[frankjr]

I only read the press release outlining the charges and even though it says that Libby alledgely knew about Valerie working at the CIA before speaking with reporters, no where does it say he knew if she was undercover or if it was classfied. I am guessing that is part of the reason no charges on Intel Identity protection act orleaking classified info.

Now sure 5 counts looks bad, but it is pretty sad that there is no underlying crime and the charges are based on the memory of the reporters.

[libstripper]

The fact that there's no underlying crime casts a serious doubt on the allegation that Libby knowingly lied to the FBI and GJ when he gave his accounts of his conversations with the reporters that the indictment alleges the reporters disagreed with.

In the Russert case the indictment alleges Libby told Russert he knew about Plame through statements of other reporters, while Russert said Libby said nothing about it. If Libby remembered the same thing about the Russert conversation as Russert remembered, then Libby would have had no reason to lie about a non-discussion. Since their recollections differ, it looks just like that--good faith differing memories of an innocent conversation that occurred three months earlier. This being true, there's no real basis for the charges involving the Russert conversation.

As far as the Miller and Cooper conversations are concerned, the alleged difference is that Libby said his knowledge about Plame came from other reporters, while Miller and Cooper essentially say he said it came from government sources. However, since there's no indication he even knew Plame's identity was classified, he'd have had no reason to lie to the FBI and GJ about making an innocent statement to Miller and Cooper. Because he had no real motive to lie, there being no underlying crime, it looks like, even if the Miller-Cooper lesions are accurate and Libby's is inaccurate, Libby was simply testifying on the basis of an erroneous, good faith recollection.

This whole indictment is a piece of garbage. It's nothing but a part of an attempted coup against a legitimate, elected government.