Posted on 10/28/2005 1:05:49 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
This is a very curious press conference just conducted by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. With his machine-gun delivery. He repeatedly flopped back and forth between saying that the “outing” of Valerie Plame, wife of discredited Ambassador Joe Wilson was a “serious matter,” and saying that he “reached no conclusion” whether she had been outed, and if so, when and by whom.
The mood in the room among the reporters changed appreciably as the conference went on. Initially, the press was very interested in the charges made and reasons for them, and in the charges not made against other people, and the reasons why not. But by the end of the conference, the reporters were clearly puzzled by the wandering speech of Fitzgerald and his lame analogies about a baseball pitcher throwing at a batter’s head, and a bank robber with his fingerprint on the holdup note and a signed confession.
Again and again, Mr. Fitzgerald said that it was “vital” that he and his Grand Jury should get to the end of the process with a “clear understanding of all of the facts.” Yet, again and again, he replied to reporters’ questions by saying that he “had not reached a conclusion” about central facts of the matter concerning either Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson.
Source: this is written as the press conference is under way. The transcript will surely be posted on the Internet within minutes.
Toward the end of the conference, I realized what I was watching. Fitzgerald was offering the press and the nation a version of Humphrey Bogart’s star turn in his last film as Phillip Francis Queeg, the Captain of the USS Caine in The Caine Mutiny (1954). The turning point in that film came when the obsessive Captain comes apart on the stand while being cross-examined by the lawyer for the mutineers in their trial.
Beginning with the exposure of Captain Queeg as obsessive in the story about the missing strawberries from the mess hall, the Captain visibly unravels. As he does so, he takes two ball bearings from his pocket and begins to play with them in his hand.
Fitzgerald seems to be a similar person. He is wound far too tight. He is obsessing about a few conversations with reporters (where it might be the reporters, not Scooter Libby, who are either lying or maybe just poorly remembering what happened years ago). At the same time, Fitzgerald is deliberately ignoring the larger fact that a war is going on, and must be won. It was just like Captain Queeg.
Fitzgerald had everything except the strawberries, and the ball bearings. By the end, I think many of the reporters had reached the same conclusion.
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
John / Billybob
Fitzgerald showed one thing he is a primadonna. Waiting after two years to the last day to issue a weak indictment, knowing the press was all over it. Libby last testified I think over a month ago, he could have indicted him on perjury then. He strung this out and now wants to continue the investigation. I think Fitzs likes the spotlight
After all the puff pieces no Fitzgerald over the past few weeks I expected much more than was delievered during the press conference today.
This guy sounded like a moron.
If the quality of Fitzgerald's investigative skills is as poor as his ability to articulate his rationale for issuing this indictment, Scooter and his counsel should have little difficulty putting forth a successful defense.
No marbles, either, he seems to have lost his as well.
I think there is some Captain Ahab in this story as well - Fitz has fixated on minutiae about what Libby said about what Libby had said in the past, while downplaying what this story was all about in the first place. I sure hope no judge will give him another grand jury. Any guesses on that, from what you have seen so far with the indictment and Fitz's ramblings?
The prosecution's talking points are that the obstruction was so serious, and the lies so pervasive, that he spent 2 years just trying to establish where the lies were coming from.
Anyway, expect those arguments, or some such, to be reported through the blogosphere.
Fitzgerald seems to be a similar person. He is wound far too tight. He is obsessing about a few conversations with reporters (where it might be the reporters, not Scooter Libby, who are either lying or maybe just poorly remembering what happened years ago). At the same time, Fitzgerald is deliberately ignoring the larger fact that a war is going on, and must be won. It was just like Captain Queeg.
Captain Queeg is an apt analogy.
I liked the part when Fitzgerald said that Libby was trying to poison his precious bodily fluids...
Fitz claims early on that it wasn't common knowledge outside the intel community that Plame was CIA.
If this goes to trial (and I doubt it will), Fitz's lawyers will have a field day putting people on the stand who can say otherwise.
And, in the process, could well take questioning where Fitz was unwilling to take it. Imagine a laywer putting Miller or Cooper or Russert on the stand, asking whether they knew about Plame's CIA status beforehand, and then asking them how they knew.
Goldmine. Fitz really screwed up putting that in the indictment - but if he hadn't, his false statement and perjury charges would have unravelled.
Did anyone ask him who first leaked to Novak?
How much taxpayer money is this Fitzgerald guy willing to
waste on this bul$$$it??
My reaction is that I wish Fitzgerald would do the same rectal exam on everyone in Washington.
Then I think we might get the smaller govt. we need as 80% of people there would have to resign their jobs.
I want Fitz to keep on going except that the targets should be drawn out of a hat instead of targeting the Bush admin.
Sorry , but I have the impression that Harvard has graduated many people of average ability.(I met many) This is a 2 years farce ,conducted by an American dimwit.Inadmissible !
Libby's lawyers?
You're right, Libby's lawyers.
Fitzgerald acted like he was prosecuting a triple murder, when in reality it was a political case involving the memories of a few reporters with a staffer about an ongoing story in the news.
Again, Fitzgerald claimed during the press conference that he was prosecuting a case of "national security" of the most important order.
I was floored when I heard that, almost fell over laughing.
National Security -- baloney. He was obsessed with charging Libby, an honest patriotic American who donated years in public service only to be wrongly implicated in a political scandal that Fitzgerald blindly refused to see.
If Fitzgerald eventually charges Rove, I feel the US Attorney General, if he can, must shut him down immediately under the threat of malfeasance of office charges.
Fitzgerald is so full of himself he stunk today.
Pray tell ... this creep isn't married, is he?
I missed a chunk of the front end of the conference, but the part I saw at the end reflected he was more concerned that Libby lied to reporters than anything else. The indictments themselves hint at the same. Have you read the indictments?
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/libby_indictment_28102005.pdf
Harsh, but close. I lost a lot of respect for him as he went way beyond the charges and their implications in justifying his investigation. I expected facts and nothing more. Instead, he made it sound like he took down Aldrich Ames or something. Bizarre...
Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department following the indictment of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Friday, Oct. 28, 2005 in Washington. Vice presidential adviser I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Jr. was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
"Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them!"
This guy is a publicity hog and Dem operative.
Thats about the size of it.
Wilson and his "wife" lies about the VP's office sending him of all people to investigate nuclear terrorism when it was her and her fellow leftist subversives at the CIA all along will eventually become the real story.
The report indicated that there was enough intelligence to make a “well-founded” judgment that Saddam Hussein was seeking, perhaps as late as 2002, to obtain uranium illegally from Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo (6.4 para. 499). In particular, referring to a 1999 visit of Iraqi officials to Niger, the report states (6.4 para. 503): “The British government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports, the intelligence was credible.” This intelligence (which had controversially found its way into George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech) had previously (before September 2003 [C. May, 2004]) been thought to rely on forged documents. The Butler Review stated that “the forged documents were not available to the British Government at the time its assessment was made.” (6.4 para. 503) Taking into account the American intelligence community’s findings on the matter, it is true that in December 2003, then CIA director George Tenet conceded that the inclusion of the claim in the State of the Union address was a mistake. (CNN.com, 2003) However, Tenet believed so, not due to any compelling evidence to the contrary, but rather because the CIA (criticized concerning this matter by the Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq [Schmidt, 2004]) had failed to investigate the claim thoroughly; however again, the Butler Review states (6.4 para. 497) in 2002 the CIA “agreed that there was evidence that [uranium from Africa] had been sought.” In the run-up to war in Iraq, the British Intelligence Services apparently believed that Iraq had been trying to obtain uranium from Africa; however, no evidence has been passed on to the IAEA apart from the forged documents (6.4 Para. 502). (Times Online, 2003) The report did not blame any specific individuals. It specifically stated that John Scarlett, the head of the JIC should not resign, and indeed should take up his new post as head of MI6.
My take: Fitzgerald is fixated with Mrs. Wilson in fact being a classified and/or covert CIA employee...I believe a substantial case can be made that Mrs. Wilson was in no way classified/covert beyond her CIA personnel file.
I could not get a good interpretation of Fitgerald's statements. I waited just about the whole press conference for a reporter to ask Fitzgerald whether Plame was a covert agent, and was merely mentioning the name of a CIA agent, covert or not, by a government official to a non-government person a crime. I'm still puzzled.
What I found disturbing was that he started off by giving the impression Plame was, indeed, a covert operative. He then pontificated on the importance of maintaining covert status and national security. Hey, who could disagree with the general principle of perserving national security.
But, half way through, he clearly states that he reached no conclusion about Plame being covert. As a matter of fact, he uses the term "classified" and basically admits that the original statute that formed the underlying basis of the investigation was not violated. Of course, he covers himself by saying prosecutors investigate facts, not crimes.
Basically, it all came down to this. Fitz didn't like the way Plame was treated, covert or not. He felt that if Libby had a beef with Wilson, he should have taken it up with Wilson. Ok, Fitz is a national security hawk and is peeved by what Libby has done. But, he could not indict Libby on the underlying statute. Thus, he uses the process to ensnare Libby, which Libby may deserve to be snared by if he made misleading statement.
Bottom line, Fitz talked about the underlying crime, then did squat about it. Why? I am still waiting for an answer from Fitz, one that doesn't involve bean ball analogies.
It seems to me that Fitz had enough stuff to charged Libby with the underlying charge .... and would have, but he knew it'd be laughed out of court. It's now pretty obvious that Libby (or anybody else, ftm) did not "knowingly" out a "covert agent".
So, Fitz took what he could get and call it quits.
Fitz kinda fizzled for the Dems. I'm sure they are deeply saddened. :)
Queeg? Or more like Captain Ahab pursuing an illusion?
LOL!!
One can only hope that Fitz has a fifty cal on his cleared off desk and starts firing out the window.
I think Fitz found himself in Ronnie Earle territory, with a grand jury winding down and nothing to charge....like Earle, he was convinced that there was wrongdoing somewhere, but he doesn't have the law on his side to prosecute that wrongdoing. He obviously made a last ditch attempt to get an indictment on the leak law - this is why he had people interviewing Wilson's neighbors this week, to try to prove to the GJ that Plame was covert under the law. But the GJ didn't buy it. Now he has nothing except some "he said-she said" perjury claims on Libby. This press conference was a total CYA to try and salvage his reputation and keep the press from losing interest.
That does NOT look like a confident man. I missed the entire press conference due to family considerations, but from what I have read here at FR, I cannot believe that this is the guy that thinks he can take on Chicago's City Hall. We shall see. Did anyone get the impression from Fitzgerald that he was expanding the investigation to a possible (probable, in my book) CIA conspiracy? From what I've read, he seems to be buying the "Plame was outed" BS.
Yes, it had been extended. And the six month extension was up today.
Aandy Warhole made a comment about people... 15 minutes is ticking...
I think Hillarhea has his FBI file........
Fitz has to convince a judge to convene a new grand jury now. We'll see if he can. Meanwhile, Libby can tie him in knots by demanding a speedy trial.
I think that Fitz thinks he has all he needs to do is put big time pressure on "Scooter" and he will cave and strike a plea deal to give up Rove or higher up.
I just hope Libby has the cajones of Liddy.
I also listened to it. Did you notice his voice sounds exactly like Louis Freeh?
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