Not surprisingly, the Judge (John Bates) was a 2001 Bush appointee, and was also appointed to FISA in 2006

lousy news, you would think this was Friday..

hey, Josh, John Kery's over at FDL, I think he just tossed you a compliment between the lines, ...

"I think some changes are already happening. Look at how the blogosphere put the U.S. Attorneys story front and center by doing good old fashioned reporting — true muckraking."

Good on John Kerry, maybe he'll become a bona fide blogger before it is all over with...

Anyone who thinks the Plame case is "over" now doesn't know the law...

I've read more than one noted blogger who said this moment was inevitable, because of the Republican politicization that has spoiled our entire judiciary process.

This was a setback they all anticipated, but it certainly not by any means the end of it. And, again, this is one of those cases that can be re-upped again after BushCheney is gone and their stranglehold on the judiciary has been removed or assuaged.

For those of us who might grow impatient with the slow grind, just remember, time is on our side, especially the future.

All these "nothing but a GD-piece-of-paper- conservatives" have is the recent past, and that is now a guaranteed legacy of a failed administration, and the memory of one of the darkest eras in US history.

We have a whole future available to be patient with. None of these crimes will go away, they can just wait in the wings unitl a more democratic and less corrupt administration takes the reigns.

I doubt there will be much sympathy for these lawless rogues then. Or much protection.

Bates also was on the Starr Whitewater investigation and he's the one who threw out the GAO's suit to gain access to the Energy Task Force records.

He's a real good Bushie!

Joe Wilson for Senate! He could run for Pete Domenici's seat in New Mexico!

"Joe Wilson for Senate! He could run for Pete Domenici's seat in New Mexico!"

I would second that nomination quite heartily, but I would guess Joe, Valerie and the twins might not WANT to go back in DC.

If there was ever a crowd of weenies, it is the ones who tried to take Joe Wilson down.

And most of them are in DC.

JEP:

So, you're saying that this was somehow an "invalid" pardon?

"I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974."

Couldn't resist posting this comment I saw over at the The Next Hurrah over here.

"Semi-fiction from JEP;

US Headlines, ca. July 2007;

In response to their devastating election loss in November 2006, a secret branch of the Republican Party has developed a new organization, called "Trolls for The New American Way", which channels funds from Republican campaign coffers around the country to pay these "trolls," as they are known on the blogosphere.

"It is good to see experienced right wing bloggers are finally getting paid for their work," said one well-known troll who calls himself "King of Zouk, and who also uses many other names on "The Fix" blog at The Washington Post (despite the fact that The Fix host has promised not to let people post under more than one name).

According to sources close to the source, this new wave of Republican paid trolls has been recruited to infest the left-leaning, liberal blogs on the internet. When asked why these blogs were targeted, one Republican operative, who spoke anonymously, answered "cuz those go%$#&mn tinfoil-hat lib'rul sunsabitches on the blogs lost us the last election!"

When asked what they were being paid for their pieces, "Jake", a recent newcomer to the paid-troll ranks, said "We only get paid when someone responds, but that's so easy to do, all you gotta say is "Bush is Great!" and you get a whole string of responses from these stupid leftwing geeks! I'm rakin' in the dough, especially over at TPMMuckraker!"

When asked how much he was paid for his work, the new troll responded, "about a hundred bucks for every one who responds."

The interview then ended, because a fight broke out immediately among the trolls, apparently because some of the other trolls were only getting $50 for each response."

Outing a CIA agent is all in a day's work at the White House. See these gems on page 39:

"Thus, the alleged tortious conduct, namely the disclosure of Mrs. Wilson's status as a covert operative, was incidental to the kind of conduct that defendants were employed to perform."

"The Court finds that attempts by high-ranking officials to discredit a critic of the Executive Branch's policies satisfy the Restatement's purpose [of serving the master] requirement."

The judge is saying that under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Valerie Plame would have to file a claim with the appropriate agency as to the conduct of each person involved. A claim is simply a demand for relief. I suppose the claim for Scooter and Dick would go to the Office of the Vice President.

Once a claim is denied, then the claimant may have to go through an administrative appeals process, if there is one. I am unaware of an appeals board for claims against the Vice-President.

It is after that appeals process is over (and the claim denied) that the claimant can normally file a lawsuit.

It may be (and probably is) too late for Valerie and Joe to go back and file claims. It's been over 4 years, and the case is probably subject to Administrative Finality (similar to a Statute of Limitations).

There is an exception to the exhaustion doctrine - FUTILITY. In other words, a person need not go through the claims process when to do so would be futile (i.e. the Government was going to deny the claim without giving it any serious consideration). I can't think of a case that would more illustrate the futility doctrine. The Administration has already shown it would do anything to get Joe Wilson, including unnecessarily putting his wife and her colleagues in danger. What would make anyone think that the OVP would seriously consider a claim against it when the people at the top are the ones alleged to be responsible?

Folks, Vatar points out a major mindfuck at work here. He states that David Corn was the 1st to figure out and write down the fact (later confirmed by in court proceedings during the Libby sentencing arguments, so kudos to Corn for some good investigative reporting), but fails to mention that most people in a position to know and to make definitive statements regarding the CIA identity, role, actions, and classified status of Valerie Wilson were/are prohibited from speaking about these facts due to their own security clearances and the oaths they were required to take and honor. Except, it seems, according to Judge Bates, White House political operatives...who were only doing there job.

A frightening new meaning of the idea of "unitary executive power" wherein the pigs can do whatever the hell they like, while us poor dogs shiver in the face of the awesome power of the law.

So, who leaked Plame's covert status to David Corn? Plame? Wilson?

Regardless of what transpires between now and the election next year the courts are largely lost to us. That part of Bush's de facto dictatorship will survive long after he presumably leaves office in 2009.

code, fittingly = blood

Hi Gregg -- thanks for the additional clarification on the difference between Con Law and Administrative Law. Does all of this then mean that Plame/Wilson is SOL? What I STILL haven't heard a reasonable explanation for is WHY anyone in the Executive Branch in the White House would have a "Need-to-Know" the identities of covert/NOC CIA agents.

I have a background and training in Military Intelligence (US Army) and was an intelligence analyst at Ft. Bragg while assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps. As such, I also had to undergo a thorough BI for TS clearance. The two determining factors in whether or not a person had access to to TS (or any level of classified information) was: 1. The appropriate level clearance to have access to said material; and 2. a "need-to-know".

It still eludes me WHY anyone in the White House would "need-to-know" the real identities of CIA operatives, and have yet to hear that issue addressed.

I still believe that this was a treasonous action on the part of the Bushies and that bottom line violation has yet to be addressed -- namely WHO in CIA leaked the info to begin with and to whom -- although I suspect it was leaked to Bush and/or Cheney.

REP. DAVIS: Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Plame.

It's clear that the administration officials knew you worked for the CIA, but did they know that your status was that of a covert agent?

MS. PLAME WILSON: I have no way of knowing

...
REP. DAVIS: But you don't -- I mean, I think one of the issues here was not that you worked for the CIA, because that was obviously why they'd know you in the administration, but for the crime to have been committed, I understand they had to have known that you were covert. And you don't have any direct linkage that they knew that you were covert at that point.

MS. PLAME WILSON: Again, Congressman, I'm not a lawyer, but as I said at my --

REP. DAVIS: You don't have any direct knowledge that --

MS. PLAME WILSON: No.

Hello again, Helen,

Yes, I am afraid that it could mean that there is no available court remedy if this decision is not overturned on appeal.

I look at such a prospect as unlikely. Bivens actions (the sort of lawsuit that the Wilsons brought) have been seriously curtailed by the courts since the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Bivens v. Six Unidentified Agents of the Bureau of Narcotics, in 1971. The law of the United States is generally, and always has been supportive of soverign immunity. This case was always going to be an uphill battle. Perhaps the Wilsons should have filed a claim a long time ago, but it's too late now.

Bush has packed the lower courts with judges willing to do his bidding. He has packed government agancies with people whose only qualification is Loyal Bushiness. It will take years to undo this. If Stevens retires or dies, Democrats should block every nominee Bush puts up. Once the Supremes are completely tilted toward the right, we're all screwed. Add a GOP president like Il Rudy and we're one terrorist attack away from a fascist state with nothing to stop it.
Unless the Democrats in Congress start standing up to the Executive, we can't count on them to save the Constitution.

Pardon me?

Wasn't Plame's a civil suit, for which there is no such thing as a pardon?

And what's the answer to the question about whether a pardon can apply to crimes that are past but not prosecuted before the president leaves office?