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November 07, 2005
Journos vs Libby
There's an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal today (subscription required) about the hot seat being prepared for any journalist called to testify at Scooter Libby's upcoming trial. (AJStrata notes the article as well.)
Much of the case against Mr. Libby rests on contradictions between the journalists' accounts of conversations with him and what he told Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about those conversations. [...]
Spokespeople for the news organizations involved in the case declined to comment about whether they would resist having their reporters testify.[...]
It would be difficult at this point for the news organizations to argue that their reporters need to protect confidential sources. In addition to discussing their sources with Mr. Fitzgerald and the grand jury, the reporters have each made those conversations public -- Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper in published, first-person accounts of their talks with Mr. Libby and their testimony, and Mr. Russert in numerous television interviews. [...]
Emphasis mine. So this is what two years of investigation has come down to? A spitting match between Libby and journalists? I guess it's standard operating procedure for indicted politicians to claim "I want a fair trial so the facts may be known." Libby, and Tom Delay too, could well make both claims without a hint of cynicism or false bravado. The sooner these cases come to trial the better--talk about sunlight being the best disinfectant.
And an even larger problem remains: the state of the CIA. It's larger and much more important than Scooter Libby because the ongoing work of the CIA is vital to our national defense. The CIA needs to endure the same remedy I have wished for our education colleges: they need the Roosevelt bank treatment. (In 1933, you'll recall, one of FDR's first acts was to close all banks. They could reopen only when they had provided proof of their financial soundness.) These dangerous and self-serving political leaks emanating from the CIA have go to stop; do we need to gut the Agency and rebuild it from the ground up?
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Comments
FYI: The WSJ is free this week so that link does work for one and all.
Clinton: I think all he has left is "smart." Qualities such as self-conrol, making disinterested decisions, considering the long-term ramifications of his actions, be they policy or personal--heck, I guess you could just call that "wisdom" and he doesn't have it, for all his smarts.
Posted by: AcademicElephant at November 8, 2005 03:31 PM
