A Fresh Focus on Cheney

MSNBC/Newsweak ^ | 5/13/06 | Isikoff

[Laverne]

May 13, 2006 - The role of Vice President Dick Cheney in the criminal case stemming from the outing of White House critic Joseph Wilson's CIA wife is likely to get fresh attention as a result of newly disclosed notes showing that Cheney personally asked whether Wilson had been sent by his wife on a "junket" to Africa. .... This evidence, Fitzgerald added, "directly contradicts" the assertion by defense lawyers that Libby "had no motive to lie" to the FBI and to the grand jury because he "thought that neither he nor anyone else had done anything wrong." Instead, Fitzgerald asserts, "the evidence about the conversation concerning the Novak column provides a strong motive for the defendant to provide false information and testimony about his disclosures to reporters."

[Laverne]

For what its worth; its spikey mikey so take anything he says with a grain of salt. JOM has the transcript from the 5 May hearing posted; and there is a link to the annotated copy of the Joe WIlson big lie.

[funkywbr]

Did his wife have the authority to send Joe on a junket?

If not perfectly asked question!

[digger48]

Flush any Korans lately?

[Shermy]

Old news. He's reading a court transcript trying to make up something new.

[Laverne]

Actually, there is something new; Fitzy filed with the court yesterday -- that is the article from the NYTimes, with the hand written notes, supposedly from Cheney, on it. I don't think its any big deal...it just adds more flame to the plame game that the liberal left media is playing here.

[Laverne]

Scooter ping

[sgtbono2002]

Where is the Oh Geez, Not this crap again guy?

[sine_nomine]

Mike the Spike is a good name for him.

Never has so much been made out of so little - and for so long.

Meanwhile, at the border...

[marron]

When Cooper called Libby, he already knew that Plame was CIA. When Novak called Rove, he already knew that Plame was CIA.

Furthermore, Novak called CIA and they confirmed her CIA employment.

Which means, it was no secret. If it was secret, why would CIA confirm it to a reporter? Since, supposedly, she was working through a private company which provided cover, they could easily have said, no, she doesn't work here...

But they didn't. They said, yes, she's CIA.

When Fitz gets done investigating the guys who didn't out Plame, will he get around to investigating the people who did? Like, maybe, Wilson and Plame? Or, like, the guy at CIA who confirmed her employment to Rove?

[Paladin2]

Fitz needs to get a grip and review just what he was supposed to do exactly. Also AG Gonzales could actually make himself useful and fire this horse's patoot and give this job to a real litagator (like Ken Star ;-) ).

[Darkwolf377]

newly disclosed notes showing that Cheney personally asked whether Wilson had been sent by his wife on a "junket" to Africa. .... This evidence, Fitzgerald added, "directly contradicts" the assertion by defense lawyers that Libby "had no motive to lie" to the FBI and to the grand jury because he "thought that neither he nor anyone else had done anything wrong."

My GOD what kind of coutry are we coming to when the Vice President of the nation can ASK if a CIA agent sent her husband on a foreign service mission?!?!?!?!? Stalinism aroudn the corner!!!! /sarc.

In another reality, the PRESS would be the ones asking what the heck a CIA agent was doing sending his/her SPOUSE on a mission of national security importance.

[Morgan in Denver]

Totally debunked but the MSM cannot resist trying to resurect something, anything, that puts the Bush White House in a bad light. They are stoking fires that have already gone out.

ONE indictment from the Bush White House, Scooter Libby, compared to over one hundred under Clinton. The media failed to report the severity or connections in Clinton's White House which proves they have little standing today to criticize anything, ANYTHING, the Bush White House does.

I spanked my wife of 35 years one time thirty years ago, so I guess that makes me a wife-abuser, huh. I "thought" about what would happen if Clinton were impeached, so I guess that puts me in the catagory of political abuser. Ooops, that happened. Okay. I "thought" about what would happen if some good American went up to Hillary and just smacked her. I guess that makes me a stalker or potential threat.

I'll try, but it's hard to coral such thoughts.

[Darkwolf377]

fire this horse's patoot and give this job to a real litagator (like Ken Star ;-) ).

Ken Starr? You mean the guy who could only find the Lewinsky matter to charge Clinton with? China, Whitewater, FBI records, fundraising...and that's what he came up with? No thanks.

[Paladin2]

It's a joke - get it?

[Laverne]

No, Fitzy clearly does not care about the facts of who leaked Plames name (speculation is that it was armitage from State). But if you read the last court proceedings, from 5 May, it is really quite interesting. Fitzy does not believe Wilson was telling the truth in the NYTimes article; he said to the judge, he wants to enter the article into the proceedings as a means of demonstrating what caused the bruhaha regading plame, but he does not intend to vouch for the truthfulness of the article itself. Fitzy is admitting Wilson is a liar, but he doesn't care. he is on a witch hunt, truth and fact don't matter to him. He wants glory and he sees it by pleasing the democrats, both in the party and in the media. I can't believe the Judge is allowing this to proceed....but for the time being it is moving forward.

[Darkwolf377]

Unfortunately.

[STARWISE]

The notes, Fitzgerald said in his filing, show that Cheney and Libby were "acutely focused" on the Wilson column and on rebutting his criticisms of the White House's handling of pre-Iraq war intelligence.

Good Lord ... now a note scribbed by the Vice Pres. of the United States giving info by Sadaam's uranium search (that probably WASN'T given to the Vice Pres. by SlimeyJoe as it should have been), in time of serious war planning is a sign of them being 'ACUTELY FOCUSED' ....??????

This man knows what people are thinking, he can read their minds??? Something is SO definitely wrong here. If this suffices as justice, it will show complete abrogation of the rule of law .. the judge better wise up here. It's beyond the pale.

[CBart95]

Dem Talking Points is Dem Talking Points.

More HateBush,HateAmerica stuff.

Nothing has changed.

[Zeppo]

This is much ado about nothing. Michael Isikoff must be getting paid by the word - there is no "there" there. Does Isikoff posess even the most rudimentary of critical thinking skills? I doubt it.

Fitzgerald's assertion that "the evidence about the conversation concerning the Novak column provides a strong motive for the defendant to provide false information and testimony about his disclosures to reporters." is specious and misleading - it is already in the public record that Libby is not the one who leaked the info to Novak, and so a conversation by others about the Novak column shortly after it was published has no bearing on whether Libby had a strong motive to lie to the FBI or to the grand jury months later.

For Fitzgerald to falsely claim that it is a strong motive shows nothing so much as how weak Fitzgerald's case actually is that he has to resort to such patently silly statements. For Isikoff to have made a big deal out of it merely confirms that Isikoff is not to be taken seriously.

[marron]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I can't get past the fact that CIA confirmed her employment to Novak. They didn't come straight out and give him permission to print it (which ought to put him in the hot seat, it mystifies me that it doesn't) but the fact remains that CIA outed her.

They didn't have to do that, they could easily have denied it. They didn't deny it, they confirmed it. I can't help but think that is significant.