Plamegate

[criddic3]

does a presidential impeachment/resignation in the future look a little more plausible today?

According to Dan Abrams of MSNBC, right now that doesn't seem likely. A question was posed to him about whether or not the vice-president is in trouble. "The vice-president is not in jeopardy," he said. The reason can be found in the way that Mr. Fitzgerald handled his press conference on Friday. He said that it was "not wrong" for government officials to discuss classified information amongst each other. If we are to take Fitzgerald's statement here, Libby was "the first" official to reveal the sensitive information to the press, as far as he knows.

It also seems unlikely at this point that Karl Rove will be indicted at all, although not completely out of the question. He appeared four times before the grand jury and this investigation has been on-going for two years. With the expiration of this grand jury, it is uncertain whether the investigation of Rove will just be allowed to fade, as nothing has yet been found on him.

Fitzgerald also answered questions about what this investigation is really about. He said it is NOT about the over-all picture of the War on Terror or WMD, but about a leaked CIA operative and who did the leaking. He has viewed this very strictly and has so far come up with no indictment directly linked to a charge of leaking anything. The charges against Libby are about his conduct during grand jury testimony and impeding the investigation. His alleged crimes all involve lying about his own cover-up about something he needn't have lied about in the first place. He could have just fessed up to talking to people about a CIA agent, not about any classified info. It is curious that he acted so clumsily, but perhaps the pressure was too much for him if it turns out to be true.

Interestingly, it was brought about a long time ago that Wilson came back from his trip initially saying there was some sign the claim of Niger-uranium deals were approached was true, but then came out in an article saying it wasn't true. This is confusing, but I read it a while ago and heard it again on Friday on MSNBC. So Libby might have done all this for nothing.

Having watched several hours of coverage, I learned that the consensus seems to be that this could very well have been an isolated series of missteps. I think this sounds plausible, mainly because I can't conceive of Karl Rove making these kinds of blunders in this case. He is too politicaly savvy to not be more careful about what he talks about with press people and who he talks to.

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"Would Someone Please Give George W. Bush A Blow Job So We Can Impeach Him!"

Funny Damien. Truly. But let's not forget that his [President Clinton's] crime was not a blow job, but PERJURY. He admitted to lying under oath, but was let off the hook in his impeachment trial in 1999.

As for impeachment, I don't see it happening. The Democrats sent Patrick Fitzgerald a letter asking for him to get more information, etc. --basically fishing for ammunition even if no indictments came down -- but he wouldn't go outside of his stated goals. This is not an investigation aimed at destroying the administration. Unlike Watergate, the people investigating this are not --apparently-- saying "gee let's see how high we can go."

Also, this doesn't appear to involve the president or the vice-president. It wouldn't make sense anyway. I doubt that they would have deliberately had someone out a CIA operative if they knew she was covert just to "get back" at Joe Wilson for his half-baked conclusions concerning the Niger claims. They had other things on their minds.

I can see them trying to find ways to hush a story that was hurting their cause, but I don't think they would have done it this way. In other words, there's a good chance Libby made this mess himself.

If Fitzgerald sees it this way, there won't be a trial. Libby will likely make a deal. This means that Democrats and Bush-opposers will not get to salivate over an impeachment procedure against President Bush, since this indictment indicates absolutely nothing about lying to get us to war. (which I don't believe anyway).

[Damien]

A friend told me of a sign he saw at a Palmgate demonstration today:

"Would Someone Please Give George W. Bush A Blow Job So We Can Impeach Him!"

[Sonic Youth]

And here's the text of Fitzgerald's statement at the press conference.

[Sonic Youth]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a damaging blow to a beleaguered White House, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, was indicted on Friday for obstructing justice, perjury and lying after a two-year investigation into the leak of a covert CIA operative's identity....

If convicted, Libby, 55, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.

[Sonic Youth]

It's a good thing Patrick Fitzgerald doesn't give many press conferences, because he is the bane of the media. He refuses to divulge anything that the rules say he can't reveal. And these reporters are so stupid, they don't get it. The entire media should be fired.

He is FABULOUS! He's the sort of guy who should be president - it's possible we may have an opening soon - but never will be because he's so honest, the big doners won't support him. What a refreshing change from Kenneth Starr, who allowed leaks out of his own office!

Going to see a movie. Bye!

[Sonic Youth]

Yup, sounds like Rove is flipping. But it sounds like a LOT of people are flipping. Isn't it usually just one person who flips? Maybe we can gauge the size of this scandal by the number of flippers.

I bet Stephen Hadley is next.

[Mister Tee]

Mister Tee, does a presidential impeachment/resignation in the future look a little more plausible today?

Only if 1) this keeps getting bigger and 2) the Dems take over both houses of Congress next year.

All word is that Rove gave Fitzgerald new info the other day, and that's what's forestalled any action on him. As far as the grand jury, everyone's confused about this, but, whether this particular one can be extended or not, there can always be a new one empanelled, and that seems to be the indicated direction.

I guess we'll know more when Fitzgerald has his presser at 2...but all buzz is that this is, as Chicago once sang, "only the beginning".

[Sonic Youth]

Fabu! Especially since the right were convincing us all last night that there would be only one count of making false statements. This is even better than I was hoping! Libby gets indicted, while the Rove and the rest have the Sword of Damocles hanging over them. The only reason Rove isn't indicted is because Rove was offered a deal and he refused.

Nothing's posted on Fitz's web-site yet, but it will be. Libby just resigned, but anyone with half-a-brain could have seen that one coming. And for once, I agree with Ann Coulter! She said this ongoing investigation is the worst thing that could happen to this administration.

Mister Tee, does a presidential impeachment/resignation in the future look a little more plausible today?

[Sonic Youth]

<span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>LIBBY INDICTED ON 5 COUNTS</span>

Friday, October 28, 2005; Posted: 12:57 p.m. EDT (16:57 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury investigating the public unmasking of an undercover CIA operative.

Charges included making false statements, obstruction of justice, and perjury, court documents show.

Indictments in the case were the first in a nearly two-year investigation into the public unmasking of an undercover CIA operative. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has scheduled a 2 p.m. ET news conference. (Watch possible ramifications of an indictment -- 2:49)

Libby -- a major player in the Bush White House -- was expected to step down from his post after an indictment. (Profile)

President Bush's top political strategist Karl Rove will not be indicted Friday by the federal grand jury investigating the leak, sources close to the investigation tell CNN. But, the sources said, Rove is not out of legal jeopardy as the matter is still under investigation. (Full story)

Lawyers involved in the case have told CNN that Fitzgerald is focusing on whether Rove committed perjury. Rove testified four times in front of the grand jury.

Impact of indictments

David Gergen, a former adviser to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton, told CNN's "Larry King Live" that indictments in the case could have an enormous impact on the Iraq war.

"Because if there are indictments, it will not only be people close to the president, the vice president of the United States, but they will raise questions about whether criminal acts were perpetrated to help get the country into war."

'No decision'

Rove's attorney Robert Luskin issued a statement Friday that Fitzgerald "has advised Mr. Rove that he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges."

"Mr. Rove will continue to cooperate fully with the Special Counsel's efforts to complete the investigation," Luskin's statement said. "We are confident that when the Special Counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong."

As Rove departed his home in Washington Friday morning, he told reporters, "I am going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend and hope you do too."

Libby's indictment came at a time when Bush's approval ratings already are at a low ebb.

This week alone the president's embattled Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, withdrew, and the number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war surpassed 2,000.

Bush suggested at the beginning of the investigation that he would fire anyone on his staff who was involved in the leak.

He appeared to set a higher standard in July, saying, "If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." (Full story)

The event that triggered the legal and political quagmire that has put the White House on edge was a syndicated newspaper column by Robert Novak, published on July 14, 2003, about Joe Wilson.

A week earlier, Wilson, a retired U.S. diplomat, publicly claimed that Bush administration officials, intent on building a case to depose Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, hyped unsupported claims that Hussein sought to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Niger.

Novak, who also is a CNN contributor, was writing about the CIA's decision to send Wilson to the African nation in February 2002 to investigate the claims, which later wound up in Bush's 2003 State of Union address.

About midway through his column, Novak noted that Wilson "never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction."

An angry Wilson accused administration officials of deliberately leaking his wife's identity as a CIA operative -- thus ending her career as an undercover agent -- to retaliate against him for going public with his criticism.

Both Rove and Libby have denied leaking Plame's name.

Deliberately disclosing the identity of a CIA operative can be a crime, and Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, was named in September 2003 as a special prosecutor to investigate after then-Attorney General John Ashcroft recused his office to avoid any conflict of interest.

Reporters subpoenaed

Trying to pin down the details of discussions between administration officials and reporters about Plame, Fitzgerald subpoenaed Washington journalists.

Two of them -- Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine -- sought a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court to protect their confidential sources but the court refused to take up the cases.

Facing jail for contempt of court, Cooper testified after accepting a waiver of his confidentiality pledge from a source -- who turned out to be Rove.

Cooper later disclosed that Rove told him in July 2003 that Plame was a CIA agent involved in weapons of mass destruction issues, although Rove never used her name and never indicated she had covert status.

Cooper said he later asked Libby "if he had heard anything about Wilson's wife sending her husband to Niger," and Libby said he had, which Cooper said he took as confirmation of Rove's information.

Miller went to jail for 85 days but was released after her source -- Libby -- assured her that he had no objections to her testifying.

Dick Cheney's name surfaced in the case earlier this week. The New York Times reported that notes of a conversation indicated Cheney gave Plame's name to Libby ---which appears to contradict Libby's grand jury testimony that he first heard Plame's name from reporters.

Cheney's office had no comment, and the White House would neither confirm nor deny the Times report.

[criddic3]

For all we know, Fitz may ask for an extension.

I was under the impression, from watching Chris Matthews, that he couldn't get any extensions.

[Sonic Youth]

FITZGERALD ANNOUNCES 2PM PRESS CONFERENCE

It's also being reported in the New York Daily News that the administration has two replacements all ready to go should both aides be indicted.

And the paperwork is expected to be released at noon. Be sure to check this website, where it will be displayed (hopefully at noon) in all its PDF glory.

[Sonic Youth]

Libby yes, Rove no? We STILL aren't sure!

[Mister Tee]

I was class of '69, so my senior year overlapped his freshman year.

[Damien]

You did, Tee? Cool. What year? (Bill was class of '72.)

[Sonic Youth]

Looks like it's Friday.

If you can't wait anymore, and need to read about an indicted Republican, click here.