From FDL: Fitz: There is a cloud over the VP...

[terip64]

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/02/20/libby-live-fitzgeralds-rebuttal/

From the 4:31 entry

"One more thing that corrborates. THe VP wrote week before that wife sent him on a junket. THe VP moves to number 1 talking point. You just think it's coincidence that Cheney was writing this.
There is a cloud over the VP. He wrote those columns, he had those meetings, He sent Libby off to the meeting with Judy. Where Plame was discussed. That cloud remains because the denfendant obstructed justice. That cloud was there. That cloud is something that we just can't pretend isn't there."

[goclark]

1. So is Fitz winning?

[emulatorloo]

12. who knows what a jury will do, but Fitz is doing a damn good job. EOM

[whosinpower]

2. Fitz IS going for Cheney

It is pretty clear now. Libby will be convicted. He will be pardoned. He will not cooperate with Fitz to take down Cheney. That is why neither of them testified. Cheney did it. He deliberately outed her. And if Libby is pardoned - is there anything Fitz can do?

[H2O Man]

5. "The sky is falling." n/t

[emulatorloo]

6. LOL n/t

[Jack Rabbit]

7. He has enough for an impeachment referral against Cheney

He can at least do that.

Bush can pardon the who lot of them, but he can't pardon an impeachment.

[wryter2000]

26. Impeachment referral?

Hi, Jack!

I'm not familiar with an impeachment referral. What's that?

[Jack Rabbit]

27. When the Special Prosecutor waltzes his info to the House Judiciary Cmte

Remember how Ken Starr made a grand show out of his? That was an impeachment referral.

Fitzgerald seems more low-key than Starr, but if that's his plan, you can bet Conyers will happily roll out the red carpet.

[wryter2000]

39. Cool.

Thanks.

[SoCalDem]

16. Continue to gather evidence, and then charge him on Jan 21 2009

No immunity or pardon then, baybee !!

[In Truth We Trust]

22. I agree with the sentiment but that scenario doesn't take into account the RW Supreme court. Impeach

Now!

[Geoff R. Casavant]

17. If Libby is pardoned he can be forced to testify again.

With no 5th Amendment right to refuse. So if he does refuse he can be jailed on a fresh charge of contempt.

[Jack Rabbit]

28. Yes

And if he lies again, he can be indicted for perjury again.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

37. Yep, and even better--

Even if someone was foolish enough to pardon him for the contempt (which may not even be allowable, as contempt for refusal to testify is not a criminal matter), he could still be compelled to testify again, and jailed for contempt again if he refuses.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Will a presidential pardon interfere with someone's civil case?

If that was the case, why couldn't Clinton pardon himself and get off the hook with the Paula Jones case?

[malaise]

3. I asked yesterday

if there was still a closed indictment?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

33. a sealed one?

did Cheney and rove get a sealed one

[TahitiNut]

35. It's been gestating for nine months. It should be ready to be born.

"Sealed v. Sealed" ... c'mon out!

[Nordic65]

4. And there it is...

Fitz was/is going after the VP.

Question is, what will a guilty verdict mean?

[kimmerspixelated]

9. Well, if anyone can bring down

Cheney the bulldog- FITZ can!!! GO FITZ!!!!!

[yardwork]

8. In the end, the legal ramifications aren't as far-reaching as the political

Libby may or may not be convicted. He may or may not go to prison, or be pardoned. This trial involves only a small part of the case against the White House.

The ultimate question is - how long can the Bush White House withstand scrutiny of the fact that they deliberately outed an undercover senior CIA agent who was working on terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction?

It is mind-boggling to me that most of the public doesn't recognize what a huge issue this is. The media have done their part to keep this under wraps. Karl Rove admitted to outing this CIA agent under oath, but lied to the public about it. The White House lied to the public, claiming that they and Rove had nothing to do with it.

This is the Big Lie. If even half the U.S. population grasped the facts of what happened here, impeachment hearings would be happening now for both Cheney and Bush.

[cal04]

10. Isikoff with Tweety just mentioned that statement

talking about the trial now
Wells said Karl Rove Lied, Libby did not

[DemReadingDU]

19. video - David Shuster on Hardball

Closing arguments at Libby trial
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=54d3ef06-e21a-4c2e-bec0-44aef8607c44&f=00&fg=email

[mod mom]

23. Thanks! Isikoff doesn't think this will lead any where and talked about the

cost in $/time (4 years) w little return. WTF? This is a serious crime of treason!

[Me.]

25. Isikoff Is A Fool

He was blowing the whole thing essentially, saying it will go nowhere and there will be a pardon. Well anyone who knows what FitzG said at the end can have no doubt what the man thinks and what he will do if he can, and that is get Cheney. As for the pardon Isikoff was so blithe about, Franks said that the dick will not get involved, and he's someone who knows Cheney. The only reason, IMHO, Hubris is a good book is because Corn co-authored it.

[H2O Man]

34. If he has a strength,

it is in his ability to describe what happened in the past. His weakness is his inability to figure out the possibilities the future holds. That translates into someone that we need only listen to about 50% of the time that he's talking.

[TahitiNut]

36. Journalists rarely make good futurists.

Isikoff is certainly no exception. I get a strong feeling he "staffs it out" quite a bit.

[mod mom]

24. Thanks! Isikoff doesn't think this will lead any where and talked about the

cost in $/time (4 years) w little return. WTF? This is a serious crime of treason!

[Morgana LaFey]

29. I'm sure he's on record somewhere being equally concerned

about the huge waste of money spent pursuing Clinton, right?

Ah, I thought not.

[Bucky]

11. I like that: "That cloud is something that we just can't pretend isn't there."

This clearly indicates that there are somethings, possibly some clouds, that are "there" which they can pretend don't exist.

[emulatorloo]

13. self delete- ooops wrong place n/t

:hi:

[enid602]

15. 'can't pretend it's not there'

. . . sort of like the deficit, the eventual result of our Iraq folly and the resulting decrease in our fortunes.

[emulatorloo]

14. FITZ CLOSE -- What Role did the VP Play? Dont you think the American People are Entitled to Answers

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/02/20/libby-live-fitzge... /

DONT YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE ENTITELD TO ANSWERS. If as a result his wife had a job, she worked at CPD, She gets dragged into newspapers. People want to find out was a law broken when people want to know, who did it. What role did Defendant play. What role did VP play? He told you he may have discussed this with VP. Don't you think FBI desesrves straight answers. When you go in taht jury room, you commonsense will tell you hthat he made a gamble. He threw sand sin the eyes o fthe FBI. He stole the truth of the judicial system. You return guilty you give truth back.

[terip64]

18. OMG!! I just came back. I love this man! n/t

[goclark]

21. Pleease jury, do your duty!!

Fitz

:yourock:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

38. fingers crossed

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

30. That was some fine lawyering!

I am exhausted after reading the summations. Fitz made a frontal attack on the VP, and emptywheel over at FDL makes a pretty good case that he is indeed zeroing in on the culprit, Cheney.

[texpatriot2004]

31. Impeach the Veep nm

[tabasco]

32. I hope Cheney lives long enough to get justice.

And I hope I live long enough to see it.

He is the criminal mastermind of the corporate mafia known as the Bush administration.

I hope Ol' Chicken Dickie doesn't pull a Ken Lay and "die" before he goes to jail.