The New York/Washington Post
March 7th, 2007
The Libby Verdict
The serious consequences of a pointless Washington scandal
Wednesday, March 7, 2007; A16
THE CONVICTION of I. Lewis Libby on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice was grounded in strong evidence and what appeared to be careful deliberation by a jury. The former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney told the FBI and a grand jury that he had not leaked the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame to journalists but rather had learned it from them. But abundant testimony at his trial showed that he had found out about Ms. Plame from official sources and was dedicated to discrediting her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Particularly for a senior government official, lying under oath is a serious offense. Mr. Libby’s conviction should send a message to this and future administrations about the dangers of attempting to block official investigations.
The fall of this skilled and long-respected public servant is particularly sobering because it arose from a Washington scandal remarkable for its lack of substance. It was propelled not by actual wrongdoing but by inflated and frequently false claims, and by the aggressive and occasionally reckless response of senior Bush administration officials — culminating in Mr. Libby’s perjury.
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FREE SCOOTER LIBBY
March 7, 2007 — Democrats and Bush-bashers in the media are chortling with glee, and special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has a high-level scalp on his belt.
Scooter Libby’s.
Thus ends (pending appeals) a 38-month investigation into the so-called Plamegate case.
Despite the jury’s guilty verdict yesterday on four of five counts, it’s fair to say that Fitzgerald added nothing to what was well known about the question that ostensibly prompted this probe in the first place: Who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson’s name to columnist Robert Novak?
The answer, as Fitzgerald knew for three years, was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage - in an off-hand conversation, not a leak.
And since Armitage was a critic of the Iraq war, that pretty much shot down any suggestion that the White House had deliberately sought to “out” Plame in order to sabotage her husband’s public criticism of Bush’s Iraq policy.
So what was this all about?
Scoring points against Bush.
That much is obvious, given prosecutor Fitzgerald’s conduct during Libby’s trial.
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