Trial of the century gets lots yawns

By Joseph Gauger
Collegian Staff
February 28, 2007

The case of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby is typical of higher-echelon government prosecutions in that it deals not with the “greater crime,” but with lesser violations by the accused. Libby is on trial for five counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice. The greatest crime in this case is the revelation of Valerie Plame’s identity as an agent for the CIA. The perjury charge arises from Libby’s explanation before a grand jury of how he learned of Plame’s identity, according to a Feb. 18, 2007 article in The New York Times. His defense is predicated on the assertion that he became confused about the chronology and content of conversations with various members of the media, so any inaccuracies in his grand jury testimony were unintentional.

It has been widely speculated that Libby is a scapegoat who has been offered up by the Bush Administration to deflect prosecution of other members involved in the CIA leak. This very well could be the intent of Bush’s inner circle. The pass-the-buck mentality has long been endemic to the culture of Washington. Libby has a distinguished record of government service and is as clean as they come in Washington, which is to say that he avoids at least the outward appearance of corruption. His attorneys have tried to make the case that his false statements were the result of stress and confusion, rather than malfeasance.

Given the particulars of the case, Libby has a reasonable chance of acquittal, which the administration hopes will go a long way toward closing the book on the leak case. Even if Libby is convicted, it will not cost the president politically to pardon him.

Questionable pardons have, at times, gone unnoticed. Consider President Bill Clinton’s last-day spree of clemency, in which, according to the Department of Justice, 140 people were pardoned, including A.G. Braswell, a Clinton political ally convicted of perjury.

The relative lack of attention given to the Libby trial is the deliberate result of the administration’s machinations. Libby, despite his position, was not a prominent media figure within the White House. More recognizable figures have been implicated in the leak, including chief political advisor Karl Rove, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Cheney, according to The New York Times. The lack of attention paid by the media and public is exactly the response the administration has been hoping for.

The sad part of this whole affair is that someone committed an act of treason for political purposes and, for all appearances, will go unpunished. The leak investigation exhibits criminal malfeasance in the highest levels of the executive branch; the revelation of Plame’s identity was clearly intended to defend the administration from the criticism of her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. The nature of Plame’s assignment at the CIA is still unknown, but it is quite possible that the disruption of her work compromised U.S. security. This is likely something the public will not learn for many years, but concerns about classification aside, the fact remains that a very serious crime is going unprosecuted.

Special prosecutor Patrick F. Fitzgerald has not yet dismissed his grand jury, so further indictments in the case are possible. Failure to pursue future prosecution would be a disservice to the American people and a blow to the rule of law. The media are treating the Libby trial as though it represented finality in the leak case. One of the reasons the American system of government is so admirable is the fundamental tenet that no government official, no matter his or her rank, is above the law. Libby is not the ultimate culprit in this case, and his trial must be only tangential to the prosecution of the greater crime.

gaugerj1@lasalle.edu