Christy Hardin Smith completely misrepresented material facts in one of her columns today. Some of her very astute readers have also been reading this blog and they asked her very relevant questions to which she spun shit I can't believe I read there.
This from Christy FDL today:
"Fitzgerald’s office continues to stick to their "no comment" policy, which has pretty much been in effect from the start of all this (other than the laugh Jane managed to get out of Russell Samborn on the whole Viagra pen issue.)"
(all quotes from FDL can be found
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/06/20/popping-the-trial-balloon/#comments
They know that's false. It's almost as if they were trying to poor water over the fire started by this blog regarding the mysterious refusal by the Special Counsel's office to acknowledge that the investigation is ongoing.
As I've pointed out in previous reports this week, Samborn has only ever answered one important question with something other than "no comment". That was back on October 28, 2005 when he stated the investigation would continue with a new grand jury.
Now Samborn says, "no comment" to that same question. This shows a clear change in response from the Special Counsel's office.
FDL would have you believe that Samborn is not allowed to tell us whether the investigation is ongoing, yet he did tell us just that back in October. Here is how she handled that issue:
"You don’t talk about proceedings while they are ongoing before the grand jury. In the presser after the Libby indictment, the new G/J had not yet been sworn in and informed about the investigation. They have now, and we just have to sit back and let the process take its normal course. There will be no comment from Fitz, I would bet, unless and until there are more proceedings or he folds up shop. Not while the grand jury proceeds with an investigation anyway. "
FDL is telling their readers that Samborn can't tell us if the investigation is ongoing. That's BS. The workings of the Grand Jury are secret, but the existence of an investigation is not. This is still America, for now. The investigation's existence and status as "ongoing" has always been made very clear to the American people. There is nothing in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which prohibits the US Attorney from stating that an investigation is ongoing. For FDL to lead their readers to believe that is the case is a lie. And they know it.
Furthermore, it is standard operating procedure for a prosecutor to announce "the investigation will continue".
Look at the comments from other Grand Jury investigations which say "the investigation will continue" right in the official press releases. The first is from Elliot Spitzer in conjunction with a US Attorney:
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2003/mar/mar10a_03.html
Here's another one:
http://milwaukee.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/durgcharges051106.htm
See how many more you can find doing a Google.
Then her readers asked her about Bush's comments which allege that Fitzgerald has ended his nvestigation and check out her answer:
"dqueue says:
June 20th, 2006 at 11:34 am
I have to float this, because I think it’s interesting speculation. CitizenSpook collates a couple underreported tidbits. 1. Apparently Bush may have said that Fitzgerald has ended his investigation. 2. Samborn answers a little differently than in the past.
Christy's answer:
"Bush said that during a press conference with regard to a question about Rove, and Rove only. It should not be read literally, especially since it wasn’t Fitzgerald saying it. Unless and until I hear it from Fitz or one of his spokespeople (who really are saying variations of “no comment” — that has to get old saying it in exactly the same words all the time, after all), then I’m not buying into any other theory, unless and until I can substantiate it myself through independent evidence. That’s just how my skeptical brain works. "
Then this reader also weighed in:
authority_stealing says:
June 20th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
I too am interested in Citizen Spook’s questions as to Sealed vs. Sealed, runaway grand juries, and why more hasn’t been made of Dear Leader’s recent comments:
“On Air Force One flying back from a surprise trip to Iraq, Bush said of the decision: ‘It’s a chapter that has ended. Fitzgerald is a very thorough person. I think he’s conducted his investigation in a dignified way. And he’s ended his investigation.’ ”
Where does she get this special inside info about what Bush meant and what question he was answering? I'd like to see the copy of the transcript she has that the rest of us don't.
In case you haven't noticed, there's a full court press on by Rove and Bush and their pundits to try to convince the American people that Fitz is done with the investigation and has moved onto the trial prep phase. BUT FITZ ISN'T CONFIRMING ANY OF IT.
I think Fitz is in trouble. I'm going out on a limb here. My instincts are telling me they've applied serious pressure and Fitz is in a Judicial dogfight. I have no sources other than Samborn's refusal to acknowledge that the investigation is ongoing. But none of this makes any sense. The Luskin fax which we can't see. Samborn's shift, etc. It's all very weird.
Examining this in light of Samborn's previous willingness to state that the investigation would continue coupled with the cold hard FACT that US Attorneys are clearly allowed to say "the investigation will continue"...leads me to believe that something very fuckin' bad has happened to this investigation.
And if Christy and others want to know what the President actually meant when he said that Fitzgerald's investigation had ended, then they can lobby one of their MSM sources to ask Tony Snow what the President meant.
Make some noise people. This case is so damn important. It's a life or death situation for America. It's that big.
Citizenspook
please repost, copy and link at will
