'JUSTICE' AT ITS WORST ...(Plame was outed by Richard Armitage)

NY Post ^ | January 18, 2007

[IrishMike]

Former vice presidential chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby is finally going on trial - after three years of investigations by a run-amok prosecutor, costing millions of taxpayer dollars - for a case in which, it is now conceded, no crime was committed.

And that's the important point to remember, as a who's who of prominent witnesses - including "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert and even Vice President Dick Cheney - testifies at the trial.

To repeat: The crime that was ostensibly under investigation never occurred.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had set out to uncover who leaked FBI agent Valerie Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, a possible felony.

Back then, conventional wisdom had it that the Bush White House deliberately "outed" Plame to discredit her already-less-than-credible husband, Joseph Wilson, who'd accused the president of lying about Iraq's nuclear ambitions.

But it turns out that there was no White House conspiracy - as the left-wing bloggers had insisted, causing some Democrats to start making impeachment plans.

In fact, Plame was outed by Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state (who opposed the Iraq war) in an offhand remark.

Indeed, Armitage acknowledged his role to the FBI as early as October 2003. So why wasn't it until last September that this news was made public - and then only through a book by two Washington journalists?

Libby is the only person indicted by Fitzgerald's grand jury - for allegedly lying to investigators, though not directly about the Plame leak. And it's far from clear that his statement constitutes perjury.

Yet Fitzgerald zealously expanded his investigation, deliberately allowing it to envelop the White House when he knew how the leak had actually happened.

[OldFriend]

Can't wait to see Mr. Potato Head insisting.....he can't remember!

[Red Steel]

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald = District Attorney Mike Nifong

[JoeSixPack1]

This guy must be Nifong's hero. Trumped charges against WH staff beats trumped charges against Frat boys any day.

[PGalt]

Fitzgerald should step down and let Nifong handle this case.

[Doogle]

Fitzgerald knew about Armitage and told Armitage he had to remain silent.

[AmericaUnited]

Fitzgerald is the worst one in all of this by far. I expect Joe Wilson and the RATS to act scummy. It their nature.

[norwaypinesavage]

"Fitzgerald should step down and let Nifong handle this case."

Good point. A more competent and less biased prosecutor, such as Nifong, would clearly be an improvement.

[KarlInOhio]

Fitzgerald strikes me as someone who would go hunting for a week and end up with nothing so he shoots his neighbor's dog when he gets home just so the trip isn't a complete waste.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He should get 5 years in a federal penitentiary for hiding exculpatory evidence. Sandstone, Minnesota is nice this time of year.

[LambSlave]

I don't believe that these two high profile cases (Nifong and Fitzgerald) are the exception... they just attract lots of attention, but in my experience, a good number of prosecutors are just like this at all levels, whether the prosecution is political or not. It is not about justice, just getting convictions and furthering their careers. We never see the average Joe Schmoe represented by a public defender getting railroaded by the prosecutor, because the media doesn't see this as news unless its political, or he is a "protected" class, but that doesn't mean it's not happening every day at all levels. It is a symptom of our decaying society and distancing ourselves from God; a system of justice in which there is no justice... the guilty receive a slap on the wrist or walk, while innocents (easy targets) are prosecuted with all the power of the state.

[XenaLee]

Funny you mentioned God......cause the 'real' justice for these scumbags, (Earle the Squirrel included), will come much later. And it will indeed, and in fact, be administered by 'the' highest judge of all.

'Thou shall not bear false witness' comes immediately to mind.

[Doogle]

Sandstone, Minnesota is nice this time of year.

..it will never happen, the Washington DC elite don't go to prison anymore...you have to have "info" on the other party to cut your deal

[litehaus]

"Fitzgerald knew about Armitage and told Armitage he had to remain silent."

A day or two ago my local lib-rag (St.Pete Slimes) had an article showing the figures involved and a recap of the story re LIBBY----NEVER mentioned Armitage!.......Their motto is "merely to tell the truth)---They should say-- to tell only the portion that fits our political outlook.........

[Bob Buchholz]

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald = District Attorney Mike Nifong = Ronnie Earl

[Red Steel]

That's better. ;-)

[Michael.SF.]

conventional wisdom had it that the Bush White House deliberately "outed" Plame

Conventional wisdom?

No, only the lack of wisdom on those set out to get Bush at the cost of truth and sanity felt that way. Those who viewed the case with anything close to an open mind realized that Joe Wilson was nothing but a cheap, dishonest media slut.

[IrishMike]

That would be the media's conventional wisdom.

[Wolfstar]

Fitzgerald knew about Armitage and told Armitage he had to remain silent.

And for this, at the very minimum, Fitzgerald should be disbarred.

[rwa265]

ping