Legal Wrangling
14 June 2007 6:11 am by Taylor Marsh
Legal Wrangling updated
UPDATE III: SCOOTER LIBBY ORDERED TO JAIL.
UPDATE II: Just received the following from Emptywheel (which is paraphrasing Walton, not a quote):
He says of the Bork brief: Walton: With all due respect, these are intelligent people, but I would not accept this brief from a first year law student. I believe this was put out to put pressure on this court in the public sphere to rule as you wish. [Reggie pissed]
UPDATE: FDL is liveblogging the sentencing right now. Judge Walton is receiving threats.
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| VIDEO: Joe diGenova on Libby Pardon |
Two issues right now: Scooter’s sentencing, not to mention the talk of a pardon; then there’s those pesky subpoenas for Harriet Miers and Karl Rove’s former top aide Sara Taylor. We’ll take them one at a time.
Pardon Scooter or else. That was basically the threat delivered on cable yesterday by Joe diGenova. Here’s the money quote.
“He’s going to pardon Scooter Libby, there’s no doubt about
it. … This is a case that cries out for a pardon. … Because if Scooter
Libby spends one day in prison, the black mark on this president’s tenure
in office will be indelible. …” – Joe diGenova (source: “Hardball”)
You’ve been warned, Mr. President.
It’s good to remember that Mr. diGenova is the husband of Victoria Toensing, the woman who went after Valerie Plame’s covert status with the zeal of a Dittohead.
Oh, and when you watch the video above make sure you notice Mr. diGenova’s stuttering when
Matthews asks him about the Clinton impeachment fiasco. DiGenova can’t seem
to quite get his words out, as he trips over the illogical conclusion he makes
on Libby, while standing his ground that Clinton deserved what he got.
Matthews agrees with diGenova that Libby will get pardoned. After all, good old Scooter was just doing the White House’s bidding. Sorry, my bad, but I was just following orders, I guess is the rationale. Good to know.
Do I think Bush will pardon Scooter Libby? I’m half and half on it, but nothing would surprise me about George. On one hand Bush doesn’t care what anyone thinks and we all know he’s into loyalty. On the other hand he also doesn’t think about anyone or anything but himself and his precious legacy. Place your bets.
But it’s likely that a pardon isn’t the first thing on the president’s mind. The subpoenas of Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers have to be primary. Sen. Arlen Specter has come up with a compromise.
Specter said that he’d spoken to the current White House counsel Fred Fielding today about the subpoenas for Taylor and Miers. Specter went on to muse about a possible compromise. He’d prefer that there be a public hearing and that the hearing be under oath, but said that’s not necessary, given that it’s a crime to lie to investigators, even if it’s not under oath. But Specter said there needs to be a transcript — otherwise it would be much more difficult to hold an aide to account for lying.
There’s no reason to believe that Bush will take the compromise, because they haven’t budged in months. But then again, things are going from bad to worse for the White House on all fronts. I don’t see anything very enticing behind door number two. Do you?
