CIA leak probe may be nearing end game-lawyers (Plame)

[sabra]

http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-0069505.html

CIA leak probe may be nearing end game-lawyers


WASHINGTON - New York Times reporter Judith Miller, locked up for refusing to reveal who told her a covert CIA operative‘s name in a probe that may be nearing a conclusion, works part time at the jail laundry helping clean fellow inmates‘ green jumpsuits and dirty linens.

...

Abrams said Miller remained "resolute" and would not reveal her confidential source to a grand jury in the case, which could shake up an administration already reeling from criticism over its response to Hurricane Katrina. The probe has ensnarled President George W. Bush President George W. Bush‘s top political adviser, Karl Rove.

But lawyers close to the investigation say there are signs that the 20-month-long inquiry could be wrapped up within weeks in a final flurry of negotiations and legal maneuvering.

...

Attorney Theodore Boutrous, who represents Time magazine and its reporter, Matthew Cooper, said Miller‘s "standoff" with Fitzgerald may be coming to a head.

[Nickster]

1. Oh please, oh please, oh please, please,please. INDICTMENTS!!!!!

[Initech]

17. Rove needs to go! Without Rove, we'd be on easy street!

[JDPriestly]

23. "Deals" suggests pleading to lesser charges.

It suggests that the prosecutor couldn't get a strong enough case together to take to a jury. This is bad news. No one close to Bush ever pays for anything.

[kevsand]

30. The "negotiations" mentioned in the article only refer to Miller,

not to any of the perps in the west wing.

[paineinthearse]

2. I've set my "home page" to a special website

Whenever I open a new internet window it checks the site. Will be watching, thanks for the heads-up.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. Could we have the URL of this special site?

[Angry Girl]

8. yeah, link please! Inquiring minds want to know!

Nightweed's Hurricane Katrina Aid Organizations

[sabra]

6. I like "special" websites... are you willing to share? :-)

[iconoclastic cat]

10. Maybe it's one of *those* sites. **wink, wink**

[paineinthearse]

19. I've referenced it once before.

If you read my Conners posts, it has been referenced before, with regard to this matter.

It is a very quiet site, would prefer it not be overwhelmed.

But I will post as soon as news breaks, and it will include the url.

[Wilber_Stool]

3. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah..........n/t

[back2basics909]

4. Timing?

Timing... rats... sinking ship.

[Supersedeas]

33. don't count on these rats jumping--they'll sling mud to the very end

[tom_paine]

7. I won't believe it until I see Rove in the dock

The Busheviks, like other Tyrants throughout history, proceed with the Hitlerian "If you don't stop me, it's legal" strategy, means that nothing less than JUSTICE being served is enough here.

If they delay, pardon, or otherwise keep Treasonous Karl out of court, then of course, treason (privided it is a Bushevik who dies it) is legal.

Simple as that.

[tex-wyo-dem]

9. Not to be incensitive to the storm victims...

but wouldn't that be a perfect storm against the * crime family...Katrina, Plame, Sheehan & the anti-war demonstrations...

Hit 'em from all sides within a matter of weeks!

[WhiteTara]

18. Sensitivity to storm victims aside

I too hope for the continued assault on the wh misadministration. I certainly hope that the crowds in DC are so massive that we have our own "orange" revolution.

[peacetalksforall]

28. Plus the additional Iraq and other prison photos. n/t

[tridim]

11. The phrase, "final flurry of negotiations and legal maneuvering"

scares me. I fully expect a half dozen or so high level indictments, but what are we going to do if it turns into a slap on the wrist? Anything's possible in Bushworld.

[sabra]

12. in this post Katrina world, things might finally change...

[kevsand]

31. That phrase refers only to Miller.

The article as a whole deals exclusively with her situation, and not anyone else.

[tinrobot]

13. Indicting Rove would be the knockout punch

They're already on the ropes... keep hitting.

[napi21]

14. I don'pt think this is any surprise. This is Sept. 8th!

The GJ disolves in Oct unless it is extended. I've been expecting inditments before the end of Sept.

Wonder if Shrub hired any new lawyers? The one's he's got have so damn many open files now, I don't how they're handling it all!!!

[Pastiche423]

15. INDICTMENTS! INDICTMENTS! INDICTMENTS!

If we are to ever try to turn our country away from destruction path it is on, now is the time for high official indictments!

[Catherine Vincent]

16. Poor Judith Miller...still locked up.

Have she figured out the Bush cabl doesn't give a rat's butt about her?

[Ilsa]

21. And after everything she did for them too, like writing those

aluminum tube stories to scare everyone into believing the bs about saddam and nukes and mushroom clouds.

[MellowOne]

22. Of course they don't

She just wasting her time.

[Tight_rope]

32. Fuck Judus..I mean Judith Miller...may she rot in jail...

She's to stupid to be let out anyway.

[goforit]

20. Arrest/Impeach/convict!!!

[Roy]

24. Interesting choice of words???

"Attorney Theodore Boutrous, who represents Time magazine and its reporter, Matthew Cooper, said Miller‘s "standoff" with Fitzgerald may be coming to a head."

Not coming to an END, but coming to a HEAD

May it be that Judy will be headed to tighter quarters rather home?

[JerseygirlCT]

25. Does this worry anyone else?

final flurry of negotiations and legal maneuvering

[snippy]

26. The article makes it sound like the negotiations and maneuvering

concern Miller. There really isn't anything new in the article. Very few, if any, of the journalists who have written about the Plame investigation know what sort of evidence and legal arguments the special prosecutor has. However, there are four people who have reviewed the evidence and legal arguments and then written about the case. Here is some of what they wrote.

Chief Judge Hogan of the D.C. district court wrote:

In his ex parte affidavit, Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this
case and the investigation as a whole. The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government’s focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation. Through the ex parte affidavit, the Court has determined that the subpoenas were not issued in an attempt to harass the movants, but rather stem from legitimate needs due to an unanticipated shift in the grand jury’s investigation.

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04-ms-460.pdf

It is obvious from Judge Hogan's opinion that Fitzgerald is investigating crimes other than just the leak of Plame's identity.

And Judge Tatel of the Court of Appeals wrote this:

In sum, based on an exhaustive investigation, the special counsel has established the need for Miller’s and Cooper’s testimony. Thus, considering the gravity of the suspected crime and the low value of the leaked information, no privilege bars the subpoenas. . . .

One last point. In concluding that no privilege applies in this case, I have assigned no importance to the fact that neither Cooper nor Miller, perhaps recognizing the irresponsible (and quite possibly illegal) nature of the leaks at issue, revealed Plame’s employment, though Cooper wrote about it after Novak’s column appeared. Contrary to the reporters’ view, this apparent self-restraint spares Miller and Cooper no obligation to testify.

Indeed, Cooper’s own Time.com article illustrates this point. True, his story revealed a suspicious confluence of leaks, contributing to the outcry that led to this investigation. Yet the article had that effect precisely because the leaked information—Plame’s covert status—lacked significant news value. In essence, seeking protection for sources whose nefariousness he himself exposed, Cooper asks us to protect criminal leaks so that he can write about the crime. The greater public interest lies in preventing the leak to begin with. Had Cooper based his report on leaks about the leaks—say, from a whistleblower who revealed the plot against Wilson—the situation would be different. Because in that case the source would not have revealed the name of a covert agent, but instead revealed the fact that others had done so, the balance of news value and harm would shift in favor of protecting the whistleblower. Yet it appears Cooper relied on the Plame leaks themselves, drawing the inference of sinister motive on his own. Accordingly, his story itself makes the case for punishing the leakers. While requiring Cooper to testify may discourage future leaks, discouraging leaks of this kind is precisely what the public interest requires.

. . .

Were the leak at issue in this case less harmful to national security or more vital to public debate, or had the special counsel failed to demonstrate the grand jury’s need for the reporters’ evidence, I might have supported the motion to quash. Because identifying appellants’ sources instead appears essential to remedying a serious breach of public trust, I join in affirming the district court’s orders compelling their testimony.

http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200502/04-3138a.pdf


This portion of Judge Tatel's opinion followed several pages of redacted material which contained Fitzgerald's arguments and supporting evidence. Fitzgerals seems to have convinced Judge Tatel that crimes were committed.

I was particularly intrigued by Judge Tatel's reference to "the plot against Wilson." Sounds like a conspiracy to me.

[VegasWolf]

27. Probably medals for everyone knowing these crooks. nt

[triguy46]

29. Let me guess, the Incompetency Party gets off again...

rove walks, bush talks, 90 days same as cash, laughs and grins all around. * can't find a leak the size of the 17th street canal, let alone the leak from Rove's frickin mouth.

Lies, deceit, mendacity, avarice, and greed are the 5 horsemen of the apocolyptic reign of El Presidente for Life, shrub the junior...