Scooter Libby has been found guilty on Counts One, Two, Four, and Five. He was found not-guilty on Count Three.
It’s Fitzmas!!!
emptywheel is reporting that the Scooter Libby verdict will be read at noon eastern time. Keep your fingers crossed.
Update [2007-3-6 12:18:45 by BooMan]: From emptywheel:
Pre-sentence investigation will be conductded. Report due May 15. Mr Libby will need to make arrangements with probation department. Will give counsel until May 25 dispute with probation.
Wells makes a formal motion to have appeal period extended.
Best I can do is give you until April 15. I can give gov’t until the 11 of May. Any reply filed by 23 of May. No objection to continuing bail pending appeal.
Update [2007-3-6 12:32:3 by BooMan]: Ted Wells, Libby’s attorney, spoke briefly with the press. He said he will file a motion for a new trial. (Will not happen). Then he will appeal. None of this surprising.
Here is the third count. This is the count that the jury ruled not-guilty on.
THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES:
1. The Grand Jury realleges Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Count Two as though fully set forth herein.
2. On or about October 14 and November 26, 2003, in the District of Columbia,
I. LEWIS LIBBY, also known as “SCOOTER LIBBY,”
defendant herein, did knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an agency within the executive branch of the United States, in that the defendant, in response to questions posed to him by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, stated that:
During a conversation with Matthew Cooper of Time magazine on July 12, 2003, LIBBY told Cooper that reporters were telling the administration that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA, but LIBBY did not know if this was true.
3. As defendant LIBBY well knew when he made it, this statement was false in that:
LIBBY did not advise Cooper on or about July 12, 2003 that reporters were telling the administration that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA, nor did LIBBY advise him that LIBBY did not know whether this was true; rather, LIBBY confirmed for Cooper, without qualification, that LIBBY had heard that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).
Is Fitzmas almost here? Or are we headed for another major disappointment?
the jury has reached a verdict on all five counts.
Ideas and words and graphics…
love it.
the lawyers are introducing themselves (a formality). The judge is admonishing the audience not to have any response to the verdict.
The jury is not yet in the box.
the liveblogging, my chains are secured firmly on my wrists and ankles to the desk today
There are five counts.
The jury is coming in (7 women and 4 men).
guilty on count 1, 2
count 3, not guilty
count 4 guilty
count 5 guilty.
I think we need to resurrect the dancing frogs!
Now can we have our country back?
neener, neener, Libby’s GUILTY on 4 counts!
Finally.
let the frog marching being, when does Libby do the “perk” walk?
for perpetrator.
Hell yeah, lead them out.
One juror on MSNBC said that the rest of the jurors felt that Libby was a patsy for the rest of the administration, and that he wasn’t the one that they should be passing judgment on.
Hell yeah, lead Mr. Shooter Phlebitis out.
Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit! Croak! Croak! Croak!
the strain of commenters and celebrants…
Try Talk Left The Politics of Crime.
This is Jeralyn Merritt’s blog.
as the verdict was read Scooter Libby’s wife started sobbing. Libby had a half-smile.
Ah yes, the secret smile of one who has friends in high places…
an a 1, 2, an a 4, an a 5!!!!
Oh Yeah!!!!
Bring on Dead-Eye Dick!
Damn, damn, damn does this feel good.
Good job Fitz.
There is justice.
Now we wait for the inevitable Bush pardon. How long you think until that comes down?
Yahoo!
But when does the site pool begin to guess when Shrub pardons him?
Glad for the conviction. Wish more would go down with him.
there is supposed to be a White House briefing. That should be interesting.
I wonder if they will say that they can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.
Daddy and Mommy Bush are going to lean on him not to. Trust me. It’s legacy time.
My thoughts exactly, shirl.
When is Fitz scheduled to make a comment?
he’s commenting right now.
ooo – update, please!
Fitz does not anticipate bringing any further charges. He also said he has a very high degree of confidence that Valerie Plame was covert.
Did it sound like “no further charges” against Libby? or “no further charges” period?
Period. He is closing up shop.
From Salon.com
Damn, that’s depressing.
But he did say his door is open to Libby if he wants to provide more information.
I think the door is closing fast, if Scoots is lookin’ for a deal…
Yes, that is true. But somehow I get the feeling that Libby is just going to fall on the sword. I don’t think we will be lucky enough to have him pull a Jack Abramoff. I guess it’s possible, but I’m not sure it’s likely.
I think he will be a good soldier and take the hit for everybody.
He may be a good soldier, but he’s an idiot – I think he’s got 2 fairly young children at home and none of this could be good for them – pardons or no… out pending appeal – none of it…
he coulda solved all of this for himself by telling the truth – not like he didn’t have 10,000 chances…
I have no respect for a man who will do that to his family.
Arrogance, Coastie. Arrogance and a sense of invincibility. That’s what they all had. Everyone in this administration had, and in large part still has, a hubris unparalleled in recent history.
An idiot? That’s for damn sure. Symptomatic of everything this administration represents. A perfect example of what this country elected.
His family has my sympathy.
Libby, he gets my loathing.
bring the mikes and Seymour Hersh.
hmm… well – there’s always the civil trial and I’m sure Congress will want to have a little investigation…
From Time.com
Well Coastie, you could be right.
Maybe the fun has just begun.
Coastie, let’s see how far this really goes. Is it only “words” or does she mean it?
From Nancy Pelosi:
Okay, Nancy, what are we going to do about it?
Show me the money, Nan!!!!!!!
gives her a good solid “handle” to grab on to…a place to start…
I think we will see some good, but slow, movement… there is an awful lot to investigate! Walter Reed, the U.S. Attorney situation – all very serious and all complex…
hope they got some extra sharp Congressional aides…
C’mon Nancy. Fan those embers. We got a fire to stoke here. Let’s get some heat going!
the house of cards is getting close to collapse… it’s not going to take much more than a little puff here in the very near future…
Well, then it must be time to bomb Iran.
I’m afraid most of us can’t begin to fathom what this group would likely do to maintain power. They are the most authoritarian group to have governed this country in modern times, possibly in the history of the country.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing they do would surprise me. When things appear really precarious for them, that is when they are the most dangerous.
That is what scares me.
Not until Cheney is indicted.
The bagman, the patsy has been adjudged guilty by a jury.
Nothing more.
No sentencing yet.
And WHATEVER the sentence, a pardon is already in the works. Bet on it. The Lame Fuck has only two years left in office. So Libby has at MOST two years to serve in prison unless he can be convinced that Bush won’t last that long and thus will not be able to come through on a guaranteed…guaranteed, friends…Presidential pardon just before he steps down and retires to go fuck up the weeds on his ranch in the same way that he has fucked up the United States of America over the last 6 years.
Convince little Libby of THAT…and all bets are off if he gets a real, solid sentence from the court. He will turn rat in a minute.
Best way to get that through his little gofer head?
Articles of impeachment.
Do not hold your breath.
That would be bad for business.
And we all know for whom the Democrats’ bell REALLY tolls, don’t we?
It tolls for those who pay the bills.
This is one bell that does not toll for thee.
Ever.
The ring toll is too high for you and me to pay for a peal or two.
This verdict is just another small step.
Until these monsters are:
1-Defeated at the polls in some sort of definitive manner
and
2-At the very LEAST exposed for all the world to see as war criminals
There should be very little rejoicing in Mudville.
People are dying all over the world because we allowed them to ascend to power in the first place. Thousands of people. Daily. Bet on it. Not just in Iraq or Afghanistan. In Africa, in the Americas…INCLUDING the U.S., in Asia…
Children, old people, everybody.
Smell the blood, and…remember yourselves.
The War Criminal Party…a bipartisan employer, you must remember…is an equal opportunity killer. And it works on huge levels.
Convicting Libby?
One small step on a long, LONG path.
As any street person would tell you…he ain’t shit.
Until you get to the bosses of all bosses…you’ve just taken down another soldier.
Another soldier in the War On People.
Bet on it.
In terms of real crimes? Of lives lost through direct action, of billions successfully stolen?
He ain’t shit.
Remember it.
What did he do, again?
He was part of a conspiracy to out a CIA operative.
The CIA is the secret police of the Permanent Government.
A PermaGov that is presently split against itself in terms of tactics.
The ones who are winning now?
What they really want is simply a kinder, gentler War On People. One that is easier to spin.
That’s the only difference between the two sides.
Remember this.
Fitzmas?
Not in my house.
I no longer believe in Santa Claus.
ESPECIALLY since I found out that he is a lawyer.
Later…
AG
Fitzmas??? NOT!!! Not yet it ain’t!
AG
Well count me among those happy, happy, happy with the news.
Has anyone dared to take a peek at fox to see how they are taking this, and reporting this….I am sure the spin is in over there.
Just wanted to reiterate a much earlier comment that none of this matters because of the ability to stretch out appeals, etc until the end of Bush’s term (the Promised Land of Pardons). Everyone knows they suck and ran our gov’t with little regard for the law, so this conviction, while lovely for many reasons, is going to change what again? Does Fitz or any Judge have the balls to bring charges against a sitting VP? I think not.
But I also wanted to note the excellent point made above that all this can change with a serious threat of impeachment. But before I can say that now I am convinced that impeachment is an effective course of action, someone who knows the law should answer this: Is it legal for a sitting President on trial for impeachment to pardon people? My fear is that the answer is yes. So under that scenario, impeachment proceedings would only move up the schedule for pardoning, rather than put pressure on Libby to squeal on his bosses.
Fox News Banner: Breaking News: Libby Found Not Guilty of Lying to FBI Investigators. I kid you not.
Now they’re equating this with Clinton’s impeachment. Wanted to discredit him, and they’re STILL claiming that Plame was NOT covert.
Un-effing-believabe.
“A Classic case of criminalizing politics” who is this loser anyway?
oh MAN! you’ve GOT to be KIDDIN’!
Lead headline on http://www.foxnews.com at the moment:
“Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby Guilty Of Obstruction, Perjury“
It was rotating between the one I posted above and your for a while. Guess they couldn’t grasp the contradiction there? </snark>
Let’s all hope that this is just the beginning. Rove and the other conspirators are still out there walking free.
But I just want to put in a yee-ha! I’m lifing my BooTrib mug in celebration.
But if a Libby conviction is the best we can hope for, there is nothing I repeat NOTHING to celebrate. So many lives lost so much destruction and the REAL CRIMINALS got off SCOTT FREE and are laughing all the way to the bank.
Fitz is a SAD SAD disappointment and a TRAITOR TO THE TRUTH.