Libby's lawyers ask to dismiss perjury case

Reuters ^ | February 23, 2006 | Reuters

[Cboldt]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, who faces perjury charges, asked a judge on Thursday to throw out the case on the grounds that the prosecutor was appointed improperly.

Since both Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Attorney General John Ashcroft removed themselves from the investigation because of their close ties to the White House, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald reports to David Margolis, a career Justice Department lawyer.

Lawyers for Lewis "Scooter" Libby argued that because Fitzgerald does not report to the attorney general, he should not have been appointed by a deputy at the Justice Department.

"Because he was not appointed to that office by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, he holds that authority improperly," Libby's lawyers wrote.

Fitzgerald was picked by then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey in December 2003 to investigate who leaked the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame to reporters after her husband accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons to justify the 2003 invasion.

Plame's career at the CIA effectively ended after her identity was made public.

Libby is charged with lying to a grand jury about his conversations with reporters about Plame. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in January 2007.

In other filings Libby's lawyers have argued that any inconsistencies in his testimony come from a faulty memory.

[Cboldt]

Good aggressive defense.

[GregB]

These guys are as bad as the AP,she outed herself...

[hinckley buzzard]

Nah, this is just routine lawyering. Next they'll move for summary judgment and won't get that either. But they'll be racking up some big bucks in billable hours for poor old Libby.

[goldstategop]

Libby Scooter is charged with a technical lie to investigators. He didn't even lie about the crime that was originally being investigated and after spending millions of taxpayer dollars, the government still hasn't discovered who outed Valerie Plame. Go figure.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Cboldt]

Nah, this is just routine lawyering.

Miller and Cooper never made the argument, and it was just as valid for compelling testimony as it is for beating a perjury and false statements charge.

I admit not being up on the number and nature of "independent counsels" being named since the statute expired. I was wondering if/how the administration and DoJ will counter-argue this point raised by Libby's defense.

Next they'll move for summary judgment and won't get that either.

Next move is to appeal the ruling of Judge Walton, if he denies their Motion to Compel Discovery.

[Cboldt]

He didn't even lie about the crime that was originally being investigated ...

How do you figure that?

[goldstategop]

You would think the Feds would be trumpeting that connection but they aren't. And look at this from the broader perspective of people who have leaked national security secrets and they're not being prosecuted! Now, if Libby Scooter lied on a substantiative issue having to do with national security, I agree throw the book at him. But if its just to pin something on him because the government has nothing to show for its investigation, that's where its going off the rails.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Cboldt]

You would think the Feds would be trumpeting that connection but they aren't.

What connection? You've lost me (I think).

OTOH, you may be making the rather pedestrian argument that since there could be no outing, there can be no lying about outing.

[whtabtbill]

you have to be covert to be exposed -- she wasn't covert at the time and hadn't been for several years. I don't think I'm saying anything new when I tell you this is nothing more than bullsh*t charge made by a bullsh*t special prosecutor. I think the dems should pay back all the tax money they wasted in trying to make this "charge" stick to Cheney.....and they couldn't even do that!