Prosecutor opposes Libby motion to dismiss

AP ^ | 3/17/6

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON - Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Friday disputed the claim of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide that the prosecutor lacks legal authority to indict him in the CIA leak investigation.

Fitzgerald opposed the move of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby asking a judge to dismiss the five-count indictment against him in the Valerie Plame affair. In court papers, the prosecutor argued that being allowed to operate outside any control of the Justice Department is constitutional and in accordance with federal law.

The prosecutor, who is investigating the disclosure of Plame's CIA undercover status, is not supervised by the Justice Department and he is not required to inform anyone at the department about the investigation's progress.

In a court filing in February, Libby said that only Congress could approve such an arrangement.

"The attorney general may delegate powers but he may not abdicate responsibility," Libby's lawyers wrote.

Fitzgerald replied that the attorney general has been granted broad legal authority by Congress "to delegate

[Psycho_Bunny]

Prosecutor opposes Libby motion to dismiss

This could be the most fundamental change in the American adversarial system of law since Hamilton.  Thank God the AP was here to report it.

[jazusamo]

Reading the title made me think prosecutors never do this.

[cgk]

Bump and ping...

[kylaka]

This is REAL News. No doubt tomorrow they will report that the sun rose. Oh wait, they do, and give us the precise time too.

[SkyPilot]

In court papers, the prosecutor argued that being allowed to operate outside any control of the Justice Department is constitutional and in accordance with federal law.

[wolfpat]

I read this as "I just spent millions of dollars chasing a wild goose, and I gotta have something to show for it."

[Stepan12]

I read this as "I just spent millions of dollars chasing a wild goose, and I gotta have something to show for it."

I was going to say that but you said it first.

[Hardastarboard]

Scooter Libby is being prosecuted for possibly lying about not committing a crime that never happened, while half a million illegal aliens stream over the border every year. Does anyone else see the problem here?

[Just mythoughts]

"The prosecutor, who is investigating the disclosure of Plame's CIA undercover status, is not supervised by the Justice Department and he is not required to inform anyone at the department about the investigation's progress. "


Liberals would never stand for a conservative having this kind of power.

Might be a place to go fishing for a source of leaks. Did Libby get any daily briefs regarding NSA monitoring terrorists, or anything in those daily briefs regarding "prisons" in Eastern Europe?

[johnny7]

“...and if I say you're a ham sandwich... then by God you better be looking for the mustard!”

[Sal]

I wonder if Tim Russert and quite a few other "journalists" are messing their panties over this.

I'm certain most of those who screeched for this investigation thought Libby would plea bargain to avoid jail time, thus bringing great harm to the administration. (At least in a PR sense).

You can smell the fear right through the TV now that Libby has elected to go to trial with all the information that will bring out about just who and what the hard left wing screechers really are and what they were working so hard to do.

The best thing that could happen to these extremist left wing "journalists" would be for the trial to be thrown out or for Ronnie Earl Fitzgerald to drop the charges. I wonder if Timmeehhh will call him and beg him to drop it.

Then they could pretend there was a lot there but the administration got it covered up. Being slow learners, I bet they'd resume the dishonest screeching...

[STARWISE]

Ping

[STARWISE]

"Fitzgerald replied that the attorney general has been granted broad legal authority by Congress "to delegate any of his functions to other offices of the Department of Justice."

[Howlin]

Prosecutor opposes Libby motion to dismiss

I'll just bet he does!

Scooter ping!

[Lancey Howard]

In court papers, the prosecutor argued that being allowed to operate outside any control of the Justice Department is constitutional and in accordance with federal law.

I heard Mark Levin talking about this a couple of weeks ago.

[STARWISE]

"The prosecutor, who is investigating the disclosure of Plame's CIA undercover status, is not supervised by the Justice Department and he is not required to inform anyone at the department about the investigation's progress."

This is smacks of fishy .. Any govt. legal types around who knows if this is typical DOJ policy, or did his buddy Comey put it into place for this investigation??

[STARWISE]

Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell (L-R) shares a laugh with the founder of AOL Steve Case and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage while attending the NBA game between the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks in Washington March 17, 2006.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's Go to the Audio Tape: Bradlee Says He Didn't Name Armitage

By Joe Strupp
Published: March 15, 2006 3:10 PM ET

WASHINGTON Ben Bradlee, the former Washington Post executive editor, is standing by his story: He did not inform a Vanity Fair reporter that Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, was Post reporter Bob Woodward's source in the Valerie Plame/CIA leak case.

A spokesman for Vanity Fair has said that the author of the article, Marie Brenner, tape recorded Bradlee's comments.

But Bradlee told E&P today, "I didn't do it, I didn't say the source ... What she's got on tape is that there was a fair inference to draw and evidently she equates that to my saying it was Armitage, rather than just an inference to draw. You can draw an inference that is wrong or unfair."

Bradlee said that "of course" he knows the name of the source, but not from Woodward, and he would not reveal it.

He added, referring to the Vanity Fair claim, "I couldn't believe the Post put it on page 2 (Tuesday) with a headline that long. I don't know what the Post is worried about."

Armitage has not commented.

Woodward has written that the person who told him about Plame was a former or current government official and longtime source. Many believe Woodward's source was also Robert Novak's so-called "second source." Novak has written that this person is a government official who was not a "partisan gunslinger."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOL .. if this ever makes it to court, there'll be so many reporters and operatives converging, the limousine and hairspray supplies in DC will be temporarily wiped out.

Question: Will Sally accompany Ben as subpoenaed herself or not? ;)

[smoothsailing]

"Fitzgerald replied that the attorney general has been granted broad legal authority by Congress 'to delegate any of his functions to other offices of the Department of Justice'."

I'm no lawyer, but if the AG has such "broad legal authority" couldn't he just tell Fitzhooey the "functions" granted to him(Fitz) are terminated and either grant them to someone else or re-assume them for himself? He recused himself,IIRC, but couldn't he just say "Hey,I changed my mind". HA! :)

[Doctor Raoul]

I wonder if Tim Russert and quite a few other "journalists" are messing their panties over this.

Can't wait for the video of Timmy breaking rocks for perjury.