Scooter' Libby to Avoid Perjury Charge
Lewis "Scooter" Libby will likely avoid perjury charges in the Leakgate case, and will instead be charged with making a false statement to investigators - a crime that mirrors Independent Counsel Robert Ray's findings against Hillary Clinton five years ago.
Libby's indictment "will be 'false statement' charges as part of an effort to mislead the grand jury," reporter Carl Cameron told Fox News radio host Tony Snow Friday morning.
"False statement charges are significantly different from perjury," Cameron explained. "They don't include the need to prove intent."
Libby's indictment will likely be based, said Cameron, on his claim that he first learned of Valerie Plame's identity from the media, rather than from Vice President Dick Cheney, as media accounts have suggested.
In his October 2000 final report on the Travelgate scandal, Independent Counsel Ray said of Mrs. Clinton:
"The overwhelming evidence establishes that she played a role in the decision to fire the [travel office] employees and provided input into that decision. Thus, her statement to the contrary under oath was factually false."
Despite Mr. Ray's conclusion, however, that Mrs. Clinton had committed a serious federal felony, he declined to prosecute.
Also, did you notice how pissed some of the reporters sounded when Fitz said he had no plans to produce a final report? Even though this has been explained at least 100 times on Free Republic, and I'm sure elsewhere, these idiots couldn't believe what he was saying, and they were not happy.