Adviser: Bush aided Libby to avoid 'fracture' with Cheney

[babylonsister]

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/White_House_adviser_If_Bush_didnt_0708.html

Adviser: Bush aided Libby to avoid 'fracture' with Cheney
RAW STORY


In an article entitled "Friends in high places," a renowned investigative reporter gets "inside Bush's decision to give Scooter Libby a pass."

"Hanging over his deliberations was Cheney, who had said he was 'very disappointed' with the jury's verdict," Michael Isikoff reports for Newsweek. "Cheney did not directly weigh in with Fielding, but nobody involved had any doubt where he stood."

One White House adviser who had been "briefed on the deliberations" told Newsweek's Isikoff, "I'm not sure Bush had a choice."

"If he didn't act, it would have caused a fracture with the vice president," the adviser added.

Excerpts from Isikoff's article:
#

In part, Bush may have stopped short of a full pardon precisely to keep Libby and other White House aides away from Democrats on Capitol Hill. Investigators in Congress are eager to call Libby to testify about the Plame case and prewar Iraq intel—an invitation Libby can continue to resist by claiming he can't talk as long as his appeal remains alive in the courts.

The White House has used the same line to shield itself from questions about the case. When the effort to discredit Wilson surfaced in 2003, Bush vowed to fire anyone on his staff who leaked classified information about Plame to the press. Last week a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Tony Snow why Bush hadn't dismissed Karl Rove—who was found to be one of the White House leakers. "We are not going to make comments in detail until the legal process is over," Snow responded. "And it is not—there is still an appeal." Nobody at the White House would be disappointed if that appeal just happened to drag on until Jan. 20, 2009.
#

FULL NEWSWEEK ARTICLE AT THIS LINK:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19649910/site/newsweek/

[yellerpup]

1. Oh, great. Chimporer is more afraid of Crashcart

than he is of the people who elected him. K&R! :kick:

[Kingofalldems]

2. I don't believe this

Isikoff using WH sources who lie about everything. The reason for the commutation and no pardon (yet) is obvious.

[emulatorloo]

5. see my post #3 below -- you will find much to agree with in link EOM

[emulatorloo]

3. Firedoglake's emptywheel slices and dices Isikoff's puff piece here:

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/07/isikoffs-worst.html

<snip>

Isikoff's Worst

by emptywheel

Wow. When I railed on Mikey Isikoff's horribly conflicted coverage of the CIA Leak case while on Sam Seder's show today, I had not yet read Mikey's latest blowjob to Karl Rove. But this is truly shameful stuff. First, Mikey provides tons of details that make it clear that the White House has scrupulously tried to pretend no one influenced Bush in untoward manner ... even while a lot of pressure came to bear.

Libby's allies pressed their argument with White House aides but got nowhere. George W. Bush's senior staff was under strict instructions: listen politely, but give away nothing about what the president might ultimately do.

Uh huh. They carry out that strategy furthest with Cheney.

Cheney did not directly weigh in with Fielding, but nobody involved had any doubt where he stood. "I'm not sure Bush had a choice," says one of the advisers. "If he didn't act, it would have caused a fracture with the vice president."

Cheney made the decision, of course, but there was no quid pro quo. Nope, no obstruction here. Now move along...

Mikey nods to Bush's false claim of respect for the verdict, as if it were sincere.

But Bush didn't clear Libby entirely. He said he respected the jury's verdict and described special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald as a "professional prosecutor."

... When any sane observer would say Bush couldn't have said "fuck you" to Fitzgerald and the jury in any clearer language.

<snip>

lots more at link

[babylonsister]

4. Thanks for that! I really like Marcy's take and respect her opinion,

moreso than Isikoff's!

[emulatorloo]

6. She is sharp as a tack, and has the moral center that Isikoff lacks n/t

[Old and In the Way]

8. Bush is in this as deep as Cheney.

Isikoff isn't this naive, he's just providing another firewall of cover. Poor George...had no choice but do Cheney's bidding. Yeah, right.

[babylonsister]

9. I do wonder at Isikoff's motives. Why isn't he abandoning this sinking ship? nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. More than likely the "fracture" would've been to junior's cheekbone

...after cheenee whupped him one upside the head.

Hmmph. "Choking on a pretzel," my shiny metal ass.