We can only infer what went on in the White House, but in my view there is more than sufficient evidence introduced in the trial with a high probability of accuracy to make an informed judgment.

However, the distinction between Berger and Libby is that Berger apparently was acting alone, and his actions hence do not reflect on others. Libby was acting as part of a team, under the (at best) tacit or (at worst) explicit direction of the Vice President. An analogy would be the distinction between Watergate (which involved many) and William Jefferson (which involved only him).

I also dispute the suggestion that Plame’s exposure was “a crime that was determined not to have been committed.” First, no such determination was made (nor was a determination made the other way: it wasn’t the crime being charged. My guess is that Fitzgerald chose not to bring the charge because it would allow the defense to subpoena classified documents in the discovery process, which the government was unlikely to provide. This would jeopardize the likelihood of conviction on an exposure charge and introduce a lot of extraneous legal issues about government secrecy which would delay the trial and obscure from the other charges. Why press a charge which may be derailed and which will cause a huge distraction from the four slam dunk charges you already have?)

Secondly, there is no correlation between declining to bring charges on exposing an agent and the statement that it “says nothing about President Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, et al.” It is true that the verdict itself is not a reflection on the others. However, as noted above, the evidence and sworn testimony which emerged in the trial says a great deal.

Like Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing justice in the investigation of a crime that was determined not to have been committed. That says nothing about President Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, et al.

I am, though, heartened to see how many on the Left are placing the right level of importance on the significance of the charge of lying to a grand jury.

Here, without further ado, are the top five things VP Cheney’s former right hand man, Scooter Libby, was not convicted of: Lying about Iraq and it’s WMD, specifically, the desire to buy uranium from Niger. (It was, in fact, Joe

Post 18: thanks!