Hey, DU, is Scooter Libby really going to be tried Monday

[MissWaverly]

On February 2, 2006, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton sets Libby's trial date to January 8, 2007.

Or is this just a foolish hope for justice in a country where the president
signs a statement allowing him to read your mail w/o a warrant.

[MissWaverly]

1. trial starts with Jury selection on 1/8 with trial starting on 1/16

Defense in CIA leak case to call Cheney to testify
Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:02pm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The defense will call Vice President Dick Cheney to testify at former top White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial in the CIA leak case, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Cheney, is charged with lying to investigators as they sought to find out who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame in 2003 after her diplomat-husband accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case for invading Iraq.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-12-19T200226Z_01_N19300666_RTRUKOC_0_US-COURT-LEAK-CHENEY.xml&src=rss

[wordpix]

6. thanks and

:woohoo:

[wordpix]

8. "The defense will call Vice President Dick Cheney to testify"--I wonder what the lying SOB has to

say in Libby's defense. :eyes:

[MissWaverly]

9. I heard Cheney is bringing his own lawyer with him

what witness for the defense comes complete with lawyer?

[ktlyon]

15. he has to lie or admit it was a conspiracy under oath

Lying comes easily

[MissWaverly]

16. Libby was indicted for perjury

WASHINGTON - The vice president’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that casts a harsh light on President Bush’s push to war.
Libby, 55, resigned and left the White House.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9837835/

[lala_rawraw]

2. check out the judge's banking records

and tell me then what you think:)

[MissWaverly]

3. Ha, Ha, read this article on Common Dreams

It's called Pardon Me? Scooter Libby's Trial Strategy

U.S. v. Libby is Alive and Well

U.S. v. Libby is not only alive and well; it is also set to begin on January 16, 2007, just three and a half months from now. In June, the defense requested a one-month continuance, but U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton responded by granting a mere one-week extension and reiterating that pretrial filings had to be submitted by both parties in mid-November 2006.
Indeed, a review of court documents makes it abundantly clear that Judge Reggie Walton has no intention of letting this matter laze around on his docket. Filings in the case make it no less clear that Lewis Libby's opportunities to make the charges go away by exercising his rights within the judicial system are dwindling rapidly. Early on, Walton ruled that any motions to dismiss that the defendant wished to bring should be filed by February 24, 2006. Libby's attorneys filed one such motion and it was denied.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1004-30.htm

[wordpix]

7. K&R--maybe we'll get a late Fitzmas gift after all

[MissWaverly]

10. Better late than never

I am so glad that there is a new Democratic majority, all those investigations that went
nowhere, like the president admitting wiretaps w/o a warrant, that was December of 2005
and Arlen Specter was livid, what ever became of that but more kowtowing by Congress.

[nicknameless]

4. Kick

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissWaverly]

11. people are punished for cooperating with Fitz

Leopold: Plame Whistleblowers Frozen Out of State Dept.
By Jeralyn, Section Valarie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Fri Feb 24, 2006 at 12:02:16 PM EST

A few weeks ago, Knights Ridder reported on a reorganization within the State Department, led by Fred Fleitz and Robert Joseph, which bypassed career weapons experts.
Jason Leopold reports today that among those frozen out were whistleblowers in the Valerie Plame investigation. These experts, who prefer to remain anonymous, say their cooperation with Fitzgerald led to their changes in status.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/02/24/486/97041

[MissWaverly]

12. Remember when they tried to claim he was above the law

Perhaps you may recall the greymail tactics of Scooter Libby’s defense team. When Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald called the defense team on these tactics, the defense attorneys accused Mr. Fitzgerald of lying and were insulted by the allegation – even though the allegation is clearly true. The latest tactic from the defense team seems to suggest that their client cannot be prosecuted by Fitzgerald:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide asked a federal judge Thursday to dismiss his indictment on grounds that the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case lacked authority … The defense attorneys also said Fitzgerald's appointment violated federal law because his investigation was not supervised by the attorney general.

http://angrybear.blogspot.com/archives/2006_02_01_angrybear_archive.html

[MissWaverly]

13. remember this, DU

while Scooter Libby has been treated like a lesser diety during all this, what consideration
was given to Bill Clinton, the president of the United States over his court case?

The Supremes definitely stated that the President was not entitled automatically to special treatment that was a civil case, a misdemeanor and they wouldn't even let him delay it.

"The fact that a federal court's exercise of its traditional Article III
jurisdiction may significantly burden the time and attention of the Chief
Executive is not sufficient to establish a violation of the Constitution...
It is settled law that the seperation-of-powers doctrine does not bar
every act of jurisdiction over the President of the United States...
If the Judiciary may severely burden the Executive Branch by reviewing the
legality of the President's official conduct...it must follow that the federal
courts have the power to determine the legality of his unoffical conduct..
We therefore hold that the doctrine of seperation of powers does not require
federal courts to stay all private actions against the President until
he leaves office."

Page 41-42 No Island of Sanity by Vincent Bugliosi, Paula Jones v Bill Clinton: The
Supreme Court on Trial, Ballantine Books

[MissWaverly]

14. Fitzgerald expects all witnesses will testify

Witnesses in Libby trial all expected to testify
By Joel Seidman NBC News
Updated: 4:02 p.m. ET Dec 15, 2006
WASHINGTON - Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has signaled that none of the government witnesses he intends to call will refuse to testify in the upcoming trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

If the vice president does testify at Libby's trial — scheduled to begin in January — he would be the first sitting vice president to testify at court in a criminal case, according to legal experts.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16227672/

[MissWaverly]

17. Miller and Russert are witnesses for the prosecution

In addition to Cheney, other government officials and journalists are expected to be key witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled to start next month.

Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller and NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert are expected to be prosecution witnesses. Libby's lawyers said in court papers that several reporters will testify on Libby's behalf.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/12/22/news/wyoming/1eb5f0c03c84756a8725724a00009a73.txt

[MissWaverly]

18. Must read article called: Libby Sings

Moreover, the way in which this was done should send shudders down the spine: according to the Fitzgerald filing, Scooter Libby told the grand jury that “he understood that even in the days following his conversation with Ms. Miller, other key officials—including Cabinet level officials—were not made aware of the earlier declassification even as those officials were pressed to carry out a declassification of the NIE, the report about Wilson’s trip and another classified document dated January 24, 2003,” evidently a reference to the materials assembled by CIA officer Robert Walpole regarding Iraq’s weapons programs and used for Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s speech to the United Nations Security Council a couple of weeks later. If Libby’s testimony is accurate, documents were to be simultaneously deemed secret and declassified, depending upon White House whim, convenience, or legal liability.

The most important aspect of the new evidence is that it locates the center of the effort to discredit Ambassador Wilson, and of the actions taken to further that aim, squarely within the Oval Office. If that project rose to the level of a criminal conspiracy, or if anything done to further that goal was in fact illegal, it is George W. Bush who must be called to account. That is a very troubling development indeed. The censure motion introduced by Wisconsin Senator Russell Feingold may turn out to be merely the opening salvo in a very intense political battle.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/04/07/libby_sings.php

[MissWaverly]

19. witness list for Libby trial

Potential witnesses in the upcoming criminal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, as referenced in court papers by Libby's lawyers. The trial is scheduled for January:

Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state.
Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary.
Marc Grossman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.
Colin Powell, the former secretary of state.
Karl Rove, the deputy White House chief of staff.
George Tenet, the former
CIA director.
Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador.
Valerie Plame Wilson.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/03/18/witness-list-in-libby-tri_n_17526.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

21. will this be televised?

[MissWaverly]

22. I don't know, the news agencies are asking for audio of trial

[Rosa Luxemburg]

20. the media will probably focus on some other issue rather than this trial?

[MissWaverly]

23. I think that is not going to happen

if there is even the smallest crumb available, it will end up on YouTube or on the blogs,
we are good at getting the news out.

:-)

[MissWaverly]

24. Judge Walton worked under Bush Sr. in the White House

You can read his bio here.

Judge Reggie B. Walton assumed his position as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia on October 29, 2001, after being nominated to the position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.

Judge Walton served as President George H. W. Bush's Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President and as President Bush's Senior White House Advisor for Crime.

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/walton-bio.html