DE LA VEGA ON THE LIBBY CASE

(Via Arthur) TomDispatch has a brief article by a former federal prosecutor on what we can expect in the future. There are also some good links above the article. Here are some highlights:

We should not expect a final resolution any time soon.
We should not expect to hear much more from Fitzgerald.
We should not expect a smoking gun.
We should not expect the President to take steps to "get to the bottom of this."
We should expect red herrings from the defense (even if not smoking guns from the prosecution).
We should expect more attacks on Joseph Wilson, even though they represent a very large red herring (more the size of a mackerel).
We should expect another red herring, one that should have been thrown back in the river long ago: that perjury, obstruction of justice, and false statements charges are not "substantive," and so somehow less serious.
We should expect attempts by pundits to derive "meaning" from the absence of charges under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act.
We should expect a campaign to demonize Fitzgerald through claims that he is overzealous and has exceeded his authority.
We should also expect pundits to argue that this prosecution is political.
But should we expect, given the Republicans' attempts to belittle and politicize the case thus far, that President Bush will pardon his senior administration official if Libby is convicted on these serious charges? The 1992 Christmas Eve pardons of Iran/contra defendants by former President George Bush Sr. provide cause for concern. Let us hope that the current President Bush will not undermine the rule of law in this way.

These are only the headings and there will be a longer article soon.