Author: Dean Pajevic

Would you believe that that Neocon blackguard and Niger forgery suspect Michael Ledeen blogged yesterday about Scooter’s indictments? Salon‘s Daou Report discovered Ledeen’s post, printed in full below.

The photo is from a bio of Ledeen at BBC’s site for its Panorama program, “The War Party.” The tag from the BBC’s 2003 program? “Critics say the White House has been hijacked by neo-conservatives.”

And here’s some excellent background from recent, key stories here at BooTrib:

From “Tell Us Who Fabricated the Iraq Evidence” by catnip, Oct. 11, 2005:

According to Dombey’s theory, in December, 2001, Michael Ledeen, “an American specialist on Italy with a long-standing commitment to Israel”… “flew to Rome with Manucher Ghorbanifar, a former Iranian arms dealer, and two officials from OSP, one of whom was Larry Franklin. In Rome they met the head of Sismi … later, the documents were published, having been sold to an Italian journalist by a Roman businessman linked to Sismi.”

From “THE NIGER FORGERIES” by Richard Sale, Oct. 26, 2005:

In December 2001, there was a secret meeting in Rome attended by MICHAEL LEDEEN, a paid consultant to Panorama, the Italian magazine that first broke the story of the Niger documents, Defense Department official, LARRY FRANKLIN …

Michael Ledeen, a prominent neocon, was at the time a “paid consultant” to SISMI,” …

From “Aides To Be Indicted, Probe to Continue” by Richard Sale, Oct. 26, 2005:

Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC’s Washingfton office [to determine as role in the forgeries]. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen. …

And this classic Ledeen riposte from “Tone and Truth Daily Witness” by tiggers thotful spot, Oct. 1, 2005:

Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.

 — Michael Ledeen, holder of the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (R-Evil Unapologetic Empire)

And, now, directly from the roiling black goo that comprises the brain and heart of the traitorous Michael Ledeen:

I think the indictment stinks. You have to parse it very carefully to figure out whether Libby is accused of lying to the grand jury or the FBI, or to journalists. Go look.

I finally concluded that it says that Libby lied to the grand jury (and elsewhere the FBI) when he testified that he told (Cooper, Miller or Russert) things that in fact he did not tell (Cooper, Miller or Russert).

If that is right, it means that this poor man may well have been indicted because his memory of those conversations differs from the journalists’.

And Fitzgerald chose/wanted? to believe the journalists’ memories. Pfui. To this non-lawyer, that’s not good enough to shake up the staff of the vice president of the United States.

From THE CORNER (Michael Ledeen) on Oct. 28, 2005 via the Daou Report.

And, last, “A Little Gallows Humor for a most deserving Neocon poobah” by KlatooBaradaNikto, Oct. 27, 2005:

Who forged the Niger Yellowcake document?

Osama Bin Ledeen.

Scary!

Don’t stop celebrating, this is still a HUGE blow to the Bush Administration, and it’s not over yet. Rove’s still under investigation (more on the investigation HERE and on the Fitzgerald press conference HERE).

But. Since Libby submitted his resignation immediately, a replacement will have to be named. The Daily News, anticipating the Libby indictment reported this morning that sources close to Cheney’s office reveal that Libby “will be replaced by Cheney’s current chief counsel, David Addington” about whom Scott Shields says: “to put it kindly, [he’s] a real piece of work.”

Shields quotes liberally from a Washington Post profile:

Even in a White House known for its dedication to conservative philosophy, Addington is known as an ideologue, an adherent of an obscure philosophy called the unitary executive theory that favors an extraordinarily powerful president.

Read the rest of the money quotes [HERE]. (MyDD)

— From Evan Derkacz at Alternet’s PEEK.

BYO Bush-Administration-Head-on-a-Platter PARTY OPEN THREAD!

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER
11 pm Friday

Bill Maher welcomes fmr Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, reporter Helen Thomas, comedian Billy Connolly, talk show host Tony Snow and reporter Nadira Hira – Friday at 11 pm.

Christopher Wolf — CNN

FITZGERALD Press Conference: 11:15am PT/2:15pm ET via C-SPAN and CBS (thanks, Dada). (Catnip will host a new story thread — right above this thread — for the press conference.) Update [2005-10-28 13:34:48 by susanhu]: We will also host another new thread at 3pm ET/noon PT for the press conference by Joseph Wilson’s attorney.

Update [2005-10-28 14:7:41 by susanhu]: Reddhedd, an attorney and blogger at FireDogLake (via Crooks & Liars) has some interesting observations:

I note that Fitz isn’t using anything much from Judy Miller in any of these five counts. I wonder if we will hear more about that down the road — either at the press conference or in any expansion of the investigation if a new Grand Jury is empanelled.

As a first read, I have to say, this looks factually quite well documented and that Libby is a crappy, weaselly person on the stand. I bet the G/J members had an even better take on that as they sat listening to it.

Sorry, the dancing frog was driving me nuts so I took it down. NEW: Atrios has a great statement by Sen. Kennedy. It begins: “Today is an ominous day for the country, signifying a new low since Watergate in terms of openness and honesty in our government. …”

Update [2005-10-28 13:18:11 by susanhu]: RAW STORY has the 22-page indictment. [editor’s note, by susanhu] Fitzgerald’s site now has a press release and the indictment.

Update [2005-10-28 13:13:54 by susanhu]: I. “Scooter” Libby has resigned and the vice president accepted his resignation. The letter was delivered earlier today to Andy Card and then to the President. Libby is no longer at the White House.

Libby’s activities began in May 2003 — before Wilson’s column in June … before the column by Novak. (Wilson was talking to Kristof at that time; the White House became concerned and began gathering information on Wilson. Earlier, Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC said something about Wilson, before he wrote the NYT column, hitting every “green room” in D.C. and complaining about the war in Iraq. (Wolf Blitzer checked the date of the Kristof column, which may have triggered Libby’s “curiosity.” Kristof’s column was written on MAY 6, 2003, Wolf confirmed.)

Libby is indicted on FIVE counts — obstruction of justice, on perjury (two counts — of lying to the grand jury), and making false statements (two counts — for lying to the FBI). Via CNN. (Docs still not up on Fitz’s site.)

Libby is accused of endangering the safety of the nation. But, as Joe DiGenova (GOP, former fed. prosecutor) notes, Fitzgerald has not charged a substantive crime in exposing her identity. Jeffrey Toobin (legal analyst for CNN and The New Yorker), however, says that Fitz had to make the case to the jury into a manageable size and that he tailored his case to that end.

AP via WaPo: “The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Valerie Plane’s identity in 2003 and then told reporters about it. The information was classified.

“Any trial would shine a spotlight on the secret deliberations of Bush and his team as they built the case for war against Iraq.

“Bush ordered U.S. troops to war in March 2003, saying Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction program posed a grave and immediate threat to the United States. No such weapons were found. The U.S. military death toll climbed past 2,000 this week.”

(That last paragraph in the AP story says it all for me.)

Nobody ever mentions this, but Libby will surely be disbarred. He was a very able attorney at one time. Oh, the price of hubris and ideology.