Scooter Libby
I’m listening to Sean Hannity right now on the drive between Kalamazoo and Toledo for the weekend, and I’m a bit appalled. But then again, it is Sean Hannity, who is frequently appalling.
Scooter Libby has been indicted on five counts. I don’t have a net connection handy, but I thought I heard two counts of lying to investigators, two counts of obstruction, and one count of perjury. I’m guessing that there are two facts about which Libby is accused of not being forthcoming (hence the two counts), as well as a perjury count, which could be regarding an inquiry about these two facts under oath.
Note an important fact – the indictment is NOT about revealing Plame’s name. It is over obstructing the investigation into who revealed the name. The revelation of the name is not even clearly a crime. If it was a crime, then Joe Wilson out-ed his wife in the subsequent days of the whole mess by confirming her identity. Or Robert Novak would be in jail for printing the information.
Astute readers will see the parallels with the Clinton impeachment. Let’s review –
Clinton was not impeached over his relationship with Lewinsky. He was impeached because he lied under oath during an investigation. The relationship, while tawdry, was not a crime, but the obstruction was. And since you can’t indict a sitting president, he was impeached to clear the way for a proper indictment.
So how is Scooter Libby different?
Well, this is where I am appalled at Hannity. If Libby lied under oath, then he should be prosecuted. I don’t care of the investigation is over a lost piece of candy. You don’t do that. And you particularly don’t do that if you are serving high up in government.
Therefore, I am pleased the Libby did the right thing and resigned upon the indictment. I hope the process gets to the truth here, and if he is innocent, then he needs to be cleared, quickly. If he committed perjury, then he needs to be punished appropriately.
How can it be otherwise?
As for those that gleefully portray this as a major blow to the Bush Administration, I would urge a little caution. There is no evidence that any elected official did anything wrong here. Leaking Plame’s name under the circumstances of her employment in 2003 has still not been established as a crime, and no one has been charged for it. Don’t conflate leaking a name with this indictment. They are completely different things, and to insist that Bush is guilty damages what little credibility might remain in the fever-swamp of the far left.
As for Hannity and others who want to harp on the indictment being about a ‘crime’ that didn’t happen – we don’t need people like you in the movement. Standards matter. Consistency matters. I don’t care who is in office.
Filed under: Politics