The Scooter Libby Top Six

Here, without further ado, are the top five things VP Cheney's former right hand man, Scooter Libby, was not convicted of:

1. Lying about Iraq and it's WMD, specifically, the desire to buy uranium from Niger.  (It was, in fact, Joe Wilson who lied about that.)
2. 'Outing' a 'covert' CIA agent.
3. Conspiracy to 'out' a 'covert' CIA agent.
4. Violating the Wilsons' civil rights.
5. Covering up administration lies in the run-up to the Iraq War.
6. Being the original source of the 'leak' for Mr. Novak's original report.  That distinction goes to Richard Armitage.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says that no further prosecutions will be forthcoming.  So no one is to be prosecuted for 'outing' a 'covert' CIA agent.  No one is to be prosecuted for conspiracy in the matter, including Karl Rove and VP Dick Cheney.  No one is to be prosecuted for civil rights violations.  No one is to be prosecuted at all, other than Mr. Libby, who it appears should have known better than to tell stories to the FBI and a grand jury.  "I don't recall" would have saved you a lot of grief, sir.  Goodness knows it worked quite well in the '90's.

I have but one question: What, exactly, is the underlying crime?

(**if you're interested why there are scare quotes around words like 'covert' and 'outing', go here.)

Previously, on Joust The Facts:

• Plame Fallout?
• Five Against Libby
• Much Ado About ... What, Exactly?
• There's No There There
• Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

There are lots of others blogging this, check out Memeorandum.
For more, roundup the usual suspects.

3/6/07 2000: Great posts, spot on, from Mark at Decision '08.  Nice Work.

3/7/07 0615: Lots of snippets at Wizbang! from Kevin Aylward and Lorie Byrd.  One of the reasons I wrote this post is contained in Lorie's response to the statement of Harry Reid, and the comments of Nancy Pelosi.  Libby wasn't convicted of any of the six things I listed, and there are probably some that I missed.  Nonetheless, there is a media/DNC push to expand the conviction to cover those things.  Witness the hyperbole from Howard Fineman of Newsweek, quoted at Decision '08:

The stunning, vehement verdict in the Scooter Libby trial—that he lied, repeatedly, big time—isn’t really about Scooter Libby at all. It is about how and why we went to war in Iraq, and about how Vice President Dick Cheney got us there.

An apple is an apple, and cannot be a banana no matter how hard you pull on the ends.

Comments

[Zsa Zsa]

The underlying crime? Must be the decision to prosecute the actions of Scooter Libby in the first place. How unfortunate for him and his family. I hope President Bush pardons him immediately rather than waiting until after the 2008 elections, as so many are now predicting. He shouldn't have to pay more to his attornies to appeal for another 18 months. Not only is this a tremendous waste but it distracts from the real issues, which you highlight beautifully!

[Anna]

Fineman...what? You can't get there from here! What does one have to do with the other?

[Assistant Village Idiot]

Watch the information about the jury seep out on this. Why get pardoned when you can win on appeal?