Rick Ben Veniste (9/11 Commission Guiliani Friend) says NO INDICTMENTS

[Chicago1]

Ben Veniste was on Charlie Rose and said Dumb Dumb and Co ARE NOT getting indicted.

I almost fell off the recliner when I heard this one. How ridiculous can one be???? Talk about right winged spin. It was ridiculous.


THE BUSHIES ARE GETTING INDICTED. THE REVOLUTION CAN'T START FAST ENOUGH!!!!

[okieinpain]

1. speaking for myself I'll wait until I see the turkey on the table.

bush is still the president, and can still call in a few favors.

[kohodog]

2. If they don't get indicted

The revolution starts now.

[babylonsister]

3. Is he on tonight's program? If so, you're lucky. Rose

doesn't come on here until 11:30pmCT, I think.
And I didn't know Ben Veniste was a R/Wer. :shrug:

[Stephanie]

4. I don't think Ben Veniste is right wing

Isnt' he a Democrat?

[shance]

5. Ben Veniste is one of them.

n/t

[hang a left]

17. Oh you better believe he is. He is not our friend.

[vi5]

7. He is, and everyone on here loved him...

when he was the one doing the only really heavy questioning during the 9/11 commission hearings. But of course if someone says one thing that dares to challenge our orthodoxy then he's a neo-con wingnut who is whoring for Bush, didn't you know that?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. Bingo

Doesn't that just suck the big one?

Remember his role in Watergate?

Some people .................

[hang a left]

23. No, I was teenager during Watergate.

I do however remember his role in the cover up of September 11. That is good enough for me.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rzemanfl]

33. Be nice now leftie. n/t

[OldLeftieLawyer]

38. ?

That wasn't nice?

I even offered my sympathies. How could I have been nicer?

Oh.

Of course.

Flowers.

OK.

[rzemanfl]

54. Apparently we need to start an "Over 55 Community" on DU

judging from what happened to your messages.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

58. hee hee

Some tenderfeets around here, hmmm?

How about "Over 55 and Aware"?

That's pushing it, isn't it?

hee hee

[hang a left]

36. Yes I read alot. Just haven't read any Watergate books yet.

But I have read:

Crossing the Rubicon

The New Pearl Harbor

9-11 Commission Report:Omissions and Distortions

9-11 Synthetic Terror-Made in USA

Cover-Up:What the Government is Still Hiding About the War on Terror

So I am literate on the subject matter of which I speak.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

48. I was a teenager during Watergate and I know everything about it

because....I read about it later. :D

[ReadTomPaine]

34. Here is his bio for the curious...

"Mr. Ben-Veniste graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1960, received an A.B. from Muhlenberg College in 1964, an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1967, and an LL.M. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1968.

He served as assistant U.S. attorney from 1968 to 1973, including the turbulent period of the Watergate scandal. Mr. Ben-Veniste was a leading figure in the prosecution of this scandal. He served as chief of the Watergate Task Force of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office. He later aided in the investigations of other other issues of national importance, including serving as chief councel of the Senate Whitewater Committee. In his private practice, he has represented Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and continues to represent major clients such as Boeing and United Airlines.

Ben-Veniste is a Presidential appointee to the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, a group mandated to review and declassify documents relating to war crimes in the World War II era. He also co-authored Stonewall: The Real Story of the Watergate Prosecution.

Most recently, Ben-Veniste was appointed to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ( popularly known as the "9/11 Commission"), where he has developed a reputation for asking tough questions and demanding access to sensitive documents, although in some circles he has been accused of grandstanding."

[comsymp]

56. How 'bout his role as opposing counsel to Chertoff during the Whitewater

farce?

He certainly was "our friend" then...

I'd sure like to see something to back up these "you betcha, he's a RWN" posts~

[Pirate Smile]

16. Naww. But it is the first bit of cold water thrown at us. I hope he is

wrong but this doesn't make him a wingnut.

Frankly, the people who really know aren't talking so :shrug:

Time will tell, I guess.

[Jackpine Radical]

24. The Buddhist Spin Machine.

Those who know, do not say.
Those who say, do not know.

And the wheel keeps turning.

[flyarm]

19. well as a flt crew with one of the 9/11 airlines i was not happy at all

with him on the 9/11 commission as he has very heavy ties with the saudi's and he was a blow hard..he did not ask the real hard questions ..or even the simple ones...
he was a bit actor on that cdommission to make it look real and fool the american people is how i see it!

fly

[eggman67]

55. Well y'know..

.. one fuck-up kills ten attaboys.

[flyarm]

11. yes ben veniste is dem but he has close ties

with the saudi's..very close ties..which ties him to who??????????

yes *

i don't trust him a bit!! he is owned!

fly

[Mme. Defarge]

14. Read about his role

on the 911 Commission in David Ray Griffin's "The 911 Commission Report: Errors and Distortions."

[Walt Starr]

6. Good!

The more expecations are lowered, the better things will be!

[babylonsister]

9. Isn't that how BushCo operates? Lower

expectations? :rofl:

[Walt Starr]

20. I'm a firm advocate of using their tools against them.

:evilgrin:

[thinkingwoman]

8. um, right, whatever Ben Veniste

that's why Rove cancelled all those fundraiser appearances. That's why all the "leaks" about the case are coming from defense attorneys. Right. Yep. Nothing at all is about to happen.

:rofl:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. "right winged spin'?

Do you know anything about Richard Ben-Veniste?

Listen, it's entirely possible that no indictments are forthcoming. It's just as likely that indictments are forthcoming.

The truth is that no one knows anything. Ben-Veniste is entitled to his opinions.

But, characterizing him as "right winged" suggests you don't know who he is, or his place in our country's history.

That was the funniest post I've seen today. Thanks for the laugh.

[acmejack]

22. No kidding, can you say Watergate?

A few tidbits:

snip>
Mr. Ben-Veniste was chief of the Watergate Task Force of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office from 1973 to 1975

snip>

Mr. Ben-Veniste has been listed in Who's Who in America since 1975, The Best Lawyers in America since 1983, and Washingtonian Magazine's Top Lawyers in Washington, DC, since 1992, when the list first appeared.

Mr. Ben-Veniste is a Presidential appointee to the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, which is mandated to review and declassify secret documents relating to World War II era war crimes.

http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/bio_ben-veniste.htm

[napi21]

12. That's very interesting because Ben Veniste is NOT a Pub!

You'd know that if you listened to the 0/11 hearings. I also heard him on some show on CNN the other day, and he wasn't saying anything like that! I think he was a guest on Countdown at the time, just a few days ago.

[shance]

15. Try doing a little research on Venistes business interests

They all play in the same swamp.

[napi21]

21. So now a Dem can't have a business interest in a company

unless it's ...er...a liberal one?

Oh common now. Give me a break!

I have my investments in Mutual funds, are you going to tell me I'm not a liberal because of that too???

[shance]

26. Please spare me the indignation. You know exactly what I mean.

If you don't then I cant help you.

[AlCzervik]

44. the op is incorrect, he said "More likely then not"

[AX10]

18. WTF is up with this?

:wtf:?

[alcuno]

25. I heard him say more likely than not.

One of us is wrong, but I watched the interview last night and that's what I heard.

[Generator]

28. So the opening poster is fucking with us?

Sweet.

[alcuno]

43. I'm not sure that the original poster heard correctly.

It appears that several other people heard "more likely than not."

[masmdu]

30. That's what I heard and saw, too.

[Justice Is Comin]

27. Phooey to that.

He said if Rove didn't remember the meeting with Cooper, "he's got a problem."

[Blue_Roses]

29. I can't see him saying something like this

speculation is what we are all doing right now.

[GR]

31. That's Not What He Said this Weekend....nfm

[jefferson_dem]

35. BS ALERT. These comments totally contradict the "no indictments" claim.

From BBC, yesterday --

Former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste says the demand for extra testimony from Mr Rove last week suggests that he is in trouble.

"The fact that he spent over four hours in the grand jury indicates a great deal of scepticism," Mr Ben-Veniste said.

"In the first or second or third appearances before the grand jury he was not entirely candid, and in fact made broad statements that are now proved to be inaccurate or untruthful. He's got a real problem."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4353070.stm

AND HERE ->

Richard Ben Veniste, a top Washington lawyer who has been involved in handling presidential scandals from Watergate to Whitewater, said the revelations that Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller had several meetings in which the CIA operative was discussed "appeared to contradict earlier accounts that there had been no substantive contacts by aides with reporters."

While Ben Veniste cautioned that most of what is known is based on press accounts, "it would appear that the material is there for a false statement or perjury charge. It will come down to the prosecutor's discretion."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/3400873

[FreedomAngel82]

37. As I've learned over time

whatever they say turn backwards and there lies the truth. So could they be indicted?

[tableturner]

40. He said more likely than not....plus more....

Throughout the interview, he often indicated, in a lawyerly, subdued manner, that things look bleak for the Bushies. He is a good Dem, and as a very prominent lawyer, he should not, and does not, when speaking about legal matters, make rash statements. Most attorneys who wish to keep a good reputation within the profession , speak in an understated way about cases that have not come to a conclusion.

In other words, he spoke negatively of the Bushies' prospects, but he did not spout off about the subject. That is how it should be.

[AlCzervik]

42. you are correct--"More likely---than not"

[KansDem]

41. Calm down! If this were the 100-meter sprint at the Olympics...

We'd all be disqualified for jumping the gun!
So much tension...

Remember this from "West Side Story?"

RIFF
Boy, boy, crazy boy,
Get cool, boy!
Got a rocket in your pocket,
Keep coolly cool, boy!
Don't get hot,
'Cause man, you got
Some high times ahead.
Take it slow and Daddy-O,
You can live it up and die in bed!

Boy, boy, crazy boy!
Stay loose, boy!
Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it.
Turn off the juice, boy!
Go man, go,
But not like a yo-yo schoolboy.
Just play it cool, boy,
Real cool!

Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
© 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed.
Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.

Just play it...cool! B-)

[Marr]

45. What was his reasoning? I'd be interested to hear it.

[oasis]

46. Wasn't he the guy that made Condi recite the title of the Aug 6th pdb

at the 9/11 hearings?

[emulatorloo]

47. yes n/t

[Bumblebee]

49. is there any way to eliminate misleading threads? since this one

obviously is both inaccurate and alarming to people before they realize that he said the opposite of what the post reports him to have said.

[oasis]

50. The OP must have retired for the evening after posting.

:shrug:

[applegrove]

51. He would know.

[nvliberal]

52. Ben Veniste is right, I'm afraid, if that's what he said.

Too many liberals and progressives are reading too many blogs and too many forums and have decided to take a relatively minor story and extrapolate it into Watergate II.

As for the leading bloggers, you can't trust them with "news" or "analysis" as far as you can throw them. They are SO often wrong, and I refuse to take any of them seriously as commentators as long as they refuse to acknowledge the election thefts of both 2000 and 2004, far worse scandals than who or what Valerie Plame is and who revealed her name for what purpose.

Ben Veniste ain't a right-winger, by the way.

[sakabatou]

53. Lalalalala! I can't hear you!

[NNN0LHI]

57. There shouldn't be any indictments

Fitzgerald should extend the grand jury another nine months and keep digging. Plenty of time to indict. No one is going anywhere. He has already castrated half the Bush administration and a pretty good chunk of the media with what we already know.

Don