The Libby Trial: A Travesty of Justice
Topic: On Politics
While progressives squeal and wring their hands over the (imaginary) horrors of the Patriot Act, a real abuse of power is staggering to its inglorious conclusion in Washington, D.C.
After years of investigation and the expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars, independent federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s jihad against the Bush Administration came down to one trial: that of Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheeny, indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Forgotten is the wild-eyed charge that the nefarious Bush Administration “outed” a covert CIA agent to get back at her husband, and Administration critic. Gone is the fond hope of hate-Bush progressives that their arch-nemesis, Karl Rove, would be frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. Instead the critic, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, has been exposed as a self-promoting fraud and a bare-faced liar.
On the evidence presented, it’s impossible to believe that Libby perjured himself or obstructed justice. In the first place, since Valerie Plame was not a covert CIA agent, there is no underlying crime. In the second place, Libby wasn’t the source of the disclosure that Joe Wilson’s wife was a CIA employee. In short, it’s long been clear that no crime was ever committed, and that Libby had no reason to lie to investigators. The fact his story conflicts with the testimony of others proves nothing. At this stage, it’s impossible to determine who said what to whom, and when.
Possibly some of the other witnesses are lying. But it seems to me more likely that the testimony differs because people have imperfect memories. In light of the long list of contradictory statements that various witness have made at various times, Mr. Fitzgerald might find it hard to explain why only Scooter Libby has been charged with perjury and obstruction. Yet he forges on, not merely independent but unaccountable. Maybe Fitzgerald believes that after all the effort devoted to Plamegate, he’s entitled to at least one conviction. Maybe he’s simply lost perspective. Whatever his problem, the Libby trial is a scandal.
They say that every cloud has a silver lining and in this case there is one, I suppose. With the exception of the brain-dead hate-Bush mob, no one more lustily cheered Fitzgerald in the early days of Plamegate than the mainstream media. By way of thanks, he dragged a gaggle of reporters first before his grand jury and now before the trial jury. In neither venue did they cover themselves with glory. Amid all the wreckage produced by this travesty of justice, it’s nice to see a gleam, however faint, of cosmic justice.
Posted by tmg110
at 1:19 PM CST
