Posted on 03/06/2007 9:22:15 AM PST by LM_Guy
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial.
Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
Libby was convicted of:
obstruction of justice when he intentionally deceived a grand jury investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame;
making a false statement by intentionally lying to FBI agents about a conversation with NBC newsman Tim Russert;
perjury when he lied in court about his conversation with Russert;
a second count of perjury when he lied in court about conversations with other reporters.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Imperfect memory is why perjury prosecutions are rare, and convictions even rarer. To me, perjury is a rather heinous crime that threatens our justice system, so now that it's established that he lied I hope he gets a severe punishment. But he'll be pardoned anyway, probably in Bush's last days.
By definition, accepting a pardon means admitting guilt.
Sauce for the Goose - Sauce for the Gander
Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. There was no underlying crime. He was never criminally charged (there is a vast split of opinion as to whether a sitting President can be charged with a crime), but he was found in contempt of court by the Paula Jones judge, fined $90,000, and lost his law license for 5 years.
The jury believes that Libby committed perjury and obstruction of justice. Given the jury's questions, it certainly appears that they were confused as to what at least some, if not all, of the charges entailed. Libby has the right of appeal (and will certainly take it). None the less, he was convicted by a jury of his peers.
He remains a free man today. I would be stunned if his sentance is greater than Clinton's (although Libby will no doubt get a period og probation - a punishment that couldn't be levied on Clinton under contempt procedures).
Bottom line - if you lie under oath, you're a criminal without regard to whether there is any other underlying crime.
Lying to investigators and to the grand jury. That should be a no-no in anyone's book.
The existence of big city juries provides a very good reason for not living, working or otherwise spending much time in a big city.
He's the sacrificial lamb, politically speaking, for this leak charge. What has happened to the real criminal? As a result of Lewis Libby being prosecuted and punished, the lions will sleep. Somebody good had to go down for it...if not somebody inside the administration, then somebody close to it.
He'll probably get 25 years while liberal judges give child molesters 2 months.
Oh I see your a democrat which explains the hate you have but love of the Clintons.
Democrats are as dangerous to this country as their biggest contributors in 06 Osama Bin Laden and friends.
In Patrick Fitzgerald's world terrorists go free but if you don't remember every single detail of a conversation and where it took place you go to jail.
Patrick Fitzgerald the person possibly singly most responsible for 9/11 in our government. Read Triple Cross and you'll wonder why he's not on trial.
the republican party is peopled by a bunch of whiney wusses......
........there are very few conservatives in the party (at least in Washington that is.....)
'Pubes' is too good of a name to call them, it paints a picture that they may be attached to a pair of cahonies...and I dont see that of this party, anymore.....
This is a load of crap. I'm generally against the President overriding the will of a jury, but Bush should pardon him today.
Honestly, I hope he doesn't. Bush has been rightfully stingy with the pardons. He has only pardoned people who have already served their sentences and straightened out their lives. Other than that, he's only lopped some years off a few other sentences.
I admire Bush for his restraint in contrast to the pardons of guilty, unrepentant criminals given out by the past couple presidents.
". . . that there must be an underlying crime to establish a charge of Obstruction of Justice."
Boy, that's a great observation here. From the reading I did on the trial it was possible that Mr. Libby was deceptive and therefore possibly guilty of the charges, but the charges were out of whack.
If you are GUILTY, then they can PROVE it.
>>>If the Bush administration had produced evidence at the beginning of this mess that showed clearly that Valerie Plame was not undercover, there would have been no need for this investigation.>>>
Exactly, the BA thought this was simply someone just ticked off. If they had done what they should have at the beginning of all this mess, it wouldn't end up with someone going to jail to make another suffer (ie: Rove, Cheney, etc...) for the hatred of someone else.
Can any justice come out of DC? It votes en-BLOC for democrats 92% of time with a 88+% african base.
What kind of justice is that? Black-african-liberal-boyz-n-hood jury pool....
and we were told that Simi Valley was not a fair draw for a jury pool for OJ?
Give me a break
Lots of law. No Justice.
Personal attacks are not necessary and contrary to posting rules.
To the point, I abhor perjury, no matter what party that person is affiliated with. Perjury is an affront to any system of justice, and perjurers are criminals who should be dealt with accordingly.
With Clinton, I didn't care that he was dorking Monica, didn't care about a politically motivated lawsuit dredged up from the distance past. I did care about him perjuring himself over those situations, and he should have been removed from office and prosecuted for it. Justice does not always get served.
Take the fifth and get fired was GWB dictum, not a terrible policy BTW, but it is hard to remember conversations from 3 years ago..
Oh yeah, and if you remember incorrectly, you are going to jail.
QUICK!!! someone call 'Amnesty International'. People in America are being put in prison for political reasons!!!(heavy duty SARC)
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