The Libby Appeal:

[H2O Man]

Here is a link to the 122-page appeal:


http://www.robbinsrussell.com/pdf/390.pdf#http://www.robbinsrussell.com/pdf/390.pdf

[mmonk]

1. Muchas gracias

[kenny blankenship]

2. ? for those who scanned the appeal: does he employ the Paris Hilton defense at any point?

you know, "you can't jail me coz I get hives in prison"? I'd hate to see his review fail for lack of using all the available means of persuasion.

[H2O Man]

3. The appeal

is based on what the defense attorneys are hoping will be viewed as potentially important issues of process. They are not concerned with issues of guilt versus innocence, of course, but rather if Scooter got a fair trial.

The media campaign seems more geared towards the "poor Scooter" issues of the Hiltonian nature. It is interesting to see that a number of newspapers are featuring editorials that say "No Pardon!"

[H2O Man]

4. TO: This Week with Libby

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061907A.shtml

This Week With Libby: A Reality-Based View
By Elizabeth de la Vega
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor

Tuesday 19 June 2007

Last week, Judge Reggie Walton denied I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's motion for release pending appeal of his 30-month sentence for perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice in connection with the grand jury investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of CIA agent Valerie Wilson's identity.

Not surprisingly, this decision has led to the rehashing, as if they were still open questions, of many of the things-we-know-but-don't-know-we-know about the case ( "the unknown knowns" to add a fourth category to Rumsfeld's famous formulation.) These would include whether Valerie Wilson was in fact a covert agent - she was - and whether it matters one whit that Patrick Fitzgerald knew that Armitage had been the first person to leak to Novak - it doesn't: Each and every leak by any of the officials was potentially a separate crime, and Fitzgerald would have been remiss if he had not pursued the investigation. But Walton's sentencing of Libby and his refusal to allow him to remain free on bond pending appeal have also inspired new fictions, ranging from fantasy to fraud, that are informing public opinion about the case. For those proud members of the reality-based community - regardless of whether you have the official T-shirt and mug - who would prefer to reach conclusions based on the facts and the law, permit me to correct the record as to a few of these issues.

One oft-repeated comment, voiced with confidence last week by MSNBC's David Schuster, among others, is that maybe now, facing imminent prison time, Libby will finally decide to save himself by testifying against Vice President Cheney. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that the likelihood of a cooperation-and-plea deal between Scooter Libby and Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is about the same as the likelihood that Louie - my new puppy - will learn how to load the dishwasher. Much as I would be delighted if either of these events occurred, I'm not optimistic.

[Disturbed]

7. It's discraceful that anyone is calling for Pardoning this Criminal!

He commited at least 4 Felonies. He should have received at 8 years of Prison time. Because Libby lied and obstructed justice the VP of the US gets away with Treason!

[H2O Man]

10. An example

of a drunken fool advocating for Scooter:


Free Scooter Libby
The case gets weirder by the day.
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, June 18, 2007, at 11:38 AM ET

"If Scooter Libby goes to jail, it will be because he made a telephone call to Tim Russert and because Tim Russert has a different recollection of the conversation. Can this really be the case? And why is such a nugatory issue a legal matter in the first place?

"Before savoring the full absurdity of the thing, please purge your mind of any preconceptions or confusions. ....."


more at:

http://www.slate.com/id/2168642/

[H2O Man]

5. Editorials: No Pardon!

".... Precisely. Mr. Libby may well be a fine fellow, but even fine fellows can break the law. When President Bill Clinton lied under oath, conservatives were quick to point out that the integrity of our entire system of justice depends on witnesses telling the truth. Though many on the right believe the Plame inquiry was groundless, one doesn't have the right to perjure oneself with impunity because one believes the investigation to be illegitimate.

"President Bush is now under pressure to pardon Mr. Libby to spare him prison. He should resist. In a letter to the judge, Joseph Bottum, editor of the theological journal First Things, pleads that sending Mr. Libby to jail would cause "damage to the political health of the republic" by unjustly punishing a good man who only sought to serve his country. To the contrary, letting Mr. Libby avoid paying for his crime would only increase cynicism about elite privilege in American public life.

"Judge Walton recognizes that. So should Mr. Bush."

more at:


http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=7c2e683f-6bb0-4192-8f00-43703378aa13

[H2O Man]

6. Another view:

" ... For what it’s worth, I don’t have a problem with the president pardoning Libby. Seriously. Go ahead George, pardon the man. But if you do that, either you or Dick Cheney must come clean. You must be willing to admit that you were behind the leak in the first place. Does anyone reading this honestly believe that the president and vice president had no knowledge of the plan to out Plame as a way of getting even with husband Joseph Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration? Do you think Karl Rove, who interned with President Nixon’s dirty tricks squad, didn’t know? They all knew. It’s just that Libby drew the short straw and ended up having to take one for the team. He is the fall guy, the patsy, whatever you want to call it. The smart money says he was just following orders.

"Of course this doesn’t mean that Libby deserves to be let off the hook. His actions represent a blatant attack on our democracy and the rule of law. He knew about a vicious smear campaign designed to ruin anyone who dared to speak out against the premise of the Iraq war as Wilson did when he wrote his New York Times op-ed piece. Rather than share what he knew, Libby lied to protect his bosses. In doing so, he let down average American citizens like you and I. If President Bush were to pardon him now, it would, as The Day newspaper of Connecticut put it, “send a message to others in this and future administrations that if they lie to protect higher ups, they can bank on the redemption of a presidential pardon.” Which would only encourage more skullduggery on the part of future presidents.

"But this whole affair goes beyond Scooter Libby. Imagine if the Watergate break in had only been traced to G. Gordon Liddy. Nixon would never have been held responsible. Well, the same thing is happening here. Bush is getting a pass while everyone wonders if he’ll pardon Libby. There is no way the president can justify pardoning Libby. But Bush will pardon him.

"The hope here is that there are some modern-day Woodward and Bernsteins out there who will follow the trail. And that one day, in the not-too-distant future, Bush will be looking for someone to pardon him."


more at:


http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/06/18/news_opinion/left_right/f2f20c9396a33fa6862572fb00821ea4.txt

[H2O Man]

8. LTTE:

Scooter Libby takes the heat


Jun 17 2007

Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's assistant, is going to jail and is paying a huge fine. In effect, he's taking the heat for the whole gang. The Bushites argue that actually no one was found guilty for premeditated, malicious leaking of the name of Valerie Plame a C.I.A. operative. But Libby put up a smoke-screen of deceptions and was found guilty of obstruction of justice. If you recall, the agent's husband -- Joe Wilson a diplomatic hero in the first Gulf War---rightfully contradicted Bush's contention that Saddam attempted to acquire enriched uranium from Niger. That is what set-off the unconscionable retaliatory attack on his wife Valerie Plame.
Valerie Plame was at one time an undercover agent working to secure intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. She operated in the Middle East through a phony corporation which utilized many foreign contacts. Not only is Ms. Plame now in danger, but all those who associated with her in the Mideast.

Again, politics pushes policy. Paul Pillar -- national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, recently accused the White House of misusing prewar intel to justify its case for war. He said that the Senate Intelligence committee and a presidential commission overlooked evidence that Bush politicized intel to support his policy on Iraq. Also, Pillar says that the wide body of official intel on Iraq was to avoid war; and if Bush decided to invade Iraq, there would be a messy aftermath. The White House also ignored intel that reported Iraq was not a fertile ground for democracy and that a long difficult post-invasion period would require a Marshall Plan type effort. Intel reports also predicted an occupying force would be a target of resentment and guerrilla warfare. It is sad.


More at:




http://www.newstimeslive.com/opinion/letters.php?id=1056886&source=tabbox

[H2O Man]

9. Sidney Blumenthal:

The Libby cabal
The letters of support for disgraced White House aide I Lewis Libby reveal the shrinking of the neo-conservative mind. From openDemocracy.

By Sidney Blumenthal for openDemocracy (18/06/07)


Those who served most closely with him described their feelings with persuasive intensity. One after another they used the same words: "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." Gradually, however, Major Ben Marco breaks through his brainwashing to discover that Raymond Shaw is a sleeper agent programmed to install the Manchurian candidate as president.

One after another, in nearly the same language, in letters that General Peter Pace, departing chairman of the joint chiefs-of-staff acknowledged had been prompted by I Lewis "Scooter" Libby in his attempt to mitigate a harsh sentence for his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice, dozens of people described the former chief-of-staff to the vice-president with the warmest feelings.

"I know Mr Libby to be a patriot, a dedicated public servant, a strong family man, and a tireless, honorable, selfless human being", wrote Donald Rumsfeld, the former secretary of defense. .....

more at:


http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=17754

[seemslikeadream]

11. Pat Buchanan

There are contrarian voices: "This is an open and shut case of perjury and obstruction of justice," said Pat Buchanan. "The Republican Party stands for the idea that high officials should not be lying to special investigators."

[H2O Man]

13. Mr. Buchanan

also called for Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the full story behind the neocon/AIPAC espionage scandal, which he recognizes as being closely related to the Plame scandal.

[seemslikeadream]

12. Begging his pardon

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2093.shtml

Begging his pardon
By Bill Moyers
Online Journal Guest Writer


Jun 18, 2007, 00:36

Email this article
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We have yet another remarkable revelation of the mindset of Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites -- the people who took us to war from the safety of their Beltway bunkers. Even as Iraq grows bloodier by the day, their passion of the week is to keep one of their own from going to jail.

It is well known that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- once Vice President Cheney's most trusted adviser -- has been sentenced to 30 months in jail for perjury. Lying. Not a white lie, mind you. A killer lie. Scooter Libby deliberately poured poison into the drinking water of democracy by lying to federal investigators, for the purpose of obstructing justice.

Attempting to trash critics of the war, Libby and his pals in high places -- including his boss Dick Cheney -- outed a covert CIA agent. Libby then lied to cover their tracks. To throw investigators off the trail, he kicked sand in the eyes of truth. "Libby lied about nearly everything that mattered," wrote the chief prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. The jury agreed and found him guilty on four felony counts. Judge Reggie B. Walton -- a no-nonsense, lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key type, appointed to the bench by none other than George W. Bush -- called the evidence "overwhelming" and threw the book at Libby.

You would have thought their man had been ordered to Guantanamo, so intense was the reaction from his cheerleaders. They flooded the judge's chambers with letters of support for their comrade and took to the airwaves in a campaign to "free Scooter."

Vice President Cheney issued a statement praising Libby as "a man . . . of personal integrity" -- without even a hint of irony about their collusion to browbeat the CIA into mangling intelligence about Iraq in order to justify the invasion.

"A patriot, a dedicated public servant, a strong family man, and a tireless, honorable, selfless human being," said Donald Rumsfeld -- the very same Rumsfeld who had claimed to know the whereabouts of weapons of mass destruction and who boasted of "bulletproof" evidence linking Saddam to 9/11. "A good person" and "decent man," said the one-time Pentagon adviser Kenneth Adelman, who had predicted the war in Iraq would be a "cakewalk." Paul Wolfowitz wrote a four-page letter to praise "the noblest spirit of selfless service" that he knew motivated his friend Scooter. Yes, that Paul Wolfowitz, who had claimed Iraqis would "greet us as liberators" and that Iraq would "finance its own reconstruction." The same Paul Wolfowitz who had to resign recently as president of the World Bank for using his office to show favoritism to his girlfriend. Paul Wolfowitz turned character witness.

[texpatriot2004]

14. K & R nm