Libby Indicted On 5 Counts

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Rove not to be indicted, today anyway.
Libby charged with multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Faces 30 years and fines over 1 million dollars. No links yet. Libby is resigning according to news outlets.

[ClevelandBronco2]

For anyone besides me who has Beerslug on his ignore list, here it is:

Libby has been indicted and he has resigned.

Also: "Reports have indicated that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald would keep (Karl) Rove under investigation. According to a source familiar with the court, the grand jury set to expire on Friday is a regular grand jury that has already had one extension of its term. It can not be extended beyond this day. That means Fitzgerald would have to call for a new jury or simply proceed without any jury at all if he wanted to continue to pursue Rove."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173774,00.html

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Cheney Adviser Resigns After Indictment
By JOHN SOLOMON and PETE YOST, Associated Press Writers 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the
CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that will throw a spotlight on
President Bush's push to war.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051028/capt.wx10610281712.cia_leak_investigation_libby__w x106.jpg?x=237&y=345&sig=2zx7YVoP2p7nMoqxMTjmXg--
AP Photo: I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, testifies on Capitol Hill...


Libby, 55, resigned and left the White House.

Karl Rove, Bush's closest adviser, escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status casting a dark cloud over a White House already in trouble. The U.S. military death toll in
Iraq exceeded 2,000 this week, and the president's approval ratings are at the lowest point since he took office in 2001.

Friday's charges stemmed from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.

Libby's indictment is a political embarrassment for the president, paving the way for a possible trial renewing the focus on the administration's faulty rationale for going to war against Iraq — the erroneous assertion that
Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. It could also mean that Cheney, who prizes secrecy, will be called upon as a witness to explain why the administration launched a campaign against Plame's husband, a critic of the war.

The grand jury indictment charged Libby with one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury and two false statement counts. If convicted on all five, he could face as much as 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.
(CONTINUED)
http://tinyurl.com/axsqh

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

For anyone besides me who has Beerslug on his ignore list, here it is:

Libby has been indicted and he has resigned.

Also: "Reports have indicated that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald would keep (Karl) Rove under investigation. According to a source familiar with the court, the grand jury set to expire on Friday is a regular grand jury that has already had one extension of its term. It can not be extended beyond this day. That means Fitzgerald would have to call for a new jury or simply proceed without any jury at all if he wanted to continue to pursue Rove."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173774,00.html

A New Grand Jury will continue

"Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, said the investigation will continue but with a new grand jury..."

http://www.wtkr.com/global/story.asp?s=4042769&ClientType=Printable

http://www.bartcop.com/swamped-monkey.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://www.bartcop.com/rove-treasons-greetings.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Experts Measure Impact of the Plame Indictments

J.J. Helland and Juliana Bunim, Salon, October 29, 2005

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/10/29/reax/

*Bob Barr, former Republican congressman
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald knows the difficulties inherent in prosecuting obstruction and perjury; he also is keenly aware of the importance to the fundamental credibility of our entire justice system if such offenses go unpunished. For an Administration that has made National Security the cornerstone of its legitimacy since January 20th 2001, Friday's indictment represents more than a body blow. It cannot be shaken off....

*John R. Kroger, former federal prosecutor; associate professor, Lewis and Clark Law School
Scooter Libby appears to be in serious trouble. From Pat Fitzgerald’s statements at Friday’s press conference, and from the expansive text of the indictment itself, it seems clear that Fitzgerald has a very strong case against Libby for perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice.....Given the apparent strength of the case, and the blatant nature of Libby’s alleged lies, I think it is very likely that Libby will eventually plead guilty to these charges. In my experience, most cases this strong don’t go to trial....

*Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology, Columbia University
Watch for the Bush team to fight back with every corrupt argument at hand, and no doubt a few that we've never heard of. Watch for Patrick Fitzgerald to carry on with the investigation, still needed, into who else worked up the smear of Joe Wilson -- a smear that was integral to the White House efforts to shore up their collapsing war rationale in 2003. And don't tell me that Scooter Libby dreamed up his moves all by himself....

*Steven Clemons, publisher of the Washington Note; senior fellow at the New America Foundation
The man hit his mark. While special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald tackled one White House titan today, rather than two, one is enough to seriously wound the Bush team....While Karl Rove missed the bullet today, he’s not yet in the clear. Fitzgerald could be back with new charges at any time....While the Republicans once pounded Clinton for his lies about a sexual affair, their words will now haunt them, faced with a matter of serious crimes during a time of war.

*Juan Cole, Salon contributor; author of Informed Comment.
The indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for obstruction of justice and perjury is clearly not intended by the grand jury and special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to be the end of this investigation. Fitzgerald was quite clear that Libby's lies made it impossible for him to determine the truth about the real crime here, the leaking of the name of an undercover CIA operative to the press by high White House officials. I read him to say that he still hopes that a trial of Libby may yet shed light on the real crime.

*Kathleen Clark, professor of law, Washington University; expert on national security law
The text of the indictment provides a fascinating look at how this White House responded to damaging news articles which undermined the administration's case for the war in Iraq; how in June and July of 2003, Libby discussed those articles with other administration officials; and how he manipulated conversations with various reporters in an effort to receive more favorable news coverage....

*Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism, New York University; author of PressThink
As to how this case affects the media: I don't buy it that the underground relations between reporters and officials will become chilled. Sources have self-interested reasons to leak. Those are unchanged. From what I can tell, your typical Washington journalist will bargain away the public's right to know the name of the source in a second, if there's a promise of getting something good from it....The one thing that is different today -- but not because of Fitzgerald -- is that people who were around when the case for war was being assembled are starting to speak up about the twisting and trimming and invention of fact that went on then. If that continues, it will have a big effect on how the Administration is covered because it is a huge story.

More at link above...