October 28, 2005

	Libby broke his leg recently in "some sort of accident," according to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.  Coincidence, or just Rove's humorous way of letting LIbby know he's the fall guy?

Libby Takes a Fall

It's already become apparent that the right wing echo chamber will reverberate with the message that Libby was not charged with the "underlying crime" of outing a covert agent, as if that somehow proves Libby was innocent of the crime that launched the investigation. 

Fitzgerald addressed this briefly in his press conference when he explained that in order to charge someone with a crime based on nuances (such as whether Libby knew Plame was a covert agent) he needs to know the "truth" surrounding the incident.   

Since Libby lied, Fitzgerald doesn't know for sure whether the original crime was committed knowingly or just out of stupidity, so he can't indict Libby for outing Plame even though Libby may well have knowingly committed the crime.  So Fitzgerald did the next best thing, which is to charge Libby with a crime he can prove (like taking Al Capone down for tax evasion).

The fact that Libby has not yet been (or may never be) charged with outing Plame in no way exonerates him or others in the Bush administration of the underlying crime. 

Stray Thoughts from Don Alejandro
Who wonders just exactly how Libby's leg was broken...