Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
I had a funny conversation about Libby’s commutation the other with a friend who has argued several cases before SCOTUS–he pointed out that since he defends real thugs whose prosecutions included irregularities, his clients don’t get considered for commutation. Like him, Jeralyn spends a lot of time dealing with clients who get none of the benefits accorded to Libby on Monday.
In my post on the felon of considerable means, rhfactor noted that Libby’s check paying his fine was dated July 2–the same day Bush obstructed justice commuted Libby’s prison sentence. What a coinkydink, huh?
But I checked with the good folks at the Prettyman Courthouse, and at least on the surface, there’s nothing untoward about the date.
James Fallows repeats a fascinating story Gary Hart and Lee Hamilton told him about the Hart-Rudman Commission.
Early in 2001, the commission presented a report to the incoming G.W. Bush administration warning that terrorismwould be the nation’s greatest national security problem, and sayingthat unless the United States took proper protective measures aterrorist attack was likely within its borders.
Let me say straight out. Punishing Bush’s commutation of Libby’s sentence with censure would be like punishing Libby’s obstruction of justice with just 400 hours of community service. It would simply reinforce the notion that Bush’s Administration is above the law. It would be a punishment wholly unfit for the crime that has been committed:
I’m with Howie and Josh. I think we ought not assume that, because two GOP Senators mired in scandal jump ship, it reflects widespread dissatisfaction with Bush’s failing war in Iraq.
The two rats in question are Senator Domenici, who will have a real challenge for re-election next year. Reid has effectively challenged Domenici to put his votes where his mouth is next week, at which point Domenici might cave.
Just to put a little perspective to Scooter Libby’s little get out of jail almost-free check today, I remind you of this quote from the government’s filing on Libby’s PSR:
Any suggestion the defendant is entitled to leniency based onthe loss of income he suffered as a result of his decision to work ingovernment rather than in the private sector should be rejected out ofhand, particularly in light of the fact that,
The BoGlo has a great story out today about what a slime Fred Thompson is. While he served as a minority counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee, Thompson was feeding Nixon’s lawyer information so Nixon could take “appropriate action.”
“Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decidedto call Fred Buzhardt at home” to tell him that the committee hadlearned about the taping system, Thompson wrote.
Remember the way that Thor Hearne tried to hide any traces of his American Center for Voting Rights, just as the media started to realize that it was a Republican front group designed to popularize ideas with no basis in reality, but which would be key tools to Republican dominance?
Well, the same is happening with Italia Federici’s organization, Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.
Say, did you notice who wrote the talking points for Tony Snow’s press briefing yesterday? The Probation office (only Snow makes the same mistake I did when I first talked about this, calling it the parole office–though I guess if you work for the guy who simply disappears all prison sentence, parole might come more easily to the tongue).
MR.