Excellent NYT article on CIA leak Grand Jury, looks like Scooter Libby

[ShaneGR]

Among the goodies is the revelation that Scooter Libby's (Cheney's Chief of Staff) notes on the matter turned out to be "Copious)

Yielding or containing plenty; affording ample supply: a copious harvest. See Synonyms at plentiful.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/10/politics/10LEAK.html

In addition to the grand jury appearances, which are believed to include other Bush administration officials, prosecutors have conducted meetings with presidential aides that lawyers in the case described as tense and sometimes combative.

Armed with handwritten White House notes, detailed cellphone logs and copies of e-mail messages between White House aides and reporters, prosecutors have demanded explanations of conversations between aides and reporters for some of the country's largest news organizations that under ordinary circumstances would never be publicly discussed. So far, no reporter has been questioned or subpoenaed.

One set of documents that prosecutors repeatedly referred to in their meetings with White House aides are extensive notes compiled by I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser. Prosecutors have described the notes as "copious," the lawyers said. In addition, the prosecutors have asked about cellphone calls made last July to and from Catherine J. Martin, a press secretary for Mr. Cheney.

In their discussions with White House aides, prosecutors have been careful to avoid signaling their overall theory of the case. Nor have they given hints about who they suspect leaked the information to Robert Novak, who wrote in a Washington Post column last July 14 that the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a critic of the administration's Iraq policy, was Valerie Plame, a C.I.A. undercover officer.

[Beetwasher]

1. Indeed, this is a Terrific Article

n/t

[SpiralHawk]

2. A Major "Attaboy" for the ScootMeister !

Doing his homework with the copious notes thing.

America thanks you for your diligence.

[StClone]

3. Once again

from CNN, MSNBC, FAUX, ABC etc. there is little reporting on this. Will they come once charges are borught?

[Catshrink]

9. Heck yeah... they'll act like it was their idea.

[MoonAndSun]

4. I liked this part of the article...

But prosecutors have said they would charge White House aides with obstruction of justice or false statements if they failed to provide truthful statements about specific conversations that some aides could not clearly recall among the hundreds of conversations with some White House reporters, the lawyers said.

Prosecutors have emphasized the seriousness of the case, informing the White House employees that they are "subjects" of the inquiry. In legal terminology, a subject is in potentially greater jeopardy of being accused of a crime than a witness. But a subject is in a less threatening situation than a target, someone who may expect to be charged.





Once you are a subject, they can take it further and make a person a target. Scooter and The Dick must be wetting their pants by now!!

[central scrutinizer]

6. you betcha yer ass it's serious

Outing a CIA agent, thanks to Poppy Bush, is defined as TREASON!!!

[BillZBubb]

8. Treason only for a Democrat

You forget the many loopholes that will allow Novak and the other wingnut traitors to get a free pass.

Libby will take the fall and get Cheney off the hook. Libby will then be forgiven for being a great patriot who just got overzealous. Plus he has the excuse that he wasn't aware (or so he'll claim) of Ms. Plame's real importance. George Tenet will then give a speech blaming the whole thing on a misunderstanding. The "unbiased" Bush commission will then be put in charge of finding the "facts" by March of 2005.

[Brotherjohn]

7. Yes, especially since they are not letting on what they might have...

... as well (the prosecutors, that is).

So the "subjects" very realistically think that if they don't come clean, they may implicate themselves. Great incentive for them to be honest.

The story gives me hope that they are actually agressively pursuing this.

[Stevendsmith]

5. I AM LOVING THIS!