Wells argued... punishment enough;Libby has "been exposed...to overwhelming negative press coverage"

[dajoki]

BLOG | Posted 06/05/2007 @ 3:11pm
Libby Sentenced: 30 Months in Jail Because "Truth Matters"
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=202364

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby stood before federal district court Judge Reggie Walton. It was finally the moment for Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff to speak. The sentencing hearing was coming to an end; Walton was about to pronounce the punishment Libby would face for having obstructed justice in the CIA leak case. Libby, who did not testify during the trial, thanked the court for showing him and his defense team consideration during the proceedings. He told the judge, "It is...my hope the court will consider...my whole life."

That was it. No apology. No expression of remorse.

Then Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in jail and a $250,000 fine. Libby didn't flinch. His wife, Harriet Grant, cried. Notable conservatives in the front row of the crowded courtroom--Mary Matalin, Barbara Comstock, and Victoria Toensing--appeared shocked.

<<snip>>

Wells had one last shot. The dynamic and dramatic African-American defense attorney said he had "no quarrel with Mr. Fitzgerald's statement that truth matters." But, he added, "it is entirely appropriate for a sentencing judge to take into consideration the good works and the good deeds a person has done." He contended that Libby for decades had engaged in "exceptional public service." He reminded the judge that more than 150 people had submitted to the court letters hailing Libby. This band includes prominent conservative and neoconservative hawks, including Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Henry Kissinger, John Bolton, Doug Feith.

<<snip>>

None of the testimonials Wells read referred to the Iraq war. And Wells told the court that though the Libby case was not about the war, it did "seem that Libby was the poster child for all that has gone wrong with this terrible war." Wells essentially argued that was punishment enough. He noted that Libby has "been exposed...to overwhelming negative press coverage" and has "endured public scorn and ridicule." He pointed out that Libby has received hate mail. And that whether Libby goes to jail or not, he will no longer be able to serve his two great loves: working in the government and practicing law. "He has fallen from public grace," Wells exclaimed. "It's a tragic fall....There's no need to incarcerate Mr. Libby."

<<snip>>

Now the Libby saga enters the real endgame: pardon or no pardon. Bush has a week until the question is truly forced upon him. If next Thursday's hearing changes nothing, Libby will be awaiting a vacancy in a federal penitentiary. This will drive the Libby Lobby to pump up the volume on its call for a pardon. Conservative pundits will go wild. Republican presidential candidates will demand freedom for Libby. (Former Senator Fred Thompson is a member of the Libby Legal Defense Trust and has hosted a fundraiser for Libby.) What will Cheney say? What will Bush do? It appears Bush will not be able to opt for on-the-sly, last-minute sort of pardon that his father awarded Iran-contra figures shortly before leaving office and that President Bill Clinton handed to fugitive financier Marc Rich as the Clinton presidency was ending. If Bush wants to pardon Libby, he will have to do it in full public glare. He will have to explain why a convicted liar--who shares blame for the mess in Iraq--ought to go free.

[napi21]

1. I understand Libby's lawyers have until tomorrow to file any last minute

papers, sentencing is next week. I think Judge Walton is still pi**ed off at Libby & his attorney's for how they handled the case and for Libby showing no remorse. I think he's going to send his sinny behind off to the slammer WHILE his lawyers work on their appeal.

[dajoki]

3. He will begin his jail term sometime in the next two months

Libby was not hauled off to jail. His lawyers asked Walton to permit Libby to remain free on bond while they appeal the conviction. Walton indicated he was not sympathetic to this position. But he noted that it would take the Bureau of Prisons 45 to 60 days to find a spot for Libby. Consequently, he said, the defense could file a motion on this point by Thursday, and he scheduled a hearing on this question for next week. Presuming Walton does not change his mind at that hearing, Libby will have to surrender himself and begin his jail term sometime in the next two months.

[noise]

2. Basically

the GOP is admitting the WoT is a sham. Brewster Jennings and Plame were involved in tracking nuclear black market activity. The war in Iraq was based on the premise of Hussein giving a nuke to a terrorist organization.

Does the GOP want a terrorist organization to nuke a US city? If the answer is no, then why are they defending Libby?

[whistle]

4. If Scooter Libby had not been charged, prosecuted and now

...sentenced and fined, he would still be working for Dick Cheney and committing endless crimes against anyone opposed to the Cheney/Bush. So let him serve his full sentence without pardon or probation. Fuck'em!

[dajoki]

6. Yes, F**k'em...

There are plenty others in this administration that are "committing endless crimes against anyone opposed to the Cheney/Bush." But I'm afraid the pardon is comming.

[gratuitous]

5. "Hasn't poor Scooter suffered enough?"

No.

This has been another edition of simple answers to stupid questions.

[dajoki]

7. Send him to Guantanamo n/t