Downfall

It's getting quite interesting in the Lewis Libby trial. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has built a solid case that Libby lied to investigators. In doing so, Fitzgerald is building another case – that Bush and Cheney very likely lied about their participation in the plan for revealing CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity.

At long last, the fog of mystification generated by the Bush administration and the Washington media is lifting, so that everyone can see clearly why I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby is on trial and why his prosecution is important...........

The question that now hangs over the President and the Vice President is whether they lied to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald—the same crime for which their fall guy Scooter now faces possible imprisonment and disgrace................

Doubts about the candor of Messrs. Bush and Cheney date all the way back to September 2003, before the appointment of the special counsel, when the President supposedly declared his sincere determination to “get to the bottom of this.”.............

“There’s been nothing—absolutely nothing—brought to our attention to suggest any White House involvement,” said Scott McClellan, then the Presidential press secretary, in attempting to cover Karl Rove and the rest of the White House staff with a blanket exoneration.

We have long since learned otherwise. We know, for instance, that Mr. Rove, Mr. Libby and former Presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer were all involved in leaking Ms. Wilson’s identity to the media. We also know that Mr. Libby, by his own testimony, learned about her C.I.A. identity from the Vice President. They had hoped to discredit Mr. Wilson by hinting at nepotism in his C.I.A.-sponsored trip to Niger to gather information about alleged uranium trading with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. (Actually, he undertook the difficult journey to that unprepossessing nation as a public service, without pay.) In short, we know that top officials in the Bush White House were behind the campaign to discredit the Wilsons.

Where does that leave the President and the Vice President? Over the past several days, the outlines of Mr. Cheney’s role in the nasty attack on the Wilsons and the subsequent cover-up have become increasingly plain. He not only oversaw the activities of his chief of staff, but went so far as to order Mr. McClellan to “clear” Mr. Libby in a press briefing................

And lest anyone forget, here is a bit of press conference dialogue from the crowd who promised to “restore honor and dignity” to the White House:

Q Scott, has anyone --- has the President tried to find out who outed the CIA agent? And has he fired anyone in the White House yet?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, that's assuming a lot of things. First of all, that is not the way this White House operates. The President expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct...............

Q Does he think it didn't come from here?

MR. McCLELLAN: But we've made it very clear that anyone --- anyone --- who has information relating to this should report that information to the Department of Justice.

Q Does he doubt it came from the White House?
.....................

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there's been no information that has been brought to our attention, beyond what we've seen in the media reports, to suggest White House involvement.
.....................

Q Would you not want to know whether someone had leaked information of this kind?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has been --- I spoke for him earlier today --- the President believes leaking classified information is a very serious matter.................

Disgraceful.
Posted on The Human Stain