If they believed that Libby “simply forgot” because people forget things…well that could have been resolved in a day at most. If there was a single holdout on that element they would have come back quickly and declared a mistrial on all counts.

Then they have asked for the flip chart, post-its and tape.

What that indicates is that they are now examining the interacting web of witnesses and how these mebellish and support the charges on each count.

It looks as if they are going thrown Fitz’s logic and will likely find it persuasive on all counts.

Remember that once the “Memory Defense” is rejected, Fitz only need to show that a single witness for each count has credibility. He only needs one “he said” to overwhelm Libby’s GJ statements.

Even worse, once they find Libby guilty on ONE count…they will view him as a liar and perjurer…and that will increase the valence of the testimony on those counts where other witnesesses may have had minor credibility issues. ONE certain lie and Libby will be viewed as a probable liar for the remaining counts. It will be a cascade.

. . .The trial pulled away the curtain but the main stream news seemed to have turned away. [ed.– emphasis supplied.] Is it fear? modesty? stupidity?

. . .Is there a Cheney vs the whole rest of the world story happening and no one is talking about it? Has the cat got everyone’s tongue?

If Scooter is found guilty, do you think there will be calls for Dick’s resignation?

hey chris –

first, while i hear you, and i do think
shooter looks to be out-of-step with just
about every other cabinet member, i DO think
that the fact that the old-guard, solid-
right-capitalists’-newspaper-of-record
is taking note is, well, pretty strong
evidence that mr. cheney’s days as v.p.
are numbered. [didja’ see friday’s wall
street journal?]

i posted something similar to the
below over in the most-recent libby trial
thread on talkleft.com, and at
my little corner of the world,
[shameless plug!]
but i do think the m.s.m. is slowly taking
its carefully-measured shot at this story.

it is clear that no one in the m.s.m. wants
to be “out in front” on it, should cheney pull
a now-improbable-frankenstein’s-monster-
reanimation-process out of his hip pocket,
but look at the journal’s latest:

in fact, yesterday, the wall street
journal began to acknowlege that even
if scooter is acquitted, this debacle
may end in sam-ervin-style hearings — with
the vice president of the united states
being called to explain himself. the senate
armed services committee has openly
asked for renewed hearings — and the
appearance of one scooter libby, at them:
quoth the wall street journal:

“.. .Already, the Senate Intelligence Committee
has requested documents and interview transcripts
from the Inspector General’s office, while the
Senate Armed Services Committee seeks further
interviews with Mr. Libby, the former chief
of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. . .”

now, once the trial is over, either way — up
or down — scooter will have a-far-more-limited
fifth amendment privilege to assert, as a shield,
before congress. his fifth amendment rights
will arguably attach only to statements that
might constitute evidence of new crimes,
crimes for which he hasn’t yet been tried.
and that may prove very dicey for his old boss,
dick cheney — either scooter will be a convicted
felon (and likely working his way through the
appellate process — all while looking to cut deals
for favorable sentencing recommendations from the
the office of special counsel — patrick fitzgerald),
or he’ll be acquitted, and the special counsel
won’t be able to re-try him, under the one of the
other main protective provisions of the fifth
amendment, the “double jeopardy” clause. . .
either way, he could face contempt of congress
charges, and ultimately, jail, if he doesn’t
cooperate, at least as to unprivileged matters.
so, dick, if your people are reading this — do
the honorable thing, before your spiro agnew
moment arrives, front and center,
in the committee chambers of the
armed services committe of the united states senate. . .

more here. . .

If he weren’t, he’d have been SWIFTBOAT chum by now.

chris @ 70

… If Scooter is found guilty, do you think there will be calls for Dick’s resignation?

One can only hope. I say YES.
…….

If Articles of Impeachment do not result from these High Crimes and Misdemeanors, I am not sure whether a future President directly ordering a nuclear strike on Chicago would draw charges from a future Congress, if indeed our Congress continues to exist. What do YOU think?

Cheney also ought to be impeached for his role in orchestrating false intelligence re Iraq. It was Cheney who met with Chalabi and the other ex-patriate Iraquis. It was Cheney and Rummy who demanded intelligence to fit their plans. And I think Cheney had a hand in stovepiping false intelligence.

The Valerie Plame affair was a threat – a way to silence anyone who even thought about coming forward and whistleblowing. Cheney was willing to destroy anyone in the CIA any of their trusted contacts.

I think the “who sent Joe Wilson” noise was really a diversion to keep the press from asking “who forged the documents that purported to show Sadaam wanted to buy yellowcake”. And it seemed to work.

Cheney should resign. Congressfolk should be asking him to resign. And if he won’t. He ought to be impeached. I am willing to add my name to any petition requesting his resignation.

If our democracy survives this, we need to change how the OVP functions. No one should be running a parallel government in a democracy- and most certainly no one should be running an evil, clandestine parallel government in a democracy.

Why isn’t the first comment on each thread a call for VP Cheney to resign?

Fire Dead Eye Dick!!

As usual, Lil Debbie Howell got it wrong. From emptywheel’s AOD, page 78:

“Fitzgerald realized he was doing something momentous. Journalists consider their sources and their conversations with them to be sacrsanct. So he approached the issue cautiously. He didn’t ask them to reveal their sources; rather, he figured out who the sources were using phone records and other documents turned over by the administration. Then he approached journalists with waivers from their sources, asking only for a description of what had transpired within the conversations.”

Bold is mine.

… If Scooter is found guilty, do you think there will be calls for Dick’s resignation?

One can only hope. I say YES. And once he’s gone, Fitz and/or the Congress can go after the pReznit as having orchestrated the whole thing.

==> First count: carelessly “declassifying” and then “selectively leaking” the weakest parts of the NIE to buttress their false claim in the SotU. This may well have been illegal on its face, and the Nixon defense “If the President does it, that means it is not illegal” is the purest bullpuckey.

==> Second count: TREASONously outing a covert CIA agent for purely political purposes (silencing a brave whistleblower, her husband), thus intentionally terminating her career.

==> Third count: TREASONously exposing Brewster Jennings, both as a “death threat” against any in the Intel Community who might be contemplating going up against the administration on the war, and as a means of destroying the CIA’s eyes and ears on nuclear WMD in the middle east. This caused documented killings of Brewster Jennings operatives and contacts in foreign lands. Under cover of that death threat and that Intel blindness, the administration furthered their treasonous plans to lie the nation into an illegal war. It bears noting that that war has bankrupted the country, destroyed our diplomatic and moral authority in the world, not to mention killing thousands of Americans and Iraquis.

If Articles of Impeachment do not result from these High Crimes and Misdemeanors, I am not sure whether a future President directly ordering a nuclear strike on Chicago would draw charges from a future Congress, if indeed our Congress continues to exist. What do YOU think?