Spy case puts Vice-President in the stand

[Joanne98]

Spy case puts Vice-President in the stand
Tim Reid, Washington
January 15, 2007

A POLITICALLY charged courtroom drama centred on the Iraq war, a blonde-bombshell spy and a vice-president in the witness box will be on show this week when Dick Cheney's former chief of staff goes on trial for his alleged role in the CIA leak scandal.
The roots of the scandal that led to Lewis "Scooter" Libby being charged with perjury lie in how the Bush White House justified the invasion, and the spin operation that it mounted after the failure to find weapons of mass destruction.
In one key respect, the six- week trial, which begins tomorrow, is unprecedented: the secretive Mr Cheney will enter the witness box as part of Mr Libby's defence. It makes him the first sitting vice-president to testify in a criminal prosecution.

He is expected to be cross-examined on his efforts to rebut critics of the war aggressively as it began to turn sour in 2003.

Mr Libby denies lying to the FBI and a grand jury about who gave the press the name of Valerie Plame, a one-time covert CIA agent with stunning good looks. No Bush administration official, including Mr Libby, was charged with leaking Ms Plame's identity. It became clear last year that the accusation that triggered the special prosecutor's investigation -- that the White House knew Ms Plame was an undercover operative and leaked her identity to discredit her husband, a war critic -- was unfounded.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21058139-2703,00.html

MERRY FITZMAS!!!!!:)

[OKthatsIT]

1. Merry Fitzmas? He's a crook prosecutor, ya know?

He took the case(libby's) to control it.

You realize he and Chertoff withheld evidence during the Blind Cleric's trial, dont you?

[nolies32fouettes]

2. why don't you read Jesselyn Radack's book...

she talks about Chertoff from a personal perspective! The guy was her boss! Read what the guy did to her!

www.patriotictruthteller.net

[Joanne98]

3. No. I'm not up to date on this story. Sorry.

[EST]

4. Do you have a source or linky?

Or did you plan to use the :sarcasm: thingy?

I was under the impression that this middle aged prosecutor was the very soul of ethical performance--that he had sacrificed all of life's little diversions in order to dedicate himself to the selfless drudge of righting wrongs and afflicting the corrupt. Maybe the only things I read were the biased ones.

[patrice]

5. Related question: Weapons of Mass Destruction were Part of Plame's responsibilites,

right?

WMD affect National Security. We were told that War was declared on U.S. at 9/11. Country under attack. Black market weapons are a Much More Serious threat to National Security. Plame's job was knowledge concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction. BushCo intentionally exposed Plame's job to discredit her and her husband. U.S. exposure to unknown Risky International ACTORS with WMDs, bio/chem or nuke, increases several fold.

Is that malfeasance? or Treason?

[patrice]

6. I guess I've always pretty much assumed that Fitzgerald was TGTBT,

Too-good-to-be-true, and sort of felt that he might be more P.Buchannan-esque than might be apprent in his persona.

[Eugene]

7. AP: Cheney Calls Ex-Aide Libby 'Honest'

Cheney Calls Ex-Aide Libby 'Honest'

The Associated Press
Sunday, January 14, 2007; 11:51 AM

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney called his former chief of staff, who goes on
trial this week in the CIA leak case, "one of the more honest men I know" and said Sunday
he expects to testify for the defense.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby faces charges of perjury and obstruction of an investigation
into the leak of a CIA officer's identity to reporters.

Cheney would not say whether he would testify in open court or possibly via videotape.

"I have indicated from the very beginning my wholehearted cooperation with the investigation
and with whatever legal proceedings emerge out of that. And this will all unfold here in the
very near future," he said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400321.html

Scooter is one of the more honest men Dick Cheney knows.
In a strange way, I find that believable.

[Tellurian]

8. Well, yeah... Most people get fired if they are criminals..

The Bush WH seeks out and hires them.