So Scooter Libby was Mark Rich's lawyer...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

I just found this out recently. So why is it that all the wingnuts who were up in arms about corruption over the Rich pardon had no problem with his being in the White House in the first place?
(Don't get me wrong-what Bill did was pure evil and one of the biggest stains on his presidency, but the rw outrage was totally canned and phony)

[ConsAreLiars]

1. Wnen you call Clinton's acts (or Bill, as you call him) "pure evill"

what are you talking about? The slaughter of a quarter million Iraqis may be called "pure evil," or the murder of a few million in Indochina. Or the genocide in Ruanda or in Europe by Hitler. But your concept of "pure evil" seems extremely bizarre when applied to Clinton, unless there is some comparable crime that I failed to notice.

(Edit to fix header overrun)

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. letting a scumbag like Rich off was evil

no matter what you think of Bill, there's no way to defend it. he sold out and let a monster get off scott free.

[ljm2002]

3. I seem to remember...

...that there was a little more to it. Hmmm, let me look...

Okay, here we go:

= = = = =

From http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/02/18/clinton.fact.check/index.html :

Clinton: "The applications were reviewed and advocated not only by my former White House counsel Jack Quinn but also by three distinguished Republican attorneys: Leonard Garment, a former Nixon White House official; William Bradford Reynolds, a former high-ranking official in the Reagan Justice Department; and Lewis Libby, now Vice President Cheney's chief of staff." <Emphasis mine>

CNN: <...> "In no way, shape or form was Mr. Libby involved in the pardon of Mr. Rich," White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer told CNN.

Sources involved in the case said the three lawyers argued for a plea agreement, not for a pardon.

Libby represented Rich from 1985 to until early 2000, but was working toward a plea agreement, Fleischer said. The relationship with Rich was severed after they agreed the lawyers had reached an impasse in negotiations with the Justice Department.

= = = = =

From http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=609 :

<...>

A dogged and resourceful attorney, Libby bobbed and weaved for quite awhile until a Democratic staff lawyer finally backed him into a corner.

"Based on everything you know . . . you think you could have put together a good strong case for a pardon and a defensible case if the president so issued, based on what you know?"

"Yes," Libby answered.

And how come you're reading it here first? Clinton rules.

Reprinted from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/edi/wopLyons7.html

(NOTE: this link is no longer valid -- I just wanted to show, SmirkingChimp got it from there. Their archive search requires a fee; this article was posted 03/07/2001 by Gene Lyons)

= = = = =

Also, Israel's prime minister put the pressure on Clinton to grant the pardon. He did not do it in a vacuum.

Anyway -- I recommend reading the whole article at smirkingchimp, it's a complete reprint of the column by Gene Lyons -- Libby's testimony made the case for it being a legitimate pardon. And the fact that Mr. Libby called Mr. Rich to congratulate him on receiving the pardon -- priceless.

[bobbieinok]

4. from what I recall, it's really far out to say Rich was a scum ball...ALSO

it was widely reported at DU that the aide to Cheney, Libby, was Rich's attorney.

Of course, M$M as usual was just 24/7 'Clinton evil', 'Clinton evil', etc