CNN JUST NOW: Bush "interviewed" this morning by US Attorney re: Plame

[ShaneGR]

Just in on CNN, Bush was interviewed by US Attorney (Chief-Prosecutor) Fitzgerald for over an hour and a half this morning. Bush's attorney was present.

[malatesta1137]

1. can't wait to see this animal

in a orange jump suit.

[MoonRiver]

5. I've heard chimps look like doo doo in orange.

[harrison]

2. According to John Dean, if a President lawyers up, then he is

in deep shit. Obviously, Bush has hired a lawyer.

[Vickers]

3. I had just posted another thread, he hired a lawyer called Jim Sharp

Read about him here

[ShaneGR]

9. Jesus... look at his work history....

The Bush attorney background:

He began practicing law in Navy JAG and also served as assistant US District Attorney for the District of Columbia. In about four decades of law practice, he has represented Richard Nixon friend Bebe Rebozo, Nixon advisor Jeb Stuart McGruder during the Watergate scandal, and Gen. Richard V. Secord during Iran-Contra. Sharp has also numbered former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and author Clifford Irving among his clients. Maybe that's where the estate planning comes in. Despite the list of well-known Republican clients, his political donations go mostly to Democrats, including the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry.

[LeftHander]

30. Resignations coming....Karl Rove and Dick Cheney

Certainly the investigator has the info he needs to indict the party. If the President lies to him and the indictments go forward Bush will be left scrambling to hold together a shattered administration nad possible face charges himself.

Somebody gave up the goods somewhere during the investigation. Now it it is a matter of putting a scope around it. How big is it how far does it go.

Scooter did the leaking. Dick and Karl tied to cover it up after the fact.

Bush might of caught wind but either way the ax is going to fall on this one.

Investgator confronted BUsh with the evidence. Bush rolled over.

He could either devulge and cooperate, deny and say nothing, risking jail time and hope someone else doesn't roll him over. If he was smart....whcih he is not....he will immediately ask for Dick, Karl and Scooter's resignations....

Either way I think we are seeing the end of Bush.....

[hang a left]

20. Very interesting.

Thanks for the link.

[zbdent]

28. I guess that Rush's lawyer was too busy

fending off the drug trafficking charges.

[Cat Atomic]

4. Did you happen to hear that interview a couple weeks back

on NPR, regarding Bush and Cheney's decision to retain civilian lawyers? Both pundits were of the opinion that it didn't mean anything.

I laughed my ass off at that. If a President and VP both do that it's bad. If they do it in an election year, it must be really bad.

[trumad]

6. Was Cheney holding his hand...

Can you imagine Bush alone... Then again, he had his lawyer...

[Vickers]

8. I wonder if the lawyer looks like Cheney?

You know, so the familiarity makes Georgie feel safe.

:shrug:

[ShaneGR]

12. Actually, the attorney is a liberal, with a long Republican client list...

It is not uncommon practice for Politicians to hire attorneys with differing political views.

He began practicing law in Navy JAG and also served as assistant US District Attorney for the District of Columbia. In about four decades of law practice, he has represented Richard Nixon friend Bebe Rebozo, Nixon advisor Jeb Stuart McGruder during the Watergate scandal, and Gen. Richard V. Secord during Iran-Contra. Sharp has also numbered former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and author Clifford Irving among his clients. Maybe that's where the estate planning comes in. Despite the list of well-known Republican clients, his political donations go mostly to Democrats, including the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry.

[senseandsensibility]

11. The day after * hired a lawyer

Nina Totenberg covered it for NPR. She acted like it was silly to even be discussing it, as if it didn't mean anything. She actually laughed when asked if it meant that the chimp was in any sort of legal trouble.

[gasperc]

7. listening to "worse than watergate"

how timely

[gratuitous]

10. Interviewed? Not deposed under oath?

If he wasn't under oath, he can lie his ass off as usual. His "testimony" would then be meaningless.

[shraby]

15. His testimony wouldn't be meaningless

if it contradicted several other testimonies.

[MoonRiver]

16. It's a first step in the process.

They'll have a record of what he says now, said previously, and will say in the future. Any inconsistencies could be used to incriminate him.

[Eloriel]

13. An hour and a half? WOW.

I just had a flash -- imagine, Bush and Cheney are going to be interviewed separately this time. ROTFL. Wonder if they can keep their stories straight?

[bossfish]

26. Hope the batteries...

...in his Gameboy held up

[jbfam4]

14. check out story

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20040624/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_cia_leak

Bush Interviewed in Gov't CIA Leak Probe



WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) was interviewed by government prosecutors Thursday in connection with the federal investigation of who leaked the name of an undercover CIA (news - web sites) operative to the news media.

The president was questioned for 70 minutes in the Oval Office by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who is heading the Justice Department (news - web sites) investigation.


White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush has hired a private attorney, Jim Sharp, a Washington trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor.


"The leaking of classified information is a very serious matter," McClellan said, adding that the president repeatedly has said that he wants his administration to cooperate with the investigation. "He was pleased to do his part."

[wndycty]

17. Was it under oath? Isn't their a penalty for lying to a federal attorney

. . .even if it you are not under oath?

[MoonRiver]

18. I think the penalty is you become a suspect.

*'s lawyer was present and probably kept him from saying anything really stupid. But there could be contradictions with his past or future statements.

[giant_robot]

23. "*'s lawyer was present ...

... and probably kept him from saying anything really stupid"

Sounds like the toughest job in the world to me :)

[MoonRiver]

Yes, and nearly impossible!

I'm sure they were whispering together before each word coming out of jr.'s mouth. Even then he probably had trouble 'membering. :D

[Beetwasher]

19. Even If Not Under Oath, If He Contradicted Himself and Previous

statements it might be considered obstruction of justice...Though I'm not sure...

[digno dave]

21. Does anyone think this will be allowed to lead directly to Bush?

hell no.

[lancdem]

24. It already has

That's why he was interviewed. Patrick Fitzgerald is an aggressive prosecutor with a tremendous track record.

[kiahzero]

25. Pretty sure you're right

I'm almost positive it's illegal to lie to law enforcement.

[aldebaran]

22. Isn't that what they got Martha Stewart on

Not sure, but I think the charge they convicted her on were that she lied during interviews

[MallRat]

32. If the lie OBSTRUCTS JUSTICE, then yes.

But the line between being unhelpful and being obstructionist is kinda fuzzy, especially when you're considering charges against a sitting President.

I imagine that by not being under oath, * would have to engage in some really egregious lying to result in an obstruction charge.

[Jacobin]

38. Yes it is.

Jim Brown, former secretary of state of louisiana got 18 months for allegedly lying to an FBI agent during an interview, not under oath.

[Shakespeare]

31. Damn--Fitzgerald himself interviewed Bush?

Damn. I like where this is (finally) going.

[HootieMcBoob]

27. Did you guys feel something move?

Could this be the beginning the tectonic shift that Josh Marshall wrote about?

[carolinayellowdog]

34. Probably this is what Marshall was predicting

Can't wait for Monday when he is back on duty.

[frank frankly]

29. it is about to happen

please, let Bush be named as an unindicted Co-cospirator

[Zero Gravitas]

33. please please please nail the bastard

I so hope Bush eventually gets nailed for this. Preferably before the election of course, but any time will do, win or lose. Nail the lying treasonous bastard.

[shraby]

36. Wonder how many times he took the fifth...

and can he do that if he wasn't under oath?

[sampsonblk]

35. Let's get this straight

Bush said, after meeting with Sharp, "if I decide I need an attorney, then I will hire him." Or something to that effect. Do we know for sure that he DID hire Sharp, and do we know that Sharp is the guy present at today's briefing?

If so, then why isn't the media wall-to-walling this one!!??!@@#! This is big!

[sampsonblk]

37. He DID hire Sharp, and Sharp was there today...

just heard that on MSNBC. This should be wall-to-wall feeding frenzy stuff, but somehow I doubt it. Perfect timing, considering F-9/11 comes out tomorrow night!

[WilliamPitt]

39. Attorney Jim Sharp

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/061404Ramares/061404ramares.html

Who is James Sharp and why is George W. Bush talking to him?

By Kéllia Ramares
Online Journal Associate Editor

June 14, 2004—The White House revealed recently that George W. Bush has spoken with a private attorney about the criminal probe into the leak of an undercover CIA operative's name.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Bush would probably retain attorney Jim Sharp of Washington D.C., if he thinks he needs the lawyer's advice while a Federal grand jury investigates the leak of the name of Valerie Plame as a CIA covert operative. Bush is not believed to be a target of the probe, but he anticipates being questioned about the leak.

Plame was identified as CIA by veteran Washington journalist Robert Novak. He said her name was leaked to him by two senior administration officials. Plame is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

In February 2002, Wilson went to Niger to investigate the claim that Niger sold yellowcake uranium to Iraq. Wilson found no credible evidence of such a sale. Documents concerning such a sale were crude forgeries. Nevertheless, on January 29, 2003, in his State of the Union Address, George W. Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Wilson believes that the leak concerning his wife was retaliation for his unwillingness to back the White House's Niger-Iraq claims.

...more...

[AP]

40. Do they mean "deposed"?

[CANDO]

41. Cheney will be the fall guy and this explains why Mr. McCain is ...

snuggling up to the shrub as of late. Sen. McCain will be the number two man on GOP's ticket. You heard it here first.

[redqueen]

43. Sad

How long till people dig up the quotes sliming McCain lobbed by Bush and his wranglers?

Does Bush like McCain or not? I don't think the Bush-Party-Loyalist type of republicans like him at all.

[Catfight]

46. I disagree, Cheney will not go down, if he did, he'd take the whole

lot of them with him. It's a pac of lies, the WH mafia if you ask me. Cheney isn't going to step aside, this is his administration and Bush is only there because of Cheney. An alliance is an alliance, they'll stick to their lies to the bitter end when justice hopefully prevails. We'll see if we have a government left or a regime by November.

[redqueen]

42. "They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors."

Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors." -- George H.W. Bush

[Jim__]

44. Will we get to know how many questions he refused to answer

And how many times he said, "I don't recall."

Probably not.

[Tatiana]

45. Fitzgerald has the goods.

Let's see if Bush contradicted the information provided by those who have already been interviewed. If he did, there may be cause to bring him before the grand jury and/or threaten obstruction of justice charges. Also, let's look at Steno Sue's writeup again:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0619leak19.html

(snipped)

Vice President Dick Cheney was recently interviewed by Fitzgerald's staff, and President Bush has consulted with a private attorney in the event he is questioned about the Plame disclosure.

In recent weeks, Fitzgerald has subpoenaed journalists Tim Russert of NBC and Matt Cooper of Time. News organizations have gone to court to quash the subpoenas.

McClellan said he did not know of any other White House aides called before the panel in recent weeks.

1 - This investigation has gone straight to the top. Fitzgerald is not playing.

2- What have we learned from this administration? It LIES and LIES and LIES and then LIES some more in an attempt to coverup. I'm convinced McClellan is either unaware or lying when he says that no other White House aides were called befoer the grand jury. In fact, if you read his words carefully, he says he "did not know of" any other White House aides called before the panel. This is a non-denial denial. Which means, friends, that there have been other White House aides called before the grand jury and/or interviewed in recent weeks. This is why Bush is "lawyered up" and why Cheney needs a lawyer as well. They know someone (or someones) has fingered the traitor(s). This is why Bush didn't fight being interviewed (and by Fitzgerald himself! Delicious!). Bush is scrambling to save his ass.