Reactions come in

March 6, 2007

Senate Majority Leader [tag]Harry Reid[/tag] responds to the [tag]Libby[/tag] [tag]guilty[/tag] [tag]verdict[/tag] by emphasizing the possibility of a pardon:

“I welcome the jury’s verdict. It’s about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics. Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney’s role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct.”

And House Speaker [tag]Nancy Pelosi[/tag] emphasizes the bigger picture:

“Today’s guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual.

“This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed – at the highest levels of the Bush Administration – a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq.”

And what about the White House? Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said this remains an “ongoing criminal proceeding,” so the Bush gang still isn’t talking.

“ongoing criminal proceeding”

Um, Dana? By ‘ongoing criminal proceeding’, are you referring to the Libby Trial? Or are you talking about the Bush administration in general?

  • Also, I wish Harry would throw Bush’s 2000 campaign comments re: cleaning up government, bringing back a goverment that can be trusted, etc. back in his face, to add a bit more to the challenge–really lay out the potential for hypocrisy if Bush does pardon Libby.

  • let me be even more tin foil hattish than i was in the last thread: yeah, this is good news, but Libby is already out of the administration and is expendable. how visible are stories about Purged Prosecutor testimony on the major news sites right now? (Answer: the only one with any prominence is WaPo). If you were the Rethug Party, and had to pick your poison today, which would you choose? I know I’d take Libby ove ran ongoing, present-tense issue that potentially implicates sitting members of Congress and the Justice Dept.

  • I thought Fitsgerald is on record that he plans no further action in this case. Now, the WH has some splaining to do despite what Dana Perino thinks. I, and the majority of my nation want this WH to go on record in regard to this denigration of our bodypolitik. -Kevo

  • Zeitgeist

    There will be plenty of time for the U.S. Attorneys scandal to percolate. There won’t likely be many new developments in the Libby matter between now and June, but we have the whole business of congressional inquiries and nailing Domenici/Wilson and the upcoming battles over the White House defying congressional subpoenas etc. Thanks to the voters, a Democratic congress can give these stories legs.

  • Didn’t Bush say a long time ago that he would fire pardon anyone involved in the Plame leak? If Libby’s lawyers can drag this out long enough for a presidential pardon, Libby could serve zero time. Still, a satisfying result as far as it goes.

  • One juror said:

    “I will say there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury. It was said a number of times, ‘What are we doing with this guy here? Where’s Rove? Where are these other guys?’ ” Collins said. “I’m not saying we didn’t think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was, as Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy.”

  • Given the hackministration’s penchant for criminal actions being the status quo, Scooter’s liable to wind up having an “accident….”

  • impeach now. cheney first. bush next. this is just the beginning of the criminal activities that will be revealed.

  • And what about the White House? Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said this remains an “ongoing criminal proceeding,” so the Bush gang still isn’t talking. — CB

    Ever heard of a trial that didn’t go to appeal? As far as they’re concerned, it ain’t over yet.

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