Libby found Guilty

[TVoffBrainOn]

convicted on 4 of 5 counts. what do you think?

 

[palerider]

Exactly who was charged with disclosing ms plame's name? They have libby as a scapegoat on a poor memory charge, but the fact remains that no one will ever be charged for revealing her name because she was not covert. She had been in this country for over 6 years without overseas assignment and by the CIA's own rules, 5 years is the cut off for considering an agent to be covert.

 

[TVoffBrainOn]

Exactly who was charged with disclosing ms plame's name? They have libby as a scapegoat on a poor memory charge, but the fact remains that no one will ever be charged for revealing her name because she was not covert. She had been in this country for over 6 years without overseas assignment and by the CIA's own rules, 5 years is the cut off for considering an agent to be covert.

those are nice talking points.

i think it's a big win for "the rule of law". Perjury is still considered a big deal right? It was in Clinton's case right?.

 

[palerider]

those are nice talking points.

i think it's a big win for "the rule of law". Perjury is still considered a big deal right? It was in Clinton's case right?.

Sure. But like I said, this doesn't amount to any more than a pound of flesh. The glaring fact is that disclosing plame's name was not a crime and no one will ever be charged for it. That was the purpose of the investigation and in that, the money was wasted.

 

[TVoffBrainOn]

Sure. But like I said, this doesn't amount to any more than a pound of flesh. The glaring fact is that disclosing plame's name was not a crime and no one will ever be charged for it. That was the purpose of the investigation and in that, the money was wasted.

I believe the purpose of the investigation was to pull back the curtain on what was going on in this administration's push for war. If anything it shed more light on the fact that this is/was a war that was wanted, not needed.

It's too bad the Democrats in Congress won't investigate the decision to go to war. They voted for it, so by investigating the administration's desire to go to war they would in turn be investigating themselves. and in that regard they are no different than the Republicans.

 

[TVoffBrainOn]

ironically, after the Libby Defense's calls for a new trial is denied they will appeal. Their appeal will go to the DC Court of Appeals and Federal Judge David Sentelle. I know USMC the Almighty is a big fan of Judge Santelle. He's the Judge who overturned the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra scandal on a technicality.

Also, as recently as a few weeks ago he was part of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 ruling in favor of the White House to suspend Habeus Corpus.

Santelle is a partison GOP Judicial operative.

This luxury will keep Libby from serving prison time, and keep Bush from having to pardon him.

 

[MarkVI]

She had been in this country for over 6 years without overseas assignment and by the CIA's own rules, 5 years is the cut off for considering an agent to be covert.

Actually... she was covert:

"Non-official cover (NOC) is a term used in espionage (particularly by the CIA) for agents or operatives who assume covert roles in organizations without ties to the government for which they work."
"If caught, agents under non-official cover are usually trained to deny any connection with their government, and do not have many of the protections offered to (for example) accredited diplomats who are caught spying."

"Some Bush partisans have suggested that the outing of Plame is no big deal, that she was "just an analyst" or maybe, as a G.O.P. Congressman told CNN, "a glorified secretary." But the facts tell otherwise. Plame was, for starters, a former NOC — that is, a spy with nonofficial cover who worked overseas as a private individual with no apparent connection to the U.S. government. NOCs are among the government's most closely guarded secrets, because they often work for real or fictive private companies overseas and are set loose to spy solo. NOCs are harder to train, more expensive to place and can remain undercover longer than conventional spooks. They can also go places and see people whom those under official cover cannot. They are in some ways the most vulnerable of all clandestine officers, since they have no claim to diplomatic immunity if they get caught."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,524486-1,00.html


She couldn't even say that she worked for the CIA. And now the question is whether Cheney had authority to release her name.

 

[palerider]

Actually... she was covert:

Sorry. She wasn't. Once an agent has been back in this country for 5 years with no overseas mission, they are no longer covert.

 

[MarkVI]

"(4) The term “covert agent” means—
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency—
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member is classified information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States; or
(B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information, and—
(i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency, or
(ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or
(C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose past or present intelligence relationship to the United States is classified information and who is a present or former agent of, or a present or former informant or source of operational assistance to, an intelligence agency."

My mistake, I needed to see the proof for myself.

Either way, Brewster Jennings & Associates, the CIA's front company that was set up for her, was exposed during all this. Anyone who uses, or used that name could now be suspected of being an agent for the CIA.

It was still classified information that she worked for the CIA, I'd hate to be named Brewster Jennings and be in that area now...