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.

by TChris

Scooter Libby’s arraignment, where he is likely to enter a plea of not guilty, has been scheduled for Thursday. Vice President Cheney today replaced Libby with two staff members:

Cheney picked David Addington to serve as his chief of staff and John Hannah to take over Libby's duties as assistant to the vice president for national security affairs.

As TalkLeft noted here, Addington “attended strategy sessions in 2003 on how to discredit Wilson when the former ambassador publicly charged that the Bush administration misled the country in pushing its case for war,” and he “played a leading role in 2004 on behalf of the Bush administration when it refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee documents from Libby's office on the alleged misuse of intelligence information regarding Iraq.” Addington seems to be Libby’s “mini-me,” and Hannah was also involved in the Plame outing, a fact that TalkLeft discusses here and here. Their new roles assure that it will be business as usual in Cheney’s office.

The Times UK First Post has an excellent analysis of George Bush today. His uninspired appointments are indicative of a President who has run out of energy.

Having won two presidential elections and fought two unending wars, President Bush has run out of energy. Instead of the bouncing enthusiasm of happier days, his subdued manner indicates a loss of interest in the presidency itself, a desire to go home and rest.

He also has no honorable exit.

Think Progress quotes GW law prof Jonathan Turley on the nomination of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. Crooks and Liars has the video:

JONATHAN TURLEY: He’s the top choice for particularly pro-life people. Sam Alito is viewed as someone who is likely to join the hard right in likely narrowing Roe and possibly voting to overturn Roe.

...There will be no one to the right of Sam Alito on this Court. This is a pretty hardcore fellow on abortion issues.

by TChris

David Corn asks: “Did Cheney know Plame was undercover?” Noting that the Libby indictment doesn’t answer the question, Corn probes Cheney’s role in the scandal:

As the Post piece notes, on July 12, 2003--six days after Wilson published his op-ed--Libby apparently discussed with Cheney what he should say to reporters, particularly Matt Cooper, about the Wilson imbroglio. The indictment does not disclose what Cheney said to Libby at this point. But the next day, Libby confirmed for Cooper that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. Would Libby have done so had Cheney told him to be careful not to identify a DO [Operations Directorate] officer when discussing the Wilson affair with reporters? Perhaps so. But it's not unreasonable to wonder if Libby was--inadvertently or knowingly--spreading classified information about an undercover officer with the tacit or explicit consent of his boss.

Corn joins others in demanding that Cheney give a full accounting of the role he played in the outing of Valerie Plame. More on Cheney's role here and here.