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Judge refuses to dismiss Libby perjury case
Reuters/MSNBC ^ | 4-27-06

Posted on 04/27/2006 1:26:48 PM PDT by STARWISE

A federal judge on Thursday refused to throw out the criminal charges against former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby stemming from an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton rejected Libby’s argument that the appointment of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to lead the probe violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

The Justice Department’s delegation of authority to Fitzgerald not only was lawful, but also was needed to create the perception of fairness, Walton said in his opinion.

“The integrity of the rule of law ... is challenged to the greatest degree when high-level government officials come under suspicion for violating the law,” Walton wrote. “And a criminal investigation of any individual, prominent or not, for suspected violations of law must be above reproach to preserve respect for the fairness our system of justice.”

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was charged with perjury, lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled to begin in January.

(snip)

The judge rejected the argument by Libby’s lawyers that Fitzgerald has unlimited authority and that his appointment required his nomination by President George W Bush and approval by the Senate.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cfr; cheney; cialeak; fitzgerald; libby; plame; rove; whitehouse

1 posted on 04/27/2006 1:26:51 PM PDT by STARWISE
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To: Howlin; kcvl; Fedora

Ding


2 posted on 04/27/2006 1:27:44 PM PDT by STARWISE (They (Rats) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war-RichardMiniter, respected OBL author:)
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To: STARWISE
to preserve respect for the fairness our system of justice.”

and the fact that Fitzgerald is obviously on a witch hunt - took what, 6 tries before he found a Grand Jury that would hear his "case?"

Is persecution part of the 'fairness' of our system?

3 posted on 04/27/2006 1:31:24 PM PDT by maine-iac7 ("...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time," Lincoln)
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To: maine-iac7

I believe you're thinking of the prosecuter in the DeLay case.


4 posted on 04/27/2006 1:35:44 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: STARWISE
“The integrity of the rule of law ... is challenged to the greatest degree when high-level government officials come under suspicion for violating the law,” Walton wrote. “And a criminal investigation of any individual, prominent or not, for suspected violations of law must be above reproach to preserve respect for the fairness our system of justice.”

None of which makes it legal. Congress passed a law to handle this, and declined to keep it in force. Maybe they did so for a reason?

5 posted on 04/27/2006 1:46:41 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: STARWISE
“The integrity of the rule of law ... is challenged to the greatest degree when high-level government officials come under suspicion for violating the law,” Walton wrote. “And a criminal investigation of any individual, prominent or not, for suspected violations of law must be above reproach to preserve respect for the fairness our system of justice.”

Bzzzzt. Wrong answer. The integrity of the rule of law is challenged to the greatest degree when judges such as U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton substitute their "feelings" in place of the law as it is written. If Fitzgerald has any meaningful supervision, who is that supervisor, what supervision has been given do date, if any, and what powers does he have to rein in an out-of-control prosecutor? This must be appealed to a higher court that has judges who are able to read and apply the Constitution rather than inventing the law as they go along.

6 posted on 04/27/2006 2:24:34 PM PDT by The Electrician ("Government is the only enterprise in the world which expands in size when its failures increase.")
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To: STARWISE
“The integrity of the rule of law ... is challenged to the greatest degree when high-level government officials come under suspicion for violating the law,” Walton wrote. “And a criminal investigation of any individual, prominent or not, for suspected violations of law must be above reproach to preserve respect for the fairness our system of justice.”

Such high-minded writing is a definite red flag warning of blatant travesties to follow and hollow reasoning before.

7 posted on 04/27/2006 2:29:12 PM PDT by TChris ("Wake up, America. This is serious." - Ben Stein)
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Later read


8 posted on 04/27/2006 2:34:01 PM PDT by Mo1 (DEMOCRATS: A CULTURE OF TREASON)
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To: STARWISE
Thanks. I can't follow Walton's reasoning. There are some Constitutional issues at stake here which I'm not seeing addressed by his comments as reported in the posted article.

The Potemkin Prosecution (Part One)

The argument is simple—it is inconsistent with the Constitution to create, by fiat of the Deputy Attorney General, an office that supplants the authority of the Attorney General. Secondly, the power granted to Fitzgerald violates the statutory requirement that the Attorney General supervise all litigation to which the US is a party.

The Potemkin Prosecution: Part Two

9 posted on 04/27/2006 2:42:34 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: Fedora

After having read the opinion (which was done pretty fast, so maybe I missed something), I think he has been listening to Fitz's circular arguments. He argues in parts of it the the rules that applied to an Independent Prosecutor don't apply here, yet in the last section, he uses the case that concerned the Independent Prosecutor to back up his ruling.


10 posted on 04/27/2006 3:12:26 PM PDT by Freedom is eternally right
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To: JaneAustin

Thanks for the analysis of the opinion. I'll check out the original text and see what I get out of it--I was going by the article's summary here.


11 posted on 04/27/2006 4:34:06 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: Fedora

bttt


12 posted on 04/27/2006 5:41:44 PM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons; Fedora; Howlin; kcvl; ravingnutter; Lancey Howard; Enchante; backhoe; onyx

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aiAZnz8gavJM&refer=top_world_news


13 posted on 04/28/2006 3:25:41 AM PDT by STARWISE (They (Rats) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war-RichardMiniter, respected OBL author:)
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To: traviskicks

ping


14 posted on 04/28/2006 3:28:51 AM PDT by freepatriot32 (Holding you head high & voting Libertarian is better then holding your nose and voting republican)
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To: STARWISE
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton rejected Libby’s argument that the appointment of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to lead the probe violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

Who appointed this judge ... is he Clinton era?

15 posted on 04/28/2006 3:30:06 AM PDT by BluH2o
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To: STARWISE

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aiAZnz8gavJM&refer=top_world_news


To contact the reporter on this story:
Richard Keil in Washington at dkeil@bloomberg.net


16 posted on 04/28/2006 3:31:15 AM PDT by listenhillary (The original Contract with America - The U.S. Constitution)
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To: maine-iac7

Interesting choice of words "witch hunt" one main witch comes to mind the "formidable" top donkey. That CIA referral kept hidden by the prosecutor and NOT leaked, hmmmmm.


17 posted on 04/28/2006 3:59:35 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: STARWISE

Thanks!


18 posted on 04/28/2006 12:59:14 PM PDT by Fedora
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