Libby to Be Charged in CIA Leak Probe

The AP is reporting that VP Cheney’s Chief of Staff Scooter Libby would be indicted on making false statements. Regarding Karl Rove:

A person outside the legal profession familiar with recent developments in the case said Thursday night that Rove’s team does not believe he is out of legal jeopardy yet but likely would be spared bad news Friday when the White House fears the first indictments will be issued.

Fitzgerald signaled Thursday he might keep Rove under continuing investigation, sparing him from immediate charges, the person said, speaking only on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury probe.

I’m sure we’ll find out more about this tomorrow. It thought I had read yesterday that Fitzgerald wouldn’t be able to extend the term of the grand jury after Friday but it appears from this article that he may be able to. Stay tuned …

More via the NYT:

Karl Rove, President Bush’s senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday.

I blogged about this more at Blogs For Bush.

Friday a.m. Update: See Jason Smith’s “The Plame-Non Story” .

Tom Maguire has a roundup of links and speculation.

13 Responses to "Libby to Be Charged in CIA Leak Probe"

Walter E. Wallis says:

October 27, 2005 at 11:47 pm

We need to knock off this Martha Stewart sh*t. No crime, no underlying crime, case closed. This is not justice, this is gotcha!

Edited-language. –ST
PCD says:

October 28, 2005 at 8:29 am

Why isn’t the Grand Jury leaker hounded and decried as the Starr Grand Jury leakers were? Oh, I forgot, leaks against GOP are good. Leaks against the Democrats, BAD! Damned partisan media.
PCD says:

October 28, 2005 at 8:44 am

You know, the people like Joe Wilson who should be indicted, aren’t ever going to be, and that is the crying shame here.
Big Bang Hunter says:

October 28, 2005 at 12:01 pm

– Some interesting questions….

– What is the punishment for evading/lying about actions/statements of whitehouse staff covered by executive privalege…..

– Why did we spend 22 months and the ancillary costs to the taxpayer to investigate the “outing” of a non-covert cia agent….

– Why isn’t the grand jury at all interested in the whole nefarious scheme of the Dems to use a mole to plant false information and bolster the anti-war agenda, repeatedly lying on the facts of the case….

– Is Fitzy going to “expand” into areas that will be even more embarissing to the Liberals behind this whole partisan scheme….

– How much longer will the NYT get away with publishing Liberal lies….

Big Banging for truth and the Justice league – 😯
Iowa Voice says:

October 28, 2005 at 12:16 pm

Indictments Coming Soon

Indictments are going to be handed down shortly. According to all the news channels, blogs, and news websites, Libby is going to be the one indicted. Seems to be undecided so far whether or not Rove will be indicted, whether he is free and clear, or whe
Conservativity says:

October 28, 2005 at 1:12 pm

Schadenfreude to Hubris to Embarassment

As I write this, the press release has been let out: I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby has been indicted. The counts: One count obstruction of justice, two counts of lying to investigators, two counts of perjury to the grand jury. Did you notice that no i…
Kathy says:

October 28, 2005 at 2:14 pm

PCD, the “Grand Jury leaker” in this case is Rove’s lawyer Robert Luskin. The “Grand Jury leaker” in Kenneth Starr’s investigation were members of Starr’s staff.

Why is it that Wilson should be indicted?

Walter Wallis, Is perjury no longer a crime? Should we repeal the statute? Would you say the same for lying to the FBI? How do you think repealling these laws would effect the prosecution of accused terrorists?
Kevin says:

October 28, 2005 at 6:21 pm

There is something wrong with a case where no crime occurred until after the case began. If you cannot prove the original crime, you should not be allowed to take people to court for covering up the original (and non-existant or non-provable) crime.

I felt this way about Martha Stewart, and even about Clinton, though I’m not a fan of his

Kathy, are you saying Clinton should be in jail right now since he commited perjury? Also Wilson committed treason when he decided to publish top secret information obtained at the request of an undercover CIA operative in a newspaper article, for the purpose of “consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies” (that’s the definition of treason), simply because he knew what was best for America.

It’s a pretty weak argument I admit, but so is everything else about this case.
Kathy says:

October 28, 2005 at 9:21 pm

Kevin, I guess you are taking the position that perjury should no longer be considered a crime. You did not however respond to my other question “how do you think this will affect the prosecution of accused terrorists?” I think that is a tool that we would want leave in the prosecutors bag. To respond to your commments about Libby’s misdeeds, the beginning of the “case” of Scooter Libby begins today with his indictment. There was only an investigation up until now. The investigators discovered that Libby lied to the grand jury and to the FBI. Those are both crimes. I think you are allowing your position to be colored by how you feel about Joe Wilson. With regard to Clinton, he was not indicted. He was impeached. There is no jail sentence that is attached to impeachment, just the potential penalty of being removed from office.
Big Bang Hunter says:

October 28, 2005 at 10:16 pm

– I couldn’t help notice your silence in responding to any of My questions Kathy, or is the law different for liberals and conservatives?

– When I see a 22 month investigation into the activities of Joe Wilson, Miller, and all the other left wingers hell bent on getting ChimpyMcBush, I’ll take it all seriously.

Big Bang
Kathy says:

October 29, 2005 at 9:20 am

Big Bang, I did not realize those questions were directed specifically at me, but here goes.

1) Your question does not make sense so I am not sure what you are talking about.

2)The fact that Valerie Plame was or was not covert is a fact that you choose to dispute. However, if you read yesterday’s indictment and statement from Fitzgerald his investigation came to the conclusion that she was covert. Also the case was originally refered to the DOJ by the CIA as a potential violation of the Covert Agent Identity Protection Act. The CIA would have known at the time that Valerie Plame was covert.

3) Sounds like a conspiracy theory, but if you feel that way perhaps you should write a letter to your Congressman and Senator and ask them to urge the DOJ to investigate.

4)Fitzgerald said in his news conference that he is going to investigate and find out what happened in the Valerie Plame case and why. If there are things that are “embarrissing to liberals” and they are crimes or they are facts that support this or other indictments they will come out. If not they will remain secret. That is how a grand jury is supposed to operate.

5) The NYT has been in trouble for some time for its poor editorial practices, remember Jason Blair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair
Looks like Judy Miller will be getting the same treatment from the Times shortly
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001389958
I personally think the bigger problem is with Sulzberger. While I disagree with you on the partisan slant. I agree that the NYT should correct it shoddy editorial practices.
Kevin says:

October 29, 2005 at 11:04 am

Kathy,

Perhaps I was not clear. I do not think perjury should be a crime if it involves as case where no crime has been committed. Lets use your example of terrorism: If a suspected terrorist:

-Lies about where he was or whast he was doing on a certain day, and
-Is determined to have perjured himself in this respect, then
-is found out not to be a have broken any other laws or be a terrorist after all,

Then no, I don’t think he should go to jail solely for perjury. Conversely, if he is indicted on terrorism charges, perjury should be added to the list.

This runs parallel with my view on Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton and Scooter Libby’s cases. The only crime any of these were found to commit were what I would call ‘secondary’ crimes. Obviously Fitzgerald doesn’t believe Libby outted a covert agent, or Libby would have a sixth indictment under the “Covert Agent Identity Protection Act.”

For Clinton’s perjury, after he was impeached he should have been indicted. Impeachement is only a legislative action to get him fired, and unrelated to criminal law. No judicial action was taken, as it should be if you think all perjury is equal.

One thing is for sure; If I ever get questioned by the FBI or a grand jury, my mouth is staying shut!
Big Bang Hunter says:

October 29, 2005 at 11:36 am

– Kathy – thank you for the responses.

– In Reference to the first question, I’m not convinced the GJ has any right to even ask for information covered under executive privalege, namely private conversations between executive branch officials, unless a crime has been proven. Since almost every legal expert says that all Libby had to do is refuse to answer under that statute or plead the fifth, its doubtful its a chargable offense to lie/evade in any connection with said conversations. Actually the case is even weaker since Libby DID provide what the GJ now believes is the truth in the form of his own notes. The last time I checked you cannot be required to incriminate yourself.

– As far as conspiracies, isn’t that the crux of the lefts claims in this whole matter. You have an ex-official and his party circuit wife, in concert with the rabid left wing media, proping up this whole absurd non-story to get as much “face time” as possible for the anti-war movement. Looks like an agenda to me.

– By the way… This 11th hour input from official “A” is most interesting. Pundits are yammering that it was Rove, doing some last minute tap dancing in order to avoid an indictment. There is every possibility that this will turn out to be yet another “Rovian evil wave” maneuver, setting the left up for a spectacular downer in the end. Just a thought – Have a nice day

Big Bang – 🙂

Comments are closed.