Senior White House Officials Face Prospect of Life in Prison

[IChing]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- VelvetRevolution.us, a large coalition of organizations and citizens dedicated to honest government, has done an analysis of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and its probable effect on the sentencing of any senior White House official convicted in the Valerie Plame affair. By going after Wilson and his wife, those officials apparently committed serious crimes which they then compounded by obstructing justice and committing and suborning perjury. As a result, they have virtually ensured that, if convicted, they could receive a sentence up to life in federal prison under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are used to compute sentences based on severity offense levels. The higher the level, the greater the sentence, and federal courts routinely follow the Guidelines in the vast majority of cases.

The best case scenario for those involved would be a conviction of only a single count of perjury or obstruction of justice, either of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Under the Guidelines, that would probably result in the maximum sentence because both charges have a base offense level of 14, and those convicted will most probably receive enhancements of 3 levels for substantial interference with the administration of justice, 6 levels for victimizing a government employee and family member, 2 levels for abuse of the public trust, and 4 levels for being a leader. These total 29 levels, which equals 87-108 months in federal prison under the Guidelines, far above the five-year statutory maximum, so the final sentence will be five years.

However, federal prosecutors rarely issue one-count indictments, but rather charge every possible violation. In the instant case, it is highly likely that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald will throw the book at them, by charging conspiracy and violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of l982 ("IIPA") (50 U.S.C., section 421), each carrying a maximum sentence of ten years, conspiracy and violation of the Espionage Act (18 U.S.C. 793), each carrying ten years, and multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, each carrying five years. Moreover, because there was an agreement among many people in this case, there will most probably also be an overarching conspiracy charge to violate multiple statutes. It is significant that the IIPA mandates that any sentence under the Act be imposed "consecutively" to any other sentence in the indictment. Id. at section 421(d)

>>>>snip http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=55142

[longship]

1. Kicked

:kick:

[kostya]

2. Dreamers. :)

:kick:

[meganmonkey]

10. But they're not the only ones!

That's the kind of headline that makes me smile :D

[IChing]

11. I agree, it made me smile hoping that Justice will really be served.

[goclark]

51. Be still my heart! Beautiful pix ,Please be real!

[Marnieworld]

17. "I hope someday you'll join us

and the world will live as one."

Visualize indictments.

[alittlelark]

60. I have a dream......

And the OP has put it to words.

[killbotfactory]

They'll just be pardoned

No one ever really gets held accountable in Washington.

[OKthatsIT]

38. but bad bad for the GOP...their careers will be dust

no one in the GOP will want to be seen near them again

[Jersey Ginny]

53. They will be revered by the repukes as heroes

Just like Ollie North and other criminal Repukes. I wish you were right but Repukes have no ethical conscience.

[grannylib]

58. I fear you are right...look at how Ollie, G. Gordon, et al, have their

own little shows now, as though they have some kind of credibility after the crimes they committed. There is no conscience on the part of Freeptards. The rule of law only applies to those who break laws with which they agree; any law with which they disagree is a rule made to be broken, as long as the one breaking it is one of their own.
They're all fucking filth, and before they all get frog-marched out in shackles, I'd like to see them all horsewhipped and flung into saltwater, twice a day, just for starters.
THEN let's sentence all of them to a lifetime of hard labor at today's minimum wage (or just make 'em work at Wal Mart. That'd be about right.)

[MADem]

69. Haldeman and Erlichmann survived

...and they didn't get the preferential treatment. Chuck Colson, too.

Cap Weinberger did very well after his pardon...Ollie North, thriving on Faux.

The trick is to pull down the entire Monkey crew before he has a chance to issue pardons, install fair leaders who can sense the mood of the country, and then leave them, to quote the Nixon team, to "twist, slowly, in the wind..."

[texpatriot2004]

3. Too bad I thought it was death during wartime...still, life in prison

is the next best thing.

[texpatriot2004]

4. Republicans still normalizing TREASON. nm

[electropop]

19. Those damn libruls are criminalizing...um...

crimes. Have you ordered your yellowcake and chickenhawk wings for the indictment party yet?

[satya]

23. LOL! "...yellowcake and chickenhawk wings for the indictment party" n/t

[Stevendsmith]

5. That was delicious! Kick!

[fujiyama]

63. Yummy!

:9

It certainly is making me drool with anticipation :P ! I should know not to get my hopes up...

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. I really had no idea.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. I'm curious . . .

.
.
.

what is the story/history behind that penguin .gif?

Do you know?

does anyone?

looks like a tricky thing to do in PhotoShop . . .

:shrug:

[displacedtexan]

13. I don't think it's photoshopped.

I tried separating the layers, and there were no layers.

Penguins are like that. That movie didn't include the nastiness and bad behavior of penguins. I researched penguins for my blog:
http://ascrivenerslament.blogspot.com/2005/09/todays-sermon-theyre-birds.html

From William And Mary College...

Penguins may be cute, but hygiene-wise there is nothing cuddly about those birds! The island (and many of the less well-kept penguins!) were covered in pale pink material: the end product of an all-krill diet.

My image of penguins as exclusively adorable was also dispelled by their interactions with one another; when I asked Hugh if they worked together as a group, he laughed and replied, "Well, they actually hate each other, but they tolerate each other when they have to."This hostility was evidenced in the many raucous squabbles that we witnessed. Sometimes the birds even got physical!

[TroglodyteScholar]

25. The "mean" penguin has been added in...

I'm not sure what programs were used, but considering that the mean one only actually moves in a few frames, it probably wasn't terribly difficult.

Btw, I can say it's not real b/c I've seen the original clip with the clumsy penguin just falling through the ice on his own. Also, there are larger versions of the "mean penguin" gif out there...and if you look closely at the mean one, he looks pretty fake.

/OT

[TallahasseeGrannie]

28. You know

I sure don't know. It was sent to me in an email and I loved it. I see myself as that slow waddler who gets blindsided by the right wing, falls into the hole and then gets up again.

It is so short it probably doesn't have all that many frames. I'm guessing it is a brief sample of one penguin walking by another but the "artist" added the wing and the slap. The hole is too well done to be faked, I think.

[progressoid]

30. Yep

Somewhere in the internets there is the original version with out the slap. But it's still great to watch.

[Karmageddon]

7. Doesn't matter, unka karl will tell the monkey to pardon them all anyway.

[electropop]

20. Unless Unka Karl and the Monkey get impeached.

You can't pardon people in an impeachment case.

[donheld]

9. Please god let it be so!

[Demeter]

32. Amen to That!

[Roon]

12. Life in prison..

unless they testify. Oh!! I wonder if Rove sang? Living in disgrace is a lot better than living in prison.

[hang a left]

14. recommended

[Peachhead22]

15. When would the trial be?

I wonder how long after the indictments the trials would start? Would they be televised? I hope so. It's infinitely more newsworthy than either O.J. or Michael Jackson trials, so I'm hoping every media organization on earth will be pushing hard for it, and covering the hell out of a trial even if there aren't cameras in the courtroom. But because of the national security matters that are bound to come out in testimony I imagine cameras won't be allowed.

I hope trials would start by next summer. Talk about a PR disaster for every 'Pub running for Congress next summer and fall. Wall-to-wall coverage of very prominent Republicans for months during campaign season. Or even if Shrub pardons people. The questions to candidates, the hypocrisy of "tough on national security" party, etc. The P.R. hit would be enormous.

Landslide could be an understatement.

edited for spelling.

[Flying Dream Blues]

16. New bumper sticker: TREASON is NOT a Family Value (either)

[happydreams]

18. How much you wanna bet Bush will pardon

them?

[electropop]

22. Depends on whether he's still in power.

That may be in question very soon now. And just wait until Abrammoff really hits.

[0007]

29. The Abramoff scandal is gonna be a big one......it will reach Senators

Congressmen and could go further.

IMHO, I don't see junior in the White two years from now.

[katty]

34. Jr won't complete his 2nd term

[anitar1]

44. Looking forward to it. Just hope they snag a few more Congress

men and women. I'm sure there are many more who lusted after the $$$. This is going to be very big.

[zann725]

52. Remember Shrub's comment at "staged" Soldier Press Conf...

"IF I'm still here when you get back, drop by..."

"IF" being the Freudian operative...

[JoFerret]

54. Alternate interpretation

...they are going to be there so long that his residency will be over. However - I do think he was making a twisyed distorted wry kind of comment on his residency and its possible short terming.

[Peachhead22]

59. dupe

n/m

[calimary]

65. Welcome to DU!

Yep, he'd probably pardon kkkarl and everybody else - assuming he's still in position to do so.

Who knows. The proverbial fat lady hasn't sung yet. Don't know if she's even warmed up.

[Peace Patriot]

21. I think the seriousness of the charges, and the prospects of jail, are

what caused the serious disarray in the WH during Katrina (Rove on strike, negotiating his pardon? Cheney blackmailing Bush Jr., with threat to rat on him, if Bush Jr. couldn't get total WH control over the Katrina loot? Infighting? Factions? The indictable vs. the unindicted co-conspirators? Nest of vipers at play).

I saw a thread go by here--didn't get to read it--on the pardon issue, and someone was arguing that Bush can't pardon Rove. Anybody remember that?

Cuz I don't see why not. It's to be expected, I think. None of them--whoever the fall guys are (probably Libby, at least)--will serve more than the length of Bush's remaining term (2 1/2 years) and will be pardoned as he exits office.

That could be why the Wilson's are talking about a civil suit--to see that justice is done, outside the venue of prez pardons.

And it's also possible that there is so much secrecy in this junta that Fitzgerald couldn't get indictment evidence, and will just issue a report laying it all out, and saying that secrecy and lying are why he cannot indict, though he thinks serious crimes have been committed. Enter the Wilson's, and a civil suit for damages, and, god knows, for suffering. (Can you imagine what Valerie Plame felt like on that day, July 14, 2003, realizing that her own gov't had outed her, that she, her babies and her husband had no protection for their life's work in gov't service, that they could be killed, and that all the people she had cultivated in covert spots around the world, to help her with non-proliferation work, could be suffering death as she read Novak's words? Jeez.)

[understandinglife]

24. Recommended.

Peace.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

26. "However, federal ...

...prosecutors rarely issue one-count indictments, but rather charge every possible violation. In the instant case, it is highly likely that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald will throw the book at them..."

Not being a particularly religious person, I generally don't pray---gonna make an exception here.

[Canuckistanian]

27. It's just a first offense....

The judge will go easy on them (If the judge was appointed by Reagan or Bush the Smarter).

[spindrifter]

31. It's not that easy

to "go easy" on people under the federal sentencing guidelines. The go easy part of it is already in the standard range where they will start tinkering with factors that mitigate or aggravate.

[Realityhack]

40. True... but that doesn't really matter.

The anaylisis asumes quite a lot. Including a huge number of charges, all assumed winable in court, and no plea bargan at all. Plus no pardon etc.

I seriously doubt these guys will be in prison for that long. Always a chance of 20 or 30 years or more but I doubt it.

Sure hope I am wrong though ;-)

[Triana]

33. if convicted..

...big if. I hope they are convicted - and the book tossed at them but not holding my breath fer it.

[Realityhack]

41. You nailed it. n/t

[lanlady]

35. Does anyone know--

--if the Pres has the power to vacate an indictment at the end of this term? Or does the presidential pardon extend only to those already convicted?

[happyslug]

55. Pardons are Absolute, you can NOT even refuse them

Article II, Section 2. The President .... shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.table.html#articleii

[electropop]

56. "...except in cases of impeachment."

That's the key here folks. If impeachments are involved, all bets are off. Bush becomes powerless to save himself or anybody else.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. Not long enough

If they're guilty, squash 'em squishy.

(Or pack 'em off to Gitmo. To be properly deferential, I'm willing to let the authorities put the Presidential Seal on their cages.)

[Realityhack]

37. It must be nice to live in that dream land. n/t

[AzDar]

39. They are certainly on par with Benedict Arnold, IMHO.

Attempted murder of democracy should be added to the list of offenses!

[shanti]

42. a girl can dream.....

:evilgrin:

[Alizaryn]

43. I have a fear that

the best case scenario might be Bush pardoning them.

"The best case scenario for those involved "

[niallmac]

45. LIFE in prison? That means for once they'd actually HAVE a life. n/t

[Hardrada]

46. Show Trial! Show Trial!

I want a big show trial for these people like the ones the Old Bolsheviks had or the captured Nazis! This needs to be a big production.

[IChing]

47. I'm curious if the "flip" at the white house means this can come true?

that my vision might come true!!!!!

[VegasWolf]

48. Two words, "Presidential Pardon."

[IChing]

49. Presidential Pardon of traitors and sinners that caused the deaths of

thousands for a war......That SHALL NOT PASS

[mzmolly]

50. Yep.

That's where this will be headed. But, they need to be outed none the less.

[dchill]

57. Begging your (Presidential) pardon...

On December 24, 1992, George "Herbie Walker" Bush pardoned Iran-Contra figures Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, Duane R. Clarridge, Clair E. George, Robert C. McFarlane, and Alan G. Fiers, Jr.

Junior is always trying to out-do his Daddy, so I expect that he'll pardon WHOEVER can spill the beans on him. Could be a HUGH number!!!

[lovuian]

61. Abuse of power don't forget that one too!!!

Lots of time to do terrible damage!!!

[Fluffdaddy]

62. Prospect of Life in Prison....Never going to happen

Bush will take care of his cronies

[understandinglife]

64. Comments on VelvetRevolution recent Treasongate activities:

crackcase
VelvetRevolution Smoked Them Out
Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:13
68.84.141.105

Two things that you have reported on recently are now being tied together. On September 15th, VelvetRevolution.us posted a 100K reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Senior White House Officials involved with the outing of Valerie Plame. Then on October 7th, VelvetRevolution released an analysis showing that White House Officials are facing life in prison unless they cooperate with Fitzgerald. Now, within the last few days we have seen new evidence come out, new people implicated, and as RawStory just reported (a VR affiliate), a Senior White House Official has rolled and is cooperating with Fitzgerald. It is clear that VelvetRevolution deserves the credit for this one, and congrats to you guys for reporting on this.

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=93864;title=APFN

Received this in an email and thought it best to post it in this thread.


Peace.

[Maraya1969]

66. If the President goes to jail does he get to take his Secret Service with

him?

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

67. watch for rovererer to sprint to Germany

where he has duel citizenship, if he's about to be in real trouble.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

68. I think the chickenhawks are about to get hit with the bird flu,

and it might just wipe out their numbers. Squawk!