SHOULD BE BREAKING NEWS: Libby drops appeal in CIA leak case

[spanone]

interesting, his attorney claims he's innocent yet they are dropping appeal....the 'family' again
they refer to him as a White House Aide, yet he was DICK CHENEY'S CHIEF OF STAFF

lest we forget his crimes A federal jury convicted Libby in March of four felonies for lying to FBI agents and the grand jury that investigated the leak of the identity of then-covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby was found guilty of two perjury counts and one count each of obstructing justice and making false statements -- about when and how he learned Plame's identity, and what he told journalists about her.

~snip~

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case, his attorney said Monday.


I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was the only person charged in the CIA leak case.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction for lying about his conversations with reporters about outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.

"We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence," attorney Theodore Wells said. "However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/10/cia.leaktrial.ap/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-CIA-Leak-Trial.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121000719.html?hpid=topnews

[shraby]

1. In other words the defense money just ran out.

[radfringe]

7. no - he got an official unofficial call

saying he would be fully pardoned in about a year from now

[Crabby Appleton]

13. yep nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. This is the rolling benefit of our cave-in Democrats in Congress.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Not even close.

The guy's family is old money. He's likely got more money than Dick Cheney. He just can't see wasting it to try and clear his name. When you're that rich who cares what your criminal record says.

[yellowcanine]

2. Gratifying to know that Libby would do so much to spare his family, particularly since his actions

did not place any burdens on Valerie Plame and her family.
:sarcasm:

[racaulk]

3. Hang in there, Scooter, your pardon is coming...just after the GE next November.

:mad:

[spanone]

4. i believe you are correct...the appeal would have not shone a pretty light on chenee & co

[blondeatlast]

5. Yep--this stinks to high heaven. nt

[KitchenWitch]

6. The smell of pardon is in the air.

[liberalnurse]

9. His sentence was Commuted.......

Next, expungement..........record clean as a whistle.

[Missy Vixen]

10. Proud to be the fifth recommend

In the meantime, I'm with the poster who noted that the defense money ran out. I'd also like to mention that the remedy for an appeal is a new trial. Somehow, I'm thinking Ted Wells does not want to face the buzzsaw known as Patrick Fitzgerald again...

Julie

[H2O Man]

11. I think the idea

of a re-trial is a very real factor. I do not think the financial bit is. The reasons they can't afford to go forward aren't because of dollars and cents.

The single largest factor is the OVP attempting to close the door on any interest in the thus far unreleased documents from the FBI/grand jury investigation. In a retrial, the dynmanics could be very different. One thing to remember is that Judge Walton was very unhappy with Team Libby's pretending they would call VP Cheney, then deciding against it. (To a lesser extent, the same with Rove.)

[spanone]

12. thanks H2O Man, i was looking forward to your input.

[fascisthunter]

14. Well, That Gives Me Hope.... (nt)

[shraby]

15. I was being facetious..as usual, your right H2O.

I agree entirely. A new trial would open a whole new can of worms as well as the last cans that were opened.

[dmr]

19. Yes, and also, if convicted, Bush* would be out of office, unable

to bail him out again. As it stands now, Bush* could still issue a full pardon.

If there were a new trial, as you say, the dynamics could be much different. If he were to be convicted again, I bet my bottom dollar, his punishment would be far steeper than a commuted sentence of a fine and probation.

No sense in null and voiding that sweet deal and risk losing a possible full pardon to boot.

About the finances: No sense spending money on a lost cause.

My family and I were talking about this last week. Because of the reasons stated above, we thought his appeal and a new trial would expose not only more information, but others, too. Well, he (they) crushed that thought, didn't he (they)?

[sniffa]

17. is Plame's Civil Suit over?

if not, he's fucked. he can't claim the 5th.

[jtrockville]

18. CREW filed an appeal on July 20, 2007.

No word yet on whether or not the appeal will be heard, so it's not officially "over":
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29517