Valerie Plame Wilson, Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson Name Successor Couns

[sabra]

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=70743

Valerie Plame Wilson, Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson Name Successor Counsel

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband former Ambassador Joseph Wilson announced today that they have engaged the non-profit, public interest organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as successor counsel and Joseph Cotchett and Frank Pitre with the law firm of Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & McCarthy as trial counsel in their case against Vice President Dick Cheney, his former Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, top Presidential advisor Karl Rove and other unnamed current and former administration officials. Erwin Chemerinsky, professor at Duke University School of Law, will continue to serve in the case as co-counsel.

The Wilsons have filed a sweeping federal civil lawsuit against the defendants for their involvement in intentionally exposing Valerie Wilson's classified CIA status to reporters in order to punish and seek revenge against Joseph Wilson for publicly disputing statements made by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address justifying the war in Iraq.

During this next phase of the litigation, the Wilsons will work closely with their new legal counsel in their efforts to uncover the truth surrounding the leak, to ensure all relevant public officials are held accountable for their actions and to deter similar offenses from being committed in the future.

[ananda]

1. Best of luck to them!

They'll need it.

[lovuian]

2. Fitzgerald has been stopped dead in tracks

so civil suit next to come... Love the Wilsons:)

[elehhhhna]

9. Collecti-schmollect. The FUN's in the Discovery phase.

[eleny]

20. Amen to that... The process is all

[elehhhhna]

21. Yes'm! oops -- I left out the best part: sworn testimony. YEAH!

[eleny]

22. We luvs that sworn testimony dessert!

[Peace Patriot]

15. "Fitzgerald stopped dead in tracks"? A possibility--but consider this:

The trial of Scooter Libby goes forward. It has not been "stopped dead in tracks." And all sorts of people can be called to testify--up to and including Bush. Rove and Novak have claimed that Fitz is not going to prosecute them--Rove on the basis of a letter from Fitz that his lawyer won't make public (and I don't know Novak's basis). Fitzgerald himself has said NOTHING to exonerate them. Nothing! Not one word. Quite possible: They are still "on the hook" for perjury and obstruction, and, if they don't testify truthfully at Libby's trial, they can still be prosecuted. Fitz has an on-going grand jury (his second one) whose term is not yet expired. And he can always get a third. He had Rove by the short hairs on perjury. He normal procedure in that case is to extract cooperation from the lieutenants to get at the generals. And Rove was clearly a lieutenant in this crime (--much as politicos here would like to think he master-minded it--the evidence is that he was SET UP--probably by Libby--to make it look that way; not that he's innocent, but that these orders came from above him). So a quite possible interpretation of recent events in the Fitz/Libby case is that Rove has ratted on someone(s)--most probably Cheney and Libby; that's how he got off the hook temporarily, and that possibly part of the deal he drove was that Fitz keeps his lip zipped (something he is inclined to do anyway), while Rove orchestrates Stolen Election III, and that the shit will hit the fan in this case after November.

Concerning this latter, I strongly doubt that Fitz has political considerations in mind, but it cannot be dismissed that he is dealing with the most powerful and treacherous people on this earth, and they have powers way beyond ordinary perps to manipulate situations. I know there is a theory around that Fitz will get Cheney, but that it will be an orchestrated nailing, Cheney resigning with pardon in hand, to be replaced by a fresh face V-P, who will be Diebolded into office in '08. The Bush fascists may indeed have such a scenario in mind, but Fitz is more of hound dog--in the good sense--than a politico. He's a hound dog prosecutor--he doesn't give up. I think it's immaterial to him what the fascists are trying to do politically. He's a Republican (so I hear), but he's clearly not a Bushite. ANYBODY can be compromised. Almost anybody can be bought and/or intimidated, in these treacherous times. We must never rule it out. And it's possible he's up against a brick wall of some kind. (I tend to think it's Gonzales--if Fitz has been stymied--but he's got the goods on Gonzales as well, for giving notice to the White House and time to shred documents, burn hard drives and concoct stories. Could be a fierce battle about this going on behind the scenes.) But I think we should not jump to the conclusion that Fitzgerald "has been stopped dead in tracks." We simply don't know enough to say that--and his investigation/prosecution is on-going. It's a superficial conclusion, based more on Rove/Novak news manipulation than on actual events and facts of the case.

[Peace Patriot]

16. One other thing to add to the above considerations (that Fitz is not dead

in the water): The SAME PERPS will now be in a squeeze between the TWO CASES--Fitz's prosecution of Libby, and the Wilson's civil case. Think about THAT!

[theoldman]

3. You can sue all you want. The difficult part is collecting.

Their problem is in finding the guy who is actually guilty of outing Valerie. I do not think the shot gun approach will work. Maybe they will become lucky and someone will rat on the guilty party. I hope they do not throw away too much money on the lawyers just to feel good.

[htuttle]

4. The standard of evidence is much less in a civil trial

For example, OJ Simpson, while acquitted in his criminal trial, was still found liable for the deaths when Nicole's family sued him. He had to pay $8.5. million.

In this case, Bush or Cheney could easily be found liable for the disclosure (and subsequent loss of income, pain and suffering, mental distress, etc...) without having to prove exactly who did the leg work. All they have to prove is that Bush or Cheney was the one ultimately responsible for the disclosure, which should be quite possible, given the evidence that has already come out. In addition, all the players in the situation can be subpeoned, even Bush, thanks to the Paula Jones ruling precedent (that you can subpeona a sitting president in a civil case).

[bpj1962]

5. Collecting

I don't think that the Wilsons care whether or not they collect a dime. This is simply about getting statements into the public record under oath. Since this is a civil trial there is less burden of proof needed to find a defendant guilty. I just think they want to get Cheney under oath so that they can show everybody who he really is.

[savemefromdumbya]

13. How long is it going to take?

[Joe Chi Minh]

23. Don't keep disappointing our friends, you two.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. Discovery under oath can do wonders. Especially if a real

possibility of perjury hangs over the discovery and trial proceedings.

[tblue37]

14. If they ever need more money to pursue the lawsuit,

there are millions of Americans who would contribute.

[Hekate]

6. KnR They've started a legal trust fund

edited to add : Glad to be the 5th Recommend

If they receive a settlement that more than covers their costs, the balance will go to the trust to hellp other whistleblowers. H2O Man put the word out at DU last month. We all know the power of small donations from the Net.

The site is here http://www.wilsonsupport.org/

and the land address here:

Joseph and Valerie Wilson
Legal Support Trust
P.O. Box 40918
Washington, DC 20016-0918

Check it out.

Hekate

[seafan]

8. This is Melanie Sloan's group (Heard on Al Franken show often)

She mentioned this today on his show, that her legal group has been tapped as counsel by the Wilsons.

Very good news.

[truth2power]

10. Could someone who's a lawyer tell me, please...

What's a "successor counsel"? Did the Wilsons give up on their first counsel or is this some sort of legalese?

Thanks in advance. :)

[Snivi Yllom]

11. my guess

Their original lawyers are too expensive as weighed against the potential payoff.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

18. Old counsel out

New counsel in. That's a bit of a downer. Christopher Wolf was Joe and Valerie Wilson's next door neighbor, and a top lawyer, and I had hoped that he would devote the full resources of his blue chip law firm to the case.

[truth2power]

24. Thanks for both of the above replies...

I just couldn't figure out why they'd change lawyers in the middle of the stream.

"Course, someone posted below about the possibility of death threats. That wouldn't surprise me at all.

[stillcool]

12. hope springs eternal...

I believe that the turnabout will come from these and other 'insiders' with conscience, who know the game and where the bodies are buried.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

17. What happened to Christopher Wolf

And Proskauer Rose?

Seems like a bad development if the Wilsons have lost their "blue chip" law firm.

[loudsue]

19. My guess is death threats. Remember, the Mafia is running the govt.

Even if they gave a different reason, publicly, I'd still guess they were getting threats.

:kick: