Do you love Patrick Fitzgerald Now?

[xkenx]

Scott McClellan, when asked by Keith Olbermann anout the Valerie Plame outing, said that W directly authorized Scooter Libby to leak her status. Moreover, McClellan testified to that effect to the Grand Jury. And Fitz says he didn't have enough to go after anyone but Libby, and only for lying?? Give me a break. Fitz just didn't have the courage to make the broader case, or he was just a Rethug hack. If that scenario had played out during Bill Clinton's term, there would have been an investigation and treason indictments to dwarf "l'affaire Lewinsky." No more apologies for Fitz here, please.

[Botany]

1. Pat did all he could .... please

He all but said that Congress shoud hold bush & Cheney ro their actions.

[lisa58]

2. I do...

...Fitzgerald was fair - he went after Libby with what he had and it stuck. If he thought he could prove more criminal acts, he would have.

Libby and Rove talking privately is not enough evidence unless you know exactly what they said - they probably didn't tell him.

[Vincardog]

3. If the Congress is going to refuse to do its' duty and impeach the lying chimp

how do you put all the weight on Pat?

[H2O Man]

4. You are wrong.

Scott McClellan did not say that "W directly authorized Scooter Libby to leak her status." You are making that up.

Here is what he did say: "I do not believe that the president was any way in—directly involved in the leaking of her identity."

Anyone who wants to read this can go to the transcript. There is no reason to make things up. None.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24893045/

[xkenx]

11. Instead of referencing the KO interview, here are McClellan's words verbatim from the transcript.

"And the president asked, what was the reporter asking. And I said, he asserted you were the one that authorized Scooter Libby leaking this information. And he said, yes, I did. And it really took me back. I could tell he didn‘t want to sit there and talk about it. And I walked back to the senior staff area on Air Force One, where I usually sit, and it took a while for that to sink in.

But that was just before I left. And at that point, I had made a decision that I could no longer continue in this administration. Now, there were changes coming in soon. I talked about this and Josh Bolten was looking to make some changes too. So my time frame was moved up a little bit from what I preferred. But that was the second defining moment that really caused me a lot of dismay and disillusionment."

OLBERMANN: Did you go into this kind of detail and the kind of detail that was in the book about the outing of Plame and what you knew or what you suspected with special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald?

MCCLELLAN: This is all consistent with I told the FBI investigators, the prosecutors -- and I don‘t believe Patrick Fitzgerald was at my grand jury testimony. I testified—I think it was early February of would have been 2004 and—what I knew—and all of this information is very consistent with what I told them.


I STAND BY MY ORIGINAL COMMENTS. If anyone is interested, I can post former Federal Prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega's article about exactly how an espionage case could have been successfully pursued against Libby, Cheney, et al. I'll have to post the entire article, because I can't seem to find the link.

[H2O Man]

13. What you posted

proved my point. Everyone knows that Bush declassified parts of the NIE that Scooter shared with Judith Miller. But, as I noted, McClellan stated that he did not believe Bush was involved in the decision to out Plame.

I've met Elizabeth de la Vega. I have her e-mail address. I have her book, "US v Bush." Here is a photo of her with my daughter.



I've spoken to her about the Plame scandal. It's something that I know quite a bit about. I had told people here on DU a number of things before they were ever made public. And I can say that McClellan has never said that Bush had okayed Scooter's exposing Plame. Cheney did.

What you might be confusing is that Bush did try to do a retro-active okay of Cheney's deciding to declassify information. That was not actually illegal, but it is an abuse of the power of his office. Such things, while not criminal, are covered by the Constitution in the description of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that warrent impeachment. I would suggest that you read John Nichols' book "The Genius of Impeachment," or review some old DU "Plame Threads."

[AlCzervik]

12. thanks for setting the record straight, that is indeed a huge difference.

[H2O Man]

14. Glad to.

If anyone has any questions about the Plame scandal, I am always willing to answer them.

[lonestarnot]

5. Are you trying to act up?

:silly:

[annabanana]

6. Go float that question at firedoglake.com . .

Jane Hamsher and Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel.com were the lawyers live blogging the libby trial.. They know what was admissible evidence, what was provable and what wasn't at the time...

[Mojambo]

7. He said the President selectively declassified certain parts of intelligence that lead to her outing

by Rove, Libby and probably Cheney.

But that is not enough to legally get at Bush.

You're off track.

[madrchsod]

8. really? you could`t be more wrong

you should spend some time reading everything that has been written about fitzgerald before you post that nonsense.

[stellanoir]

9. I'll always luv Fitz.

He was up against enormous odds.

The story isn't quite over perhaps.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Read the law

Fitzgerald was hampered by a closely-crafted law that left little room in which anyone could maneuver. It was drafted by a Republican, though, so that's to be expected.

Before you go throwing around baseless accusations at a good man, you really should know what you're talking about. Read the law, read its legislative history, read the case law to which it's been applied, and then make your case.

Until then, you're spouting nonsense.

[xkenx]

16. Here is the law and de la Vega's analysis. It suggests that Fitz

did not do all he could do. The question is why?

http://www.commondreams.org:80/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0812-22.htm

[H2O Man]

17. Please check the date

of that article.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

19. Mark the word "intentionally"

in the law. That's the word on which any case might rise or fall. And, as any lawyer knows, proving intent is one very difficult challenge. In this case, Fitzgerald would have been stonewalled by everyone who might possibly have been called to testify as to what any given defendant's "intent" might have been.

Nice old article. Quaint, actually. But sloppy.

[xkenx]

20. de la Vega clearly defines "intentionally." Please read it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. I didn't ask for a definition.

Read my post.

[wtmusic]

15. Bush can legally declassify, and leak, the information.

Fitz knew this end-around and needed more. He would have lost.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Fascinating

You can know what's in his head.

Fascinating.

[wtmusic]

34. No, but I can guess.

And I can also put snarky assholes on ignore. Watch. :hi:

[H2O Man]

18. Another error:

"....or was he just a Rethug hack."

Mr. Fitzgerald is not a republican.

[alfredo]

21. K&R because of all the great arguments.

[ladjf]

22. Fitz covered for Bush and Cheney while posing as an upstanding

kind of guy. He was, in my opinion, both a crook and a hypocrite.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

26. Really?

How do you know this?

[Missy Vixen]

23. You love to stir the shit, don't you?

Here we go again with the de la Vega article that supposedly proves your hypothesis as well.

If you think you could do better, please become a US Attorney and retry this case. Patrick Fitzgerald brought the case he could win, not the case you believe could win. In the meantime, H20Man and the Ladies of the Lake (www.firedoglake.com) have forgotten more about the CIA Leak Case than you'll ever know. You might try listening to them.

By the way, Patrick Fitzgerald himself has repeatedly said he's not a Republican. He's not affiliated with any political party. Then again, that would get in the way of your whole conspiracy theory, wouldn't it?

Julie
edited to state for the record AGAIN that Patrick Fitzgerald is not a Republican

[xkenx]

27. Wow, when your avatar is of Fitz......

He was appointed by a Republican. May or may not mean anything. But I do not trust Rethugs. Some of you people here have a love affair with Fitz, and I cannot figure out why.

[Missy Vixen]

28. Do you know anything about the guy that appointed him?

Senator Peter Fitzgerald. No relation. Ended up losing his seat over his appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald. He knew the only way to clean up the cesspool that is Chicago politics was to bring in someone from the outside that wasn't beholden to anyone and would do his job.

Senator Peter Fitzgerald is a Republican. He was courageous enough to stand against the entire Chicago machine that buried the hatchet in his back, and I'll bet he'd do it again. I might add that not everyone who identifies as a Republican is our enemy. I don't care for his stance on other issues. At the same time, on this one, he was doing the work of the angels.

And, yeah, my avatar is Patrick Fitzgerald. He represents something we don't often see in public life -- doing his job without "fear or favor". Do you know who said that about him? Al Gore. I'm sure he's a "Repuke", too, isn't he?

Jesus.
Julie

[blondeatlast]

29. He did what he could following THE RULE OF LAW; something the criminals

he was appointed to adjudicate couldn't do. And, an admirable job it was.

So, emphatically yes, I admire Fitzgerald.

[DeSwiss]

30. Apologize?

Why, I want him to become the next AG. Damn fine lawyer. And could kick some serious ass.

- And it doesn't hurt that his knows where the bodies are buried...

[ejbr]

31. Fitz let Rove lie under oath FOUR times,

then accepted his fifth testimony. No, Fitz was never on the side of the law.

[ogsbee]

33. If they weren't threatening his family, then Fitz is a Repuke POS

Actions speak louder than words, his actions were all Repuke. Libby as fall guy.

[Mutley]

32. One of the VERY few people at that time to be doing ANYTHING

about this administration? Yeah, Patrick Fitzgerald is still awesome in my book, thanks.