LIBBY DEFENDERS: PLEASE STOP LYING!

The two most-repeated lies about the Libby
case are: "She wasn't a covert agent," and "there
was no underlying crime." The latter has been
parroted by a galaxy of respected pundits
like David Broder, Joe Klein, Richard Cohen,
and so on. So it has been accepted by many
as gospel. But the pundits don't know that for a
fact. It was what Special Prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald was trying to find out, and
Scooter Libby blocked him from finding
proof of. ("obstruction of justice") Fitzgerald
affirmed that he believed that a crime had been
committed. Why else would he have spent his
time and millions of dollars pursuing it? That
means he knew for sure that Valerie Plame was,
indeed, as she testified under oath before
a congressional committee, a covert agent.
That fact was also verified by the CIA, in
writing. The jackals at FOX had spent months
repeating endlessly that Plame was not a
covert agent. When she testified under oath
that she was, the only thing they could now
say, and they did, was that she should be
charged with perjury, because she was lying!

Of course Fitzgerald knew early on who
leaked about Plame to Novak and Woodward.
But he couldn't prove that Armitage knew
she was covert. It was only a crime if he
knew he was revealing classified information.
That's why he wasn't charged. Libby blocked
the inquiry from extending into the White House,
to Rove or Cheney. That's why he's going to
the slammer. A jury of his peers, after hearing
all the evidence, and the best defense money
can buy, were convinced beyond a
reasonable doubt that Libby had lied to
the FBI, and to the grand jury. So his
defenders should stop lying as well.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net