John Kerry on the Libby Indictments in CIA Leak Case

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry on the Libby Indictments in CIA Leak Case
October 28th, 2005

John Kerry issued the following statement on the indictment of Scooter Libby on 5 counts (one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in the CIA leak probe) today:

“Today’s indictment of the Vice President’s top aide and the continuing investigation of Karl Rove are evidence of White House corruption at the very highest levels, far from the ‘honor and dignity’ the president pledged to restore to Washington just five years ago.

“A chief architect of the war in Iraq, Scooter Libby, sworn to protect this country, used access to national security information not as weapons against our nation’s enemies, but as weapons against someone who dared to ask tough questions of a dishonest policy. Then they tried to cover it up rather than come clean with the American people, even as the President falsely claimed his Administration was cooperating with investigators. Not only was America misled into war, but a Nixonian effort to silence dissent has now left Americans wondering whether they can trust anything this Administration has to say.

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=979

[Mass]

1. Thanks KG for posting the full statement

(They should hire you to keep his site uptodate).

[k j]

15. KG hired...

I second that idea!

[karynnj]

2. Wow! Nixonian effort to silence dissent

Inagine this from Kerry's point of view -

[whometense]

3. That phrase struck me

forcefully too - as did the rest of that sentence: "a Nixonian effort to silence dissent has now left Americans wondering whether they can trust anything this Administration has to say."

Wow. Seems to me he's been waiting a long time to have a chance to say that. We know he's sure been thinking it for a long time.

[TayTay]

6. And it looks like Bolton the Bastard is going down as well

From the indictment doc:

4. On or about May 29, 2003, in the White House, LIBBY asked an Under Secretary
of State (“Under Secretary”) for information concerning the unnamed ambassador’s travel to Niger
to investigate claims about Iraqi efforts to acquire uranium yellowcake. The Under Secretary
thereafter directed the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research to prepare a report
concerning the ambassador and his trip. The Under Secretary provided LIBBY with interim oral
reports in late May and early June 2003, and advised LIBBY that Wilson was the former ambassador
who took the trip.

Guess who that UnderSecretary of State was? If I were Bolton the Bastard, I'd be all lawyered up. No wonder he went and visited Miller in jail.

It just keeps getting better and better.

[whometense]

10. I can hardly believe it -

SOMEBODY PINCH ME!!!!

I may even watch Fox News tonight!!!!!!

And JK's words - perfect.

[jillan]

4. I'm so happy you posted this is GD/cia

Kerry's words need to be heard,
now more than ever.

[Mass]

5. I posted it in the Reid statement's thread as somebody was complaining

that other dems were not speaking.

This thread is pinned and will not sink.

[jillan]

7. I'm hoping that KG's thread makes it to the greatest.

It needs to be all over the place.
After all, that is the real Pres talking.

[ginnyinWI]

8. Go, John!

I loved the reference to Nixon, which calls up all of that nastiness. A wonderful, hard-hitting statement from our duly elected president. ;)

[Firespirit]

12. Yes, the Nixon reference is good

Since he would know more about Nixon than many, probably most, people... and has fought corruption throughout his political career. Good statement reminding people that it is not limited to just Libby, but involves many more people in the Administration's inner circle who have not yet been indicted.

[politicasista]

9. Go Kerry!

Cool statement. :kick: :yourock: :hi:

[Mass]

11. An excellent answer that states all that need to be said

(as we can attest by the attacks on GD).

[globalvillage]

13. Post-Gazette Article

Nothing new, but the article is fairly prominent (top of A3).

Democrats pound GOP for a culture of corruption
Saturday, October 29, 2005

By Maeve Reston, Post-Gazette National Bureau



...

Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., Congressional Democrats and Howard Dean, chairman of Democratic National Committee, immediately sought to draw out the links between Mr. Libby's alleged crimes and what they view as the faulty intelligence the Bush administration used to justify its invasion of Iraq.

...

Mr. Kerry said the indictment and the continuing investigation of White House senior adviser Karl Rove are evidence of "corruption at the very highest levels, far from the 'honor and dignity' the president pledged to restore to Washington just five years ago."

As an architect of the Iraq war, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Libby "used access to national security information not as weapons against our nation's enemies, but as weapons against someone who dared to ask tough questions of a dishonest policy."

"Not only was America misled into war, but a Nixonian effort to silence dissent has now left Americans wondering whether they can trust anything this administration has to say," Mr. Kerry said.

more...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05302/597225.stm

OK, I just have to post this bit...

Mr. Santorum, who is facing a difficult re-election campaign that could be compounded by the problems of the Bush administration, released a decidedly neutral statement saying any indictment was "a serious matter"

Hehehe.

[frogmarch]

14. Good article!

Many top republicans were conveniently out of town when Fitzgerald's announcement came so they wouldn't have to face reporters, huh? cluck cluck cluck cluck...

One small criticism: I wish that instead of "As an architect of the Iraq war, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Libby..." the article had stated, "Mr. Kerry said that as an architect of the war, Mr. Libby..."

[Mass]

16. Interesting how the Post Gazette has more about Kerry's statement than the

Globe.

Seems Pennsylvania needs desperately a Democratic Senator in 06.