Fitzgerald mum on Cheney in leak case

[deminks]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/14/fitzgerald_mum_on_cheney_in_leak_case/

WASHINGTON --Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said Thursday that he does not expect any government officials to refuse to testify in the CIA leak trial, but he did not specifically say whether Vice President Dick Cheney or other top White House officials were on his witness list.

Attorneys for Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, meanwhile, told a judge that two unidentified reporters may resist testifying in the case. The attorneys predicted the issue would be resolved before trial, however.

Libby is accused of lying to investigators about what he told reporters regarding former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame's identity was leaked to reporters around the time that her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Cheney has said he may be called as a witness. If so, prosecutors could ask how the White House responded to those criticisms. Cheney was upset by Wilson's comments, Fitzgerald has said, and told Libby that Plame worked for the CIA.

That conversation is a key to Fitzgerald's perjury case. Libby testified that he learned about Plame's job from a reporter.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. Oh Yeah...That Little Nothing Case...

How long before Libby plea bargains and the whole thing gets brushed under the rug.

I'm sorry, but for all the talk about Fitzgerald. Fitzmas, etc., what did we get? A fall guy in the form of Libby. While all the other cretons go on their merry little way.

It's hard to get excited when basically all we got was Libby on a couple of charges. I'm not saying it's not better than nothing, Libby was a somebody, but the big fish got away without any reprecussions whatsoever. Rove, Cheney, hell.....even Novak.

Just goes to show if you're powerful enough, you can wiggle your way out of anything.

[Qutzupalotl]

2. It ain't over. Hell, it's just getting started.

Libby's trial is next month. God only knows what it will turn up. We will probably see Cheney called to testify, and a big fight over that. But there's already precedent about executives testifying, thanks to the witch hunt for the Clenis. We might even see Libby rat on Cheney if the incentive is right (but I admit that's a long shot).

[Peace Patriot]

3. "What did we get?" Well, OCD, "we" didn't "get" anything. It was Patrick

Fitzgerald who indicted Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice. It wasn't our work--yours or mine, or anyone here. It was the hard, slogging, persistent work of Fitzgerald and his team, against the most secretive and dangerous bunch of people we have ever had in the White House. And Fitzgerald is under no obligation to "give" us anyone, even if it's our heart's desire. His job is to investigate, interrogate, think, study, and follow the evidence--and stare these "cretins" down as well as he can. If you're mocking the "Fitzmas" posts, I'm with you. I found them annoying, and juvenile, and possibly even subversive. Why build up expectations in this stupid way? I can understand expressing the hope that Fitzgerald may get to the bottom of this treasonous act, and I can understand discussing the evidence, the papers filed, the politics and war policy and war crimes that the case is connected to, and speculating on where the case may go and what's behind it all. But this repetitious "Fitzmas" thing was no help in understanding the case or the circumstances of the crime. As I said, "we" are not doing this investigation, and to put a "Santa Claus" hat on Fitzgerald and keep repeating the expectation that he should "gift" us with Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld's heads on a platter, rather takes the onus off of US, to do something about our broken political system. As a lark, once or twice--a joke--yeah. As a repeated theme, what a drag it has been!

People should not dump all the weight of the Bush Junta's crimes on this one prosecutor's shoulders. We should never have put this expectation on him of bringing down the Bush Junta all by himself. That happens in novels and movies, but seldom in real life. You want more than a "fall guy"? You want the Bush Junta and its heinous war to be over? Then go do something yourself, toward that end. Don't expect someone else to do it.

That said, the case is going to trial. Fitzgerald is mum. We don't know what he has, other than what he has filed, or what or who he is after, except Libby, whom he has accused of obstructing his investigation. That alone tells us a lot. I would guess that none of the names you mentioned are free and clear. And all we can do is wait--and, if we're interested, study the filings. Cut the whining, in other words.

And let's hope it's a Fitzy New Year! (ha, ha!)

[H2O Man]

4. Yep.

Those who have read the court filings already know if Cheney is being called or not.

[Missy Vixen]

10. Read 'em

The information's been posted here more than once as well.

Julie

[lovuian]

5. Fitzgerald better start doing some prosecute work and

investigating because he will be answering to a Democratic Congress wanting to know what the hell is going on???

[H2O Man]

6. Nope.

He will not "answer" to any congress. That isn't part of his job, in any way.

[jaysunb]

7. Right !

And I don't think the indictments are over yet. I could be wrong, but this guy has a lot of ammo, and I can't imagine him not using it.

[sendero]

8. I thought that too..

... up until a couple months ago.

At this point, I think this thing is all but over, but then I'd love to be wrong.

[Missy Vixen]

9. You're funning me, right?

>Fitzgerald better start doing some prosecute work and investigating because he will be answering to a Democratic Congress wanting to know what the hell is going on???<

Oh, yeah. He's spent the past oh, five years since he was appointed US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois doing nothing at all. :eyes: :sarcasm: It's a gravy train, at which I'm sure he works longer hours than all of his detractors put together. That's his other job besides the CIA leak case, for which he gets paid nothing additionally. There are four other AUSA's working on the CIA leak case as well. Part-time. They all have additional responsibilities as well.

In the past week, he and his office have announced multiple indictments of alleged criminal behavior just in Chicago. If you're curious, perhaps you might go to www.chicagotribune.com and search on his name. When he's got a few spare minutes, he and his team of investigators has spent the past two years digging for information on the most corrupt administration in the history of our country. He also has managed to make Libby's high-priced team of attorneys look inept in several pre-trial hearings, as well as crippling Libby's defense by completely discrediting an expert witness on the stand recently. He and his team managed to escape the repeated efforts of Libby's attorneys to have the case greymailed out of court, and did so brilliantly.

By the way, members of the House have already written to Patrick Fitzgerald on an undisclosed subject and evidently asked for his help. He responded to them. We have no idea what was in the letter, besides the fact that he did respond to them. Before alleging that he's done nothing, you may want to do a bit of research. I'm not sure when the man sleeps, because we're all more than getting our money's worth.

Julie
still president for life of the PFEB

[leveymg]

11. Hi, Julie. Do you have a link for the Congress letter story?

Hadn't heard that before. Thanks! :hi:

[BlueIris]

12. Excellent post!

BlueIris, proud member of POLL (Patrick's Official Lusting League).

[rhett o rick]

13. Good post Julie. But it is difficult to follow this investigation w/o searching the net

every day. Is there a way DU can have a semi-permanent thread dedicated to this investigation where new info can be regularly posted?

[H2O Man]

15. That might be

when members of Congress wrote to Mr. Fitzgerald and asked that he consider writing a "final report" to sum up his investigation, and to share the report with Congress. While Mr. Fitzgerald's response has not been made public, it outlined his interpretation of the laws that guide his investigation, and how a "final report" is not a possibility. I can say that this is still an issue that some involved in the case discuss.

[rocktivity]

14. I think we've all been (mis)underestimating Fitz badly.

He knows he's sitting at the final table with the boys who play roughest. In he had nothing, he would have folded his hand LONG ago. We just might have a merry Fitzmas after all.

:headbang:
rocknation

[H2O Man]

16. If people read

even 1/10th of the pretrial documents available for public consumption, they will note that the volume of motions and responses alone indicates that Mr. Fitzgerald has been very busy on the case. This isn't going to disappoint progressive democrats. Far from it. Far, far from it.

[H2O Man]

17. Also of interest ....

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003522188

[Me.]

18. Your Guess?

As to the 2 unnamed

[H2O Man]

19. I think there

are two who did not talk to Libby about Plame, but who did talk to Rove. They both have reasons to not want to testify that go beyond that. One would be Woodward, and the other Novak.