Cheney gets out of testifying. Grrrr.

[Laurier]

I'm annoyed to read that Cheney is going to avoid testifying after all, in the Libby trial.

I apologize if this is a duplicate but I didn't see any threads on it and I'm really, really peeved that Cheney is not going to be put on the hotseat.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070213/cm_thenation/3165904

<snip>
The news in the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial on Tuesday came as court was shutting down because of a slight snowfall in Washington: neither the defendant nor his onetime boss, Vice President
Dick Cheney, will testify in the case. Ted Wells, Libby's lead lawyer, told federal district court Judge Reggie Walton in the afternoon that Team Libby had released Cheney as a potential witness and that Wells had recommended to Libby that they rest their case after the defense calls three minor witnesses on Wednesday (if the judge rules they can appear) and perhaps brings back Meet the Press host Tim Russert. Judge Walton asked Libby if he had accepted his lawyer's advice and did waive his right to testify. Libby stood up in court and replied, "Yes, sir."

The trial will end with a whimper, not a bang. The jurors will not hear the defendant defend his statements to the FBI and the grand jury that investigated the leak that outed Valerie Wilson as a
CIA officer. They will not hear him claim that he honestly misremembered facts or that his recollections (as opposed to those of all the prosecution witnesses) are accurate. They will not hear Libby maintain that he was the victim of a--take-your-pick--CIA plot, State Department plot, White House plot or NBC News plot (as Wells has variously suggested throughout the trial). They will not hear Cheney vouch for the integrity of the man whom he recently called "one of the most honest men I know."

Libby's attorneys will argue Libby's innocence (or lack of guilt) by attacking the credibility of Fitzgerald's witnesses, by suggesting Libby was too busy to recall accurately such a minor matter as Valerie Wilson's CIA employment, by maintaining that Libby might have done no worse than confused a couple of phone calls, by contending that because Libby did not leak information on Valerie Wilson to some of the reporters he spoke with, he did not leak it to Judith Miller, then of the New York Times, and Matt Cooper, then of Time.


(Edited to add snip)

[Olney Blue]

1. I annoyed that Cheney is not in jail for war crimes.

[Laurier]

2. Well, yeah, that too.

Grrr.

[Bright Eyes]

3. he probably couldnt leave his undisclosed location

i.e hooked up to a heart machine

[Kikosexy2]

4. Darth Dickie...

can't get away from Hell-pit...What? Satan won't give him a pass for jury duty?....

[global1]

5. Cheney Couldn't Take The Time Away To Testify - He's Got Another War To Start....nt

[Annces]

6. I hope Fitz is saving the best for last

Cheney in the deep freeze, yes.

[Lost-in-FL]

7. A shocker!!

:eyes:

[Laurier]

9. I'm not shocked.

Just really bloody annoyed.



x( :grr:

[intaglio]

8. Cheney gets out of testifying?

Well no sh** sherlock!

Libby has been told to take the fall and then be pardoned.

[C_U_L8R]

10. We're not done with him yet

it's kinda like whack-a-mole

[Laurier]

11. Good point.

I guess I am just feeling my frustration as he weasels out of something yet again.

But you're right - we're not done with him yet and I'll just have to be patient.

[MonkeyFunk]

12. He didn't weasel out of anything

if Fitzgerald wanted Cheney on the stand, he could've called him himself. He didn't.

The defense put Cheney on the list of possible witnesses, and decided not to use him.

[Laurier]

13. You're right - I hadn't thought of that

Fitzgerald could have called him as a witness himself. I guess he didn't think he had anything useful to add? Still, I so would have loved to see him forced to become the first sitting vp to have to testify in a criminal trial (at least I've read that he would be the first).

[MonkeyFunk]

14. yeah

it would've been fun!