Libby sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison

[zimv20]

AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070605/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_trial;_ylt=AgRU1abTiYil7bS57C.WjoCs0NUE)


WASHINGTON - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, stood calmly before a packed courtroom as a federal judge said the evidence overwhelmingly proved his guilt and left the courthouse without commenting.

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem," U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said.

Walton did not set a date for Libby to report to prison. Though he saw no reason to let Libby remain free pending appeal, Walton said he would accept written arguments on the issue and rule later.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons will decide where Libby serves his sentence and set a reporting date. The agency tries to place prisoners close to home whenever possible.

Tony Fratto, a spokesman for President Bush who was traveling in Europe with Bush, said the White House would have no comment until the proceedings are complete.

(more)

it cost the administration only 2 1/2 years and $250k to out a CIA agent for political ends. there are guys in prison doing (much) more time for petty drug charges.

something ain't right.

[Dont Hurt Me]

This draft dodger will be Pardon by the Draft dodgers he worked for. In the end, Cheney,Bush Rove & Libbey are all political scumbags who would sell out their mothers for their rotten party. I hope Libbey makes it to jail, but he will be pardon by BushCo. watch these crooks.

[leekohler]

2 and a half years? Are you kidding me??!!!! :mad:

[Dont Hurt Me]

Cheney should be the one doing the time, we all know he had his spinmasters out Plame. Libbey is the fall guy but Cheney & Rove are the real dirtbags. Sold out one of our own so they could have the Iraq War. All three of these cowards wouldnt serve their country, yet went out of the way to spin us the Iraq war. 400 billion dollars, thousands of lives for nothing.

[SMM]

2 1/2 years for someone who was at the pinnacle of power in America, what a tumble this will be. I would LOVE to see this introduction, "Bubba, I want to introduce Scooter". I bet Scooter would have a change of heart about naming names. Now, let's hope Judith Miller goes down.

[solvs]

I hope Libbey makes it to jail, but he will be pardon by BushCo. watch these crooks.

I hope they do pardon him (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/pardon-me_b_50765.html).

But yeah, they couldn't get him or the real criminals on the real crimes. They barely got this guy on this charge. Like with OJ though, most of us know they're guilty, and history will do to them what it did to Nixon. Ever lowering poll numbers and a crippled administration that most of us can't wait to be over helps too.

I hope they pardon him because, like the guy above, it will only sink them further.

[FFTT]

It will be interesting to say the least to see what happens here.

A late term pardon in exchange for keeping his mouth shut or will
his experience in prison make him sing?

In the end, it could be Libby's testimony that outs Rove and Cheney
for conspiracy.

Bush made an interesting comment regarding Libby's wife and children
feeling sorry for them.

The question is, was this a warning?

[Swarmlord]

If President Bush doesn't pardon him, then President Thompson after him will. Said as much last night during an interview.

[leekohler]

President Thompson

Haha! As if...good luck on that. ;)

[atszyman]

IPresident Thompson

Haha! As if...good luck on that. ;)

To be fair currently the odds are best on President Thompson considering there are two Thompsons running....

[IJ Reilly]

To be fair currently the odds are best on President Thompson considering there are two Thompsons running....

Maybe they should form a ticket. It would be like voting for a law firm.

[atszyman]

Maybe they should form a ticket. It would be like voting for a law firm.

But the GOP hates lawyers....

[Swarmlord]

But the GOP hates lawyers....

Just tort lawyers. :)

[it5five]

If President Bush doesn't jardon him, then President Thompson after him will. Said as much last night during an interview.

Haha. You honestly think that nut job will get elected? You know, I'd love for nothing more than to see Kucinich win the race, but at least I know that isn't going to happen.

[Swarmlord]

Haha. You honestly think that nut job will get elected? You know, I'd love for nothing more than to see Kucinich win the race, but at least I know that isn't going to happen.

Ah, but do you understand WHY Kucinich will never win the race? Most Americans do. :)

[it5five]

Well, do you know why Thompson will never win? Because he's worse than what we've had for the last 7 years, which is completely astounding considering the last 7 years have been the worst in American presidental history.

By the way, what happened to Ron Paul?

[leekohler]

Ah, but do you understand WHY Kucinich will never win the race? Most Americans do. :)

Yep- the same reason Thompson won't win. Do you understand that?

[Swarmlord]

<snip>

By the way, what happened to Ron Paul?

Probably trying to figure out who accidently registered him as a Republican.

[it5five]

Probably trying to figure out who accidently registered him as a Republican.

No, I mean what happened to your support for Ron Paul? Wasn't he your choice candidate?

[Swarmlord]

No, I mean what happened to your support for Ron Paul? Wasn't he your choice candidate?

Why? Because he claims he's a Libertarian running as a Republican? Not hardly.

[solvs]

Why? Because he claims he's a Libertarian running as a Republican? Not hardly.

Weren't you just railing against us for saying who was a Libertarian and who wasn't? But now you get to decide? Based on what? On paper, the guy looks like the definition of a Libertarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Ron_Paul).

[IJ Reilly]

Libby's judge known as 'tough guy'; that's why Bush appointed him

Libby's judge was one the president's first judicial appointments.

WASHINGTON — Years ago, when he was a local trial judge, Reggie B. Walton developed a reputation for his sentencing of ordinary street thugs.

"If you got convicted, he was going to smack you," said Randall Eliason, a former prosecutor who recalled that Walton would often sentence defendants more harshly than other judges would.

On Tuesday, Walton extended a measure of his justice to a more prominent defendant: former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Rejecting pleas for leniency from scores of prominent public officials, Walton sentenced Libby to 2 1/2 years. On top of the stiff sentence, the judge indicated that he was inclined to order Libby to begin serving the sentence immediately, even before his lawyers have appealed his case. The outcome stunned supporters of the amiable, career public servant and stirred talk of a presidential pardon.

That Walton would put the Bush administration in an uncomfortable position of having to consider a politically charged pardon for Libby is highly ironic: The 58-year-old jurist was one of the first appointments that Bush made to the federal bench in October 2001, a prime example of a new law-and-order mentality that the administration wanted to infuse in the courts.

"Bush wanted people to know that 'I appoint tough guys to the bench,' " said Roscoe Howard, the U.S. attorney in Washington during Bush's first term. "They appointed him just for what he did to Scooter; they were just not expecting it to happen to Scooter."

...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-walton7jun07,1,646557.story

This has been a test of the irony alert system. Thank you for your cooperation.

[zimv20]

This has been a test of the irony alert system. Thank you for your cooperation.

except it's not "just only a test".

this crap is reminding me of Fight Club, where the system if peppered with their members to make later operations go more smoothly.

"the first rule of Reich Club is: do not talk about Reich Club."

[Sayhey]

While the sentence may seem light in terms of the damage done in the underlying crime, it is within the parameters of the maximum the prosecution could ask for. In that light it is a victory for those who want to see something done for outing a covert CIA agent for political purposes.

The amazing thing is that there are still right-wing nuts out there saying there was no crime committed here. As I see it there are only two alternatives to why no one has been prosecuted under the IIPA (a horribly crafted law.) First, the "good" folks who outed Plame can claim they were so stupid that they didn't know that giving Plame's name to the press was a problem because they didn't know she was covert. As a federal official, if you don't know that anyone working for the CIA maybe covert and you have an obligation to find out before you release his or her name to the press, then you are so incompetent that you shouldn't be trusted to tie your own shoes much less have a security clearance. Or alternatively, and this is what I think happened, Bush authorized the release of Plame's name without going through any of the regular channels (including informing the CIA and Plame that he was going to do so) and has played a charade of misinformation about his role ever since. An argument can be made that a President has the right to do this. Any President who does, should be kick out of office for gross incompetence and endangering national security for political gain.

[atszyman]

As I see it there are only two alternatives to why no one has been prosecuted under the IIPA (a horribly crafted law.) First, the "good" folks who outed Plame can claim they were so stupid that they didn't know that giving Plame's name to the press was a problem because they didn't know she was covert. As a federal official, if you don't know that anyone working for the CIA maybe covert and you have an obligation to find out before you release his or her name to the press, then you are so incompetent that you shouldn't be trusted to tie your own shoes much less have a security clearance.

That's where I think the law needs to be re-crafted. It should be illegal to leak classified information regardless of whether or not you know about it's classification status. If you are unsure you need to do a bit of research before leaking, or if questioned directly say "no comment" until you verify the classification status. If I didn't see the speed limit sign am I allowed to drive as fast as I want?

[Sayhey]

That's where I think the law needs to be re-crafted. It should be illegal to leak classified information regardless of whether or not you know about it's classification status. If you are unsure you need to do a bit of research before leaking, or if questioned directly say "no comment" until you verify the classification status. If I didn't see the speed limit sign am I allowed to drive as fast as I want?

As I understand it, that is the law, but it is a different law than the IIPA. The fact Fitzgerald didn't prosecute anyone for the the breaking of the law around the handling of classified materials leads me to believe that either the President or the Vice-President authorized the release. If it was Cheney, it is a gray area whether or not he could authorize the declassification of Plame's name. If it was Bush, he violated every norm in the procedures for doing so and clearly did so for political purposes. He just doesn't want to pay the price for his slimy actions. Which makes his willingness to let Libby serve time while he hides his complicity all the more contemptible.

[IJ Reilly]

except it's not "just only a test".

I probably should have advised you to tune to your local Irony Alert frequency and await further instructions. Sorry 'bout that.

[mactastic]

Funny how lying to investigators suddenly isn't the earth-shattering crime it was to Republicans 9 years ago... I wonder why their zeal for prosecuting high government officials has waned? Could it be because they are simply unprincipled? Or are they just flip-floppers?

[Sayhey]

There is a excellent post by Larry Johnson, a former CIA officer and friend of Valerie Plame, over at his blog at No Quarter (http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/06/combating_the_i.html).

[Dont Hurt Me]

Judge says to Libbey you must go to jail, no get out of jail free card while your waiting for appeal. :D Republican draft dodgers, now what about the other guys Cheney & Rove?:mad: draft dodging scum. All outing a CIA agent for political gain. Bush will still pardon,watch. Our Own govt outing itself? Disfunctional max.