Well , the Scooter Libby trial is over, at least for now. He has been found guilty on two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements and one count of obstructing justice, guaranteeing some jail time, pending a new trial or an appeal.
One thing, however, that was verified through the trial process were the lengths that members of the Bush Administration went to discredit anyone who examined too closely, or challenged information that was used to justify the war in Iraq.
According to an article in the Washington Post, jurors believed that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff had been exposed for a CIA leak that other top White House aides had committed along with him, according to one member of the panel.
"We're not saying that we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of," said Denis Collins, one of the jurors. "But it seemed like he was . . . the fall guy."
The article further points out that Collins's detailed description of the jury's deliberations, in public comments and interviews yesterday, suggests that Libby's attorneys made headway with one of the themes they emphasized throughout the case: that the defendant, as lead defense attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr. described it, was made a scapegoat by the White House to protect other presidential aides who were complicit in disclosing Plame's identity to reporters.
During the jury's days of methodical deliberations, "it was said a number of times, 'What are we doing with this guy here?' " Collins told reporters on the steps outside the federal courthouse. "Where's Rove, where's -- you know, where are these other guys?" Collins said, referring to Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, and Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy chief of staff who testimony showed had been the first person to leak Plame's name.
Moreover, Collins said, jurors believed that Libby had been carrying out a directive by his immediate boss, Cheney, to "go out and talk to reporters" to tarnish Wilson's reputation.
Democrats have held more that 81 hearings on the war in Iraq in the past two months. This conviction of Libby should spurn more inquiries into whether or not Bush led the nation into war based on manipulated intelligence, and false information. Additionally, everyone that may be responsible should be held accountable...including Dick Cheney.
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