The ‘mainstream media’ circus was more or less based on the assumption that Plame was outed by Bush’s goons as a way of retaliating against Wilson for his criticism of the administration. Since it was Armitage who did the leaking, this seems implausible.

The trial itself was highly politicized. You don’t have to be a “poor disenfranchised person of color” to get shafted. If you recall, it was a close call for the Duke lacrosse team also. Libby had already been convicted in the court of public opinion well in advance; in addition Fitzgerald was able to essentially hold the trial on a battlefield of his own choosing. At the same time, I should make it clear that I think it entirely possible that Libby did end up perjuring himself. But if you have no idea what the truth (that Armitage was the leaker) actually is, I think it’s rather hard to make statements under oath to a federal prosecutor for six months and avoid saying anything false. There’s a reason you can’t simply be dragged before a grand jury for no reason, and if Armitage’s claim that Fitzgerald already knew who leaked (and therefore that Libby probably didn’t know anything) is true, then the only reason to continue questioning Libby is to trap him into saying something.

I believe you. That whole grand jury/lawyers/judge thing does kinda stick out in an inconvenient way. I take your point about not all trials being fair. Clearly poor ‘Scooter’ is just another in a long line of poor disenfranchised people of color who are victimized by their reliance on an overworked public defender system.

I am puzzled by the non-crime bit though. I guess I was hoodwinked by the ‘mainstream media’ into thinking that outing Valerie Plame as a covert agent WAS a crime. I wonder how all those lawyers missed that.

What Viz said is correct. Link Commentary on point from WP

And, yes, Libby should have been pardoned. Imagine if you were asked, under oath, to recount a minor conversation you had with 2 people some 6 months prior. They remember it one way, you remember it another. Are you guilty of perjury for it? According to Patrick Fitzgerald, you are. It was a sham trial because Libby was basically tried for outing Plame (something he didn’t commit and had no involvement with) and perjury was all that could be brought against him.

This being the case, what, exactly, Lewis was “obstructing” becomes very unclear. If, as Armitage asserts, Fitzgerald knew that he was the leak but told him not to say anything, then the whole thing smells like a setup.

I don’t doubt that some will /try/, though.