[Vision2020] Scooter Libby's sentence commuted - was: Anarticlefrom IdahoStatesman.com

[Andreas Schou]

On 7/10/07, lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com> wrote:
> Andras
> That is rather convoluted reasoning. Sandy Berger stuffed documents in his pants. There is no way on knowing what those documents were. It is reasonable (but not known) that they related to Clinton. To try and excuse that action is laughable.

Roger --

The prosecutor specifically stated that the documents Berger smuggled
out of the National Archives were copies of electronically archived
Clinton-era documents. We're not talking about a liberal prosecutor,
either: we're talking about the Bush-appointed head of the Public
Integrity Division.

Here's a direct quote, from the reliably illiberal Opinion Journal
(the WSJ's expanded editorial page):

"There is no evidence that he intended to destroy originals," said Mr.
Hillman. "There is no evidence that he did destroy originals. We have
objectively and affirmatively confirmed that the contents of all the
five documents at issue exist today and were made available to the
9/11 Commission."

Does that satisfy you?

-- ACS

>
> > On 7/10/07, lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com> wrote:
> > > I don't think that Libby should receive a full pardon. No jail time, yes. Clinton pardoned a lot of people just before he left office. That is no reason Bush should do the same. By comparison though Libby is receiving harsher treatment that those that committed worse crimes. Sandy Burger pilfered secret documents. Richard Armitage did the leaking. They get nothing. Perjury is a serious crime and should not be taken lightly, even if it is just a bad memory.
> >
> > Sandy Berger violated rules regarding classified document handling
> > when he smuggled out hard copies of documents stored electronically at
> > the National Archives. The prosecutor, Noel Hillman, chief prosecutor
> > of the Justice Department's public integrity division and a Bush
> > administration appointee, reported that he believes that no
> > unduplicated information was smuggled out, damaged, or destroyed. The
> > Inspector General of the National Archive, issued a  report in which
> > he reports that no unduplicated information was smuggled out, damaged,
> > or destroyed. In short, there is absolutely no evidence, short of the
> > Wall Street Journal editorial board's uncorroborated aspersions, that
> > Sandy Berger ever did anything other than violate National Archive
> > rules regarding classified document handling (and in doing so, broke
> > the law).
> >
> > To the contrary, Scooter Libby, as part of the OVP's pushback on
> > falsified Iraq intelligence, was outing Valerie Plame Wilson (to
> > Time's Andrea Mitchell and Matt Cooper and the New York Times' Judith
> > Miller) two weeks before Richard Armitage served as Bob Novak's
> > primary source. Then, after being given ample time to review his
> > copious notes on the subject (notes which later served to convict
> > him), he lied to FBI investigators. He then lied to the grand jury,
> > three times. When he got caught (remember those notes?), he then
> > changed his story to reflect what actually happened.
> >
> > Saying that he "simply forgot" is laughable. He was in meetings where
> > the outing of Valerie Plame was discussed. He produced lists of
> > journalists to speak to about Valerie Plame's work at the CIA. He
> > spoke with Ari Fleischer and Karl Rove about his intention to speak to
> > journalists about Valerie Plame's work at the CIA. It strains
> > credulity -- and punches through to the other side -- to argue that
> > Scooter Libby "simply forgot."
> >
> > He perjured himself and obstructed justice, and thereby defended other
> > people in the White House -- like Karl Rove, Richard Armitage, DIck
> > Cheney, and perhaps the President himself -- that conspired to punish
> > the Wilsons for releasing information that, ultimately, turned out to
> > be correct. The Iraqi government had not even the most rudimentary WMD
> > campaign when we invaded.
> >
> > This is why Libby was punished so severely. And, incidentally, this is
> > why his sentence was commuted, rather than him being pardoned: so long
> > as there are potential criminal sanctions against him, he can plead
> > the fifth and avoid implicating other Bush administration officials.
> >
> > -- ACS
>