February 27, 2006

Lying about an Unprovable Crime

Here's more evidence Scooter Libby is being Martha Stewart'ed: he's being prosecuted for lying about a crime the prosecution can't prove. This from Byron York:

CIA leak prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald argued at a hearing Friday that, as far as the perjury charges against former Cheney chief of staff Lewis Libby are concerned, it does not matter whether or not Valerie Wilson was a covert CIA agent when she was mentioned in the famous Robert Novak column of July 14, 2003. "We're trying a perjury case," Fitzgerald told Judge Reggie Walton. Even if Plame had never worked for the CIA at all, Fitzgerald continued — even if she had been simply mistaken for a CIA agent — the charges against Libby would still stand. In addition, Fitzgerald said, he does not intend to offer "any proof of actual damage" caused by the disclosure of Wilson's identity.

...

"Does the government intend to introduce any evidence of damage or her status?" [Judge] Walton asked.

"We don't intend to offer any proof of actual damage," Fitzgerald responded, adding that he would have more to say on the subject this week in a sealed filing with the court.

"A CIA Leak Trial Without the CIA Leak" [via JustOneMinute]