MSNBC: No crime occurred until the prosecutor came to town

[ticapnews]

I think it was David Williams at the court house. He did say this is similar to what happened in Watergate and Whitewater: It's the coverup that gets people in trouble.

[WCGreen]

1. No Shit Sherlock.....

If people would just come clean, the fallout would all be political and not political AND legal...

[mmonk]

2. We don't know that yet

[Warren Stupidity]

3. uh - wrong

this is part of the 'its not a crime its a technicality' meme.

First - it seems that a new GJ will be seated or the current one extended.

Second - just because there is no indictment for the Plame outing does not mean that no crime was committed, just that there is not enough evidence, right now, to justify an indictment.

[H2O Man]

4. Correct.

The indictments only cover the current 5 counts. But there is material that shows Libby telling others that there were issues with the CIA that made responding to Wilson risky. Libby knew what he was doing was very wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lied about it.

There is much more to come here.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

5. That's just INSANE

So many crimes have occurred since Bush took office, including very very serious crimes of lying to Congress and to the UN, forging documents to justify invasion of a sovereign country, granting no-bid contracts to WH-connected companies...should I go on?

It's all tied to this case.

[jillan]

6. If the bushiters were smart..and we know they're not

They should come clean right now, and
let * start over.

[still_one]

7. really, how about a war based on a LIE!!!

[Inland]

8. Lied into war, CIA op outed....but no crime. Everything was perfect.

nt

[incapsulated]

9. Wrong. It's the coverup that is easy to prosecute

You don't try to hide something if you did nothing wrong.

Lying to the GJ is easy to prove, that's why they go for the less complicated charge.

[Der Blaue Engel]

16. Bingo!

"It's the coverup that is easy to prosecute."

I suppose Al Capone didn't commit any murders either? You prosecute based on the best evidence that is likely to convict.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Let me point out... It's the cover up that gets criminals convicted

You can't have a cover up without something to hide.

[Straight Shooter]

11. It's the coverup of lying about a crime that really gets them in trouble.

Why did Libby lie? He took a major risk when he did that. What is worth that risk?

That's what I want to know. That's what the American people, that's what the world has the right to know. And I hope that's what Fitzgerald wants to know, too, and I hope he has the ways and means and tenacity to find out.

[bluedawg12]

12. Ya know, if there's nothing to hide you don't lie. n/t

[Beausoir]

13. Uhhh..that was Pete Wilson..he used to WORK for Cheney!

Of course he would say that. His good buddy and former mentor and boss is up to his eyeballs in the muck.

[ticapnews]

15. Thanks. Too many David's at MSNBC...

:P

[applegrove]

14. Watergate was already a crime (burglary) and also the shady

fund for playing dirty games...I think that was also illegal.

So no - Watergate was a whole slew of crimes... it is just the president who hadn't known about the break - in beforehand. His higher ups knew about the break-in and the CREEP funds... So there were crimes going on - and the crimes occured years before the investigation.

Whitewater...were there crimes? Well none that the Clinton's had anything to do with. And Paula Jones case was thrown out of court in the end. And having an affair with an intern is not a crime, but the FBI investigated that and put Monica on the spot and then asked Clinton questions and he lied about his affair. So - many years into the Whitewater thing -which had morphed into Paula Jones - then morphed into Monica - lying about Monica was how Clinton lied & broke the law.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. No crime occurred? Outing a COVERT CIA operative is TREASON.

No crime? They should be tried under the espionage act. :grr:

[ticapnews]

18. Dan Abrams is saying it is next to impossible to get a conviction

on the Espionage Act because of how it is written. He actually says that if Libby had gone to Fitzgerald and told the absolute truth from the beginning Fitz might not have been able to prosecute under Espionage Act because of the wording...