Archive for March 6th, 2007
Fitzgerald: No further investigation planned
In a lengthy press conference with reporters after the announcement of four guilty verdicts, federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that he did not expect the results of the trial of former White House advsier I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby to result in further investigations or charges. He also promised “appropriate” support for any Congressional investigation that might follow the trial.
“I do not expect to file any further charges, the investigation was inactive prior to the trial,” the Chicago-based federal attorney who led the prosecution said. “We’re all going back to our day jobs.”
However, Fitzgerald did concede “If new information comes to light, of course we’ll do that.”
‘It’s a good day to be an American’ says blogger that covered Libby trial
After four guilty verdicts were issued in the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, one blogger who helped cover the trial heavily at the blog FireDogLake said “It’s a good day to be an American, huh?”
The remark was made by Jane Hamsher who, with several partners and guest-bloggers, provided daily, nearly instantaneous coverage of the trial in an activity which seemed in some ways to redefine the free flow of information.
“To say it was tense in the courtroom as we were waiting for a verdict would be an understatement,” Hamsher also said. “My heart was pounding in my chest as it all started to become real for me, all we’d done, how far we’d come.”
Will a blood clot force Cheney to step down?
Dick Cheney has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his left leg, leading to speculation he will be forced to resign as U.S. Vice-President.
The 66-year-old has a history of major health problems, including four heart attacks, and has undergone quadruple-bypass surgery.
He is a driving force in both the war in Iraq and the ‘war on terror’ and his resignation would be a huge loss to George Bush.
The vice-president is the leader of Washington’s neo-conservatives and is believed to be a dominant influence on Mr Bush’s military and foreign policies.
He is also believed to be the president’s closest political friend.
There has been widespread speculation that if Mr Cheney is unable to complete his term in office through ill health he will be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another personal friend of Mr Bush.
Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Trial
WASHINGTON — Once the closest adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted Tuesday of lying and obstructing a leak investigation that shook the top levels of the Bush administration.
He is the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government scandal since National Security Adviser John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra affair two decades ago.
In the end, jurors said they did not believe Libby’s main defense: that he hadn’t lied but merely had a bad memory.
Scooter Libby–GUILTY
Lewis “Scooter” Libby has been found guilty of lying to a probe into the leak of classified information.
Vice President Cheney’s former Chief of Staff was found guilty on two counts of perjury, one count of making a false statement, and one count of obstruction of justice.
He was acquitted of one count of making a false statement.
On these charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail, CNN correspondents say.
Libby Verdict Reached
Developing…The jury in the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby has reached a verdict, CNN reports. The verdict is to be read around 12pm EST.
Vice President Cheney’s former Chief of Staff has been been accused of lying to a probe into the leak of classified information.
Nine US Soldiers Die In Iraq Bombings
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Nine American soldiers died in explosions north of Baghdad, the U.S. military announced Tuesday after the deadliest single day for U.S. troops in Iraq in nearly a month.
Six soldiers died when a bomb exploded Monday near their vehicles during a combat operation in Salahuddin province, the military said. Three others were wounded in the blast.
Another three soldiers died the same day in a roadside bomb attack in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.
Two suicide bombers exploded themselves in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, police said.
White House Likely to Update War Request
WASHINGTON — The White House is ready to ask Congress for more money for President Bush’s plan _ already hotly debated _ to send 21,500 new combat troops into Iraq.
The move would pay for support personnel and otherwise update last month’s request for the Iraq war. It probably will draw criticism from Democrats who say the Pentagon had low-balled estimates of the costs of Bush’s plan for improving security in Baghdad and Anbar province.
The latest request could come as early as Tuesday, modifying last month’s $93.4 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30.
Though the changes may be relatively modest, they nonetheless are embarrassing to the White House and the Pentagon, which earlier dismissed criticism from lawmakers that the original $5.6 billion estimate for the troop buildup was too low.
US has no case for redefining torture: study
Psychological torture, including some of the techniques reportedly used on Guantanamo Bay detainees, appears to inflict the same kind of long-term mental damage as physical abuse, a study released Monday said.
Researchers who evaluated the mental health of soldiers and civilians tortured during the 1990s Balkan wars found that victims of psychological abuse were just as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression as victims of classic physical torture methods.
The researchers also reported that the torture victims rated some techniques such as stress positions, isolation, sleep deprivation and blindfolding as distressing as most physical torture methods.
“Ill treatment during captivity, such as psychological manipulations, humiliating treatment, and forced stress positions, does not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the severity of mental suffering they cause,” the study’s authors wrote.
“Thus, these procedures do amount to torture, thereby lending support to their prohibition by international law,” they wrote in the journal of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
The investigators said their findings undermine moves by the US government to narrow its definition of torture in order to free interrogators to use certain psychological methods aimed at breaking a prisoner’s resistance.
Four companies to pull ads from Ann Coulter’s website
Ann Coulter may soon be feeling the effects of her remarks at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in the pocketbook.
At least four companies have decided to pull advertisements from Coulter’s website in the wake of the controversy that erupted after the conservative columnist called presidential candidate John Edwards a “faggot” last Friday, reports CNN.
Verizon, Netbank, and Sallie Mae have all removed ads from the website. The ads were pulled in part due to a grassroots effort by a DailyKos diarist, who is reporting that Washington Mutual has also pulled ads from the website.
