I hate to throw corrections at you, but I think you mean Patrick Fitzgerald, not "Fitzpatrick."

I just wanted to point that out before left wing bloggers pick up on it and use such a small error as proof that you don't know the first thing about the case, and that your opinion is therefore illegitimate. It's their MO.

There was no actual crime at the core of the investigation. No one has been charged with actually violating the laws in regards to the revealing of Valerie Plame's CIA employment.

If no one is charged then no crime occurred. Interesting.

Other interesting crime notes:

- The murders attributed to Jack the Ripper did not happen.
- Tupac Shakur was not murdered.
- Jimmy Hoffa is still alive
- There was no Zodiac Killer
- The Hall-Mills Murders did not happen

Fitz was unconstitutionally appointed and the whole trial will get tossed. I want to know if the distinct damage done by Fitz's precedents to the ability of a journalist to protect his sources will stand if he is bounced.
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When will we get to see the heroes (Plame and Wilson) cross-examined? That would be worth the price of admission.

Commutation or pardon at this stage is an error. Respite of sentence, yes, if need be to keep Libby out of jail, but retrial with vindication or dropping of charges is the only way to get justice done in this case. Libby didn't even lie, Russert did, and Fitz suborned his perjury.

And Joe Wilson and Val Plame are traitors.
=========================

OK, now I'll see what JC has to say.
===================

Well, I agree there is a pardon trap. Walton, Fitz, Wilson, hey, everyone involved but Libby wants a pardon. What is with that?

Read the defense's response to Fitz's argument to jail Libby pending appeal. By now, Walton's probably committed him to jail, and the emergency appeal process started. This will be Walton's last official act with this case. The adults have arrived. Details in Just One Minute.
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I can't wait for the Plame movie. It should be out soon since the fictionalized version was written first.

JT, if you want to see the nutroots reaction, it should be coming here anytime now. ww

If I were Bush I would pardon him now. And then tell anyone if they don't like it to stick it.

An easy thing to remember is that whatever a Huffington Post writer advocates, it is probably wrong or illegal. Even if it agrees with you, they are probably doing it for completely stupid reasons.

Underlying crime of Libby's was obstruction of justice. BUT, the entire prosecution team and the Justice dept understood that there was no crime there to obstruct when they were repeatedly dragging Libby and Rove in front of the grand jury. gc

I know this is a little OT, but that USDOJ link in Crittendon's post got me thinking..

If Hillary gets elected, will Susan McDougal have to spend the entire time Hillary is President in prison too?

I'd love for someone to ask this of candidate Clinton: "So how did you get Susan McDougal to sit in prison until the final days of your husband's Presidency, when all she had to do to get out was simple tell the truth about you two?"

From Jay Tea:
"The response of the Nutroots alone will be worth weeks of entertainment."

As is the entertainment of the "nutroots" watching the "wingnuts" -those folks who believe in the rule of law and personal responsibility - rationalize, minimize, justify, and deny abject intentional criminal behavior of one of their darlings. Our entertainment has been going on for 2 weeks now. I had some today.

New Laws: You're not even in the same ballpark with your "examples".

There was no crime found in the revealing of Plame's name. Not only does the person in question have to be a covert agent within a certain time frame, but the person revealing their identity has to have done it with full knowledge that their name cannot be revealed.

Your examples are actual crimes with no perps. I can't believe that has to be spelled out.

JFO, your impassioned plea for respecting the rule of law might have more weight if your moronic friends in the Netroots hadn't spent the last 6.5 years saying the SCOTUS only stopped the counting in Florida because they were evil Republicans.

Besides, a Libby pardon/commutation will royally piss off a lot of people I don't like, and angry people tend to do stupid things. The response of the Nutroots alone will be worth weeks of entertainment.

Pissing off the Dems is all you guys have left isn't it? That is kind of sad actually.

There was no crime found in the revealing of Plame's name.

But was there a crime committed?

Not only does the person in question have to be a covert agent within a certain time frame,

Fulfilled:

"At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert. This was classified information."

- CIA director Michael Hayden, as read in House Commmittee on Oversight and Government Reform Hearing on CIA Identity Leak

but the person revealing their identity has to have done it with full knowledge that their name cannot be revealed.

Very hard to prove. That's why no one was charged. Doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed.

Your examples are actual crimes with no perps. I can't believe that has to be spelled out.

Tell Jay Tea. He's the one that seems to think no charge=no crime.

Fitzgerald needs to join Nifong this week in his ethics hearing down in Carolina.

Both need to be disbarred.

mantis, be honest, it was Waxman saying that as he waved a paper purporting to be from Hayden around in the air. The CIA has not yet rendered an opinion on her covertiness, and probably won't now that she and hubbie are suing the CIA.
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Walton denies request to be released pending appeal.

Scary times -- it's the criminalization of crime!

mantis:

Very hard to prove. That's why no one was charged. Doesn't mean a crime wasn't committed.

I could be wrong, but according to law, isn't that exactly what it means?

AB, this was expected. Look upthread, I predicted this action by Walton. He's still hoping for a pardon. Note the 'unless I'm overuled' in his decision? He know he's had it.
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mantis, kim, et al

The standard for "covert" is spelled out in the law. Whether or not the CIA says Plame was covert is immaterial. That's why Fitz tried to increase Libby's purjury sentence with the "outing" accusation instead of actually bringing it as a charge. Nobody broke the law in telling Novak Plame worked for the CIA.

Yes, mantis, a crime was committed. Joe and Val released classified information. It was the manipulating of that information, IN THE TIME OF WAR, that makes the crime capital.
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Right, Eric, and on that tactic alone Fitz ought to be disbarred.
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It is an accusation that Libby was not allowed to confront, in the trial, nor in the sentencing phase. And Fitz claims to be a US Attorney? This is what has a lot of US Law Professors steamed. There was a lot of Sixth Amendment abuse in this trial, and only Jeralyn Merritt, of virtually all leftists, admits it.
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There is a poorly monitored border somewhere around Old Mexico, or New, or whatever.
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Angelina Jolie can play Plame in Heart of Darkness.
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Well, once the Dems throw those liars under the bus. Again. You know they'll have to. It's the only way out for them. The House of Cards is collapsing. Even the peacock can't stop it this time. Nor Alan.
====================

But if wishes were horses, beggars wouldn't have to scoot off to Appellate Court.
===============

How was I dishonest? That's what was read in the hearing. Did Hayden deny that he cleared the comments? Are you accusing Waxman of making all this up?

But General Hayden and the CIA have cleared these following comments for today's hearing.

During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover. Her employment status with the CIA was classified information, prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958.

At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert. This was classified information.

Ms. Wilson served in senior management positions at the CIA, in which she oversaw the work for other CIA employees and she attained the level of GS-14, Step 6, under the federal pay scale.

Ms. Wilson worked on some of the most sensitive and highly secretive matters handled by the CIA.

Ms. Wilson served at various times overseas for the CIA.

The CIA has not yet rendered an opinion on her covertiness

Except for the aforementioned comments submitted to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and that there was some reason why Justice believed this:

"it was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the
relevant statute (Title 50, United States Code, Section 421) as a covert agent whose identity
had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press."

But I'm sure you're right, and the Justice Department and Waxman and/or the CIA are making it all up.

I could be wrong, but according to law, isn't that exactly what it means?

According to the law, if you cannot prove a crime was committed then none was? Tell it to Ronald Goldman and Nicole Simpson's families.

This case is not about 'covert'. It is about the handling of the elephant 'classified' by at least eight blind men. The blind Fitz is hoist by his mishandling of the trunk.
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I guess there is no such thing as an unsolved crime. Right Kim and Jay?

Also:
-She was covert, that has been established over and over.
-I love how the right always conveniently forgets the obstruction of justice crime
-Libby is going to the big house
-Haa Haa

"Pissing off the Dems is all you guys have left isn't it? That is kind of sad actually."

Excuse me? Is that all you have left?

What you meant to say was you acknowledge that President Bush was REELECTED TO A SECOND TERM and you Rats have yet to stop crying like babies.

What truely is sad is are the lives that are loss at the hands of the Democrat Party from their lies and smears that are spread by their propagandist partners who for years now have infested the MSM. While the democrat media is spewing democrat talking points they are also helping their terrorist allies with their recruiting shortcomings and spreading their Propaganda by willingly providing them with access to our livingrooms.

You should be grateful that in response to the democrats attacking our Country and our Commander in Chief in a time of war that you are even alive to shamelessly utter those words:

"Pissing off the Dems is all you guys have left isn't it?

What this proves is undeniable , the Rats are at war with the terrorists against US , TRUE AMERICANS.

The busher, seeing an elephant eat for the first time, went home and told his friend the amazing spectacle he had seen. That one is specially for OB/is our.

bD, can't you strike up the band for the Mulberry Street Parade with Val and Joe strutting together as birds of a feather?
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BG2, she was covert by informal usage in the CIA, not for purposes of prosecution under either possibly relevant statute. She was 'classified'. See my note about blind men and elephants above. She was blind, too.
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For the lefties let me type slower: Libby was not charged with outing a covert agent because the government cannot prove it. If they can't prove it, he did not do it. Unless you are in Niphongs camp. Hell with the evidence, they are guilty.

For the really slow lefty who told us to tell Nicole and Ronald Goldman: No one said they weren't murdered. No one says there was not a crime that took place. The government just didn't prove it was Simpson. Like it or not, and I don't at times, thems are the rules.

Libby did not out Plame by the letter of the law. ww