Shrub.

[patdem]

9. Not exactly exoneration..that is just cop out...(see Mark Rich) n/t

[oustemnow]

11. Libby's greatest hits!

Featuring "I Beg Your Pardon (Could You Please Deliver It in the White House Rose Garden?)"

Also includes, "I'm So Indicted (And I Just Can't Hide It)"

[loro mi dicevano]

14. LMAO!

:rofl:

[Voltaire99]

23. Sure: and there's juicy precedent for liars and conspirators...

...getting pardoned, as the last Bush showed us.

Clinton, recall, even went out of his way to help out a fellow plutocrat in need.

Don't look for Scooter to fall very far; justice is for the plebes, not the Scooters.

[joeunderdog]

10. Not in the Court of Public Opinion.

That's really all that matters, doesn't it? This is a huge hit for BushCo and their phantom War on Terrah and their crusade for National Security. They purposefully weakened national security to further their agenda, and everyone knows it now.

Just curious...what do they call it when someone intentionally threatens national security for his/her political beliefs? Is it TREASON or TERRORISM? Hmmm...

[Historic NY]

12. And "pigs will fly"......

It appears to me the Fitz has laid out his case as one beyond a shadow of doubt. Very smart indeed and one that will be hard to overcome. Libby better be thinking about making a deal....cause 30yrs is along time.

[tatertop]

13. I hope he sings like a bird!

[megatherium]

17. Libby is the victim of a CIA / Bush Adminstration battle.

The CIA was told to gin up intelligence to suport the war in Iraq, they resented that. So Plame (representing either herself or the CIA) sent her husband to investigate the Niger uranium fraud. The Bush people (in particular the WHIG, including Cheney and Libby) decided to tell reporters that the Niger Wilson thing was the CIA's doing, that Wilson's wife was CIA. Apparently it didn't occur to them that this might be a big mistake legally, or they knew there was a danger but thought they could swing it because the reporters would protect their sources. (Judith Miller served 85 days in prison to protect Libby, but Timmy Russert blabbed.) So now it's blown up on them -- or at least on Libby, who apparently was the point person in spreading the news about the CIA being behind Wilson.

It's not even clear talking about Plame was a prosecutable crime. Plame was on the edge of being an open figure politically, according to Bush partisans. (Whether true or not, the issue is, could they have prosecuted Libby for that.) Libby panicked, lied like a rug, and like Martha Stewart, is in big trouble for lying about a crime he isn't being charged with.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

18. Could you explain why it isn't a crime to out a covert CIA agent.

You seem to to believe that those involved had no idea that revealing her identity was a problem as opposed to my belief which is of their convictions that they were above the law.

Could you provide more background on your statement "Plame was on the edge of being open figure politically" ?

MKJ

[Rose Siding]

21. It's clear that it's a crime, according to the indictment.

I don't see how Libby is taking a fall for anyone but the war sellers. (And do you have a link for the assertion that Plame "sent" Wilson to Niger?)

As for her being "on the edge of being an open figure politically", (not sure just what that means- the job of a CIA operative isn't political, as I understand it) it doesn't matter how some boneheaded wing-nuts spin it. She was an operative. The crime of obstruction in an investigation concerning national security is what makes the lying not only prosecutable, but in a whole other universe from Martha.

From TPM:

Go to page 5 of the indictment. Top of the page, item #9.

On or about June 12, 2003, LIBBY was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the Counterproliferation Divison. LIBBY understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA.

This is a crucial piece of information. The Counterproliferation Division (CPD) is part of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, i.e., not the Directorate of Intelligence, the branch of the CIA where 'analysts' come from, but the DO, where the spies, the 'operatives', come from.

Libby's a long time national security hand. He knows exactly what CPD is and where it is. So does Cheney. They both knew. It's right there in the indictment.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

Also:

EarlG ADMIN (1000+ posts) Fri Oct-28-05 01:13 PM
Original message
Plame's CIA status: she was covert
From page 3 of the indictment:

"At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson's affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community."

Well that knocks that right-wing talking point on the head.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5205121&mesg_id=5205121

[Straight Shooter]

22. Plame did NOT send her husband to investigate the Niger claim.

Plame suggested her husband would be a good choice. She had no authority to make the decision. Sorry, but that's a right wing talking point.

We also don't know who or what Miller was protecting. AIPAC figures into this scenario, too. Miller is still in it up to her scabby eyebrows, but whether anything will come of that is anybody's guess. At least her reputation has been severely damaged.

Plame was never on the edge of being an open figure politically, and certainly Brewster Jennings was totally unknown until the bush maladministration pulled out all the stops to hide their agenda. Outing Plame was just the tip of the iceberg for their motivation.

[sandnsea]

32. Instigator, not victim

You've got most of your facts correct, just drew the wrong conclusion. Libby isn't a victim of anything, he is as equal a member of the cabal as Cheney or Wolfowitz or any of the rest of them that sought to circumvent the truth of the Iraq intelligence. And he didn't panic, lying is their MO, all one has to do is trace these thugs back to the 80's to know that. Dollars to donuts Bush pardons him eventually.

[MadJohnShaft]

19. I watched how Patrick Fitzgerald handled that room full of hungry press...

and I was ready to confess something to him too. If I was facing that guy, I'd need some new pants.

I bet you learn to talk like that when you have to explain things to juries for a living.

[Thom Little]

20. And I believe I will win the lottery.

[Straight Shooter]

24. You will win the lottery before Libby is exonerated.

Go pick some numbers. And welcome to DU! :hi:

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. There are no guilty men in prison. Just ask them.

[xxqqqzme]

27. Will he smile for his mug shot?

[Nostradamus]

28. An easy fix and sure to be put in place soon....

meet the new patsy - what aide to anybody does stuff like this without orders from the boss...

[lovuian]

29. Yes and Nixon put the Victory sign up when he left office!!!

Rots a ruck Scoobie!!!

[zann725]

30. He also believes deeply in Crash Cart...

...and the long-time tradition of Repug party to continually create massive crimes, and pardon themselves years later...going on to write their autobiographies and host TV/Radio shows (ala Ollie North, Gordon Liddy).

It is up to We-the-People to NOT put a time-limit on the memory of severity of their crimes. Instead let them wear the "ankle-bracelet" of their guilt (as Martha was made to do)...for as long as Fitz rules.

[No Exit]

31. Doesn't sound to me like he'll "cop a plea"...

...good! I want a trial.

[arwalden]

33. All Criminals Say The Same Thing...

... this is nothing new.

[rfkrfk]

34. four of five the counts look rather strong ...

obstruction of justice, kinda fishy