Libby Convicted

Too bad: Scooter Libby has been convicted; I haven’t seen an account yet that says exactly what counts the jury found him guilty on.
You could see the handwriting on the wall when the jury came back with a question about whether the prosecution had to prove that it was “not humanly possible for someone not to recall” in order to prove Libby guilty. That, of course, is not the definition of “reasonable doubt,” and the question suggested that a majority of the jury favored conviction, and was trying to overcome the objections of the minority who were applying a strict standard of proof.
The whole Libby affair remains something of a mystery. President Bush ordered all executive branch personnel to cooperate with the Fitzgerald investigation. Other people, apparently including Dick Cheney, told investigators that they had discussed Wilson and Plame with Libby. It’s hard to understand why Libby’s testimony was so out of step with that of the other Executive Branch witnesses. At the end of the day, imperfect memory seemed as good an explanation as any. But the jury didn’t see it that way.
UPDATE: It appears that Libby was found guilty on four out of five counts.
To comment on this post, go here.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses