Posted on 10/22/2005 7:16:36 PM PDT by churchillbuff
At the end of his long opinion on the jailing of Miller, which I have linked, Judge Tatel said that the reporters' privilege yields, in this case, to “THE GRAVITY OF THE REPORTED CRIME.”(My caps)
I don't like Laurence O'Donnell, but he's stating a fact when he reports the following:
"Judge Tatel’s opinion has eight blank pages in the middle of it where he discusses the secret information the prosecutor has supplied only to the judges to convince them that the testimony he is demanding is worth sending reporters to jail to get. The gravity of the suspected crime is presumably very well developed in those redacted pages. Later, Tatel refers to “[h]aving carefully scrutinized [the prosecutor’s] voluminous classified filings.” "
O'Donnell continues: "Some of us have theorized that the prosecutor may have given up the leak case in favor of a perjury case, but Tatel still refers to it simply as a case “which involves the alleged exposure of a covert agent.” Tatel wrote a 41-page opinion in which he seemed eager to make new law -- a federal reporters’ shield law -- but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it in this particular case. In his final paragraph, he says he “might have” let Cooper and Miller off the hook “[w]ere the leak at issue in this case less harmful to national security.” "
""Tatel’s colleagues are at least as impressed with the prosecutor’s secret filings as he is. One simply said “Special Counsel’s showing decides the case.” ""
""All the judges who have seen the prosecutor’s secret evidence firmly believe he is pursuing a very serious crime, and they have done everything they can to help him get an indictment. ""
Right on!
None of the above.
Thanks, JimNoble.
I live my life in a constant state of gloomy doom. It's not so bad. You get used to it.
I think in DC, there are 23 Grand Jurors, so he needs 16 (but it doesn't change your ratio and if he wanted to, he could get indictments).
Fitz could send them packing without taking any vote if he does not find any crime was committed or if he thinks the evidence is way too weak for conviction. If he wants he could probably explain to them why there was no evidence of crime.
I think it was something really big, Fitz would still not be at month 22 1/2 figuring out if anyone should be charged with a crime. Plus, I believe chances of anything big resulting in indictments are just as likely for the bad guys (CIA/reporters).
From what has been leaked, I see nothing that would be a problem for Rove. The only thing mentioned so far is Rove forgetting about the meeting with Cooper at his first GJ session. But as soon as Rove found the e-mail he notified Fitz and testified again. Per another posting, from Perdogg, perjury should not be charged if the witness comes forward on their own to correct their testimony and it is not too late in the game.
Libby may have some risk since he seems to have spoken with reporter's the earliest (Miller on 6/23). But even from Miller's statements it sounds like Libby did not know much about Wilson or his trip. And she admits to having other sources (and so does Novak).
With that said, I would not be surprised at anything at this point. It's not hard to feel gloom and doom based on the media reporting on this case. Hopefully, we will know within one week.
DiGenova tells this columnist, “It seems to me somewhat strange, in terms of CIA tradecraft, that if you were really attempting to protect the identity of a covert officer, why would you send her husband overseas on a mission, without a confidentiality agreement, and then allow him when he came back to the United States to write an op-ed piece in the New York Times about it.”
So, what happened to her?
I've got two different Robert Nortons, one at the place where they make bacteria grinders, and the other at or near the place where the anthrax attacks started. There's Saudi involvement in this mix and we have Judith Miller as well as Valerie Plame maneuvering close to the pot.
Add in the Holy Land Foundation scandal and this thing could start rivaling the Army-McCarthy hearings in its scope and impact.
We don't know how involved these criminal elements in the 4th Estate might be, but they're there for sure.
Many of us have a nose for finding crooks, and there they are.
So, what's the relationship between Almoudi and the Saudi who owns the factory in Columbus, Ohio that makes bacteria grinders?
Recalling that Judith Miller was placed in the federal lockup in Alexandria, Virginia, one does suppose the grand jury membership could be drawn from the entire Metro area, not just DC.
I say this is a serious ham sandwich
This is the simple essence of the story. He was sent there by his wife. It was a low level decision within the CIA. There was no involvement from anyone in the Bush administration in the decision to send him there. It was simple nepotism.
But both Wilson and Kerry used "Wilson's Tea Party" and the "leak" matter to pound the Whitehouse. It didn't help Kerry because he is such a twit and a traitor in the Vietnam War......but if the Repubs are weakened and Rove is "gone", Hillary will be the benefactor.
This all leads back to Hillary, Mandy Grunwald, her best friend, media manager and also Bubba's last campaign manager. MANDY IS MARRIED TO COOPER!!
Bubba also recently made a statement that if Rove is gone, we could regain the Whitehouse. It was blurted out...kinda like when he laughed and said "Berger was a hard worker but a lousey thief". Must be the Meds!!
That will permit Hillary to run a campaign of "anonymous source lies" except the sources won't exist!! It'll be Rathergate again and again and again. No one went to jail for Rathergate!!
thank you muawiyah, I'm glad to know
Hmmmm!?!?!??
Has anyone noticed the "paper" this morning. Not too much in the news on plamegate. "....and the forest will echo with laughter."
I think it must have been more than simple nepotism. Wilson went out and goaded the administration. The very administration which he allegedly represented on a mission to Niger. That is not what an ambassador does when he comes home to report findings. No, he went over with his predetermined report already in mind and a plan as to how to deliver his contrivance to provoke a response in the media and in the government. My question is now , "Was he in cahoots with some in the media then, or did it just evolve"? "Were democrats in from the beginning or were they just parasites which 'latched on' to anything that might be spun into something to harm conservatism"?
The reason I put these questions out is because, Before the War Kennedy and others were out saying plans for the war was hatched up in Crawford, Texas. How could he have made such a bold statement, unless someone like Powell had defected to the dems and planted such a thought.
No, this was more than nepotism. This seems like a carefully executed plan. Either that, or I am moving into an area of paranoia I don't want to go further.
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