from blogger emptywheel’s live transcript at Firedoglake.com:
Fitz: We need to make sure we don’t make a special category of person who is not liable for their behavior. That is a terrible precedent, when we talk about govt corruption, if he doesn’t have to tell the truth, that is dangerous. I don’t think we should make a decision based on the policy decisions has made. We put that out the window and say, whatever policy decision he did in good faith, but many others have sacrificed for govt, but they all have to follow the truth. I don’t think it’s appropriate to consider impact of prosecution on him. No doubt it has impact on him, no defendant has stood before court, no defendant has better prospects for employment, even wihtout a law license Libby has many people who wrote letters who would said he would trust him. He has better employment prospects than any other defendant, and he has means.
Fitz: I don’t think he qualifies for aberrant behavior. The record here shows someone who lied in Oct, lying precisely about critical issues. Persisted in lies despite training as a lawyer, has shown absolute no contrition. We’re not going to recommend any sentence. I do think the sentence has to make clear and loud that truth matters and one’s station in life does not.
The truth matters, indeed. If Bush, with Libby’s crucial assistance, had not lied us into the Iraq war, I would not be posting this now: 4 million Iraqis and climbing are now refugees. Most of the numbers you see at the masthead of this blog would be non-existent, starting with the 3,495 dead servicemen and women.
UPDATE: Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Bolton, Kissinger, Doug Feith and others’ letters begging for leniency for the criminal are released by the judge. Cheney aide Mary Matalin praises the convicted felon, and her letter is also signed by her husband James Carville.
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