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Okay, so here is the summary so far:
Walton basically accepted the premise of Fitz' sentencing arguments, which put the range for the obstruction up to 30-37 months, but on the basis of the fact that Libby is a nice guy, took the lowest end of that range, 30 months. He gave him 15 on the other countrs, concurrent, but those other counts need to be recalculated, bc one should be lower and one should be higher. So the sentence is 30 months, but on stay until the Probation department does new calculations.
As to bond pending appeal, Walton basically said no, but Defense can submit a memo. That is due on Thrsday, and then the govt's is due on Tuesday, with Libby's response due on Wednesday. If Walton decides against bond pending appeal after reading those motions, then it all goes to the prison system and Libby goes to jail in normal schedule, which would be about 45-60 days.
The basis defense argued for appeal is twofold: that Walton rejected the memory defense, and Fitz' appointment in general. Walton basically said, "If you could introduce a memory expert on the basis of that hearing, we'd have to let in any thing, because there was no basis for applicability in this." As to Fitz' appointment, Walton said that, although no one oversaw Fitz' actions WRT this case, he was subject to normal discipline if he did anything bad. The fact that Sampson considered firing Fitzgerald is evidence of this in this case.
Reggie said something very important WRT this issue. He said that if Fitz' appointment were improper, then it would mean no one high in government, and no one in the justice system, could be held accountable for the things they did unless there were a way to appoint a prosecutor free of DOJ oversight in the particular case.
You think maybe Judge Walton has given some consideration of the possibility that high level DOJ employees might be indicted for things recently?
I'm headed out the pressers, will come back for an update then.
Update: No pressers. Neither side had a comment, ostensibly because they've got to come back for next week's hearing (on Wednesday) on bail pending appeal.
Now it's either beer thirty or I'm going to try to sneak into the SJC hearing. Can anyone tell me if it's beer thirty in DC?
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Stellar work Marcy, Jane, Christy, Mods !!!
((((((( FDL )))))))
Breaking news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19039377/!
Great work Marci, Jane and Christy-a riveting morning.
Marcy!
Zed?
Thanks to all of you who have worked hard on this
Cheers
Oops, I guess it’s not that breaking — I see the 30 months were in the original post.
Must be the champagne doing the posting for me!
To elaborate, Fitz wanted to make sure that the correct numbers for concurrent sentences were in place. Walton was basing his calculation on a Federal Sentencing Guideline offense level of 17 for the perjury counts – which carries with it a range of 24-30 months. But Fitz was correcting that to a level of 14, which only carries 15-21 months.
Here’s the table: http://www.ussc.gov/2005guid/5a.htm
Anyone have a better reading?
Guess not.
Question: Does EACH count have to be appealed individually?
I am stunned to read, in Wolfowitz’s letter to Walton (bottom of page two), that Libby defended Richard Armitage on a pro bono basis against libelous accusations. When was this? What was this about?
As a former probation officer, who mostly did pre-sentence investigations and recs, I realized you have to know “your” judge.
Who will ask W the pardon question in Europe?
Yes, hear hear, nicely done.
Can’t imagine why the so-called “real medjia” don’t do this.
Great service you guys.
Love you guys!!! Great work! Donation coming.
CNN writeup refers to a letter whose sender is redacted. The letter was not in support of Libby. I wonder why the sender was redacted in that case?
Also, the letter from the director of NIAID is on HHS letterhead. Kind of odd, if you ask me, a letter on official government letterhead in support of a convicted felon?
I don’t understand the difference between perjury and false statements.
Where is it that folks are reading letters? Are they posted someplace?
Please?
whteher libby serves a day in jail or not, whether he’s pardoned or not, he still looses his license to practice law.
thats not a small thing
Thanks very much, Marcy.
EW – You are dead on with Walton’s comment. There is a lot of depth in those few words.
EPU’d:
IIRC, the legitimacy of an appeal would weigh heavily on whether or not Scoots gets to be ‘free’ during the appeal process. Didn’t Walton write a statement toward the end of the trial wrt an appeal and how he was taking taking pertinent steps so that an appeal would be relatively impotent?
SharonRB @ 4
SharonRB @ 8
Hey there :hi:
TeddySanFran @ 12
My guess is ….
Not an American reporter.
Educated Plaintiff @ 17
and to vote, no?
Faux News is having a meltdown, trotting out the “no underlying crime” bullshit. It’s wonderful to watch.
inmymind’seye @16
thesmokinggun.com has the letters from the “big names”.. not all of the letters are there, though.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…..ibby1.html
FlyOnTheWall @ 7
That’s correct–which is key, bc it probably would have provided basis for appeal if he hadn’t immediatley noticed it.
Anybody know when Walton will release the letters?
Ok $25 to Gilly’s family & $25 to FDl family~better than any dinner/night out I MIGHTHAVE DONE WITH THAT!
Job posting: Summer with OVP, low pay, high risk of indictment and time. Send application and political references to Monica.
Politburo @ 26
Ohhh, thanks for the link
Notice that Libby refused to admit guilt even in the sentencing phase where it is normal for the convicted criminal to show remorse- Walton clearly noticed that no remorse was being shown. Notice also that Libby’s attorney pronounced him innocent after the hearing. They’re tryin to make it easier for a pardon.
Does ex-USA Giuliani play to the wing-nut base tonight by supporting a pardon or by supporting the Rule of Law?
And on top of his other heretical positions on Abortion and Gun Control, would this kill him if he did support Fitz?
from CNN:Another person, whose signature was redacted, wrote, “I am writing to urge that Scooter Libby receive the maximum possible sentence. Due to the crimes for which he was convicted, we may never know of the more substantial criminal activities for which he served as a firewall.”
oops. I guess the letters are out per smoking gun?
Loo Hoo. @ 15
IIRC Perjury is when you’re sworn in, like with the GJ. False statements are to the FBI when they just come to ask questions. You have to be honest even if you’re not sworn in.
Yep — have to get the sentencing guidelines calculations precisely correct. The changes won’t likely make any difference to the time, since Judge Walton ran them concurrent and not consecutive, but you have to get the precise guidelines range and information as to why the sentence falls in that range correct or it does provide grounds for appeal. Smart to delay on exact language and calculations on this until the probation office walks back through the entire calculations for each and every count before a written order is issued and signed by the judge. (And likely a catch by Bonamici and/or Kidian, since that is the angle they have been working on this case.)
I especially like the community service
re:15
That a statement be false is necessary but not sufficient, by itself, to be evidence of perjury. A person can make a false statement while believing it to be true, for example.
QuickSilver @ 10
Yeah.
While not *proving* anything, it does suggest that Armitage’s ’slip’ to Woodward may have been more purposeful than previously suggested.
As in:
Scooter: Hey, Dick, remember those favors I did for you?
Armitage: What do you want, Scooter?
Scooter: Valerie Wilson. CIA Status. Leak.
Armitage: (sigh) Ok.
Shorter MSNBC man-on-the-scene: “uh, please forget everything I just told you a half-hour ago…” “Reporting live on the scene, Kevin (umm, do I have to give my last name right now, Monica?)”.
Marcy, Christy, and Ms. Jane–you’re the best.
I got almost no work done this morning. But I pardon you all… ;)
*cheers Marcy (hell, all y’all!) on!* :D
MSNBC had Pat Buchanan on earlier (right after sentence came down) and he was taking it very seriously, said the offenses were very serious, Scooter was a very high up government official. No bullshitting from PB.
CNNInternational and Faux here in the UK have barely given it a breaking news alert. All eyes on TB man and JFK terror plots.
ccmask @ 34
That’s the one I was referring to.. it’s odd to me that it was redacted.
I’ll ask again, from below; it’s a legal question, so I need a legal take on this (please excuse the layman’s ignorance of how it’s supposed to work):
What are the chances they can delay Scooter’s reporting to jail, just long enough to rush the entire case in front of a Court of Appeals… where some Loyal Bushie from the Federalist Society simply issues some problematic and thinly-justified crap, and springs our hero?
Loo Hoo. @ 15
Perjury is lying while under oath to testify in a court of law, before a grand jury or any other legal procedure that requires sworn testimony.
False statements = lies told while not under oath.
The gooper pardon drums have been beating for weeks. The question now comes down to WHEN?
If scoots gets to be free pending appeal- and if his lawyers lollygag during the process, he’ll never serve a day- there are only 18 months before Clusterfuck leaves office and the pardon becomes a free shot.
If- on the other hand- Scoots is forced to go to jail pending appeal- then Clusterfuck could be forced to do the pardon NOW- and take the political heat for it.
Either way- scoots doesn’t serve time- but one way Clusterfuck is forced to spend some political capital- of which he has none- and the other way he does not.
So where should he do his community service?
Politburo @ 14
Probably to protect the identity of a private citizen.
If the writer is not a public celebrity, or working in public service, their identity is of little news value.
Does this mean Bonamici messed up?
Okay, I’ll be the first to mock. The first line of Paul Wolfowitz’s letter reads:
ha-ha!
Barry at 47 — Small.
Loo Hoo. @ 15
Perjury is untruths before a grand jury.
False statements were made before the investigators (in this case, the FBI).
OK–having read through some of the letters, I know precisely what Jeffress was talking about when he feared ridicule from the blogosphere.
Mary Matalin’s letter. Undisclosed locations in the middle of nowhere. Halloween. Bored Cheney grandkids dragged along against their will–whining, Matalin whining as well, Scooter playing trick or treat, all the while working over 12 hours a day. Dinner with Mr. Scooter & Serpenthead. It just goes on and on and on.
Where do they find these people?
No one could’ve
Elliott @ 51
Baghdad, Sadr City.
He approaches…holy cow!! It’s a triple lindy!!
SPLASH
Man, said one of the Judges, I haven’t seen that much flip flopping since Nadia in ‘76 or Romney in ‘07.
I’m in the lake. hello pups.
Elliott @ 51
Sweeping the halls and cleaning toilets at the CIA.
Elliott @ 24
that depends on the state in which he was registered…
if he’s pardonned–granted clemency–it won’t matter, of course…
Too funny.
Does this mean that we will most likely see Sampson on the stand on appeal testifying as to why Fitz was on the list at one point?
Sparkles at 52 — No, it means that the judge made rulings from the bench in accordance with where he felt Libby’s conduct placed him on the guidelines range, and that the calculations must now be adjusted accordingly to fit the judge’s rulings.
JGabriel @ 51
I don’t see why the Court would make that distinction. Why does Rummy get his letter released with name attached? Just because he’s Rummy? That’s not fair.
ETA: When you comment on pending regulations, there is no right to be anonymous. I don’t see why the same principle shouldn’t apply here.
Elliott @ 50
Walter Reed. Or at Arlington.
annb @ 64
yeah!
hi ofg! hi redd!
Elliott @ 50
Enhanced Interrogation Techniques — Testing Subject, CIA.
Today’s earworm:
“Have your-self a mer-ry lit-tle Fitz-mas, Let your heart be light …”
ruffian @ 65
Better yet, a DC homeless shelter.
When is Libby losing his license to practice law?
TeddySanFran @ 53
Teddy, kicking a man when he is down, and only leaving with $400K in his pocket, is not your usual style but here are exceptions. *g*
scarecrow @ 58
ooo Perfect!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 63
Thanks. I had a hard time believing she made an error!
So let’s say Libby gets pardoned. What happens to the $250,000? If he’s pardoned does that mean that he no longer owes the fine or that it gets returned?
snips from Mary Matlin to Judge Walton:
His wife and my husband share similar political views and we are all late life parents with children the same ages.
On the many other occasions our children were forced to accompany Scooter and I on location with the VP. To this day, whenever I talk to my girls about attending any WH event, they always ask “Is Mr. Scooter going to be there?”
ccmask @ 76
awwww that’s just so sweeet!
One of my comments was awaiting moderation and then it disappeared. OMG. I feel so intimidated.
Just for a laugh I’m going to watch Tucker today
The “out on bail pending appeals” is a huge issue. I do not know what the chances are of Scooter flapping his yap while enjoying some much-deserved striped sunshine is, but I do know exactly what the chances are if he is not.
Did anyone see Mrs Scooter? And did she threaten anyone after the sentencing? What was she wearing?
Any other interesting sightings?
May not be beer-thirty for many of us here in DC, but i think you certainly earned the right to declare it beer-thirty for yourself. Better yet, take in a hibiscus margarita at Oyamel on 7th Street (my favorite place to picle my giblets after court).
Thanks re perjury/false statements. Duh.
If Libby is pardoned, can he then be UNdisbarred?
We had all hoped that this case would bring the Clusterfuckers down- that Cheney would be goin to the pokey- etc. Didn’t ever happen.
We really needed the other charge to stick to have a chance. If Libby had been convicted of outing an agent- it would have been a different ballgame- and there was a conspiracy dimension that could have netted some bigger fish.
Still- it has been interesting and added a little acceleration to the administration’s downward momentum.
The fact is that this administration is over. It is universally detested. Gingrich just let Clusterfuck have it with both barrels. The gooper candidates refuse to mention Clusterfuck’s name. The corpse is stinking- but we can’t bury it for a year and a half.
If they could- GOOPERS would impeach the son of a bitch- but their “base” isn’t quite ready for that yet.
It’s all worked out OK- just not in the way many of us had hoped.
Matalin and Carville’s ‘Mr. Scooter’ letter is a good place to start.
“Should you choose to show Scooter mercy, you would not be misjudging him.” — so writes Leon Wieseltier, who makes a point of saying he’s not a neoconservative, “as many of my neoconservative adversaries will attest.” Wieseltier writes on New Republic letterhead. Libby performed pro bono legal work for him and his family — details are blacked out.
Wasn’t someone talking about the headings on the letters to Walton and that it shouldn’t be from their government jobs?
Matalin:
Yeah, his concern for the Wilson/Plame family, and the families of those who also worked for Brewster-Jennings, is absolutely universal. Oh, and can we just put Carville back in his crypt for good, please, after this letter?
According to Matalin, her kids don’t get to go to the undisclosed locations on security-dictated runaway-and-hide trips, but the Cheney grandchildren do? wtf?
i particularly likeWoodhall Hollow @ 56
d ms. matalin’s closing request that scooter not be sent to prison, for all the children who liked him.
i’m paraphrasing, but really not by much.
Does this apply?
http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/pa…..ctions.htm
Carville…
‘and the horse he rode in on’
It is certainly beer 30 4 U
:♥)
“universal love of families”
Holy shit Tonto– get that barf bag QUICK!!
I’m sorry to hear about Matalin/Carville procreation, rw. Guess those kids will be independents.
Henry Kissinger says he doesn’t aggree with Scooter on some issues, and that what he did was wrong and he shouldn’t have done it, but the Judge should still be lenient.
Haha–shorter Henry: Scooter’s guilty!
Sparkles the Iguana @ 90
That is just for filing petitions, and it’s only a guideline. It does not bind the President’s pardon power in any way.
Peter Pace’s letter (pdf) is, um, rather stiff and unpersuasive. Seems to be written under duress. I wonder….
It’s certainly interesting that Libby was getting letters from people he did pro bono work for.
Unfortunately, it’s also making me wonder if the letters were written as favors called in for him.
QuickSilver @ 85
if you don’t charge your rich friends for legal advice, is that really pro-bono?
Sparkles- naw- those are for “ordinary” people.
TeddySanFran @ 87
Yeah, his concern for the Wilson/Plame family, and the families of those who also worked for Brewster-Jennings, is absolutely universal. Oh, and can we just put Carville back in his crypt for good, please, after this letter?
According to Matalin, her kids don’t get to go to the undisclosed locations on security-dictated runaway-and-hide trips, but the Cheney grandchildren do? wtf?
And all of those families in Iraq that the Cheney/Scooter/ PNAC team have been so concerned about.
P J Evans @ 96
Some seem less than
enthusiasticpersuasive. See the Kissinger letter.Which now that I think of it, makes sense. Because according to Bob Woodward, Cheney and Kissinger lunch frequently. Cheney made him write it. But Kissinger didn’t want to, but he did anyway because he can’t stand the idea of not keeping his mitts in the WH stew. Price of some influence.
ccmask @ 86
Looseheadprop.
elliot 51-So where should he do his community service?
a soup kitchen or local food bank.
or picking up trash on the interstate.
Considering this is a federal crime, barring a pardon, does that mean he serves the usual 85% of his time?
“I have a universal love of families–the Hitler family- the mussolini family- the Jack the Ripper family- never met a family I didn’t like”
Scoots
Sparkles the Iguana @ 89
It is a guide, but not binding. Pardon power comes directly out of the Constitutional provisions for the Executive (President) so there can be no mandatory limitation on it that is not provided by the Constitution or amendment thereto.
Okay – SJC coming up at 2:30 – Featuring the grilling of Scholzman and Graves.
Should be carried live on the SJC web-site or C-span3 (can someone please post the links?)
The Lake is the Place to be for all the fun!
Senate Judiciary hearing time change:
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING
TIME CHANGE TO 2:30 p.m.
The hearing on “Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys? — Part V” scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Tuesday, June 5, 2007 in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building will begin at 2:30 p.m. rather than the previously scheduled time of 2:00 p.m.
I say he should exterminate roaches in the Bronx.
Excellent reporting from the Prettyman Courthouse and legal clarification/commentary from chez Reddhedd. You guys really have been the journalism gold standard on this story, from the get-go. Kudos and thanks.
Does anybody know where these letters are?
annb @ 65
Baghdad, Walter Reed..take your pick Scooter.
He might enjoy being a guard at Guantanamo too much!
radiofreewill @ 107
I forgot all about that! thanks for the reminder
Loo Hoo. @ 93
That was a lot kinder than I would have been!
Nurses aid at the county hospital- wipin the asses of poor sick people
“Hey Mr. Scooter- ya missed a spot”
Marcy..it is beer thirty in the DC area. The underlying statute states that it is always beer thirty somewhere and so, legally beer thirty in the DC area at all times. (Still appreciate all you guys do all the time!!)
I like a period of 45-60 days for Scoots until reporting to the slam. Plenty of time for Repug cannibalism re pardon – but Scoots still in jail for a long time before January of 2009, at which time there will most certainly be a pardon.
I even like the idea of an immdediate pardon – naked and aggressive hypocrisy by the admin, followed by lots more unprotected testimony from Scoots in front of various congressional committees.
The R’s are in an ugly box right now. I feel just awful for them.
Snippette’s from The New Republic (I can’t make out the signature)to Walton:
My family has been in Libby’s debt for a very long time. What I do remember is that we were desperate for legal hel, and that we could not afford the legal help that the problem clearly required. I called Leonard Garment, an old friend, who agreed that something needed to be done, and he promptly put a young colleage of his on the case. The colleague was Scooter Libby. About his character I would put my hand on the Bible. Should you choose to show Scooter mercy, you will not be misjudging him.
Has anyone noticed the dates of the letters? Wolfie’s is very recent. Does that mean anything?
Elliott @ 50
Walter Reed hospital.
Great job, FDL!
I expect a breaking-news Terror Alert any minute now….
Shorter Mary: “Travelin’ with Shooter is torcha!”
Matt Apuzzo:
“Sitting with Libby’s wife Harriet Grant during the sentencing were conservative commentators Mary Matalin, a former Cheney aide, and Victoria Toensing, a former deputy assistant attorney general during the Reagan administration.”
Mrs. Libby looked mighty p.o.d and her loving traitor was sheepishly noticing. Hot time in the old household when the front door of home-sweet-home closes. May she keep whacking him for us. Cheney will not be taking any calls from her. Love it.
Can’t believe none of you are anticipating the OBVIOUS incarceration joke:
LIBBY’S IN THE CAN!
At this point, I definately WANT to see the pardon. I’m gonna write Clusterfuck demandin it!
Covered under the statute, Ms. Toensing. Don’t get too comfortable.
Anthony Fauci’s letter (pdf) is on official DHS letterhead!
sic ‘em, lhp~!
Elliott @ 50
I know a grammar school near the 9th Ward in NOLA that could use a guy like Irving Libby. Playground or lunch monitor ?
So Mary Matalin indicates Scooter can whip up a Halloween party in a bunker at a moments notice – perhaps the Martha comparisons have more to do with that than lying under oath.
Mrs. Libby looked mighty p.o.d …
Pardon my ignorance … what’s “p.o.d.”?
Any statement from the Wilson’s?
This should help their civil case, no?
yknow, dammit, i botch the paraphrase. matalin’s note (co-signed by carville) ends pleading for no jail time for scooter on behalf of all the other children who LOVE him.
recoveringlurker @ 14
Me, too!
Marie Roget @ 128
Guess he wouldn’t do as a playground snitch!
WestCoaster @ 130
pissed off
or, as we said in the Army, “she had a case of the ass like a Russian bear!”
ccmask @ 118
That’s Leon Wieseltier, literary editor.
I just took a quick look at the letters link provided above (thesmokinggun); thanks for that.
The first letter was from Rummy. Though he waxed admirable traits on Libby, the closest he got to labeling Libby with honesty or integrity was “honorable” (of high rank, dignity or distinction), which really isn’t close.
The letter writer, in this case, implicitly did not challenge the verdict, but rather held up the convicted felons service to the country.
Is that the best way to appeal to a judge for sentencing leniency?
Senate Judiciary hearing link
Sparkles the Iguana @ 109
provide a mirror, so he can be reminded what he’s lookin’ for. given his admittedly prone to frequent memory lapses …
Christy Hardin Smith @ 38
Christy–my husband used to work at the Sentencing Commission and has the guidelines in his office. He told me that he will do the math or whatever but he needs the crimes/counts Libby is convicted of–that part is easy but he also would like the statute numbers–that may be harder. If you have that in an easy to find place, I’ll put him to work. Otherwise I can try to find it myself.
tho i still have many questions and no answers as yet – FDL is still the spot for all things truly democratic and life-affirming… great job marcy, jane, christie and all those who put this in place… KUDOS ALL AROUND!!;~) now its lunchtime and a chance to digest it all – later guys
Sally @ 124
actually, matalin’s note, i believe, discloses that ms. libby is quite the democratic firebrand, a la jim (rent me) carville.
Mary Matalin’s grammar sucks. “…our children were forced to accompany Scooter and I….”
If I were a judge I’d tack on 6 months just for that.
TeddySanFran @ 96
I had the same feeling from Fauci’s, right down to the department letterhead.
CocoaBeach @ 119
he had to revise the nature of his employment?
Sparkles the Iguana @ 137
According to wiki, that guy is involved in a group that is tied to PNAC.
If it is beer thirty all the time in DC, then fine. It’s beer thirty, but isn’t lunch time a little early to start?
kdh22 @ 76
And (parenthetically) ungrammatical.
kdh22 at 22:
‘Didn’t Walton write a statement toward the end of the trial wrt an appeal and how he was taking pertinent steps so that an appeal would be relatively impotent?’
IIRC, Judge Walton’s chief law clerk was moving on to other employment, so in anticipation of the expected appeals, Walton had the clerk prepare a memo summarizing the rationales for Walton’s various decisions admitting or excluding evidence during the trial. I think this may be what you are referring to.
Tim Grieve at Salon gives FDL a shoutout:
My bold.
Oh yeah, it’s Hammer time….Fitzgerald’s Hammer of Justice, that is.
1 shot 151 rum
1 shot Grenadine
1 shot Crown Royal (you can substitute John Jameson’s Irish whiskey for the Crown Royal — he’s fighting against the monarchy after all.)
orange juice to taste served over crushed ice with a pillow on the side.
When you are good and hammered, use the pillow.
cynic @ 148
Oh my no, not on a holiday! ;)
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=2799
Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on “Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys? – Part V”
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226
2:30 p.m.
Panel I
Bradley J. Schlozman
Associate Counsel to the Director
Executive Office for United States Attorneys
Former Interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC
Panel II
Todd Graves
Former U.S. Attorney
Western District of Missouri
Kansas City, MO
All them letters didn’t do a damn bit of difference did they? Why’d they bother?
Jane S. @ 141
Jane, if I remember correctly, you were going to have your husband take on a worthy task in relation to the Virginia Bar. This is technicality land here, they will get it right. Things look proper and good on all fronts I think. No reason to make hubby do this unless you are trying to punish him. Unless I am missing something here, trust me he will appreciate me telling you this…..
Remind me never to ask Peter Pace for a letter on my behalf.
rwcole @ 155
Staying in good graces with the Regime, the Regent, and the Chancellor.
rwcole @ 154
In fact it cost them. Now they are going to have to pass the hat and pony up another $250,000 for their efforts.
Sparkles @ 144
That’s a common problem. Their grammar teachers weren’t very good at their job. (Mine were able to get it through my head, along with an easy way to figure out which word to use.)
rwcole at 155 — For PR purposes because they have further fundraising needs? Or because asking people to write letters was also a convenient excuse for a fundraising ask for the Scooter defense fund?
Woodhall Hollow @ 159
Hee hee, good point.
This letter from Alan Simpson is really interestingly written:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…..bby26.html
BTW De la Vega on AA was watching FDL.
dmg @ 143, are you saying Mrs. Libby is not much of a Democratic firebrand a la Carville? I am hoping she’s the real thing and we hear from her before long.
*5 Friedmans*
Folks,
No prison rape jokes. We meant it the first 8 times we said it.
And if you don’t see your comment on the live blog, ask yourself if you posted something completely off topic while Marcy was writing.
We can make this work, but we need your help.
Gentlemen,
ChicoliniScooter here may talk like an idiot and look like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot. I implore you, send him back to his father and brothers who are waiting for him with open arms in the penitentiary. I suggest that we give him ten years in Leavenworth or eleven years in Twelveworth.ChicoliniScooter would rather take a different sentence: “I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll take five and ten in Woolworth.”P J Evans @ 160
I won’t complain if several hours of Scoots’ community service is used teaching Mary Matalin grammar.
Hillary better dump Carville immediamente.
I don’t remember a Halloween scare, btw.
Redd–money- yeah that makes sense.
How much dough can Libby’s legal team squeeze outa the gooper faithful…
Shit the defense we saw at trial wasn’t worth $100!
The appeal process shouldn’t be too expensive and he had already raised 5 million or so.
Good ta be an attorney with gooper for a client.
((( lurking and other mods )))
it’s champagne thirty all of the USA!
prostratedragon @ 145
TeddySanFran @ 96
Have to agree on that. Sounds like a recommendation letter a state senator once wrote, by request, for me. He had never met me and didn’t know me from a hole in the wall.
I call it fluff with a thinly veiled dose of cautious reservation.
The Lurking Mod @ 168
And give up some dough too!
bmaz 156–I think my husband is used to my various forms of punishment, hasn’t taken action on VA bar thing yet. I didn’t think the sentencing thing was that hard to do if you had the guidelines and understood them which I think he does after working there for a few years. He went into private practice after that and they used him there as a “sentencing resource”. He actually wrote a newsletter for the firm on developments in sentencing. He teaches intellectual property now but we wouldn’t want him to get rusty on sentencing!
raven @ 170
I take it you’re a Marxist? (Here, if you’re going to take it, you can have two.)
Sparkles the Iguana @ 122
How Awful. My eyes hurt
LS @ 163
It certainly screams, “Scooter did it for Dick.”
Elliott @ 138
Thanks for the reminder & link. Will watch webcast until myself & two visiting cousins leave to go to the Getty Museum. I know when we return that reading FDL will catch us up on the hearing :-)
P J Evans @ 178
I resemble that remark!
Politburo @ 47
Probably Shooter.
nick @ 104
According to the lawyers at Talkleft he will have to serve 85%.
raven @ 169
From one of the greatest movies of all time. Thanks Raven.
Haha! Alan Simpson says (of Scooter) that he
Now–was that letter written to Reggie or to Bush?
on a possible commuting of the sentence: wouldn’t this still leave Scoots without any 5th amendment protection w/r/t further potential congressional testimony?
IOW – practical effect would be no different from that of a pardon, would it?
If Scooter eventually gets locked up, Judy Miller will be able to visit him. Maybe she will bring a poem in reply to the one he gave her when she was in jail.
Poor Scooter and Judy! That’s what happens when you lie and cheat. What made them think they had to hurt millions of people in order to reach their goals? Is anything that important?
Loo Hoo. @ 171
What are the odds Hillary will dump Carville?
Sparkles the Iguana @ 178
Full of hint, hint….throughout.
Ralph @ 188
he didn’t visit her in prison, did he?
Is Carville on Hillary’s staff?
QuickSilver @ 86
Considering the wack jobs that head TNR these days, they might not be Republican neo-cons, but of the HoJo variety.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 179
xactly. “Loyal…Good Soldier…”
“bitter pill”…as well it should be
sweetgumroot @ 174
prostratedragon @ 145
TeddySanFran @ 96
Peter Pace’s letter (pdf) is, um, rather stiff and unpersuasive. Seems to be written under duress. I wonder….
Have to agree on that. Sounds like a recommendation letter a state senator once wrote, by request, for me. He had never met me and didn’t know me from a hole in the wall.
I call it fluff with a thinly veiled dose of cautious reservation.
—————-
Kissinger’s letter read the same way — sans the fluff. Henry don’t do fluff for nobody–not even his friend Dick (this one, not that one).
Carville seems a little “down-species” for Hillary.
Sally @ 166
sorry, i sent mixed signals.
obviously i don’t know — she was senator biden’s counsel for a time, so that denotes some solid party chops. but clearly the libbys like the carvilles are those company-town couples to whom ideology is just a nuisance.
i hope she’s a firebrand dem, but it may not matter — she’s not going to break the omerta code.
one last note about matalin: just reading her letter — has the woman EVER taken an edit? — left me wondering at the shrieking nightmare it must be to hang around with her all the time. maybe that’s what did carville in.
newspaperbrat @ 189
just about nil…about the same as that she’d dump mark penn…
.
Murray Waas up next on Ed Schulz
A little late to the party, but may I just say:
[nelson muntz] HA ha! [/nelson muntz]
Lunch Break at the Lake
“Well, I fight authority, and authority always wins.”
The Authority Song – John Cougar Mellencamp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AVQ0U7kwgA
Elliott @ 191
will cheney visit HIM?
TribeScribe @ 192
The part I like is on the second page where Simpson says something like, everybody thinks Scooter fell on the sword but I think the sword fell on Scooter…
newspaperbrat @ 188
Depends on how much Metamucil she takes.
New thread…
Watson @ 151
Yep. That was it. Thanks a lot!
Ralph @ 187
I actually think that the nighttime pups under TRex’s guidance could come up with poetry for Libby to read while away on his journer.
If only someone taped the comments I saw on MSNBC’s Lisa Bloom’s program before the sentencing began. The male anchor was mocking it all saying special prosecutors are akin to someone taking a car to a garage thinking nothing was wrong, but when the mechanic (Fitzgerald?) gets on it he finds a cracked block, etc. The puffed-up, smirking mocker asked a criminal defense attorney if this wasn’t a good analogy. The defense attorney calmly said, “No.” Then told him why it was not. Of course, Lisa Bloom wasn’t happy with the analogy either. My BP wouldn’t let me risk any more of the mocker’s idiocy so I never got his name. Are these people willfully ignorant or merely ignorant?
Politburo @ 47
Written by Karl Rove?
rwcole @ 192
No! ; )
ccmask @ 76
No, sweetheart. Mr. Scooter isn’t going to be there. You see, Mr.Scooter betrayed the U.S.
He told the bad guys about a company that is a front for the CIA. He even gave them the name of one of our spies. And, precious, I don’t know how to tell you this, but he thought that was an okay thing to do. He still thinks it was okay. Why did he do it? Oh, little darling, it’s because someone called his boss a liar. And Mr. Scooter didn’t like that. Oh, sweet pea, don’t cry. I promise you that in a couple years Mr.GW will wave his wand, just like the fairy godmother, and make this all go away.
Loo Hoo. @ 171
And how much are we spending on these races to undisclosed locations, if we need to take the entire Cheney gene pool? There’s something worth investigating here.
Elliott @ 99
No, then it’s quid pro quo.
I wonder how much of what Libby’s ‘pro-bono’ is actually that, doing favors for people whom he expects something in return sometime down the road.
LS @ 164
Thanks for calling attention!
Fresh thread for everyone.
radiofreewill @ 201
is that an updated version of I Fought the Law and the Law Won?
Twain @ 179
Quick! Someone pass me the brain bleach!
LS @ 162
Cheney’s butt boy. Nobody is doubting Scooter’s loyalty; why else would he be taking the fall?
Harriet’s a dem and was forced to share a bench with gooper hags? Yikes- what a sacrafice!
Re the letters which I have not yet had a chance to read, while many of those writing letters on behalf of Scooter come from high up in the government, past and present, this says nothing about their ability to write cogently or persuasively. Indeed coming from the privileged fact free side of reality, it would be surprising if they knew how to put forward a clear, concise argument on anything since they have never done so to date.
Mix in their “I am an important person” egos and you may very well have a further reason why the letters are so badly written. It may be in some cases that the writers simply by writing a letter felt that their name and not the content of the letter was what was important.
Honored that De La Vega backed up my FDL plug on Air America!
I suggest we all take it to talk radio today, to strike while the iron is hot. Stress the historic importance of the 30 month term, Scoots’ position in Cheney’s office, and moving the Cheney impeachment bill forward by putting pressure on for more co-sponsors.
Let’s have fun with this, dammit!
Hey Scooter! – Any pens in Indiana?
Indiana Wants Me – R Dean Taylor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbgoC–jMOU
rwcole @ 193
No. He’s an “adviser.”
theWalrus @ 121
how bout – “bush lands in germany”
rwcole @ 190
Dunno, but he did defend her on Press The Meat last Sunday. Guess he’s loyal to old friends, even when they’re Libby.
It’s always beer thirty somewhere, I say, nursing my breakfast merlot.
Hugh @ 220
i’m pretty sure whatever attorneys they consulted about how to write such recommendation letters to a judge told them to identify themselves in the opening paragraph.
Jane S. @ 177
Please let him know a kindly soul tried to spare him…
P J Evans @ 97
It’s making me wonder if Libby only did pro bono work for rich people.
Kind of funny how there doesn’t seem to be any free work for people who couldn’t help him later.
Jeralyn has the letters. http://www.talkleft.com/
Sparkles the Iguana @ 179
Another letter that only mentions the man’s honesty or integrity as relative to the advice he would offer Cheney.
Grant it I have a prejudice in the Libby/Perjury/Plame/Rove/Fitz/etc,etc,etc matter, but the letters just don’t seem to speak to the integrity of the man. And that’s what he was on trial for.
If he doesn’t show remorse and contrition as a means to a lighter sentencing, shouldn’t the letters propound how honest he always is, his respect for the rule of law, his overt and consistent efforts to ensure the highest standards of ethical behavior, thereby implying there is nothing about which to be contrite?
FYI, IANAL. Which must be obvious.
Sally @ 206
Or paid (or ordered) to mock.
Elliot – Different song, but great suggestion!
I Fought the Law – The Clash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJnWAStmz0A
radiofreewill @ 200
***
Or how about this, from the Clash? “I fought the law and the law won…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae_Gv8KoiZA
Wonderful reporting, so deserving of a contribution. Wish it was more than $50, but if every one who can does kick in, maybe it will defray FDL costs for their magnificent reporting. Aside from the spot on factual information presented, the asides are gold in and of themselves. You are patriots, in contrast to the phony elitists who prostitute the laws of the land for their “superb friend Scooter”. You are brave and forthright. Thank you Jane, Emptywheel and Christy as well as the rest of your fine team. Leniency letters for Libby offer a rare look into the clubby mindset of Washington, and the shamelessness with which they operate. In contrast, FDL offers citizens an opportunity to understand the meaning of open government and pride of our countries institutions and laws. Well done, Well done!
wgg: tokin lib’rul @ 198
Last time I saw anything mentioned on this Carville was not working for the Clinton campaign, and had no plans to do so in the future…
NO BODY FROM NOWHERE @ 132
no reference to today’s sentence from the wilson defense team thus far…but they certainly are still accepting donations
http://www.wilsonsupport.org/home
KestrelBrighteyes @ 234
radiofreewill @ 233
**
Great minds think alike – or is that, warped minds?
raven @ 136
Too true.
Same school could also use a Plant Manager.
I.L. Libby in khaki w/Scooter stenciled on the pocket, mop & bucket in hand. The very definition of community service IMO…
rwcole @ 106
Ya left out the Manson Family and the Addams Family!
Loo Hoo. @ 170
interestingggggg
i dont recall seeing it on olbermann’s false scares list last nite either
mmm….Beer.
Many fine places to choose from.
Given the Spin Cycle…the place to watch might be 4th Estate at 17th and L…of which the FireDog should consider itself a member..
A wall of screens tuned to all the networks…and a pretty regular crowd of WaPo reporters/worker bees.
and of course…mmmm…Beer.
rwcole @ 33
I thought I read somewhere that accepting a pardon itself necessitated an admission of guilt.
Major sleep-in morning. Poor Scoots!
I just read the letter from Alan Simpson regarding Scoots. I’m sorry, “a splendid human being” – Jesus Christ was a splendid human being (that part which was human); my third-grade teacher, Mrs Hackenberg, was a splendid human being …. not fucking Scooter Libby whose one attribute is “loyal soldier” taking the rap for one big Dick.
Actually what I was going to say was Libby looked shell-shocked and PISSED when he came out of the courthouse(?) building on MSNBC.
Dear Mary (and James)
I just wanted to assure you that your kids friend, Mr. Scooter, will be in a secure, but not secret location, and you can actually take them for visits. He would probably appreciate the visits.
Learning to visit the imprisoned is a great lesson for children. It is a great challenge to figure out what kind of small gift can be delivered, given the rules, and letting your kids creatively think this through, is useful knowledge. Likewise, figuring out how you answer their questions about lock up and lock down and all, will be well remembered lessons about civic responsibility, about how the mighty can fall, and what sometimes happens no matter what the status of one’s letter writers.
I encourage you to keep a close relationship with Mr. Scooter — and encourage your children to do likewise.
Rawstory mentions Donald Rumfeld’s letter for Libby: “‘I know Mr. Libby to be a patriot, a dedicated public servant, a strong family man, and a tireless, honorable, selfless human being,’ wrote former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.”
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/…..hite_House _aide_Scooter_0605.html
Now, if you figure whatall this Plamegate thing might really be about, what it smells like–coverup of a scheme to PLANT nukes in Iraq to be “found” by the US troops who were “hunting” for them after the invasion, accompanied by the heavy breathing of Judith Miller–a “made” woman if this scheme had gone as planned–scoop of a lifetime (and being there, according to her, on a “special” embed contract signed by Donald Rumsfeld)–part II of the plot that began with the Niger nuke forgeries–and considering that Rumsfeld would have had the most operational interest in destroying any honest professionals in the CIA WMD counter-proliferation effort, while Cheney worked the political end of it, this Rumsfeld “Valentine” to Libby has a certain piquancy to it.
Cheney, Libby, Rove & cabal succeeded on their end of it–they kept control of the newsstream long enough to get their goddamned war, slaughter half a million of Arabs, and ensconce the entire U.S. military in the Middle East forever more (a foothold that the U.S.-based global corporate predators will never give up, no matter whom they install in the White House as the front man or front woman for this permanent occupation of Mideast oil fields). But it was heavy lifting for Cheney & Cabal after Rumsfeld FAILED to plant the WMDs in Iraq.
Cheney is still fulminating about WMDs–as if he’s stuck back in July 2003, around the first of the month. Can’t get that meme out of his head. (’But, but, but…they were SUPPOSED TO BE there!’)
Rummy failed. Rummy’s gone (and this may be WHY he is gone). And he writes to the judge about Cheney’s hatchet man, praising his “honor.” “Selfless,” indeed. If the above scheme is what happened–and the outing of the entire Brewster-Jennings network (not just Plame), in Novak’s SECOND column, seems to point to this–then treason (which carries a potential death penalty, especially in “time of war”) is the crime of which Rumsfeld and accomplices are all guilty–not a technical violation of outing an agent, not a mistaken reading of intelligence, or even lying about intelligence, but rather a deep conspiracy to fabricate evidence–to illicitly move highly dangerous weapons and materials into place and stage a “discovery” of them–a level of deceit beyond anything they are now accused of, and with immense potential collateral damage not only to our own agents, but to U.S. credibility in the world. And what Rumsfeld is saying in this letter to Libby is, “Ha, ha, ha! See where ‘honor’ gets you! Ha, ha, ha on you, Scooty!” He is dancing for glee that he got away it, that “the mess” (his failure) has fallen upon THEM.
I’m so late to this party – I wonder if anyone’s even still reading these posts. But I have a burning question…
WHAT is up with that ugly tie that Libby wears to court on “big days”. E.g., opening statement, closing argument, sentencing. Always that hideous brown tie with the diamonds.
At first I thought it must be his “lucky tie”. But after the verdict, surely he can’t think that anymore.
There’s a story there.
Just read the letter from EX-CIA Director Woolsey. He says he trusts Skooter. That Skooter is worthy of trust…I’m going to puke.