SubscribeWaPo Reporter, Spy Author… Lewis Libby Juror?
From a rapturous Editor & Publisher:
Jury "spokesman" and Washington Post reporter, Denis Collins.
Juror Explains Libby Verdict: They Felt He Was ‘Fall Guy’
By Greg Mitchell
Published: March 06, 2007NEW YORK A spokesman for the jury that convicted “Scooter” Lewis of four counts today of perjury and obstruction of justice today in a federal courtroom told reporters immediately afterward that many felt sympathy for Libby and believed he was only the “fall guy.”
Denis Collins said, “We asked ourselves, what is HE doing here? Where is Rove and all these other guys….He was the fall guy.”
He said they believed that Vice President Cheney did “task him to talk to reporters.”
He said, “some jurors said at one point, ‘We wish we weren’t judging Libby…this sucks.” More than once he said many jurors found Libby “sympathetic.”
Asked about Vice President Cheney not testifying, he said, “Having Cheney testifying would have been interesting.” And when the defense opened the trial by suggesting that Libby was scapegoated by the White House, “I thought we might get to see President Bush here.” But said Libby not testifying was not such a big deal since they’d listen to nine hours of tapes of his earlier testimony.
He also said that they found Tim Russert of NBC “very credible” and the defense “badgering” Judy Miller may have hurt them as some jurors developed “sympathy” for her. Even though she admitted having a “bad memory,” the fact that she had notes counted a lot in her favor, he said. Despite the badgering, some jurors thought Miller was “nice.”
Collins, a journalist who has written for The Washington Post and other newspapers – and is author of the 2004 book, “Spying: The Secret History of History”– described the jury’s painstaking deliberations. He said there were several “managerial types” on the jury and they spent many days just assembling post-it notes in some kind or “buildings blocks” fashion. They did not take an immediately straw vote.
“What we came up with from that,” he said, “was that Libby was told about Mrs. Wilson [Valerie Plame] nine times” in that time period. “We believed he DID have a bad memory,” he said, “but it seemed very unlikely he would not remember about being told about Mrs. Wilson” so many times….Hard to believe he would remember on Tuesd [sic] and forget on Thursday,” and so on.
He said they failed to convict Libby on the Matt Cooper charge, feeling it was pretty much one man’s word against the others, especially since Cooper had no notes.
He said that politics played no role in the verdict, and claimed most jurors didn’t know how others felt politically…
Mr. Collins doesn’t sound stupid or duped. Not much.
He is clearly clueless as to what the trial was supposed to be about. Of course we have Mr. Fitzgerald (and the media) to thank for that as well.
The lesson here is clear. Never expect a fair trial if you are a Republican.
The criminalization of non-DNC approved politics is just about complete.
But notice how this article only mentions in passing that Mr. Denis Collins is a Washington Post reporter and the author of a book on spies:
Spying By Denis Collins
Book Description
Everyone, at some time in his or her life, fantasizes about being a spy–James Bond, Mata Hari, George Smiley, Maxwell Smart. At the new International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., more than a million visitors have stepped into the secret history of history–and have learned what it is really like to live undercover. This distinctive and fascinating book at once distills and expands upon that experience, with inside information on how spies do their jobs, interviews with operatives, and hundreds of photographs and descriptions of tools of the trade.
Biographies of legendary spies and how they completed their special operations are included, along with timelines showing the developments of bugs, surveillance tools, weapons, and disguises. Letters, maps, examples of disguises, dead drops, and rare photos make spies and their operations from 2000 BC to the present live and breathe on every page.
So we can rest assured that he had a completely open mind and no agenda whatsoever.
And how do you think the other jurors felt about having a journalist and a self-professed expert on espionage on their panel? Do you think Mr. Collins’ thoughts might have wielded undue influence over them?
Brilliant jury stacking, Mr. Fitzgerald!
The only question left is how much do you think he will get for his book deal?
The establishment will surely want to richly reward him for his splendid service.
(Thanks to 1sttofight for the heads up.)
Update!
An update from Editor & Publisher:
Former Colleagues at ‘Wash Post’ Discuss (Now Famous) Libby Juror
… In the jury selection phase, before Collins name came out, he was identified as having worked with Bob Woodward at the Post and being a neighbor of NBC’s Tim Russert. Both would later testify in the case…
Bob Woodward? The same reporter who knew that Richard Armitage was the original "leaker" of Plame’s name, and who kept silent about it for how many years?
The same Bob Woodward who worked so hard to bring down a previous Republican President a generation ago?
How is it this juror’s relationship to Woodward was never reported before?
Related Articles:
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- Armitage Admits Being Plame Leaker, Apologizes
- Plamegate - Dems' Weapon Of Mass Deception
- NY Times Opines On The End Of "Treasongate"
- Plame Book: Armitage Leaked, Fitzgerald Knew
- Joe Wilson Wants Bob Woodward "Frog Marched"
- Woodward Knew Of Plame Long Before Novak
28 Responses to “WaPo Reporter, Spy Author… Lewis Libby Juror?”
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March 6th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
“We wish we weren’t judging Libby…this sucks.”
Yeah, we wish we were judging Cheney! Or better yet Bush!
March 6th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I read the article 3-4 times before I sent it to SG. I still can not believe these people made onto a jury.
The really scary part is these idiots are allowed to vote.
Yep, I am ready for another B&BW.
Keep your powder dry boys and girls, we will need it soon.
March 6th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Collins stated “this wasn’t about the war .. it was about Niger.” That said, Libby will never go to jail.
Justice in America is dead.
The liberal courts killed it a long, long time ago.
March 6th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
How the hell did this man make it on the jury in the first place. Did he not inform them that he was a journalist? Did he call himself a book author?
http://www.amazon.com/SPYING-S.....1579123953
And why did the MSM who sat in on the jury selection not report before now that this guy writes for the Miami Herald, the San Jose Mercury and the Washington Post?
In the power struggle between the three branches of government we need to be very, VERY afraid. We have federal prosecutors out of control who are not held to the same standards of trial conduct as are the defense attorneys. With the prosecution of Ramos/Compean, Gilmer Hernandez, David Sipe and now Scooter Libby we see proof that not only can you “indict a ham sandwich” you can get a guilty verdict on that same ham sandwich.
Libbey will be a guest at Club Fed before his appeal reaches the court room. Just as Ramos/Compean are.
This is just one more case of judicial power out of control. With the high powered attorneys that Libbey can afford, how the hell would any of us, innocent of a crime, be able to stay out of prison with the out of control U.S. Attorney’s office?
March 6th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Read this if you think that the federal prosecutors’s offices are not out of control.
http://www.post-gazette.com/win/default.asp
March 6th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I know I am going to be called a racist and a bigot( I don’t care), But just what was the racial makeup of this jury?
March 6th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
“how the hell would any of us, innocent of a crime, be able to stay out of prison with the out of control U.S. Attorney’s office?” Great point…we wont be able to….and that is part and parcel the control the left now wields against those of us who still think we live in a free country. It is slowly becoming a psuedo free country….free only if the all seeing left doesnt decide you are not compliant with their agenda. This is chilling, really.
“But just what was the racial makeup of this jury?” Ok 1st…if muslim is a race….then I can safely say that this jury was made up of “stupids”…”weaklings”….”stump dumb idiots”…and “greedy bastards who wish to sell a book”. Those are races, arent they? They have to be, if calling muslims murdering thug lunatics is racist….then all of the above are too. It doesnt matter what race they are….it is their total lack of absorbing the facts presented and replacing them with personality traits as the basis for their verdict. That is exactly why a democrat will take the white house. They vote charisma…and not leadership. In this case…they didnt “like” someone, so they found Libby guilty of the charges? They are hopelessly lost in stupidity.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Wasn’t this trial held in D.C.? If so, I can tell you that most of the D.C. residents are DEMOCRATS. D.C. is primarily black (or was when I was there in Jan. ‘06) but that doesn’t bother me as much as the political makeup of the jury.
We already know that the Democrats are holding hearings to see if any laws were broken by the administration where it pertains to the war in Iraq. Hang on to your hats, boys and girls, this trial is just the beginning of what we can expect the next two years while “Dollar Bill” Jefferson sits on the cushy Homeland Security committee and John Murtha can rake in more millions for his bothers lobbying firm clients the very thing that Duke Cunningham is basking at Club Fed for. I would like someone to tell me just how lobbyists are paid. Are they paid by the amount of federal (taxpayer) dollars they secure for their clients?
So while our enemies plot to kill us and destroy our cities, the Democrats plot to file charges against as many Republicans and the administration’s staff as they can. Please, will someone tell me again how the Democrats care about national security?
March 6th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
And the fact that Richard Armitage admitted that it was he who “leaked” the name of the perfectly overt CIA hero, Valerie Plame in the first place, seems to have no bearing on the case whatsoever. Surreal is the only way I can describe this whole affair.
Get ready for more of these idiotic trials. Now that the dems have tasted blood, they will go hard for some more muck slinging. It’s conservatism that’s on trial here people.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
“We asked ourselves, what is HE doing here? Where is [sic] Rove and all these other guys….He was the fall guy.” Two comments:
1) If Libby was just a fall guy, why did you fall for it?
2) What were they doing considering issues outside the trial during deliberations? Nobody else was on trial, and the only relevant issues were whether Libby lied to investigators and to the grand jury. Sounds like grounds for an appeal to me. Also, letting that 12th juror go without being replaced seems more and more like a mistake by the defense.
By the way, I agree that a proper voir dire of the reporter/author should have raised a red flag for the defense, and they should have excluded him during selection.
March 6th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
And another thing (sorry for the double post, but I’m riled up): how do you convict someone for obstructing an investigation that should have started and ended with Richard “everyone knew he was sent by his CIA analyst wife” Armitage?
March 6th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
“how do you convict someone for obstructing an investigation that should have started and ended with Richard “everyone knew he was sent by his CIA analyst wife” Armitage?”
Fitzgerald was asked that at the press conference. He said that Libby had already perjured himself before Armitage spoke to the DOJ.
That is a flat-out lie. Armitage told the DOJ about his “leak” even before the investigation began and a while before Fitzgerald was even hired.
Fitzgerald is a liar. These press conferences seem to bring it out in him.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Mr. Collins wasn’t just any Washington Post reporter. He used to work with Bob Woodward.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Can Libby sue Fitz?
March 6th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Libby jurors:
http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubA.....9546549063
This case should have never been brought to trial. But this was not Fitz’s first rodeo. When the Special Prosecutor in the Martha Stewart trial could not find any evidence of insider trading on the part of Stewart, he called Fitz. Fitz recommened that the SP try her on lying to a FBI agent. The rest is history. This is finding a crime where no crime existed.
Prosecutors have advantages that defense attorneys do not have. A prosecutor can give immunity to a witness for their testimony. If the defense gives any considerations (travel expenses, room, board) it is considered witness tampering. A prosecutor can threatened a witness with prosecution themselves, if the story is not what the prosecutor wants to hear. Read the Ramos/Compean transcripts and you will see that Johnny Sutton’s office threatened other BP agents with prosecution if they did not testify the way the prosecution wanted them to. The threats are all documented in the transcripts. A defense attorney cannot threaten a witness. That is witness intimidation.
This is a travesty of an out of control judicial system that is struggling to become the strongest of the three branches of goverment.
Today we watched at a ham sandwich was found guilty.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Not only did Collins work with Woodward, he “shared” space with Russert. What this means to those who work for a publication is that they “shared” an office. This guy is hardly unbiased. He should have never made it on the jury and if the information that he had worked with Woodward and Russert was withheld from the defense, it should be grounds for a mistrial. I don’t think it will be but it is definately a point for appeal.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
“Very flexible, willing to do
whatever it took to do the job.”
Pretty well tells the story, don’t you think?.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Collins was the ringer to sway the jury. They were enamoured with him, and he as much as told them to vote for guilty. Plame isnt the only whore in this debacle.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
SJ, I think you meant he was not the only experienced whore in the room.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
His book will be out by June 1st. Any bets?
March 6th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
How did a WaPo journalist get on the jury? Why not a WSJ editorial page writer? Was Scooter’s legal team asleep at the switch?
March 6th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
You’re all missing the point that this was D.C.; the WaPo author was probably one of the least liberal twelve in the jury pool.
Anywhere else in the country his “spy book” would likely have gotten him booted for having “special knowledge”…
March 6th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I would have challenged Collins for cause. I don’t understand a number of things that Ted Welles did in this case.
Russert must be proud of himself right now. He deserves, however, to be viewed and treated like the total piece of partisan shit he is.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:39 am
1st–The earliest I can see a book about this case hitting the shelves is mid-September.
Media_man– I’m starting to think maybe both legal teams were asleep at the switch.
March 7th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Libby verdict reactions: The day after…
The nation’s two top newspapers weigh in today with their opinions on yesterday’s verdict in the Libby trial. The Washington Post is first up, and gets it - for the most part - right with their summation:
The fall of this skilled and long-…
March 8th, 2007 at 9:44 am
“Brilliant jury stacking, Mr. Fitzgerald!”
Brilliant Voir Dire on the part of Libby’s lawyer……
March 8th, 2007 at 10:01 am
‘how did this guy get on the jury’ According to a story I read - the jury pool was stacked with libs (even a Moveon.org person) so by the time this Collins guy got in - the defense was out of challenges.
It is indeed a very sad time. This should have never gone forward at all - let’s just hope that it is seen as vindication for ‘Clintons impeachment’ and the furor dies down, but I see them with their ‘investigations’ in the House as proof that they will go until America is destroyed from within.
The ‘people’ see this as ‘just reward’ as the evil bushitlerburtonco gov is doing everything in their ‘regime’ to invade and control the whole country for the big bucks to their ‘friends’ and buds - and the ‘people’ are too damn stupid to realize that the very party they are supporting is doing more invasive and punative damage and putting more money in their own pockets than a conservative could even imagine.
Here’s to hoping that America wakes up before it is too late. . .
March 8th, 2007 at 10:37 am
“defense was out of challenges” - Given the background of this juror, it would seem to me that he should have been dismissed for cause, ( I know I was when called for jury duty), and a challenge would not even be required. This, of course, assumes an impartial judge (fairy tale).