Indictment!

In a very complex and thorough indictment handed down by Mr. Fitzgerald's grand jury today, I. Scooter Libby had the book thrown at him.  The five count indictment against Mr. Libby is quite detailed in its allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, all of which constitute serious violations of federal statute.

The gist of the indictment is that Mr. Libby gave several false statements to the grand jury and to Federal Bureau of Investigation investigators about conversations he had with Tim Russert, Judith Miller, and Matthew Cooper in July of 2003.  Essentially, he related to the investigators that he had not known of Ms. Plame's status as a CIA employee or as Mr. Wilson's wife at the time he had these conversations.  He further allegedly misled investigators by claiming that reporters had brought up Ms. Plame's employment status to him rather than the other way around. 

As to the allegations regarding Mr. Libby's testimony that he was surprised to learn of Ms. Plame's identity at the time of his conversations with Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper, it appears that they have him dead to rights. Numerous others (including CIA briefers) apparently testified they told him of her identity at a time prior to his conversations with Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper.  In other words, if the facts alleged are true, the following statement to the grand jury seems to be an outright lie:

I was very clear to say reporters are telling us that because in my mind I still didn't know it as a fact.  I thought I was -- all I had was this information that was coming in from reporters.

On the other hand, the allegations made with respect to the Russert conversation don't seem to me to be particularly strong since Mr. Libby's testimony essentially acknowledges at worst only that he misled Tim Russert.  This is certainly not a crime. Moreso than the other counts, the one related to his testimony as to the Russert conversation will come down to his word against Mr. Russert as to what they said to each other. In his testimony before the grand jury, Mr. Libby does not really claim that he didn't know of Plame's identity when he spoke to Russert.

All said, Mr. Libby's career in the vice-president's office is over and if the allegations prove to be true, his demise is most deserved.  There have been many on the right who will be critical of the fact that the crimes Mr. Fitzgerald charged do not arise out of Mr. Fitzgerald's original mandate. I strongly disagree with any criticism.  Any federal investigation and all grand jury proceedings in our legal system depend on people adhering to their oaths of office.  There is no innocent lie.  For the same reason that President Bill Clinton should have been convicted and was rightfully disbarred, Mr. Fitzgerald has no alternative but to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Libby.  The integrity of our system depends on it.

Now, if only the Democrats could have been so honest...

See also Captain Ed's comments which agree that, if the allegations are accurate, the vice president is better off without a guy who will lie to a grand jury.

The Wizbangers have their own take on the event.

tre