Posted on 10/21/2005 11:49:38 AM PDT by advance_copy
What makes you think Fitzgerald is liberal?
He is a law and order type of guy who prosecutes crimes no matter who you claim political patronage from.
Bush sent him to Chicago to clean up the mess there.
And Bush's Justice Department chose the best prosecutor to deal with this mess in Washington.
Maybe they just got around to it. What do you want an efficient government?!?!? HA HA HA!!!
Oh, let's throw Bush under the bus because of Miers. Give me a break! Yessir, we need to help Bush's foes any old way we can.
Only in the press and Free Republic but I don't trust a word I read in the press so I was wondering why you felt it was the White House that needs to spin? My reaction to this has always been that this was either a manufactured story by the press with the help of supposed "insider info" which is generally wishful thinking by some partisian hack whispered in the ear of a reporter. Or a setup by CIA, Wilson and Plame fueled by the MSM's willing lust to get Bush.
If the average IQ is 100, Froomkin isn't even average.
I thought grand jury proceedings and documents were secret.
Possible cover-up a focus in Plame case
Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:23 PM ET
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a decision on indictments expected next week, prosecutors investigating the outing of a covert CIA operative are focusing on whether top White House aides tried to conceal their involvement from investigators, lawyers involved in the case said on Friday.
The Department of Justice opened a special Web site for special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html, and the leak investigation in what lawyers said was a sign indictments were likely.
Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser, and Lewis Libby, who is chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, are at the center of Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Plame's identity was leaked to the media after her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, challenged the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.
The lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Fitzgerald appears likely to bring charges next week in the nearly two-year leak investigation.
The grand jury, which expires on October 28, convened on Friday with two of the lead prosecutors present, but it was unclear what issues they were working on since the panel appears to have completed hearing from witnesses.
Fitzgerald is expected to meet with the grand jury early next week for a possible vote on indictments.
One of the lawyers said prosecutors were likely starting to present their final case to jurors, either for bringing indictments or to explain why there was insufficient evidence to do so.
"I would be hesitant to say it's a sign one way or the other," the lawyer said.
After the grand jury broke up, the two prosecutors, lugging giant legal briefcases, left the federal courthouse without comment.
While Fitzgerald could still charge administration officials with knowingly revealing Plame's identity, several lawyers in the case said he was more likely to seek charges for easier-to-prove crimes such as making false statements, obstruction of justice and disclosing classified information. He also may bring a broad conspiracy charge, the lawyers said.
Legal sources said Rove may be in legal jeopardy for initially not telling the grand jury he talked to Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper about Plame. Rove only recalled the conversation after the discovery of an e-mail message he sent to Stephen Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser.
Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, had no immediate comment.
Luskin said earlier this week that Rove "has at all times strived to be as truthful as possible and voluntarily brought the Cooper conversation to Fitzgerald's attention."
Libby could be open to false statement and obstruction charges because of contradictions between his testimony and that of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and other journalists. Miller has testified she discussed Wilson's wife with Libby as many as three times before columnist Robert Novak publicly identified her.
Libby has said he learned of Wilson's wife from reporters but journalists have disputed that.
Wilson says White House officials outed his wife, damaging her ability to work undercover, to discredit him for accusing the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war in a New York Times opinion piece on July 6, 2003.
After initially promising to fire anyone found to have leaked information in the case, Bush in July offered a more qualified pledge: "If someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my administration."
******
From: White House Press Releases Sent: Fri Jul 15 13:03:44 2005 Subject: POOL REPORT #2, 7/15/05
snip
At one point, Reuters reporter Adam Entous felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Rove, who handed him a small bottle of Tylenol PM pills. "You look like you could use this," Entous said Rove told him.
Reuters: Was Libby Waiver That Freed Miller Really Voluntary?
By E&P STaff
Published: October 08, 2005 1:45 PM ET
NEW YORK Reuters' Adam Entous, who has been on top of developments in the Plame probe all week, reported today that I. Lewis Libby, the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, "got a push" from the federal prosecutor before telling New York Times reporter Judith Miller, in a Sept. 15 letter, that he wanted her to testify.
Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's encouragement, in a letter obtained by Reuters, "has prompted some lawyers in the case to question whether Cheney‘s aide was acting completely voluntarily when he gave Miller the confidentiality waiver she had insisted on," Entous observes.
Oh, the MSM ain't gonna like not being able to contol the flow of info. Tsk, tsk, tsk...
As noted in our Court filings, by October 2004 when the appeal in this matter was first filed, the factual investigation – other than the testimony from these reporters and any further investigation that might result – was for all practical purposes completed.Now that the legal obligations of the reporters are settled and all appeals exhausted, we look forward to resuming our progress in this investigation and bringing it to a prompt conclusion on behalf of the citizens we represent.”
Interesting...... "By October 24, 2004... factual investigation...was for all practical purposes completed"
In think that Miller went to jail in order to delay telling the prosecutor that Libby was NOT her source, rather than to protect her source.
Typical obstructionist liberal move. Preventing Fitzgerald from bringing the investigation to a conclusion.
You're right.
I've got a good feeling about this....
Perhaps someone explained to Libby that Miller was refusing to testify because she didn't want the world to find out Libby was NOT her source.
Anything Libby could do, to get her to talk, would be to his advantage.
What information do you have that he is a liberal?
*Spin, by stressing unimportant and tangential details
Long live the New Media :)
Yes, let's allow the media/Dems to take him down and regain some offices so we can bask in our self-righteous vindictiveness. What a brilliant strategy to advance conservatism.
New media -- a technologically sophisticated way to give rabies shots to members of the press.
Jim Vandehei, on Hardball, is all excited about the administration's checking into Wilson's background and asking questions of the CIA.
[sarcasm] Wow!! [/sarcasm]
Fortunately I finished my Dr Pepper before reading that...
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