Posted on 10/24/2005 1:16:10 PM PDT by churchillbuff
As the White House and Republicans brace for possible indictments in the CIA leak probe, defenders have launched a not-so-subtle campaign against the prosecutor handling the case. "He's a vile, detestable, moralistic person with no heart and no conscience who believes he's been tapped by God to do very important things," one White House ally said, referring to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald was tapped nearly two years ago to find out whether anyone in the White House broke a federal law by blowing the cover of CIA operative Valerie Plame after her husband, Joseph Wilson, debunked administration claims about Saddam Hussein's nuclear activities.
President Bush recently praised Fitzgerald on NBC's "Today" show, saying: "The special prosecutor is conducting a very serious investigation. He's doing it in a very dignified way, by the way, and we'll see what he says."
But now friends of the White House have started whispering that the Brooklyn-raised prosecutor is overzealous after it became clear that Bush political mastermind Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, are in Fitzgerald's cross hairs.
Such hints surfaced publicly for the first time yesterday when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), armed with comments that sources said were "shaped" by the White House, suggested Fitzgerald might nail someone on a "technicality" because they forgot something or misspoke.
"I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment ... it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime, and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste," Hutchison said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Fitzgerald was first tasked with finding the Plame leaker, but his mandate expanded to include counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses or destruction of evidence, should anyone undermine his probe.
There were several reports yesterday that Fitzgerald could warn people they've been indicted as soon as today, and that the grand jury could be called in for an unusual session tomorrow, but his office declined to comment.
Here is another reference to "staff leak". Who is this leftitst reporter who is getting the leaks? I found this post of yours from earlier today.
I got that post from here. I ask again-what do you know that no one else does? Plea? What would they plea to?
The reporter is Murray Waas. He has been getting good information on this case.
Here is another assertion of indictments. And to sleeper outed on this very thread no less..
Rush was pushing this line today, too. Essentially, perjury is no big deal. Well then, why doesn't Sen. Hutchison introduce a bill that repeals the prohibition on perjury, or the criminal sanctions for perjury?
Ahem -- learn to read. She didn't say that *perjury* wouldn't be a big deal, she said "perjury technicality". That is, a nitpicking violation of only the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.
There are plenty of petty ways that someone can be charged with a technical nitpick of a law if the prosecutor wants to be a dick about it, even when the act the law was written to prohibit wasn't committed. Like charging someone with check fraud because an accidental typo voided the transaction.
Based on Miller's published account of her testimony, Fitz would appear to have little or nothing on Libby or Cheney.
Perhaps, but Miller's articles only reveal what she claims she said to the GJ and until we know what Libby and Rove said to the GJ under oath, we're just speculating.
I think I'm with you on that one. The SP is probably struggling with the idea of have having to justify this whole process with no significant result. All the reports and rumors are pure speculation by people with no more sense than you or me. We will see soon enough and I hope we are right.
Well, if it comes to trials I don't think the reporters are going to look good at all, not at all.
Crats will lower themselves into the slime to gain or hold onto power, true Republican conservatives hold themselves to a higher standard.
No matter, as long as it makes Neville feel all warm and fuzzy.
Oh, I know about chamberlainbuff. :-)
And I love the way that they brag about the lack of subtlety from the anonymous so-called staffer. What a joke...JFK
"Ally"...yeah, right. In other words, they went and found a person who claimed he voted for Bush and force-fed him this quote. I call BS. Watch how quickly the liberals turn against Fitz when the indictments don't include the Rove, Libby, Cheney trifecta they've been breathlessly hoping for. He'll be dismissed as a partisan hack in about 3 seconds.
exactly....
I didn't commit any crime while I was eating dinner, but if you haul me before a grand jury 4 separate times and ask me what I had for dinner, how did I fix it, who did I talk to, what time I ate it, what recipe did I use,..etc. I would probably give different answers depending on my state of mind at the time.
Does that make me a perjurer?
If I've spent millions chasing you for one thing, but can't prove that thing, then I'll nail you on lying about your recipe.
Ooooh. I like your fightin' words. Great attitude and apparent leadership qualities. Are you running in '08? :o)
At one time, I thought I would have liked to run for office, but I love my family too much to even entertain it and love my career to leave those who rely on me.
I will use my genius behind the scenes in my spare time.
I have 62 MILLION+ to keep me company.
Bush didn't appoint Fitzgerald. Someone in the CIA (a commie/dem mole) referred it to the Atty Generals office. Ashcroft, not wanting to appear there was a conflict of interest, recused himself and a Special Prosecutor was allowed to "look into it".
I agree with Montag813. Even though President Bush did not directly appoint the Special Prosecutor, his team bungled this badly right from the start. The very first thing that should have been done was for President Bush to give DCI George Tenant (his subordinate, by the way) a direct order to furnish the White House a written statement of Valerie Plame's actual, official status as a CIA employee.
This was the critical variable in the whole mess. Either she was convert, or she was not. More specifically, the CIA leadership should have been forced to go on the record. If Tenet had acknowledged that she was not covert, then the White House could have simply said so, released Tenet's document to the media, pointed out that no crime was committed, and told everybody to shut up.
If Tenet had verified that she was covert, then the White House could have done the right thing and requested the investigation themselves, preferably through regular Justice Department channels, with the added benefit of the moral high ground.
It was mind-boggling to me why the President didn't just summon George Tenet and order him to verify her status immediately and put it in writing. At least then he would have some idea of the proper way to proceed with the investigation, and if Tenet lied to him on the record, he would have a measure of protection.
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