Plame Name Case Solved, Miers Nomination Pulled
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald obtained a 5-count indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libbey, Chief of Staff for the Vice President in connection with the leaking of the identity of then CIA agent Valerie Plame. Our July 20, 2005, issue ("The Name Game") quoted the conventional wisdom of the time that Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of the White House staff, was responsible. Libbey resigned as soon as the indictment was made public on Friday, October 28.
The indictment charges that Libbey learned of Plame's CIA role from Vice President Dick Cheney (among others) and passed the information along to reporters Matt Cooper and Judith Miller; Miss Miller spent 75 days in jail to avoid naming her source. Libbey is charged with perjury for telling the grand jury that he got Plame's job info from reporters. He is also charged with making other false statements to investigators.
Mr. Fitzgerald refused to speculate on the possible guilt of other parties who were not indicted in this case, so it is still not clear who leaked the name to columnist Robert Novak, even though Novak was the first journalist to publish that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. The prediction in the July 20 Glazerbeam that Karl Rove would resign is hereby withdrawn, even though I am still not sure that he is entirely innocent.
Also withdrawn this week was the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court. The last Glazerbeam ("Questionable Nominee") predicted that the nomination would be pulled if the Senate confirmation hearings became too embarrassing. Apparently even the prospect of tough grilling was enough to scare Miss Miers into bowing out. The reason stated publicly (the demand for confidential White House documents) would not have deterred President Bush if things looked good for Miss Miers. If the next nominee is unquestionably qualified and has a reputation for fair and independent judgment, confirmation should not be a problem.
So, how was your week?
The indictment charges that Libbey learned of Plame's CIA role from Vice President Dick Cheney (among others) and passed the information along to reporters Matt Cooper and Judith Miller; Miss Miller spent 75 days in jail to avoid naming her source. Libbey is charged with perjury for telling the grand jury that he got Plame's job info from reporters. He is also charged with making other false statements to investigators.
Mr. Fitzgerald refused to speculate on the possible guilt of other parties who were not indicted in this case, so it is still not clear who leaked the name to columnist Robert Novak, even though Novak was the first journalist to publish that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. The prediction in the July 20 Glazerbeam that Karl Rove would resign is hereby withdrawn, even though I am still not sure that he is entirely innocent.
Also withdrawn this week was the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court. The last Glazerbeam ("Questionable Nominee") predicted that the nomination would be pulled if the Senate confirmation hearings became too embarrassing. Apparently even the prospect of tough grilling was enough to scare Miss Miers into bowing out. The reason stated publicly (the demand for confidential White House documents) would not have deterred President Bush if things looked good for Miss Miers. If the next nominee is unquestionably qualified and has a reputation for fair and independent judgment, confirmation should not be a problem.
So, how was your week?
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 2:18 PM
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