Top Items:
Pete Yost / Associated Press:
Libby Lawyer Plans Lack-of-Memory Defense — WASHINGTON - The lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide is outlining a possible criminal defense that is a time-honored tradition in Washington scandals: A busy official immersed in important duties cannot reasonably be expected to remember details of long-ago conversations.
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
Cheney Aide Charged With Lying in Leak Case — WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was indicted by a federal jury on Friday on five felony charges of lying to investigators and misleading the grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case …
Discussion:
firedoglake, Prairie Weather, Billmon, www.AndrewSullivan.com, Severe Writers Block and Tim Worstall
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
How Covert Was Valerie Plame (III)? — Joe Wilson, aka "Mr. Incredible" will be appearing on 60 Minutes about threats to his wife. Uh huh. Maybe, since Joe admitted to doing consulting work for the CIA in his NY Times op-ed (and the Senate revealed that he undertook a 1999 CIA mission), it is he that is imperiled.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Defending Lewis Libby — Contrary to my earlier suggestion, Libby will not be going with an insanity defense. Instead, he will hire Steve Martin as his new counsel and use the closely-related "I Forgot" defense (press release here). — Well, Libby had a lot to forget.
Booman Tribune / Booman Tribune ~ Boo!:
Fitz's Knuckle Ball — Gadfly is Marty Aussenberg, a columnist for the weekly Memphis Flyer. Marty is a former SEC enforcement official, currently in private law practice in Memphis, Tennessee. (A full bio is below the fold.) — The indictment of "Scooter" Libby, ONLY Scooter Libby …
Washington Post:
Appellate Judges Cited as Focus of New Search — Supreme Court Candidates on Short List Were Vetted This Summer, Sources Say — With President Bush expected to pick a new Supreme Court nominee within days, several sources close to the selection process said the White House is focusing …
RELATED ITEMS:
Shannon P. Duffy / LAW.com:
Justice Alito? Some Say He's a New High Court Favorite — The short list of potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court suddenly appeared much shorter Friday as 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. quickly emerged as perhaps the most likely second choice to fill Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat.
RELATED ITEM:
National Review:
"Fitzmas" Day — The breathless waiting is over. Fitzmas Day has arrived. And those George W. Bush critics who have so eagerly anticipated it have to be a little disappointed. — There has been much high-minded talk about how the Valerie Plame controversy is really about the case for the Iraq war.
RELATED ITEMS:
Sydney Morning Herald:
Christian girls beheaded in grisly Indonesian attack — Three teenage Christian girls were beheaded and a fourth was seriously wounded in a savage attack on Saturday by unidentified assailants in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi. — The girls were among a group of students …
RELATED ITEM:
Joseph C. Wilson IV / Los Angeles Times:
Our 27 months of hell — AFTER THE two-year smear campaign orchestrated by senior officials in the Bush White House against my wife and me, it is tempting to feel vindicated by Friday's indictment of the vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
RELATED ITEM:
New York Times:
After Upheavals, President Seeks to Steady Course — WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - After weeks of political turmoil, capped by the indictment of a senior administration official, President Bush will try to give his second term a fresh start by naming a new, conservative nominee to the Supreme Court …
New York Times:
In Indictment's Wake, a Focus on Cheney's Powerful Role — WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - Vice President Dick Cheney makes only three brief appearances in the 22-page federal indictment that charges his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, with lying to investigators and misleading a grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case.
Washington Post:
White House Ethics, Honesty Questioned — 55% in Survey Say Libby Case Signals Broader Problems — A majority of Americans say the indictment of senior White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby signals broader ethical problems in the Bush administration, and nearly half say the overall level …
Andrew Alderson / Telegraph:
Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush — The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. — The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday …
Bloomberg:
India's Capital Delhi Rocked by 3 Blasts; Toll at 41 (Update3) — Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — India's capital New Delhi was rocked by three explosions that killed at least 41 people and injured hundreds in crowded market places as people shopped for the main Hindu festival of Diwali and the Muslim festival of Eid.
