Steven Harrell

Going Scot Free

Jul 9, 2007 Updates

In 2002, the U.S. intelligence community was given the task of digging up evidence that would justify an invasion of Iraq to the American people, and to the world. During the Summer and Fall of 2002, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby would selectively leak classified information to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Miller would go out with the leaked information, and would interview Iraqi dissidents and refugees who purportedly had information concerning weapons of mass destruction in the country.

Most, if not all of the dissidents and refugees interviewed by Judith Miller had previously been interviewed and polygraphed by the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The CIA and DIA concluded that all of these witnesses were either lying, or were greatly exaggerating concerning Saddam Hussein’s weapons capabilities.

Judith Miller would run stories in the New York Times anyway, outlining her reliable sources, and stating to the world that Saddam Hussein had all kinds of weapons of mass

destruction. As part of a media blitz to gain support for the upcoming war, Richard Cheney would appear on national television news programs such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation, where he would quote the New York Times articles and information that his chief of staff had leaked to Judith Miller. In this manner, the Vice President of the United States used the media of this country to spread untruths and lies concerning the alleged threats posed by Iraq.

Another story that was linked to Iraq that was also blatantly false concerned Iraq’s alleged purchase of yellow cake uranium from Niger. Former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, upon request from the State Department, took a trip to Niger in 2002, and interviewed French engineers that ran the uranium mines there. The engineers told Wilson that there was no way that large quantities (500 tons) of uranium ore could be mined and shipped from mines under their control without their knowledge. Ambassador Wilson traveled back to Washington, and informed the CIA of these facts.

Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert operative that worked in the antiproliferation division of the CIA. When abroad, she worked as a covert operative, which meant that if she were ever caught in a foreign country and accused of spying, the CIA would deny that she was employed there. In 2001, Valerie Plame went to Iraq, where she posed as an oil company executive. While in Iraq, she found stockpiles of aluminum tubes that were supposed to be used in a gas centrifuge to enrich uranium for the production of nuclear material. These turned out to be only rocket tubes.

After the U.S. military invaded Iraq, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found there. The gigantic house of cards that the war was based on was nothing less than a lie. Those that were willing to publically expose this lie were dealt with most severely by the Bush Administration. In the summer of 2003, Valerie Plame’s husband, Joseph Wilson, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times that indicated that the Bush Administration’s claims that Saddam Hussein had attempted to purchase uranium in Niger in 1999 were false. Within 48 hours after the op-ed piece hit the paper, no less than three Bush Administration officials illegally leaked Valerie Plame’s identity to the press.

One of these officials, Lewis I. “Scooter” Libby, was not indicted by the special prosecutor for violating the Foreign Agents Identities Act, or even the Espionage Act of 1917. He was indicted for obstruction of justice, because he lied about his involvement in the Plame affair to the FBI, and to a federal grand jury. A jury of his peers convicted Libby of four counts of obstruction of justice, and a Bush appointed U.S. District Judge sentenced him to 30 months in a federal prison.

Libby appealed the judge’s ruling that he had to report to serve his prison time immediately. The D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals denied his request for a stay of the execution of the sentence, and it appeared that Libby was going to prison. President Bush last Monday immediately intervened to commute the prison time of Libby’s sentence. He did this without consulting the Justice Department, or the federal judge that sentenced Libby. President Bush has even left open the possibility that he might pardon Libby for his crimes.

The federal judge that sentenced Libby wants the Justice Department and the defense lawyers to file briefs which would address the legal ramifications of Libby’s commuted sentence. The judge has reason to believe that if all of Libby’s jail time is commuted, then the court cannot place Libby on five years of probation. In anticipation of going scot free, Libby has immediately paid his $250,000.00 fine. This sorry affair proves beyond all doubt that Libby was promised executive clemency in exchange for doing the dirty work that Dick Cheney could or would not do himself. Cheney and President Bush despised Joe Wilson for writing his critical op-ed piece in the New York Times, and they arranged for Libby to illegally leak Plame’s identity as a CIA agent in retribution. Libby’s sentence commutation was promised to him up front by his boss, Dick Cheney.

While loyal, hard working Americans die and shed their blood daily in Iraq, one of the criminal architects of this debacle has gone scot free after being convicted by a jury of his peers. It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to faithfully execute the law of the land. This president, and Dick Cheney in particular, believe that they are a law unto themselves. They both will face a rocky road with the Congress during the remainder of their terms of office. The Scooter Libby affair has all but guaranteed that.

Steven Harrell has practiced law in Perry, Georgia since 1989.He is the author of The Unionist, A Novel of the Civil War and The Rifle Captain, A Novel of World War I. You may view his weekly column at www.StevenHarrell.com. You may email him at wshj@windstream.net.