Do you think he deserves to be dropped in the water as hot as it is? Some talking heads were saying Libby could do 30 years if convicted on all the crimes. This for a man that testified freely, multiple times and turned over all his notes. Fitzgerald, fair minded or not, charged Libby like a child molester. Throwing in every little charge he can think of. Time will tell what Libby did but I don't think he should be facing 30 years. Libby may very well want to end all of this but what kind of a deal are you going to get from a guy who charges with enough crimes to serve 30 years?
Fitzgerald didn't even charge him with outing a CIA agent. But he basically but accused him of doing so. And Fitzgerald wouldn't even answer the question to if Plame was actually a covert agent or not. This guy doesn't sound that fair minded to me. And so far, we have only heard Fitzgerald's side of this. Libby very well could deserve to be in some trouble. But he also could have just made a mistake. How sure are you of something that happened a month ago? 2 months ago or even a year ago? Also if this thing ever does go to a jury, I don't think a judge will let in all the charges.
Those talking heads are playing up the drama on cable TV. Yes, I suppose Libby is technically accused of crimes that carry MAXIMUM penalties that add up to 30 years. However, msNBC's Dan Abrams (who I trust very much on legal issues) was explaining that Libby at most would face just a few years in jail - if that.
Often, sentences are served at the same time as one another and are cut down significantly for first-time offenders because of sentencing guidelines. If you're confident that Fitzgerald is doing such a horrible thing, I would expect Libby to request a trial by JUDGE instead of JURY if that's possible, considering this case is in the liberal stranglehold of the District of Columbia. A pardon from Bush is also a possibility even if Libby is convicted.
I feel sorry for Libby and his family because I think he probably just went into panic mode and thought he had to lie about stuff that probably wasn't a crime. But every single person out there needs to take this as a lesson: If you ever get called to testify under oath, either tell the truth or don't say anything at all. To do otherwise is to harm a legitimate investigation and put yourself in legal jeopardy at the same time.