I was pretty stunned by the verdict, I thought for sure that it would be a hung jury. The left are already making this a referendum on Cheney and the war but the truth is that Richard Armitage was the source of the leak and Fitzgerald found out about it pretty quickly and then he went on a long fishing expedition looking to bring down members of the administration:
Though the case never proved a White House conspiracy to out Plame as retribution for Wilson's criticism, Fitzgerald showed how adamant some members of the Bush administration were to discredit Wilson. Fitzgerald provided a parade of senior administration officials and top journalists as government witnesses.Of course they were "adamant," he was lying! Wouldn't you be "adamant" if someone was lying about you? You would want to set the record straight. The press was saying that Cheney set this guy and he didn't have anything to do with it. You would want to get that out.
And Reid has no standing demanding that Bush promise not to pardon Libby:
"It's about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics," Reid said.Does Reid think that Libby was on trial for something he said about Wilson? It doesn't seem like Reid knows the facts of the case, does it? Kind of a non sequitur don't you think? :-) Someone should tell Reid that Libby was on trial for lying to the prosecutor, it had nothing to do with Wilson or the war or how Bush treats critics of the war.
I feel sorry for Libby because it comes down to the word of a journalist against him. And the journalist didn't even have notes or a tape recording. I'm hopeful this will be overturned in appeal or that he gets a new trial. I agree with the editors of the National Review that Bush should pardon Libby before he leaves office.
Audio of Fred Thompson's take on the trial.
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