"Berger, who could (and should) have been charged with treason"

Ugh... Treason (from Article III, Section 3) "shall consist only in levying war against [the United States] or in adhering to [her] enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court." Berger is probably guilty of some flavor of espionage or other grave sin of handling classified documents (of which there are many, and the punishments are severe), but not treason. 24 always makes that mistake... someone does something bad, it's treason. Disobey your boss, treason! Piss off Jack Bauer, treason!

Who leaked Plame's name was herself or her husband to Kristoff in May if not sooner.

I don't believe Libby lied. I believe he had a moment of insight during his conversation with Russert which explains the 'as if for the first time'. Russert has perjured himself with his statement that it was impossible for Plame to come up in the conversation. Both prosecution and defense have stipulated that he was more ambiguous in his first interview with the FBI, with Eckenrode, who's notes have disappeared.

Libby first heard about Plame from Cheney on June 12 when she was identified as the low level CIA person who sent the Ambassador to Africa. Then he and Cheney forgot about her until well after Wilson's July 6th op-ed and when they did snap to it she was the wife of the lying critic. Fitz still doesn't understand this distinction, and from his feeble imagination has sprouted a chimerical conspiracy.

Libby is innocent and it will be so shown. NBC has jumped the shark and Russert's blood is in the water.
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Berger very likely stole information that is still critical for our safety, if only for appreciation of how casual the Clinton administration was about al Qaeda. That's aid and comfort. Ditto for Joe Wilson. I'm wondering about Sir Richard.
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Look, people are still dying because of the lies of Ambassador Joe Wilson, the deceptions of Sir Richard Armitage, and the resentment of Secretary Powell, who, if that's the source of his silence, will rot in a deserved Hell.
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Repeat a lie long enough and it becomes fact to the lefties.

How a journalist got on the jury who is also a neighbor to Tim Russert is beyond me. If I were Libby, I would ask for my retainer to be refunded. ww

AughtSix, I used to agree with you. I even wrote a lengthy piece about the dilution of the term "treason."

But Berger's stealing and destruction of prior investigations and actions taken against terrorism, even if not intended as such, were a material benefit to the terrorists who we are at war with. It might be a stretch to classify it as "treason," but it's a stretch I'm willing to make.

J.

The political spin from the left and the Democrats on this is incredible.
First, despite having been exposed as a liar of the first water, Wilson is still being quoted by the media.
Second, the meme that he was a "fall guy" for the Bush administration is widespread, although there happens to be no proof, no evidence, not a hint that there was any activity by the WH in regards to this. This, from the same people who did not connect the dots during the Clinton administration when all of Clinton's critics were subjected to IRS audits.
Third, the wailing and rending of garments over the "exposure of a covert agent" and how the WH is callously exposing the CIA for political gain. But why no mention of the CIA exposure of national security programs and also the exposure of covert operatives who flew the rendition flights? All this moaning is obviously politically motivated. Either ALL these exposures should evoke outrage, or it means that Dems would sacrifice national security for political power. The latter is the only logical conclusion that one can reach.
Bah!

Also, as I understand it, the CIA typically requires its liason's that undertake tasks such as Wilson's to sign an agreement that they will not discussion the tasks publicly. Apparently, for some reason, Wilson wasn't required to sign the agreement.

If the above is true, it brings further questions as to the reason behind the selection of Joe Wilson for the Niger task.

ww, that neighbor, Denis Collins, also terribly mischaracterizes Cheney's marginalia of Wilson's op-ed and uses that as a basis for believing that Libby is lying. He also says the case depended upon the disjunct between Russert's and Libby's stories about their conversation, and I've maintained that Russert perjured himself over that.

I also believe that Collins hid enough in voir dire and reasoned outside the evidence enough to collapse the case on jury misbehaviour.
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Speaking of stretching, j, I've maintained for years, now, that Berger should be hanged by his thumbs 'til he talks. The knowledge he is concealing is still critical to our safety. Look how sensitive Bill is to this stuff.
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The biggest crime in all of this is the huge waste of taxpayers money spent to trying to find something to prosecute after finding that the original "crime" (outing Plame) was not a crime.
Fitz should be charged with theft.

Fitz will get his comeuppance, yet. He fooled the jury, and all the moonbats, but none of the judges and lawyers in the world. Read Jeralyn Merritt, as leftist as they come, but also a defense attorney. She doesn't believe Fitz proved his case beyond reasonable doubt. She's no slouch, either, only honcha at TalkLeft.
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Also, as I understand it, Libby lied.

The last few days' "dance of a thousand screaming winguts" has been a wonderful prelude to the civil trial that lies ahead. The VIce-President of the United States on the witness stand -- HOO-YAH!

excerpt from the civil complaint:

"The lawsuit concerns the intentional and malicious exposure by senior officials of the federal government of one such human source at the CIA, Valerie Plame Wilson, whose job it was to gather intelligence to make the nation safer, and who risked her life for her country."

"The Defendants reached an agreement to discredit, punish, and seek revenge against the Plaintiffs.... Said agreement was motivated by an invidiously discriminatory animus towards those who had publicly criticized the administration's stated justifications for going to war with Iraq."

"The Defendants chose not to address publicly, directly, and on the merits why they may have thought Mr. Wilson was wrong or unfair in his statements on the President's misstatements. Rather, they embarked on an anonymous 'whispering campaign' designed to discredit and injure the Plaintiffs and to deter other critics from publicly speaking out."

"But for Mr. Wilson coming forward, it is unlikely that the Administration ever would have acknowledged its error. The fact that the administration had to admit its mistake is one likely reason why the Defendants chose to attack the Wilsons"

"The Defendants fraudulently concealed the existence of the Plaintiffs' cause of action . . . by, among other things, giving false or misleading testimony to federal law enforcement personnel and/or the federal grand jury empanelled to investigate the unlawful publication of Plaintiff Valerie Plame Wilson's classified CIA employment...."

GUILTY!

"Libby was not charged with committing a crime that occurred before Fitzgerald began his investigation." By Jay

Count 2, false statement: The grand jury charges that Libby "did knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement'' in an FBI investigation. Specifically, the indictment says Libby misled FBI agents in response to questions about a conversation with Tim Russert of NBC News in July 2003.

Count 3, false statement: Libby is charged with misleading FBI agents about his July 2003 conversation with reporter Matt Cooper of Time magazine.

Jay, since you lied about the above, you must have lied about ever thing else in your "rant". I think you have been tainted by the lies of the Bush administration which you so dearly love.

Lee, the judge in the civil case is Bates. He'll not stand for that nonsense. By the way, read Cheney's move to quell the subpoena. Note, too, that expenses have been incurred by the defendents, damages for the countersuit now exist. I wonder if Chemerinsky is still on board.

Barney, sure, a technicality, but where is Eckenrode, where are his notes, where are Gregory and Mitchell to confirm, or not, Russert's story.

I'm a little worried about one thing and that is that Imus is on to NBC's scam and fraud, and he had Russert on this AM throwing soft pitches to Russert's canned at bat. Disturbing.

But I hear Fox has revelations.
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Yeah! Libby isn't guilty!!! How dare a jury of his peers look at all of the evidence and convict him using the guidelines set forth by the laws of the US. Anyone with just half a brain knows that it's only crazy moonbat liberals that lie and are immoral. Show me, just show me one single Rebulican hero and patriot who's ever told a single lie. We all know that it's NEVER happened. Besides, it's obvious that everything that's wrong with this country is the fault of Bill and Hillary Çlinton!

I'm so sick of the left always trying to smear true patriots like George Bush or Dick Cheney when all they've ever done is unselfishly tried to protect us from Osama bin Laden and the left-wing. I mean, I really don't care if there were no weapons of mass destruction, or if Cheney has become rich off his no-contract bids that were awarded to Halliburton. Doesn't Cheney deserve it after almost sacrificing his life in the Vietnam War? And George Bush could've been killed in Alabama for Christ's sake - why can't the intellectual elite just understand that? There aren't truer patriots on the whole planet!

I don't care about the facts they try and push on you in the liberal press. I never let them get in the way of believeing what I want to believe - that's why everyone should only listen to Rush Limbaugh. And I can't wait for the day when George Bush is appointed dictator of the free world. It's the way it should be, and we all know it. God bless George Bush. God bless Dick Cheney. God bless torturing prisoners in the name of democracy. And God bless America!

Joe Lied?

Here is Joe Wilson's own words on the Iraq Mission:
Mayaki, who earlier had served as Foreign Minister, recounted to me that he immediately wondered if uranium would be on the agenda and was determined to avoid the topic in the meeting because, as he pointed out, uranium sales would violate UN sanctions. A country as dependent on foreign assistance for its very survival, Niger could literally not afford to offend the international community, even if it wanted to, he noted.

**The subject of uranium was never raised in the meeting. Indeed, it was nothing more than a courtesy call. Mayaki did not mention whether other commercial issues might have been raised, though it is common knowledge that Iraq often tried to leverage cheap oil for better relations.

Here is an account of the "trade" mission by Iraq Ambassador, Al Zahawie:
He had been sent to Niger -- as well as Benin, Burkina-Faso and Congo-Brazzaville -- he explains, as part of an effort to convince African heads of state to visit Iraq. Such visits would break the embargo on flights to the country, and Baghdad hoped this would undermine the UN sanctions regime. The inspiration for the project, al-Zahawie suspects, had been recent visits by African leaders to Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi, which had broken the embargo on flights to that country.

"I took it to be a routine assignment," al-Zahawie notes. "I had done this sort of thing before, and I was senior in the foreign ministry." Plus, it was easier for al-Zahawie to do it from Rome than for any diplomat to come out of Baghdad.

Niger had been his first stop, where he spent an hour speaking with then President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara. Mainassara greeted al-Zahawie warmly, and turned out to be the only leader on his itinerary to accept Baghdad's invitation, promising to visit Saddam in April. The next day, al-Zahawie left to continue his trip, and was back at the Holy See in a matter of days.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,491666,00.html?internalid=ACA

SO let me get this this straight, Joe lied because he report the comment by Mayaki about Makaki's assumption of the nature of the meeting. The meeting takes place (in 1999) and both Mayaki and Al-Zahawie state yellowcake was not discussed. There were no follow-up meeting, or any attempt to purchase yellowcake

Joe said he found "no evidence". I do not see any evidence. Do you?

And it's too bad that Judge Bates is going to quell the subpoenas in the civil suit on May 17. It might be nice to have Joe Wilson under oath. Fitz will yet regret that he never took that precaution.
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Yeah, Iraqi trade delegate making a trip & meeting in Niger where the only exports are uranium and goats. Nope, no evidence there.

BG2, the CIA clearly agreed that the sum total effect of Wilson's oral report after his trip was a slight confirmation of the idea that Iraq was interested in Niger Yellow Cake. Any suggestion otherwise is lying propaganda. You could look it up.
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rfr, you're a rfraud. What good will sarcasm do you when they ask you about Allah?
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"Wilson said that the vice-president's office arranged for his visit." By Jay

Another total F'ing lie by Jay. Here is what Joe wrote:

Joe's Times Op-ed
In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report. While I never saw the report, I was told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that documented the sale of uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- by Niger to Iraq in the late 1990's. The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president's office.

Where did he say the VP office "ARANGED" for the visit?

Kim:

How dare you call me a fraud. I am a card carrying member of the John Birch Society, and a lifelong Republican. In fact, you're way too liberal for my taste. It's about time true Republicans stand up and get rid of the left-leaning people like Kim who claim that they're on our side. She's the fraud.

God bless Richard Nixon. God bless George Bush. God bless Walter Reed Army Hospital. God bless Strom Thurmond, and God bless America.

BG2, the CIA clearly agreed that the sum total effect of Wilson's oral report after his trip was a slight confirmation of the idea that Iraq was interested in Niger Yellow Cake. by Kim

WRONG, the SSCI report said some agents, while other agents including State and DIA agreed with Joe.

Also, why did Tenet pull the Iraq/Niger link form the Cincy speech?

If the CIA was so convinced, why did Bush say British Intelligence and not US intelligence?

We've been over this before, Barney, you don't make a good ostrich. The tracks you leave betray your human errancy. Joe was the source for Kristoff's and Pincus's stories. I told you to compare those with Joe's work, and what he leaves out of his own are the lies he told them. The WaPo has corrected the worst of Pincus's misrepresentations; the Old Grey Lady ain't for Kristoff.
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Kim, I also heard that if the civil suit goes forward, Cheney, et,al will counter sue Wilson and Plame for setting up the whole scheme to discredit the administration. It will be nice to see Joe Wilson go into debt with lawyers fees.

To you lefties: Who was charged and convicted of "outing" Plame? Who? Where is the evidence. I must have missed it. ww

GUILTY
http://httpsoundakeglogstercomphotogal.blogspot.com/

Joe said he found "no evidence". I do not see any evidence. Do you?

I think you mistakenly cut your sentence short.

I believe you meant to say, I do not see any evidence "other than what the CIA and Intelligence Committee" reported.

No need to thank me....since I'm just here to help.

Wilson reported that he had met with Niger's former Prime Minister Ibrahim Mayaki, who said that in June 1999 he was asked to meet with a delegation from Iraq to discuss "expanding commercial relations" between the two countries. Based on what Wilson told them, CIA analysts wrote an intelligence report saying former Prime Minister Mayki "interpreted 'expanding commercial relations' to mean that the (Iraqi) delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales." In fact, the Intelligence Committee report said that "for most analysts" Wilson's trip to Niger "lent more credibility to the original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports on the uranium deal."

People on this blog used to think lying to a jury was a very big deal.

redfacedrepub,

There's already a Stephen Colbert, there's no need for another. He's funny, you're not, try and add something to the discussion rather than "satire".

"See, in my line of work you have to keep repeating things over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propoganda." (George W.Bush May 2005, New York)

Libby lied to protect the propogandists.

PERIOD.

rfr, la ilaha illallah, Mohamudar rasullallah to you.

Barney, those are actually good questions. I said the total effect was slightly confirm Iraqi interest in African Yellow Cake. You agree there was disagreement, so where do you get the idea Wilson debunked it for the CIA.

The sixteen words should not have been removed. They were true. This was a grevious tactical error by the White House.

British Intelligence has always known more about Africa than have we. So have the French. They are both fully aware that artisanal mining of Uranium ore was being done at mines shuttered by the drop in the commodity price of nuclear fuel during the 90's. It is technically a piece of cake to convert ore to Yellow Cake, and transport, particularly across remote borders, like with Libya, easy. Go look at a map.
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I didn't think I would be surprised by the lengths some Bush water carriers would go to defend Libby but I was wrong. When did it become ok to lie to a grand jury? Hint: the answer is it isn't ok.

Sorry, but Clinton did not lie during his deposition. The definition of "sex" as provided by the Paula Jones lawyers did not include oral sex. See Here

During the Paula Jones deposition, President Clinton was asked if he had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. But before the questioning began, the Jones' lawyers produced the following legal definition of sexual relations:
"For the purposes of this deposition, a person engages in sexual relations when the pers