Pardon Me, Mr. President! Libby’s Difficult Defense (NY Observer)

[kpete]

Pardon Me, Mr. President!
Libby’s Difficult Defense

By Anna Schneider-Mayerson

Hours after I. Lewis Libby resigned from the White House last October, federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald broke the seal on an indictment charging him with five felonies.

Now, as the pre-trial jousting in Mr. Libby’s case picks up momentum, the onetime loyal West Wing confidant—Dick Cheney’s Dick Cheney—will have to choose between protecting himself and protecting the White House. Specifically, insiders say, he will have to choose between a not-guilty verdict and a Presidential pardon.

“It does put him in this difficult situation of putting the administration on trial,” said a lawyer in the case. “Things are coming out that would never have come out, solely because he’s going to fight the charges.”

As Mr. Libby’s lawyers serve demand after demand for evidence that they hope will exculpate their client, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald rallies back with briefs seeded with less-than-flattering assertions about Mr. Libby’s bosses.

much more at:
http://www.nyobserver.com/20060529/20060529_Anna_Schneider-Mayerson_politics_newsstory2.asp

[Spazito]

1. Interesting read, thanks for posting this n/t

[Me.]

2. Libby's Choices

Not sure I understand what the insiders are saying about his choices. Has he been given an assurance of a pardon? And he certainly doesn't get to determine the verdict especially as "not guilty" seems more remote with each day.

[Spazito]

3. I read it as Libby's choices are to point elsewhere, ala Cheney,

WHIG, etc, or try and defend himself while shielding the White House in hopes that, if convicted, a pardon is in the offing.

From the article:

Lawyers said it was impossible to know whether there were lines of inquiry that the defense was not pursuing at the behest of Mr. Libby.

“There is a real tension there, because you’re doing your utmost to defend your client, who has extreme loyalty,” said a Washington lawyer familiar with independent-counsel investigations. “It takes a lot of convincing with a client to let you do your job to complete the defense.”

The lawyer added: “It’s going to be very, very difficult to get Libby to point the finger to one or two above him—if that, in fact, occurred.”

It is clear, in the article, which insiders are from the Libby camp and which are, in essence, neutral observers.