Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid took the senate into closed session today over intelligence leading up to the Iraq War. Raw Story reports this has happened only 53 times in Senate history, with the last time being during the Clinton impeachment hearings.

Here's a large portion of Sen. Reid's statement (received by e-mail.)

This past weekend, we witnessed the indictment of the I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff and a senior Advisor to President Bush. Libby is the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years. This indictment raises very serious charges. It asserts this Administration engaged in actions that both harmed our national security and are morally repugnant.

My latest edition of Scoring Scotus about Judge Sam Alito is up at Eric Alterman's Altercation. It's about how this nomination, even if it succeeds, is unlikely to help Bush's presidency or the Republicans. Here's a snippet, I hope you will go over and read the whole thing:

With Alito's nomination, Bush has turned flames of dissent into a rip-roaring wildfire. His transparent attempt to regroup from the debacle of the Harriet Miers nomination and the scandal of the indictment of Scooter Libby by caving in to the radical right through the nomination of an anti-abortion Supreme Court Justice with a troubling record on civil rights and criminal justice issues, has unleashed a maelstrom.

Bloggers had a great conference call last night with many of the liberal groups opposing him. It was the first time I got to be a presenter on one of these call and my theme was asking the liberal groups not to leave criminal justice issues out of the debate. Half the cases before the Supreme Court are criminal cases - it's not all about abortion and choice. Just like TalkLeft voices support for the messages of PFAW's Save the Court, Alliance for Justice, NARAL and American Progress, we'd like to hear some support for our issues.

Matthew Cooper was on ABC's This Week Sunday speaking about his conversations with Lewis Libby and Karl Rove. (Transcript on Lexis.com)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Matt, I have to begin with you today because you are right in the middle of this Lewis Libby case and let me show you part of the indictment where some of Scooter Libby's, Scooter Libby's testimony was included. There was a question to him in the grand jury, March 5th, 2004, "And it's your specific recollection," this is to Mr. Libby, "that when you told Cooper about Wilson's wife working at the CIA you attributed that fact to what reporters," answered, "Yes," "plural, were saying, correct?" "Yes, I was very clear to say reporters are telling us that because in my mind I still didn't know it as a fact. I thought I was, all I had was this information that was coming in from the reporters." Is that how the conversation went?

by TChris

Echoing yesterday’s TalkLeft request for Dick Cheney to come clean, Nicholas Kristof today urges the vice president to “clear the air” by answering six questions in a televised press conference. The NY Times no longer provides free online access to Kristof’s columns, but the questions merit discussion, so they are reproduced (from the print edition) here (Truthout provides a free link here):

Did you ask Scooter Libby to undertake his inquiries about Ambassador Joseph Wilson? Mr. Libby made such a concerted push to get information, from both the State Department and the CIA, that I suspect that you prodded him. Is that right? If so, why?

Why did you independently ask the CIA for information about the Wilsons? The indictment states that on June 12, 2003, you advised Mr. Libby that you learned, apparently from the CIA, that Mr. Wilson’s wife, Valerie, worked in the agency. So did you ask George Tenet, then the director, about Mr. and Mrs. Wilson? Did you review the related documents that the CIA faxed to your office?

Count Five of Lewis Libby's indictment (html version) alleges that Libby lied to the grand jury on both March 5, 2004 and March 24, 2004 when tesifying about his conversation with Matthew Cooper and other unnamed reporters.

The recitation of phrases used by Libby sets off alarm bells in my head. They are the same as Cheney used in the September 14, 2003 edition of Meet the Press.

Libby in Count 5 (p. 21, Par. 2B)

"I don't know Mr. Wilson. We didn't ask for his mission....I didn't see his report."

Cheney on Meet the Press:

I don’t know Joe Wilson....I don’t who sent Joe Wilson. He never submitted a report that I ever saw when he came back.

Appellate whiz Peter Goldberger of Ardmore, PA is as defense-oriented as they come. He comments on TalkLeft frequently. He went to law school with Judge Alito and practices in his circuit. Here's his latest comment, responding to another TalkLeft poster:

From the AP:

Alito's politically conservative views were not in dispute. "Of course he's against abortion," his 90-year-old mother Rose told reporters at her home in Hamilton, N.J.

Judge Alito's son is a student at Colgate University who writes opinion pieces for The Forum. His self-written bio was scratched from the editor's page. (Cached version showing him to be the Editor here.) [Via Max Blumenthal at HuffPo.] Here's a section:

Shortly after, I became interested in politics and got involved with Gary Condit (not like that). I served as a parking aide to Nancy Pelosi (I won't even start on her) but was fired when Barbara Boxer came onto me.

As of now, his columns remain. In one, he makes a poignant plea for stem cell research. On other topics, he appears to be quite the conservative. Here's one on the importance of the Bush-Kerry election.

Civil liberties are of paramount concern to TalkLeft, right along with constitutional rights of the accused. First Amendment Center has this analysis of Judge Alito, having analyzed 20 majority opinions he authored during his tenure on the 3rd Circuit.

A preliminary examination of his First Amendment opinions suggests that Alito is: (1) quite protective of several categories of expression, including religious and commercial expression; (2) far less protective of First Amendment claims raised by prisoners; (3) guardedly protective of First Amendment rights in defamation cases, and (4) generally concerned about prior restraints on expression.

Overall, his opinions suggest he is scholarly in his approach to deciding such cases, and sensitive to precedent but nonetheless capable of working around it when he deems necessary.

If President Bush thought Sam Alito was a safe choice for the Supreme Court because he would pacify the radical right, he mis-stepped because it's already apparent liberals are gearing up for a fight.

In addition to PFAW, Alliance for Justice, NARAL and the National Women's Law Center, check out:

• Dalia Lathwick at Slate
• David Corn at the Nation
• Liberal Oasis
• Angry Bear
• Think Progress

A court in Iowa has upheld Gov. Tom Vilsack's executive order restoring voting rights to felony offenders who have served their sentences.

"The ruling by Judge Darbyshire confirms that the executive order I signed on July 4th was in compliance with the state constitution and that allowing ex-offenders who have discharged their sentence, probation or parole the right to vote is within the authority of the governor's office," Vilsack said in a statement released Friday evening.

More news on the decision is here. Background and our praise for Gov. Vilsack's order is here.

NBC's Tim Russert, mentioned in the Lewis Libby Indictment as having provided a different version of his July 10, 2003 conversation with Libby than Libby gave to the grand jury, is attracting a lot of media attention of his own.

The New York Times today analyzes his role.

Bloggers are more critical of Russert. Arianna chastises the article for being one-sided. Yesterday, she Arianna chastised Russert and Meet the Press yesterday for saying nothing illuminating about the Libby indictment or the scandal surrounding it - and instead lets guests go on and on about how the Bush White House is planning a turnaround. Check out Arianna's timeline of Russert and NBC comments about Russert's call with Libby.

From Legal Intelligencer:

After a clerkship with 3rd Circuit Judge Leonard I. Garth, Alito worked as a front-line federal prosecutor in New Jersey for four years. But soon after President Ronald Reagan was elected, Alito joined the Office of the Solicitor General, staying for four years and helping to decide what position the administration would take in cases up for review by the Supreme Court.

That was followed by a three-year stint at Main Justice as a deputy assistant attorney general. In 1987, at the age of 37, Alito was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, a post he held until he was tapped in 1990 by the first President Bush to join the 3rd Circuit.

Before becoming a judge, after a short stint as a law clerk for a federal judge, Alito's entire career --from 1977 to 1990 -- was as a prosecutor or attorney for the Government.

Again, my prediction: A disaster appointment for those who care about the constitutional rights of the accused. I don't want a career prosecutor like Alito on the Supreme Court. I fear he will be a major proponent of the war on drugs, the death penalty and the war against immigrants, while he will rule to restrict habeas rights and Miranda.