So is it all judges you distrust or just those who don't rule your way?
That seems to be good enough for y'all, why noy US?
July 20-22, 2007 -- Federal judge who dismissed lawsuit of Wilsons was deputy to Kenneth Starr
publication date: Jul 19, 2007
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July 20-22, 2007 -- Federal judge who dismissed lawsuit of Wilsons was deputy to Kenneth Starr
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge for DC John Bates dismissed the lawsuit brought by former CIA covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson against Vice President Dick Cheney, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, presidential adviser Karl Rove, and convicted/commuted former Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby for disclosing the covert identity of Mrs. Wilson.
Bates, who was named by Chief Justice John Roberts to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) after the resignation of Judge James Robertson who cited repeated violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, showed his disdain for intelligence field agents operating under cover by claiming that it was in the purview of the defendants to release the identity of Mrs. Wilson.
In his ruling, Bates conceded several points about the case. He wrote, "Libby spoke with a senior officer at the CIA, who told Libby that Mr. Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and was thought (erroneously) to have been responsible for Wilson's trip. Libby further learned from Vice President Cheney, who obtained the information from the CIA, that Wilson's wife worked in the CIA's Counterproliferation Division."
This admission by Bates puts to rest the notion that Mrs. Wilson arranged for her husband's fact finding trip to Niger. It also provides yet more proof of Cheney's involvement in disclosing Mrs. Wilson's identity.
Bates also wrote, "Libby additionally heard, sometime between June 1 and July 8, 2003, that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA from the Assistant to the Vice President for Public Affairs, who in turn had learned that information 'from another government official.'" The public affairs assistant was Cathie Martin, whose husband Kevin is Chairman of the FCC. The "other government official" is suspected of being Cheney.
On Rove's involvement, Bates continued, "Although there are no allegations explicitly naming the source of Rove's knowledge, the only logical inference that can be drawn from the facts that are asserted in the amended complaint is that Rove learned about Mrs. Wilson from one of the aforementioned sources: the CIA, a White House office, or the State Department."
Bates also reiterated, "The Government has officially acknowledged, in documents filed in the Libby criminal case and at oral argument in this matter, that Mrs. Wilson was a covert operative for the CIA."
However, in ruling on the issue that the Wilsons were endangered by the leak of Mrs. Wilson's covert identity, Bates questions the type of "covert status" Mrs. Wilson held at the CIA. Bates appears to believe that there are gradations of levels of covert status, clearly a determination that is outside the scope of knowledge of a lawyer, let alone a judge.
Bates wrote, "Plaintiffs' substantive due process claim depends upon whether defendants increased the danger of third-party violence against plaintiffs. The resolution of these claims therefore might require an exploration into Mrs. Wilson's specific duties as a covert operative. Her class-of-one equal protection claim would necessitate an even broader investigation into CIA practices. Plaintiffs argue that the United States could invoke the state secrets privilege or utilize other established methods for the protection of sensitive information. But, in this and in future cases, '
uch procedures, whatever they might be, still entail considerable risk' of revealing sensitive information."
In a classic example of double speak, Bates argues that while the disclosure of classified information about Mrs. Wilson may have endangered her and her family's safety, an investigation of the that disclosure of classified information would not be as great as the disclosure resulting from a broader investigation of the CIA's practices.
Bates then justifies the White House disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity: "The alleged means by which defendants chose to rebut Mr. Wilson's comments and attack his credibility may have been highly unsavory. But there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public criticism, such as that levied by Mr. Wilson against the Bush Administration's handling of prewar foreign intelligence, by speaking with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials."
Bates' ruling should be seen to the lens of his judicial and legal experience. Bates was Deputy Independent Counsel for the Whitewater Investigation, serving under Kenneth Starr.
Bates was not the only Starr team alumnus who made news yesterday. Federal Judge for Northern District of Illinois Amy St. Anne, nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed Aug 1. 2002, granted bail for convicted former Hollinger chief Conrad Black. Black was found guilty in Chicago of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. Black, who is married to neocon and Israeli expansionism supporter Barbara Amiel, a British journalist, once lorded over a publishing empire that included the Jerusalem Post, London Daily Telegraph, and the Chicago Sun-Times, the paper that syndicates Robert Novak's column. The prosecutor of Black was Patrick Fitzgerald who also was Special Counsel in the investigation that resulted in Scooter Libby's conviction.
Libby's jail sentence was commuted by President Bush. Bates, a former deputy to Kenneth Starr, tossed out the Wilsons' suit against Libby, Rove, Cheney, and Armitage. Judge St. Anne granted Black bail even though prosecutors thought he posed a flight risk. St. Anne served as as Associate independent counsel for the Kenneth Starr's Whitewater Independent Counsel's Office in Little Rock, Arkansas.
It is clearly time for some federal benches to be wiped off -- they are as dirty as Senator David Vitter's diapers.
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20070719_3
