Libby: Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty...

Victory! Justice has been served. Congradulations to Patrick Fitzgerald on a case well run.

Think Progress lays the facts down...

Scooter Libby has been found guilty on four out of five counts:

Count 1 - Obstruction of Justice: Libby intentionally deceived the grand jury about how he learned, and “disclosed to the media,” information about Valerie Plame Wilson’s employment by the CIA.

Count 2 - Making a False Statement: Libby intentionally gave FBI agents false information about a conversation he had with NBC’s Tim Russert regarding Valerie Plame Wilson, who is married to Joseph Wilson.

Count 4 - Perjury: Libby knowingly provided false testimony in court about a conversation he had with Russert.

Count 5 - Perjury: Libby knowingly provided false testimony in court about his conversation with reporters regarding Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA employment.

Libby was found not guilty on count 3, a charge that he gave false statements to the FBI about his conversation with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.

UPDATE: Fox News reports from inside the courtroom: “Scooter Libby had a rather sad, resigned smile on his face. The kind of smile you get from resignation, not happiness, obviously.”

UPDATE II: Washington Post: “Under federal sentencing guidelines, Libby faces a probable prison term of 1 1/2 to three years when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. … As the jury forewoman read each guilty count in a clear, solemn voice, Libby was impassive, remaining seated at the defense table, gazing straight ahead and displaying no visible emotion.”

UPDATE III: Fox news legal analyst Andrew Napolitano spins the verdict for the defense, arguing that there is a basis for Libby’s defense counsel to say the jury “misunderstood the nature of the charges” and was “hopelessly confused.”

UPDATE IV: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) calls on President Bush to pledge not to pardon Libby:

I welcome the jury’s verdict. It’s about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics. Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney’s role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct.

UPDATE V: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says the problem is not just Libby.

Today’s guilty verdicts are not solely about the acts of one individual. This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush Administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed — at the highest levels of the Bush Administration — a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq.

LINK: BREAKING: Libby Guilty On Four Of Five Counts

RELATED READING...

*MUST READ* LINK: Media Matters CIA leak case "dishonor" roll

LINK: Libby's guilty verdict: Media myths and falsehoods to watch for

LINK: Breaking: Hume, Novak mislead on facts of Libby conviction

LINK: Wilson: My Wife Wept When She Heard The Verdict

LINK: VIDEO: Fitzgerald Speaks Out On Libby Verdict

LINK: Colbert Explains Why Libby Was Found Guilty

CONSERVATIVES (National Review and Weekly Standard) DEMAND PARDON! (While FOX News attempts to distract and distort...)

Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes argued that Bush will pardon Scooter Libby because “he didn’t really seriously impede the investigation,” and “he’s been a loyal and effective member of this administration.”

LINK: Barnes: Libby Should Be Pardoned Because He ‘Didn’t Really Seriously Impede The Investigation’

There should have been no referral, no special counsel, no indictments, and no trial. The “CIA-leak case” has been a travesty. A good man has paid a very heavy price for the Left’s fevers, the media’s scandal-mongering, and President Bush’s failure to unify his own administration. Justice demands that Bush issue a pardon and lower the curtain on an embarrassing drama that shouldn’t have lasted beyond its opening act.

LINK: NR: Pardon LibbyNewshounds:

Newshounds notes that while Fox News’ conservatives have been spinning the Libby decision, the network’s purported “liberal” legal analyst Greta van Sustern has never mentioned the Libby trial.

Newshounds has more here, here, here, here and here.

Victory! Cheney and Rove may be next if Libby makes a deal...
-Mr. Joseph