Judge Reggie B. Walton denied I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby his request to be released from jail pending appeal. The Bureau of Prisons will determine Libby’s accommodations and he will report to prison in approximately six to eight weeks.
FYI. Judge Reggie Walton will decide today (late morning) whether Scooter Libby will go to jail in four to five weeks or if he will remain free on bail pending appeals.
Many are expecting Walton to deny bail during the appeal process.
Don’t mess with Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald filed documents with the court today asking Judge Reggie Walton to send Scooter Libby to jail immediately.
Sounds like the way Colin Powell referred to closing Guantanamo, “not tomorrow, but this afternoon.”
Unfortunately, until tonight, I simply have not had the time to read the correspondence to Judge Reggie Walton regarding the sentencing of Scooter Libby. I would like to mention at least one, and I may comment on more from time to time.
I call your attention to Dick Cheney’s comments. First, isn’t Mr. Cheney the Vice President of the United States? And, he is supporting a felon, convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements??
Hey Dick, did you forget you took an oath to uphold the law?
Furthermore, it’s posted on the White House’s web site - the Vice President publishes his support for a convicted felon on the most prestigious web site in the world, and one that is paid for by the taxpayers.
What’s that impeachment rating up to now?
Vice President’s Statement on Libby Sentencing
Scooter has dedicated much of his life to public service at the State Department, the Department of Defense and the White House. In each of these assignments he has served the nation tirelessly and with great distinction. I relied on him heavily in my capacity as Secretary of Defense and as Vice President. I have always considered him to be a man of the highest intellect, judgment and personal integrity-a man fully committed to protecting the vital security interests of the United States and its citizens. Scooter is also a friend, and on a personal level Lynne and I remain deeply saddened by this tragedy and its effect on his wife, Harriet, and their young children. The defense has indicated it plans to appeal the conviction in the case. Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man.
(Emphasis added.)
There have been many unjustified allegations by neocons that Patrick Fitzgerald committed prosecutorial misconduct against Scooter Libby in the CIA leak case. Not true.
This is prosecutorial misconduct - ten years for consensual oral sex.
This is a classic. Go ahead and mark it down. This brief (no pun intended), but memorable enlightment comes from Emptywheel.
Robert Bork and a few of his well-heeled legal buddies submitted an Amicus Brief to Judge Reggie Walton regarding Scooter Libby’s matter. Emptywheel aptly notes the remarkable productivity of Bork and his friends (12 lawyers) coming to an agreement within 72 hours.
As Emptywheel suggests, it is obvious these highly skilled lawyers got well ahead of the curve, because there is no way in hell 12 lawyers agreed on an Amicus Brief and submitted it to the court within 72 hours. Judge Walton apparently was not fooled or overly amused by their stunt. This is the footnote in Walton’s order allowing Bork and company to submit their brief.
It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics’ willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it.
Master of epistolary art, indeed. Did Walton let those “scholarly” boys have it or what? So what’s Bork et al going to say when Walton issues an order from the bench a year from now, engaging their pro bono services for who knows what? Yes your Honor is about all they can say. I suppose they might reconsider the next time they feel compelled to intervene without being asked.
Late Update: MSNBC has an article on the brief the 12 lawyers submitted to Judge Walton.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s statement on the sentencing of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby today.
As Americans, both Valerie and I are grateful that justice has been served, reconfirming that our country remains a nation of laws.
We are also saddened for the pain that Mr. Libby has inflicted on his family, friends, and the nation. Mr. Libby benefited from the best this country had to offer: the finest schools, a lucrative career as a lawyer and many years of service in Republican administrations. That he would knowingly lie, perjure himself and obstruct a legitimate criminal invetigation [sic] is incomprehensible.
It is our hope that he will now cooperate with Special Counsel Fitzgerald in his efforts to get to the truth. As Mr. Fitzgerald has said, a cloud remains over the Vice President.
A very dark cloud indeed.
Scooter Libby has been sentenced to 30 months in the CIA leak case.
Late Update: Judge Walton also imposed a $250,000 fine, supervised release of two years following his release from prison, 400 hours of community service, and provide the government a DNA sample.
The defense (Jeffress and Ted Wells) and government (Patrick Fitzgerald) continue their respective arguments to Judge Walton on Scooter Libby’s sentencing. As you know, the defense has touted the 160 letters written to the court on behalf of Scooter Libby saying what a great guy he is and that in spite of him being a convicted felon, he should not go to jail. Well, Patrick Fitzgerald took the defense’s letters and used them against their client.
Patrick Fitzgerald to Judge Walton:
We need to make sure we don’t make a special category of person who is not liable for their behavior. That is a terrible precedent, when we talk about govt corruption, if he doesn’t have to tell the truth, that is dangerous. I don’t think we should make a decision based on the policy decisions has made. We put that out the window and say, whatever policy decision he did in good faith, but many others have sacrificed for govt, but they all have to follow the truth. I don’t think it’s appropriate to consider impact of prosecution on him. No doubt it has impact on him, no defendant has stood before court, no defendant has better prospects for employment, even without a law license Libby has many people who wrote letters who would said he would trust him. He has better employment prospects than any other defendant, and he has means. (Emphasis added.)
Ever wonder why the White House wanted Abu Gonzales to put Patrick Fitzgerald’s name on the list of U.S. attorneys to fire?
Late Update: This is just too rich. Ted Wells is going to start crying in this session as he did in his summation. Wells just said, “In the White House, in the administration, he [Libby] was an island of virtue and good sense. I tried to develop students like Libby.” An island of virtue and good sense - so that’s why Libby managed the team that created the false intelligence to justify the war in Iraq and was convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements? I suppose I should teach my daughter those virtuous traits.
The sessions has been underway approximately 30 minutes. Libby’s lawyer (Jeffress) has been pleading Libby’s case. They have primarily been debating “cross-referencing” (will explain later), and at this point Jeffress appears to be angering the judge with his arguments and has made an error in his filings with the judge with respect to the actual crime the investigation was initiated for.
Short version - not going well for Libby at this point.
Late Update: Cross referencing is the adding in and/or taking down of enhancements or departures for sentencing. Enhancements add more time, departures take it away. They are arguing about where Libby should fall as the baseline area for the sentencing guidelines calculation from which the judge will start in his considerations today – this is really, really common as the start to one of these hearings – Team Fitz is asking for a higher bump, Team Libby for a lower one.
Technorati tags: CIA leak case, Scooter Libby, trial, sentencing, Plamegate
Ever since Scooter Libby achieved Republican neocon martyrdom status Tuesday, I have heard wingnut after wingnut whine that Libby was unjustifiably charged. This thick-headed group has said ad nauseam that no criminal charges directly related to leaking Valerie Plame Wilson were filed, therefore there was no basis to charge Scooter Libby. They have pounded Patrick Fitzgerald relentlessly - calling him a zealot and other unjustified, childish names.
Today, the esteemed Mr. Charles Krauthammer joins the rest of the nitwits. Playing his cry-me-a-river violin and with all the melodrama he can muster up, he sings the refrain:
Why [should Libby have never been charged]? Because on his essential charge as special prosecutor — find and punish who had leaked Valerie Plame’s name — he had nothing. No conspiracy, no felony, no crime, not even the claim that she was a covert agent covered by the nondisclosure law.
Weeping, Krauthammer transitions to the next verse about the charges brought against Libby:
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald chose to make Libby’s misstatements about the timing of the receipt of one piece of information — Mrs. Wilson’s identity — the great white whale of his multimillion-dollar prosecutorial juggernaut.
Pray tell, what is the IQ threshold level, where the logic and results of the Scooter Libby trial are no longer a distortion of reality?
OK, Mr. Krauthammer, listen carefully. No criminal charges were filed for leaking Valerie Plame’s name because Scooter Libby, and arguably others, obstructed justice, which illegally kept Fitzgerald, or any other prosecutor, from being able to effectively investigate and charge those responsible for leaking Valerie Plame. Got it? Remember, Fitzgerald plainly stated multiple times, it’s like a baseball game; Libby threw sand in his eyes and he was unable to play the game effectively. Lying and trying to cover your butt are not legal. Got it?
Moving along…Fitzgerald presented his case to a grand jury and the grand jury decided, not Fitzgerald, Mr. Libby should be charged for throwing sand in the eyes of the prosecutor and the investigators.
Next, Mr. Libby was tried before a jury of his peers, which all eleven of them decided Libby was guilty. The jury decided the validity of Fitzgerald’s charges and convicted Libby, not Fitzgerald.
Furthermore, if Mr. Libby was so profoundly innocent as Krauthammer and the rest of the wingnuts proclaim, why did he not simply get on the witness stand and tell a mere eleven people he was innocent? If Mr. Libby was innocent and wrongfully charged, why didn’t one or both of his bosses, Dick Cheney and George Bush, rush to his aid and testify under oath how and why Libby was innocent? If Libby was so innocent, why couldn’t two of the best lawyers in the country easily convince the jury of his innocence?
Mr. Krauthammer, until you and the rest of your melodramatic ideologues provide truthful and exonerating answers to my questions, just remain quiet. You’re acting like a bunch of cry babies. Get over it and be glad that Fitzgerald didn’t take Cheney, Rove, and Bush down.
To clarify the Libby trial verdict, following is what the jury decided by count.
Count 1 Obstruction of Justice - Guilty
Libby did “knowingly and corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the administration of justice” by misleading the grand jury about when and how he learned that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA, and how he disclosed that information to journalists
Count 2 False Statement - Guilty
Libby “did knowingly and willfully make a false, fictitious and fraudulent statement” in an FBI investigation when he misled agents about a July 10, 2003, conversation with Tim Russert (NBC).
Count 3 False Statement - Not Guilty
Libby misled the FBI about a July 12, 2003 conversation with TIME magazine reporter Matthew Cooper.
Count 4 Perjury - Guilty
Libby, under oath, knowingly made a “false material declaration” to a grand jury about his conversation with Tim Russert.
Count 5 Perjury - Guilty
Libby, under oath, knowingly made a “false material declaration” to a grand jury about conversations with Matthew Cooper and other reporters (e.g., Judith Miller, etc.).
Joseph and Valerie Wilson’s response to the Libby verdict, through their lawyers, is here.
This is my interpretation and summary of statements made after the jury rendered its guilty verdicts against Scooter Libby. As of this post, I have listened to remarks made by Ted Wells (lead defense attorney), Patrick Fitzgerald (Special Counselor), and one juror (last name Collins).
Wells statements were standard defense statements - no surprises; request for appeal to follow. Wells did not give a TV-drama speech (e.g., Shark). The only emotional statement he made, if you could call it emotional, was a very respectful statement. Wells said, they were disappointed in the jury’s verdict, but respect the judicial system. In other words, of course they aren’t happy, but did not put a negative spin on the jury’s process or decision.
Patrick Fitzgerald held a rather lengthy session with the press, which was classic Fitzgerald just the facts ma’am…just the facts. There is ample opportunity to analyze all of his statements later, but for now I’ll focus on a couple of statements.
The big question everybody has is, what about Cheney and the rest of the administration? When asked if he would end his investigation or would he pursue others, Fitzgerald said he did not anticipate making any further charges and the investigation was “inactive” as far as he was concerned. In other words, if he receives information that merits pursuing Dick Cheney, he will.
Ted Wells made a brief statement moments ago saying the defense will file a motion for a new trial and if that fails, they will file an appeal.
Libby will remain on bail for now; therefore, he will not have to go to jail immediately.
Dan Abrams of MSNBC said that Libby faces approximately 30 years in jail and fines, but realistically he expected approximately a one-year sentence. Sentencing is expected to happen in late May or June, depending upon what happens in the motion Ted Wells files and the appeal process.
You are currently browsing the The Political Chase weblog archives for the Scooter Libby Trial category.
The Political Chase is powered by WordPress 2.5.1 and Unnamed 1.23 by Xu Yiyang
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)
