Fitzgerald's Response To Libby's Request For Bond Pending Appeal

[kpete]

Shorter Fitz: Send Libby to Jail
by emptywheel

Fitzgerald submitted his response to Libby's request for bond pending appeal today.http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/files/070622_govt_reply.pdf

Basically, it reiterates the points he made in last week's hearing on the issue, though in the written form that allows some snark.

.................

Congress Doesn't Need New Laws

The filing starts by undercutting Libby's Appointments Clause complaint with a simple reading of the law.

Remarkably, defendant's application, while suggesting that the AAG might have addressed the urgent conflict-of-interest issue by opting to seek new legislation from Congress ... contains no mention of the statutory provisions under which AAG acted. In fact, the delegation was made pursuant to the AAG's statutory authority under 28 USC 510 to delegate any of the functions of the Attorney General to any other officer of the DOJ.

This is where Team USA adopts the same dismissive attitude that Libby's new Appeals lawyer uses.

Defendant's argument so lacks merit that it does not present a substantial issue.

While that's not so persuasive, this bit of snarky logic is:

Defendant interprets the sentence stating that the Special Counsel's position was not "defined and limited by 28 CFR Part 600, the regulations providing for appointment of a Special Counsel from outside the Department, as freeing the Special Counsel from obeying any and all Department regulations. Defendant's logic runs like this: under 600.7(a), an outsider appointed as a Special Counsel must comply with all Department rules and regulations, so if a Department insider is appointed with the proviso that he is not "defined and limited" by Part 600, then the Department insider does not have to follow Department rules and regulations. That bit of sophistry was roundly rejected by the district court, and rightly so.

more at:
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/06/shorter-fitz-se.html#more

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the Greatest page

and Get Scooter in jail

[Spazito]

2. Thanks for the link, much appreciated!

Fitzgerald et al make short work of taking apart the motion by the Libby defense team.

[H2O Man]

3. It is good,

isn't it?

[Spazito]

4. Very good, imo

I must admit I had to laugh thinking the Libby defense won't even be able to use the ridiculous "wordy" complaint regarding this response as they have used regarding Judge Walton. This response is short, to the point while being very thorough in citing case law, etc.

[bleever]

5. Can't cry because your testimony wasn't backed up by a "memory expert"

when you decided not to give the damn testimony!

Quit whining, Scootie. Martha Stewart is more of a man than you are.

[Spazito]

6. LOL, too true! I also just love how Libby is crying foul

because the supporting documents, allowed through the CIPA hearings to be used to SUPPORT Libby's testimony, were not allowed when he decided, as is his right, not to testify. Documents to be used in SUPPORT of testimony are not, in themselves, to be used in PLACE of testimony as his defense team well knows and also knows how LAME their argument is on this issue.

[DemReadingDU]

7. morning kick

[pacalo]

8. What I would like for Mr. Fitzgerald to have included...

"If the Independent Counselor had not been deemed an "inferior" officer, as Mr. Libby claims, the IC would have continued his tenure & gone beyond the bounds of jurisdiction to see that every WH official, particularly those who gave direction to Mr. Libby in this matter, was prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

[King Coal]

9. What is sophistry you ask?

sophistry

noun
a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone

[Patsy Stone]

10. Snap!

With regard to the Appointments Clause and its relation to the CIPA affidavit argument, and the fact that they waited until now to mention it:

"That argument is as unpersuasive as it is untimely."

More defense mincemeat.

[The Wizard]

11. This whole matter is a smokescreen

and becomes moot when "The Decider" issues a pardon. All prosecutions will have to be on hold until the Nazi scumbag Bush is out of office, that is if he doesn't declare himself "Decider For Life" much in the same way Idi Amin did in Uganda.
Idi Amin's brain was rotting from syphilis. Could the same thing be said of the Bush Administration?

[4dsc]

12. Ole Libby is truely afraid of jail

This is just too funny but I do believe ole Libby thought he would NEVER end up in jail but he's going!! He's probably scared shitless.. Oh it will be a beautiful day when he reports to jail!!