Novak on Plame Leak

Bob Novak recounts the details of his meeting with Richard Armitage wherein he learned of Valerie Plame's CIA identity in his new autobiography, The Prince of Darkness. His newspaper, The Chicago Sun-Times, has an excerpt: It is important to note that Armitage reached out to me before Joe Wilson went public on the New York Times op-ed page and on ...

Libby Commutation Reactions

As one would expect, last evening's news that President Bush has commuted Scooter Libby's jail sentence has spawned a huge amount of controversy in the blogosphere, with some decrying it as the greatest outrage since Watergate and others complaining it didn't go far enough. From the Left: Nancy Pelosi: "The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones ...

Scooter Libby Granted Clemency

President Bush has granted clemency to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment, 2 years' supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $400 was imposed ...

Scooter Libby Denied Bail During Appeals

Barring a presidential pardon, it appears that Scooter Libby is headed to jail soon. A federal appeals court Monday rejected former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s request to remain free on appeal after his March conviction on federal charges stemming from the leak of a CIA agent’s identity. Libby, once Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, faces a ...

Jail Pending Appeal Rule, Not Exception

Big Tent Democrat notes that, contrary to what most of us presume, convicted criminals almost always go to jail immediately after sentencing rather than being permitted to stay out on appeal until they've exhausted their appeals. While I'm not sure that should be the case, at least in cases like Scooter Libby's where there is essentially zero danger of ...

5 Myths About Scooter Libby

Carol Leonnig, who covers the federal courts for WaPo and with whom I had the pleasure of sitting during my brief stint covering the Libby trail, shoots down "5 Myths About Scooter and the Slammer." Her column will irritate both Libby's strongest supporters and most vehement critics. It's now rather clear that Libby lied to the grand jury about ...

Blogging the Scooter Libby Trial

Jay Rosen has a long homage to those who blogged the Scooter Libby trial, most notably the Firedoglake gang. As a critic who follows the fortunes of the American press, and writes about its collapse under Bush, I found it extremely painful to sit on the sidelines for this event. But as compensation I had the pleasure of watching Firedoglake, ...

Libby Juror: Scooter Guilty but the Fall Guy

Scooter Libby juror Denis Collins explains the thought process of the jury. It confirms and expands on some quotes highlighted yesterday at the Drudge Report. Jurors in I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial were certain of the former vice presidential aide's guilt, but they also harbored sympathy for him as a "fall guy," one of them said Tuesday after the ...

Scooter Libby Found Guilty on 4 of 5 Counts

Scooter Libby has been found guilty, report AP's Michael Sniffen and Matt Apuzzo. Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was accused of lying and obstructing the investigation ...

Scooter Libby Judge Responds to Jury’s Questions

The Scooter Libby jury is entering Week 3 of deliberations with some interesting questions for Judge Walton. Most notably, they've asked, "We would like clarification of the term 'reasonable doubt.' Specifically, is it necessary for the Government to present evidence that it is not humanly possible for someone not to recall an event in order to find guilt beyond a ...

Blogging the Scooter Libby Trial

A New York Times profile of bloggers at the Scooter Libby trial, especially the FireDogLake gang, includes a discussion of the Media Bloggers Association's role and the larger implications for blogger-mainstream media relations: For blogs, the Libby trial marks a courthouse coming of age. It is the first federal case for which independent bloggers have been given official credentials along with ...

Libby Trial Judge: Defense Misled on Libby Taking Stand

Judge Reggie Walton castigated the Libby defense team yesterday for closing the case without calling their client, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to the stand. Judge Walton said he “believed all along in the process that Mr. Libby was going to testify” and that his lawyers were now “playing games with the process.” He made his remarks out with the jury out of ...

Plame vs. Wilson

Kevin Drum finds it interesting that Ari Fleischer today testified that Scooter Libby told him, four days before Bob Novak's story was filed, about Valerie Plame's role in sending her husband, Joe Wilson, to Niger. Not "Valerie Wilson," the name she used socially, but "Valerie Plame," her maiden name and one that she used only on agency business. . . . ...

Libby Defense Team Losing Hearts and Minds?

Christy Hardin Smith believes some legal maneuvering by Scooter Libby's army of lawyers that occurred outside the view of the jury will ultimately undermine Libby's credibility. Essentially, they are using every trick in the book to introduce the "memory defense" despite months of pre-trial wrangling and rulings from Judge Reggie Walton precluding them doing so unless and until their ...

Libby Trial Blogging

OTB's stint live-blogging the Scooter Libby trial has ended. The reins have been passed to Wizbang's Kevin Aylward and Rory O'Connor of Media is a Plural. You can follow their coverage and all the other MBA bloggers here. It was a worthwhile experience but confirmed my suspicions that a reporter's job is often quite tedious. Sitting there ...