History in the making. Libby is found guilty in 4 of the 5 charges. Successful: obstruction of justice, perjury in front of the grand jury, and lying to the FBI.
It was a great privilege to be one of the first few citizen journalists ever to have official press credentials to cover a trial in federal court. My days were February 13, when Fitzgerald swiftly disposed of John Hannah's excuses, and March 2 during jury deliberations. It was fun to get to know the other media people better. Now when I watch the news I think, yeah, nice guy, met him last week :)
We had a party to celebrate at Plamehouse. I got to meet Pach and Stoller. Jane is off, and Marcy leaves today after her last radio gig. Everybody is elated but exhausted.
We enjoyed celebratory wine provided by looseheadprop.
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Showing posts with label Fitzgerald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitzgerald. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Fitzgerald's closing statement
History in the making.
Patrick Fitzgerald's closing in U.S. v. Libby, recorded by Marcy Wheeler, edited for spelling.
"DONT YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO ANSWERS? If as a result his [Wilson's] wife had a job, she worked at CPD, she gets dragged into newspapers. People want to find out was a law broken, people want to know, who did it. What role did Defendant play. What role did VP play? He told you he may have discussed this with VP. Don't you think FBI deserves straight answers? When you go in that jury room, your common sense will tell you that he made a gamble. He threw sand in the eyes of the FBI. He stole the truth of the judicial system. If you return guilty you give truth back."
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Fitzgerald, as recorded by Sidney Blumenthal of Salon. [I briefly sat next to him at the trial on February 13.]
"He stole the truth from the judicial system," Fitzgerald told the jury. "If you return a guilty verdict, you give the truth back."
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Comment by attorney looseheadprop on Fitzgerald's Opening Statement---
"It takes, all in one unified moment: nerves of steel, total humility, exquisitely nuanced taste/discretion, and a total belief in the “rightness” of the evidence to dare so simple and stark a presentation. It was like Shaker furniture, or the glistening perfection of a white marble Doric column. Weeks later, I am still blown away by it and cannot get it out of my head."
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Keep in mind that I was just an alternate who was available when one of our regulars missed a couple of days. This from commenter Sandia Blanca:
'I never realized adrenaline could be transmitted electronically, but today’s blogging brought thousands of us close to the pervasive power of JUSTICE! Fitz is my hero, and Jane, Christy, Marcy, Jeralyn, Swopa, Pachacutec, egregious, TRex, et al., are the picture window into this momentous trial.
We cannot thank you enough for the service you have done, and continue to do, for us and our nation. Now I’m tearing up (shades of Wells?). Thank you!!!! "
I was available for liveblogging but Marcy handled everything beautifully. So it was my privilege just to watch and add a few notes last Tuesday when Hannah testified Libby was a very busy man. I've been busy too but am pretty sure I would remember outing one of our nation's undercover assets. The press people in the courtoom tried not to laugh out loud when a juror question was read, if Libby forgets so much, can he really do his job as National Security Advisor?
Jury instructions tomorrow. We wait for justice.
Patrick Fitzgerald's closing in U.S. v. Libby, recorded by Marcy Wheeler, edited for spelling.
"DONT YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO ANSWERS? If as a result his [Wilson's] wife had a job, she worked at CPD, she gets dragged into newspapers. People want to find out was a law broken, people want to know, who did it. What role did Defendant play. What role did VP play? He told you he may have discussed this with VP. Don't you think FBI deserves straight answers? When you go in that jury room, your common sense will tell you that he made a gamble. He threw sand in the eyes of the FBI. He stole the truth of the judicial system. If you return guilty you give truth back."
*******
Fitzgerald, as recorded by Sidney Blumenthal of Salon. [I briefly sat next to him at the trial on February 13.]
"He stole the truth from the judicial system," Fitzgerald told the jury. "If you return a guilty verdict, you give the truth back."
*******
Comment by attorney looseheadprop on Fitzgerald's Opening Statement---
"It takes, all in one unified moment: nerves of steel, total humility, exquisitely nuanced taste/discretion, and a total belief in the “rightness” of the evidence to dare so simple and stark a presentation. It was like Shaker furniture, or the glistening perfection of a white marble Doric column. Weeks later, I am still blown away by it and cannot get it out of my head."
*******
Keep in mind that I was just an alternate who was available when one of our regulars missed a couple of days. This from commenter Sandia Blanca:
'I never realized adrenaline could be transmitted electronically, but today’s blogging brought thousands of us close to the pervasive power of JUSTICE! Fitz is my hero, and Jane, Christy, Marcy, Jeralyn, Swopa, Pachacutec, egregious, TRex, et al., are the picture window into this momentous trial.
We cannot thank you enough for the service you have done, and continue to do, for us and our nation. Now I’m tearing up (shades of Wells?). Thank you!!!! "
I was available for liveblogging but Marcy handled everything beautifully. So it was my privilege just to watch and add a few notes last Tuesday when Hannah testified Libby was a very busy man. I've been busy too but am pretty sure I would remember outing one of our nation's undercover assets. The press people in the courtoom tried not to laugh out loud when a juror question was read, if Libby forgets so much, can he really do his job as National Security Advisor?
Jury instructions tomorrow. We wait for justice.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
My world. Welcome.
For the record:
Not my world—I am a newbie wrt courtroom and mediaroom etiquette.
My world—if somebody tells you that you are being followed, don’t start looking around. Then they know that you know. Yay years of working in Russia, you kind of know when the hair on the back of yr neck stands up.
In Not My World I experience criticism about not knowing the dance steps. I think the funniest was observing everybody standing up in the courtroom at the lunch break. Within two seconds I realized this was an "ALL RISE" and I whooshed myself up off the bench.
Also apparently one is not supposed to say anything about other people in the media room. I think this is not talking about their conversations if that takes away from their ability to write a unique story, but perhaps it is beyond that and I still don't get it. Would not be the first time.
And finally, one does not speak to others in court. Guilty of being star struck. I have a policy of not bothering famous people that I encounter in real life. Apparently that works because there are so few people that impress me. Kind of imperial, yes? In this case I acted against my own policy. What can I say. I'm human.
Not my world—I am a newbie wrt courtroom and mediaroom etiquette.
My world—if somebody tells you that you are being followed, don’t start looking around. Then they know that you know. Yay years of working in Russia, you kind of know when the hair on the back of yr neck stands up.
In Not My World I experience criticism about not knowing the dance steps. I think the funniest was observing everybody standing up in the courtroom at the lunch break. Within two seconds I realized this was an "ALL RISE" and I whooshed myself up off the bench.
Also apparently one is not supposed to say anything about other people in the media room. I think this is not talking about their conversations if that takes away from their ability to write a unique story, but perhaps it is beyond that and I still don't get it. Would not be the first time.
And finally, one does not speak to others in court. Guilty of being star struck. I have a policy of not bothering famous people that I encounter in real life. Apparently that works because there are so few people that impress me. Kind of imperial, yes? In this case I acted against my own policy. What can I say. I'm human.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
A day with Patrick Fitzgerald
What a privilege to have a press pass to the Libby/CIA trial.
Since my father was the city prosecutor, I have a great respect for the law and its deliberative approach to discerning the truth. I tend to favor the prosecution because of this, which makes me not the ideal jury candidate :)
I arrived at Prettyman Courthouse at 8am with only a couple of other people there at that early hour. Have since learned not to give any details about fellow journalists, it's not the accepted etiquette. They can get in trouble if their employers learn that they have been discussing things with other people, i.e., giving away product for free I guess.
But to speak in generalities, the media people were just great. There were differences of opinion yet everyone worked in an atmosphere of congeniality. I compare it to a gathering of ambassadors: you encounter representatives of rival nations, yet you share the same profession, so you have something in common.
I met many people including the Post's Dan Froomkin, who lives up to his reputation as one who is interested in the true story. He disagrees with people but cordially. Have we lost the ability to disagree without being disagreeable? Some of my fellow bloggers would do well to learn from his example of kindness.
For the record David Shuster is very cool. A great guy. The kind of person you are glad you met, the neighbor you hope to have, the man you want your daughter to marry. Integrity plus. Whatever it is he has gone thru, he is the better man for it. And we are the lucky beneficiaries.
Some mainstream media people that I met today are orbiting their own very tiny planets. I will withhold their names to protect the guilty. It wasn't so much a nose in the air---which I understand, they are STARS after all---as an inability to see beyond their existing small worlds. You want to do that, great go be The Little Prince. But spare us your 'wisdom' about matters of war and peace, because you are reading from recycled paper.
Patrick Fitzgerald is a human being. Let me start with that. He clearly hungers for the truth, and for justice. He leans towards the person speaking. He stares into the future. He hurts when things do not go the way of Good. It is a privilege to be on the same planet as such a person, and to speak to him however briefly is my happiness. I said Thank You to him, but I will not describe his reply because I don't want to make him into some kind of an idol, which is forbidden by both Old and New Testaments. But testimony today shows that important people are lying about important matters. I identify with some of them, they remind me of people I went to school with. They are only trying to do their job, and protect their bosses and their administration. Yet while I identify with them, I try to remember that their policies are responsible for the unnecessary deaths of many Americans and many people in the middle East. Judge not, says God; He will judge. I rest my case. I throw this situation His way and beg Him to bless our efforts at obtaining real justice.
Since my father was the city prosecutor, I have a great respect for the law and its deliberative approach to discerning the truth. I tend to favor the prosecution because of this, which makes me not the ideal jury candidate :)
I arrived at Prettyman Courthouse at 8am with only a couple of other people there at that early hour. Have since learned not to give any details about fellow journalists, it's not the accepted etiquette. They can get in trouble if their employers learn that they have been discussing things with other people, i.e., giving away product for free I guess.
But to speak in generalities, the media people were just great. There were differences of opinion yet everyone worked in an atmosphere of congeniality. I compare it to a gathering of ambassadors: you encounter representatives of rival nations, yet you share the same profession, so you have something in common.
I met many people including the Post's Dan Froomkin, who lives up to his reputation as one who is interested in the true story. He disagrees with people but cordially. Have we lost the ability to disagree without being disagreeable? Some of my fellow bloggers would do well to learn from his example of kindness.
For the record David Shuster is very cool. A great guy. The kind of person you are glad you met, the neighbor you hope to have, the man you want your daughter to marry. Integrity plus. Whatever it is he has gone thru, he is the better man for it. And we are the lucky beneficiaries.
Some mainstream media people that I met today are orbiting their own very tiny planets. I will withhold their names to protect the guilty. It wasn't so much a nose in the air---which I understand, they are STARS after all---as an inability to see beyond their existing small worlds. You want to do that, great go be The Little Prince. But spare us your 'wisdom' about matters of war and peace, because you are reading from recycled paper.
Patrick Fitzgerald is a human being. Let me start with that. He clearly hungers for the truth, and for justice. He leans towards the person speaking. He stares into the future. He hurts when things do not go the way of Good. It is a privilege to be on the same planet as such a person, and to speak to him however briefly is my happiness. I said Thank You to him, but I will not describe his reply because I don't want to make him into some kind of an idol, which is forbidden by both Old and New Testaments. But testimony today shows that important people are lying about important matters. I identify with some of them, they remind me of people I went to school with. They are only trying to do their job, and protect their bosses and their administration. Yet while I identify with them, I try to remember that their policies are responsible for the unnecessary deaths of many Americans and many people in the middle East. Judge not, says God; He will judge. I rest my case. I throw this situation His way and beg Him to bless our efforts at obtaining real justice.
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