[Ninong]

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is... If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of." -- George W. Bush, September 30, 2003.


P.S. -- Well, at least he kept his promise.

[schrocat]

From FDL...

"Dems have to investigate Cheney, and hammer him on the argument (even if it’s retracted) that he’s in both the Executive and the Legislative Branches, and therefore bound by neither. It’s the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The state of his office depends on the observer, not the office itself."

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by Ninong

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is... If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of." -- George W. Bush, September 30, 2003.


P.S. -- Well, at least he kept his promise.

[Ninong]

Survey USA has already polled 1500 people. Of those, 55% (825 people) were familiar with the Libby case. Those 825 people were asked for their opinion on the commutation.

Believe it or not, 40% of Republicans said the prison sentence should have been left in place. Factor in the 77% of Democrats and 56% of Independents who expressed that opinion and you end up with 60% of the American people who believe that Libby should have gone to prison.

Here is the complete poll breakdown.

As far as Bush's job approval numbers, I don't think this will hurt him at all because the few Democrats (6% in some polls) who approve of his job performance are doing so because of his Iraq war policies. Anyone who approves of the job Bush is doing in Iraq is not likely to be bothered by him giving Scooter a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.

The question then becomes one of whether his decision will move any Republicans or Independents to change their previously held opinion on his job performance one way or the other. I don't know. Maybe. Republicans with a libertarian streak who were still hanging in there in support of Bush may take this as the straw that broke the camel's back.

It would be nice to see him hit 23% job approval in the next polls but we just had new polls last week. They usually only do them about once every six weeks or so.

[Ninong]

I read an interesting comment by an attorney. It went along these lines. If Bush had given Libby a full pardon, Libby could have been compelled to answer future questions that could implicate Cheney, Bush and others. As long as Libby told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, he couldn't be prosecuted for anything he did in this matter because that would amount to double jeopardy. He would have already been tried, convicted and then pardoned.

Libby would have been under enormous pressure to tell the truth if he were called to testify before a Congressional committee. Even if Patrick Fitzgerald doesn't pursue his investigation (which remains active) any further, it would still be possible (likely) that Congress would want to ask Libby some questions.

Because Libby is still a convicted felon, he doesn't have to answer any questions about this matter because he's still appealing his conviction. The appeal process could easily drag on until after the November 2008 elections. Bush could still give Libby a full pardon sometime between mid-November 2008 and his last day in office in January 2009.

I think the point the guy was trying to make is that if Libby were to receive a full pardon right now, he wouldn't be able to take the Fifth because he would have no exposure to criminal liability, having already received a pardon. Remember that Gerald Ford gave Richard Nixon a full pardon for any and all crimes that he may have committed while in office. It was extremely sweeping. Nixon could not be prosecuted for anything, even for something that might have come up that was completely unrelated to Watergate.

I think if Congress wanted to question Libby about the Plame leak and cover-up, his answers would have been compelled under threat of Contempt of Congress charges and he could have risked new perjury charges if he lied and if he were truthful, Cheney and Bush could be at risk. I don't think he can be compelled to answer any questions at all on this matter as long as his appeal is pending.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

.

Time Poll (March 9-12, 2007):

"Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Louis 'Scooter' Libby, was convicted last week of lying to a grand jury and to FBI agents investigating the leak of the name of a secret CIA operative in 2003. Do you think that President Bush should give Libby a presidential pardon, or not?"

.

Should: 18%
Should Not: 72%
Unsure: 11%

.

"Do you think that President Bush should ask Vice President Cheney to resign, over the Libby conviction and other matters, or not?"

.

Should: 40%
Should Not: 48%
Unsure: 11%

Originally Posted by Ninong

Survey USA has already polled 1500 people. Of those, 55% (825 people) were familiar with the Libby case. Those 825 people were asked for their opinion on the commutation.

Believe it or not, 40% of Republicans said the prison sentence should have been left in place. Factor in the 77% of Democrats and 56% of Independents who expressed that opinion and you end up with 60% of the American people who believe that Libby should have gone to prison.

Here is the complete poll breakdown.

As far as Bush's job approval numbers, I don't think this will hurt him at all because the few Democrats (6% in some polls) who approve of his job performance are doing so because of his Iraq war policies. Anyone who approves of the job Bush is doing in Iraq is not likely to be bothered by him giving Scooter a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.

The question then becomes one of whether his decision will move any Republicans or Independents to change their previously held opinion on his job performance one way or the other. I don't know. Maybe. Republicans with a libertarian streak who were still hanging in there in support of Bush may take this as the straw that broke the camel's back.

It would be nice to see him hit 23% job approval in the next polls but we just had new polls last week. They usually only do them about once every six weeks or so.

The MSNBC online poll is currently showing 71% 74% disagree with Bush's decision and only 29% 26% agree, based on 195,674 271,381 responses so far. That's more in line with the Time poll from March 2007.

You can vote in it here.

[Ninong]

In Your Face White House Response: They are pretty much guaranteeing that Libby will eventually receive a full presidential pardon!

WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual pardon for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. But spokesman Tony Snow said, for now, President Bush is satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.

"He thought any jail time was excessive. He did not see fit to have Scooter Libby taken to jail," Snow said.

P.S. -- This president couldn't care less about equal justice under the law or the opinion of more than 70% of the American people that Libby's sentence should have been enforced. In fact, he didn't even consult the Justice Department or the chief federal prosecutor before reaching this decision. It was just between him and his God and his adult supervisor, President Cheney.

Libby was prosecuted by a conservative federal prosecutor who was appointed by the current president. He was convicted by a jury of his peers. He was sentenced to a term in prison that is well within the federal guidelines set by Congress by a conservative federal judge who was originally appointed by Ronald Reagan and then appointed to his current position by George W. Bush.

Libby's request to remain free on bail pending appeal was rejected by unanimous decision of the very conservative DC Circuit.

P.S. -- By signalling his intention to eventually grant Libby a full pardon, Bush hopes to appease the right-wing GOPers (the twenty-six percenters) who were not completely satisified with yesterday's announcement of a commutation of the prison term.

[Ninong]

"As to the future, I rule nothing in or nothing out," Bush said in the exchange with reporters Tuesday afternoon when asked "Mr. President, are you willing to rule out that you will eventually pardon Scooter Libby?"

[Ninong]

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is now doing his Ron Ziegler impersonation:

Snow was challenged as to whether or not the White House would apologize for the leaking of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity.

"I'll apologize...there it's done," he answered curtly.

When challenged that he was responding to this issue in a flippant manner, Snow showed little remorse.

"In the Washington culture, things get leaked all the time," he stated.

So, in the eyes of the Bush White House, this whole affair was just a big waste of time because it was nothing more than "the culture of Washington." It's perfectly alright for the Vice President of the United States to instruct his employees to leak classified information and to reveal the identity of covert CIA agents. Happens all the time, according to the official representative of President George W. Bush, our Invincible Brilliant Commander Guy.

__________________________________________________ _____

Famous quotes from Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary to President Richard M. Nixon:

"The president is aware of what is going on. That is not to say that there is anything going on." –1972, referring to the investigation of the Watergate scandal.

"This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative." –April 17 1973, retracting previous statements that had been revealed to be false.

"Certain elements may try to stretch the Watergate burglary beyond what it is." –1972, referring to Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

"If my answers sound confusing, I think they are confusing because the questions are confusing and the situation is confusing."

"Thank goodness, I was one of the few members of the Nixon White House staff who was never indicted and I was not part of the cover-up." — on Larry King Live, alluding to the 11 convictions and numerous indictments in the scandal.

[Ninong]

Josh Marshall has put together a very good 5-minute clip of President Bush and former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan telling us exactly what they wanted to do with regards to the Plame affair.

You can find the video in this post.

I got the impression that the President may have wanted to get to the bottom of this. Was that your impression, too? In fact, I believe I heard that phrase, "get to the bottom of this," more often than Gonzo the Magnificent's "I don't recall" during his congressional testimony.

Also, I believe I heard the President tell us exactly what he would do to any White House employee who was found to have been involved in this. In fact, I believe I heard him repeat it several times on several different occasions.

And I was encouraged to hear the President tell us that this is a very serious criminal matter that involves National security and that he will not tolerate anything like this in his administration.

[Ninong]

It's nothing but lies and more lies! Lies on top of lies! Lying about previous lies!

What is so depressing about this whole Libby mess is that so many media outlets continue to repeat the same old lies put out by Kenny Mehlman when he was running the RNC. It's as if none of them paid any attention to anything Patrick J. Fitzgerald said or any attention to any of the testimony in the Libby trial.

The White House's official Minister of Truth, Phony Tony Snow, continues to lie about virtually every significant fact in this case. One wonders if he even realizes just how many lies he's telling. The statement that "there was no underlying crime" is blatantly false! The special prosecutor has already covered that it detail. A covert CIA operative was outed. That's a crime. That's the crime that the CIA referred to the Justice Department. The special prosecutor has already explained in detail that he was unable to charge the underlying crime because people like Scooter Libby "threw sand in the face of the umpire."

Libby lied to protect the president and the vice president. Karl Rove lied but he constantly revised his testimony every time he was caught. He made FIVE appearances before the grand jury and each time he revised and extended his remarks as his memory gradually returned. Libby, on the other hand, stuck by his lies throughout and he was protected by the president for his loyalty. It is a virtual certainty that he will receive a full pardon.

Don't forget that it was Libby's own attorneys who introduced that handwritten note from Dick Cheney to Scott McClellan demanding that McClellan call the "important media immediately" to set the record straight. Cheney was concerned that McClellan had made statements in defense of Karl Rove at a press briefing earlier that day without making similiar defensive statements about Libby. Cheney, in his own handwriting, wrote that we were "not going to protect one staffer [Rove] and sacrifice the guy [Libby] this Pres. asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others." That memo from Cheney to McClellan is an official court exhibit. It is clear that both Bush and Cheney were part of the cover-up all along. This, of course, would be grounds for impeachment on obstruction of justice charges should Congress decide to go that route.

Many of the administration's defenders are repeating the claim that Libby didn't out anyone because Richard Armitage did it first. Fitzgerald has already covered this point at trial. Armitage was the first to out Valerie Wilson to Robert Novak. Karl Rove then confirmed this to Novak. Libby, separately, outed her to Judith Miller a full six days before Novak's column was published. What was happening is that both Bush and Cheney wanted Libby to have that meeting with Judy Miller. Bush is the one who authorized Cheney to authorize Libby to leak parts of that classified memo. We've been through this before. According to Fitzgerald, Libby deliberately outed Valerie Wilson in an effort to discredit her husband's claims that the pre-war intelligence had been twisted and misused in an effort to justify the war.

All you have to do is read through the testimony given at Libby's trial to see exactly what was going on in the White House. There is no question that Libby was acting on orders from Cheney and that Cheney had told Libby that those orders came directly from the president himself. That was all brought out by Libby's own defense team. They also made it clear that Libby had reservations about what he was being asked to do. He was understandably concerned that he was being asked to do something illegal. Here I'm talking about revealing classified information.

Here is the relevant testimony from Libby's trial on that point:

In late June or early July 2003, "a question was asked of me - by Scooter Libby: Does the president have authority to declassify information?" Addington told jurors Monday, in response to a question by defense attorney William Jeffress. "And the answer I gave was, 'Of course, yes. It's clear the president has the authority to determine what constitutes a national security secret and who can have access to it.'"

President Bush signed an executive order in 2003 authorizing Cheney to declassify certain intelligence documents. The order was signed on March 23, four days after the start of the Iraq War and two weeks after Wilson first appeared on the administration's radar. This was when the "conspiracy to discredit Wilson," as Fitzgerald put it, began. Bush and Cheney leaked only part of the classified document, the part that supported their position. It just so happened that the part they released had already been discredited but they ignored that inconvenient truth. They released classified intelligence that they knew to be false. It was cherry picking at its finest.

When Libby outed Valerie Plame Wilson to Judy Miller, he did it in detail, telling her exactly what department she was working in at the CIA. This all came out in Judy Miller's testimony at Libby's trial. According to Fitzgerald, this was all part of a conspiracy within the White House to discredit Amb. Joseph Wilson's claims about the administration's misuse of intelligence. This is why Fitzgerald said at trial that "a cloud remains over the Office of the Vice President."

The lie that is really hilarious that many of the wing-nuts continue to repeat is the false claim that Valerie Plame Wilson was not a covert agent at the time her identity was revealed. If she was not a covert agent, then there would have been no reason for the CIA to refer the case to the Justice Department in the first place. The fact that she was indeed a covert agent at the time her identity was leaked has been confirmed by Fitzgerald and confirmed in writing by Gen. Hayden of the CIA. She was a covert agent. Period.

The Bush Administration's present situation is very similar to the Nixon Administration's situation in the waning days of the Watergate investigation. They can't tell the truth because the truth would incriminate them. At this point, it doesn't matter how obvious the lies are; the only thing that matters is that they continue to confuse the issue to make it appear that it's all partisan politics and part of "the Washington culture." That's the latest explanation. Leaking the identity of a covert CIA operative is simply business as usual and "part of the Washington culture."

The Libby trial was really all about the cover-up of lies that were told to get us into the war with Iraq in the first place. The conspiracy to discredit Amb. Joe Wilson was part of the cover-up of the criminal acts that took place during the months leading up to the war. If the truth ever comes out, it will reveal that the Bush Administration (e.g., Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Rumsfeld, Bush) were deeply involved in faking intelligence to justify going to war. It was wrong for the White House to out a covert CIA agent in an effort to discredit her husband because he had dared to question their fabrications and lies. It was wrong for the White House to then try to cover up the fact that the leak had been authorized by the president himself. No one was ever fired from the White House for doing it because they were just following orders -- presidential orders!

It is obstruction of justice for the president to pardon or commute a sentence in a case in which he himself is a party to the same underlying crime, but this moron is convinced that he has absolute and unlimited authority to do whatever the hell he pleases because he's the Deciderer. As far as Bush is concerned, Libby's his homey, he's the Deciderer, so you can all just go cheney yourselves.

P.S. -- Oliver Stone, who did a documentary on Fidel Castro, has been trying to get the Iranian government to allow him to film a documentary in Iran about Mahmoud Admadinejad's rise to power. After a year of waiting, he finally received their answer a few days ago. They announced publicly last week that his request would be denied because he was part of the Great Satan cultural establishment. Whether he is or not is open to debate but based on Stone's response, it looks like Maddog Mahmoud was right to turn him down. Stone gets credit for a two-fer here. Check it out:

Stone’s publicist in New York said the director had not been formally notified that his proposal to make a documentary about Ahmadinejad had been turned down. But in a statement released Monday, Stone said he wished the Iranian people well.

“I have been called a lot of things, but never a great satan,” Stone said in the statement. “I wish the Iranian people well, and only hope their experience with an inept, rigid ideologue president goes better than ours.”

[Ninong]

Praise the Lord! We done saved Scooter from the slammer! Hallelujah!



Libby has already paid the fine! That didn't hurt at all. He has $5 million in his defense fund. I wonder if Fred Thompson is still holding fundraisers to rake in more cash for Scooter's appeal?

The goofy White House press people are still insisting that Scooter has the severe punishment of the $250,000.00 fine plus two years probation. This comes two days after Judge Walton warned that since Scooter's prison term has been fully commuted, there can be no probation under federal law. That's because probation can only follow a period of incarceration. No jail time equals no probation. The White House is either lying or, more likely, they were too stupid to look up the law first.

Here's proof from today's White House press briefing that the "too stupid" theory is quite plausible:

Question: Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment?

Scott Stanzel: Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by equal justice under the law.

An official White House spokesperson has just said that he doesn't know the meaning of equal justice under the law -- probably the most honest thing any of them have said in ages.

"Judge Walton said Tuesday that the law did not allow for imposing a period of supervised release on an individual who had not first completed a jail sentence. He asked the lawyers for both sides to submit briefs next week on whether Mr. Libby should have to submit to supervision by the probation office."

[Ninong]

It's a Small World Dept:

All the Republican apologists are now screaming hypocrisy at the Democrats and pointing out that Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich on his last day in office.

I know one person who probably won't have anything bad to say about the Marc Rich pardon: Scooter Libby.

In fact, Scooter was thrilled when Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich and he called him up right away to congratulate him. That's because Scooter Libby was Marc Rich's attorney!

P.S. -- Additional trivia: The U.S. Attorney who indicted Scooter Libby's billionaire client Marc Rich on tax evasion charges in 1983 was none other than Rudy Giuliani.

[Ninong]

Resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush

Whereas President George W. Bush has failed to comply with his obligations under Executive Order 12958 concerning the protection of classified national security information in that the covert identity of Valerie Plame Wilson as a Central Intelligence Agency operative was revealed to members of the media, and in June 2003 Bush Administration officials discussed with various reporters the identity of Ms. Wilson as a covert Central Intelligence Agency operative;

Whereas on July 14, 2003, the name of Ms. Wilson and her status as a CIA operative was revealed publicly in a newspaper column by Robert Novak, and on September 16, 2003 the Central Intelligence Agency advised the Department of Justice that Ms. Wilson’s status as a covert operative was classified information and requested a federal investigation;

Whereas knowingly leaking the identity of a covert agent is a criminal violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (P.L. 97-200);

Whereas Arthur Brown, former Asian Division chief of the CIA, stated that, “cover and tradecraft are the only forms of protection one has and to have that stripped away because of political scheming is the moral equivalent to exposing forward deployed military units";

Whereas Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, effectively stopped the investigation into this potentially grave national security crime by lying to FBI investigators, and Mr. Libby's perjury shielded the Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush from further inquiry;

Whereas on March 6, 2007, in U.S. District Court a jury found Mr. Libby guilty on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to FBI investigators regarding an investigation into the actions of the White House regarding leaking the identity of Ms. Wilson in retaliation for her husband's contention that the Bush administration twisted intelligence facts to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq;

Whereas on June 5, 2007, Mr. Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000;

Whereas President George W. Bush had appointed both the Special Prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, and the US District Court Judge, Reggie Walton, who were involved in the trial of Mr. Libby;

Whereas in February 2004, President George W. Bush stated that if anyone in his Administration “has violated [the] law, that person will be taken care of”;

Whereas on July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison;

Whereas in commuting Mr. Libby’s sentence, President Bush has finally and unalterably breached any remaining shred of trust that he had left with the American people and rewarded political loyalty while flouting the rule of law: Now, therefore let be it --

Resolved, That the United States Congress does hereby censure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does condemn his decision to commute the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison, his unconscionable abuse of his authority with regard to the deceitful chain of events concerning the falsifying intelligence on Iraqi nuclear capabilities and the exaggeration of the threat posed by Iraq, his involvement in the clear political retaliation against former Ambassador and Ms. Wilson, and his decision to reward the perjury of Mr. Libby, which effectively protected President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other Administration officials from further scrutiny.

[Ninong]

How Scooter Skated

Will the student deferments for these fellows never end?

The act reeks of cronyism. The perception is that Scooter Libby got preferential treatment, a get-out-of-jail-free card because he was chief of staff to Cheney and assistant to Bush.

That perception is correct.

Because of whom he knew, Scooter got preferential treatment, big-time. The Godfather took care of the consigliere.

"Nothing new. After all, one recalls that the attorney who rustled up a pardon for Marc Rich from Bill Clinton was also a Beltway hustler by the name of Scooter Libby. The insiders take care of their own.

And that is how the game is played in the big city.



Looks like the reichwing of the GOP is attacking Bushie openly now. They have definitely formed a circular firing squad. In case you're too lazy to follow the link, it's by Patrick J. Buchanan.

[Ninong]

J'accuse!





“I thought it was improper,” Mr. Gore said of the decision. “He was charged with knowledge that could incriminate his bosses in the White House, which included the vice president and the president. I thought it was very disappointing.”

Mr. Gore said the Libby pardon differed from the Clinton administration’s pardons “because in this case the person involved is charged with activities that involve knowledge of what his superiors in the White House did.”

P.S. -- This isn't the first time a president named Bush has pardoned an administration insider who had the goods on him. President Bush the Elder pardoned the Iran-Contra conspirators on Christmas Eve 1992, including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5, 1993 on charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of the arms sales to Iran and efforts by other countries to help underwrite the Nicaraguan rebels, a case that was expected to focus on Mr. Weinberger’s private notes that contain references to Mr. Bush’s endorsement of the secret shipments to Iran.

[Ninong]

Hey, guess whose birthday it is today?

El Presidente de los Estados Unidos

I was browsing through the official La Casa Blanca website and I learned that today is the birthday of El Presidente George W. Bush:

"George W. Bush es el 43er Presidente de los Estados Unidos. El Presidente Bush nació el 6 de julio de 1946 en New Haven, Connecticut, y creció en Midland y Houston, Texas."

P.S. -- Be sure to check out the Fotos de la Casa Blanca. Looks like the only people El Presidente Bush has ever met have been Hispanics.

P.P.S. -- Does Tom Tancredo know about this?

[Ninong]

It's a good thing Deputy Leader Dick isn't a member of the Executive Branch because...

According to this poll,

54% of Americans want to IMPEACH him!



P.S. -- Back in 1998, when the Republicans in Congress were actually impeaching Bill Clinton, a lot of polls were taken. The average of all those polls showed that 26% of Americans wanted to impeach Bill Clinton -- that's the same as George W. Bush's current job approval number -- probably the same people, too.

[Ninong]

Some of the most interesting op-eds about the Bush presidency are being written by Republicans!

I just finished reading this one. I won't attempt to excerpt it because I couldn't possibly do it justice by selecting just a few paragraphs.

The author is not some hotshot Republican honcho who previously worked for Reagan or Poppy, he's just a regular guy who happened to be a Republican before George W. Bush made that an intolerable affiliation. He's now an independent.

I highly recommend reading what he has to say, especially if you're still of the Republican persuasion.

[Penguin]

“If I followed my better instincts right now, I would put this typewriter in the Volvo and drive to the home of the nearest politician -- any politician -- and hurl the g****** machine through his front window ... flush the bugger out with an act of lunatic violence then soak him down with mace and run him naked down Main Street in Aspen with a bell around his neck and black lumps all over his body from the jolts of a high powered “Ball Buster” cattle prod.

Hunter sure had a way with words, didn't he? I wish he was still here.