The scramble to delink Bush from Chee-knee ratchets up to warp speed now. Bush is as tied to this conviction as Chee-knee.

GUILTY!!!!!

You guys are phenomenal.

Hit the tip jar, Firepups! C’mon, guys, pony (heh) up! Mamma needs a pair o’ brand new servers!

Ladies & Gentlemen - Patrick Fitzgerald.

Fitz in two

Bless you all for your hard work, and for all you’ve done on this case.

Joe Wilson on with KO tonight!!

Does anyone think that Darth Cheney’s sudden “health problems” seemed to have occurred at an auspicious time? Or is my tin foil hat a little to tight this morning?

I think that all that money from the Scooter Defense Fund is going to have to go to Vaseline and K-Y now, eh?

Rot in jail, you evil prick!

Pokey time for Scooter.

And thank you, Mr. Prosecutor.

Pardon pool?

1. Pre-sentencing
2. Pre-2008 elections
3. 11th hour

Better add Pre/Post Iran invasion

Pardon pool?

1. Pre-sentencing
2. Pre-Iran invasion/bombing
3. Pre-2008 elections
4. 11th hour

Fitz is on tv right now!

It would be nice if someone at the courthouse could ask Scooter for one last posing session as he leaves the building.

Wells was spouting the usual “my side lost” platitudes. Nothing to see here people, move along.

Hooray! A teensy weensy bit of justice served cold. Not that Libby will roll, he’s shown amazing loyalty to this regime so there ain’t no way Darth Cheney will ever be hauled into a courtroom. I suppose we take what we can get.

sweet!

I would love to see a post about what a president can and can’t do when it comes to pardons.

I think the ability of the president to circumvent the justice system and pardon people is a shameful throwback to monarchy and we need to end it. A single person should not have the ability to work around the rule of law, dammit.

This was also posted on dkos:

More from Marcy:

Pre-sentence investigation will be conductded. Report due May 15. Mr Libby will need to make arrangements with probation department. Will give counsel until May 25 dispute with probation.

Wells makes a formal motion to have appeal period extended.

Libby is sitting back from the table. ABSOLUTELY no reaction.

Fitz asks for two minutes with Wells.

Best I can do is give you until April 15. I can give gov’t until the 11 of May. Any reply filed by 23 of May. No objection to continuing bail pending appeal.

Wells: Finally, as I understand, if the defense wants to talk to the jurors, we can talk to them.

Walton: It is their prerogative to talk to you, if they desire not to talk, they will be taken to the van, if they don’t desire to talk, then counsel should not talk with them.

Libby’s wife hugs Ted. Otherwise, silence from the defense.

Now she puts her arm around Scooter.

Walton needs motion for new trial before he can sentence Libby so he has not set a sentencing date. counsel should not talk with them.

One more update from Marcy:

Courtroom empty. Craziness outside.

I’m going to wait for Jane–FDL is still crashed, but once Jane gets here to do a courtroom update, I’ll go watch the media craziness.

Impossible to post congrats around here. But I think this calls for a Snoopy dance

Fitzgerald has asked for a couple of minutes with Ted Wells.

FIrst offer?

Now now, A_A. Justice has been done here. No cause for wishing any extrajudicial punishment on Scooter.

Wells wants a new trial? Please. Put your weasel client on the stand.

(briefly unlurking)
Yay! Whew! Next?

FITZ! GGNGG !!!

25.07 will buys a few martinis for you ladies…WELL DONE!

Will bush fire scooter now or just leave it to cheney to shoot him?

Oh ya! Thank you to FDL for putting in all of this time and effort to cover this trial.

i hope this is just the appetizer in what turns out to be a huge karmic dinner. after 6 years of bushworld i am starving for a little justice.

Thank You jury for giving us the truth back!

{{{{{{{{{{FDL}}}}}}}}}}

It’s most fitting that servers were overwhelmed at the great moment!

MERRY FITZMAS EVERYONE

And to all a Beer Thirty

Please donate to FDL!

Buy Marcy’s Book!

oh my friggn gawd, I want to take the afternoon off…this is so good

next, cheney

David Shusters coverage at MSNBC’s outside of the courthouse, shows Libby and wife leaving courthouse. No posing today. God why do I feel sorry for them.

7 pages at google about the verdict

Fitz on tv: “a high level official lying under oath can not be ignored”

Merry Fitzmas everyone.

FDL thanks for the remarkable ride. Thanks to the pups for holding my hand throughout the ordeal.

Love ya all.

Wonderful way to start the workday! :)

It’ll be interesting to see what Fitz’s next move is- that, and the appeals process will show how far this verdict can (or will) go…

In the meantime, many thanks to Jane, Christy, and all the folks here for their hard work. I know there’s more to come, but this is definitely a Historic Moment.

In terms of sentencing. I knew a guy who got the whole bracelet, stay at home thing because of health reasons. It ruined his marriage. Just saying . . .

the Dino costume worked!!!

In a Rare Public Appearance, Valerie Plame to Discuss Plamegate with Keith Olbermann

On behalf of People For the American Way and Political Clout Productions, we are proud to invite you to be present, as an extraordinary public servant, Valerie Plame, is interviewed by a champion of the First Amendment, Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s “Countdown.”

http://tinyurl.com/ynnerw

On Saturday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. in New York City, Valerie Plame will make the first public appearance since the beginning of the Scooter Libby trial to discuss her life and the personal battle she and her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, are fighting against the most powerful officials in the nation. It is a battle they are waging largely alone, a battle the Congress of the United States would not join, a battle that the news media shied away from, a battle few have the courage to fight.

It’s appropriate that the interview will be conducted by Keith Olbermann, a journalist who himself has demonstrated great courage and a profound sense of public duty. The MSNBC Countdown host challenged the abuses of power as few others did when a single party controlled the White House and Congress. In his “Special Comments,” Olbermann has had the courage to speak truth to power.

It should be a remarkable evening as these two defenders of the First Amendment sit down together on March 17 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are limited.

We hope you will join us in welcoming and celebrating this courageous individual.

Click here to purchase tickets for this event.

http://tinyurl.com/2fbq3v

YEAH BABY! We GOT that motherfucker! We GOT that shit-eating piece of sub-human filth and let’s hope we get some more.

This is even better than the Niners winning the Super Bowl!

United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2, states that the President:

shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the United
States, except in cases of impeachment.

I don’t know anything about the law, but this seems pretty clear cut. Unless we impeach him first, he may pardon at will.

So what news items will the MSM blitz the Libby verdict with? It has all ready started!

Would a pardon remove all Fifth Amendment barriers to forcing Libby to testify? If so, would they really want to do that?

Hey, Dem majority, what say you start looking in earnest for the fire that caused this smoke?
The ghosts of Robert Drinan and Sam Ervin need placation.

Or is Cheney gonna put on a blonde wig, get tatted and enter overseas rehab next?

So happy to have contributed $50 to Marcy’s book in September but sad no one ever thanked me for it.

But thanks to everyone at FDL for such an amazing job — coverage, analysis, everything has been top-notch!

Watching Fitz. My question: can the Congress which authorized him now retroactively authorize/direct that he file a report?

Pardon pool

1. Pre-sentencing
2. Pre-Iran invasion/bombing
3. Pre-2008 elections
4. 11th hour

Any others? The White House press room is all set up, per Fox news, what if Bush did it today?

Happy (early) St. Patrick’s Day!

Jane, Marcy, Pach, Christy, Swopa, and all of you who have done so much to enlighten us to the truth… you’ve been our eyes & ears and encyclopedias to an important part of history. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your incredible service to all of us.

Go have a massive beer-thirty!

(p.s. to ghlobe in previous thread - how generous of you! We all should try to give to FDL for all they’ve done.)

I did a little liveblogging of Fitz’s early comments & answers to first questions. Posted on the massive dKos verdict thread… thought you might want to see it here.
______
because it’s sad that an individual in the office of the Vice President obstructed an investigation and lied.

If people would step back and look at what happened here… what is now clear… is that Mr. Libby told a story. (He says that he knew this in 2003). When a high-level official tells us a story that his information came from other sources than the government and this is not true, it is a serious matter.

One responsibility we have as prosecutors is that we can’t explain what we do, who we charge and who we don’t charge. But none of us could walk away from this. We think the facts justify themselves.

If people don’t come forward and tell the truth, then we have no hope in the justice system itself.

(FYI: information here is a loose transcript of some of his statements).
________________
Reporter questions:

(sounds like David Shuster): asks about Cheney… Fitz says that he applies the same level of the law to Cheney and Scooter and everyone. All he’ll say is that Libby lied, and that’s the point they made to the jury.

More reporters asked about Cheney and Fitz’s final statements in court re: Cheney’s “cloud” over the White House. Fitz will not respond further about it, other than saying there was a cloud there, and because Libby lied and obstructed justice, he failed to remove the cloud.

Reporter question re: further investigations. Fitz says he does not anticipate further investigations or charges. However, if more information comes forward, they will investigate it. He does not anticipate bringing further charges.

MSNBC has one of the jurors being interviewed right now.

Cut of the pardon
Anticipate it.
Coopt it.
“A PARDON TO HIDE PRESIDENTIAL TREASON?”

Just heard Fitz say he didn’t think there would be any more prosecutions in this case

And for anyone who still blathers the BS about how this case is actually “criminalizing politics”, I offer the following

Valerie Plame’s job was to track and disrupt the transfer of WsMD to rogue regimes, groups and individuals, with Iran the focus of her attempts at the time of her outing

In the course of her efforts, she used a CIA front operation called Brewster Jennings, which meant that she had various dealings with undercover operatives, and double agents in other govts, around the world

So…..

How did outing Plame make this country safer as a result?

How did outing Plame make it easier to recruit the best and the brightest to help keep WsMD out of the hands of rogue regimes, groups and individuals?

When Plame was outed, it was inevitable that her CIA front of Brewster Jennings would be disclosed as well, thereby exposing all those undercover operatives and double agents in other Govts

How did outing Plame, and then Brewster Jennings make it easier to recruit the foreign operatives and double agents needed to keep WsMD out of the hands of rogue regimes, groups and individuals?

How did the Administration’s DELIBERATE outing of Plame increase the trust level between the White House and the CIA’s intelligence analysts?

There’s no way to answer those questions in ways both logical and positive for this Administration

bah… in 46, I forgot to put the introduction of my comment… Fitz said that it is sad, because it’s sad a high-ranking official in the OVP lied.

Denis Colins, a male juror, who was a reporter, is taking questions now (I’m watching MSNBC, but I imagine most networks have this main feed).

He earlier said it was hard to come to a hasty judgement.

He says they have 34 post-it pages filled with info they distilled from the testimony.

He said after the 34 post-it pages, they realized that he had been told NINE times about “Mr. Wilson’s Wife”. He said the jury believed while Libby probably did have a bad memory, they knew he had an incredible knack for details, and it was very unlikely that he would have forgotten about the wife.

He said there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Libby - he said that many questioned, “where’s Rove, where’s Cheney” and the jury believed Wells’ statement that Libby was the fall guy for the admin.

(I dont want this to get too long, so I’ll stop now).

hee!

*

Merry Fitzmas gang!

the blog that could, would and did.

the trolls are quiet…

Burke Dem

Joe Wilson on with KO tonight!!

I guess KO is comin’ back from vacation for this. [He was on vac last night.]

Dayum, that feels good.

I want a cigarette, and I haven’t smoked in years…

Thank you, jurors.

The juror Denis Colins also just said, “we wish we weren’t judging Libby. This sucks.”.

Regarding the Cooper count (the one he was acquited on), he said he didn’t want to tell us this, but basically they didn’t see enough evidence (”affirmation of information in the story” or anything in Cooper’s notes). He revered to the ever/even issue in Cooper’s notes. He said that Wells’ argument about “ever” vs. “even” amounted to “only weighing about 6 ounces… but it raised reasonable doubt”.

I guess that’s why they wanted the definition of reasonable doubt!

This is an awesome day for America.

Thank you FDL for the incredible coverage.

Thanks so much, Jane, Marcy, Christy, SWOPA, Pach and everyone else for everything these past weeks. It’s been great being able to follow along.

I’m just sorry I missed the final exciting minutes — MERRY FITZMAS, EVERONE!!!

I’m so glad I’ll be back home in time for KO tonight.

I am soooo proud and happy! Thank you FDL for everything
you all did.

Thank you all at FDL. Awesome job! Hurray for all America today!