Scooter Libby Breaks Silence With O’Reilly Factor Exclusive

VIDEO

by Glenn Davis | 9:44 pm, September 7th, 2010

» 25 comments

O’Reilly Factor guest host Monica Crowley presided over quite a night on the show tonight, as they got an exclusive with ex-Dick Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby. It was Libby’s first interview since being convicted on four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007. As one might expect, Crowley didn’t exactly put Libby through the gauntlet.

Libby wisely avoided any harsh attacks that could be easily turned against him – his response to Crowley’s first question of how effective President Barack Obama’s “policy of engagement” with Iran has been (especially regarding dissuading the nation from building a nuclear weapon) was that “it’s useful” to analyze Obama’s stated view as presidential candidate and president-elect “that a nuclear weapon in Iranian hands would be unacceptable.” He ultimately concluded that “if it’s truly unacceptable” for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, that “we have a problem.” He offered a similarly tepid critique of certain aspects of the Bush administration’s Iran policy, saying at times there was “more that might have been done with the Iranian opposition, for example.”

Crowley first (ambiguously) mentioned Libby’s conviction halfway through the interview, calling it a “ridiculous, politically motivated case against [him].” She also later referred to the case as an “absurd political witch hunt.” After more very mild criticism from Libby (ex. that “whether [Obama's] worldview matches the reality of the world is a question to me”), Crowley finally asked if Libby hopes for a pardon. Libby’s response was that he learned from his career as a public servant that “the world’s not just” and “that it doesn’t do a lot of good to whine.”

Crowley lauded Libby as a “class act,” and during this interview, he gave no indication she was wrong. He avoided the hyper-partisan sniping so many are given to, and even if it was just because he knew he’d be relentlessly criticized for anything more, it deserves some praise. Libby said it doesn’t do a lot of good to whine, and to his credit, he didn’t. Video of the segment below.

ChiliPeppersFan

i would have thought his first appearance would have been in a goldline commercial with that other felon gordon liddy
ChiliPeppersFan

ollie north, michael brown, and now scooter libby…wow, if you get caught fucking up don’t worry you can always get a job at fox
http://www.facebook.com/people/Andy-Lamb/1085325013 Andy Lamb

ChiliPeppersFan said:
wow, if you get caught fucking up don’t worry you can always get a job at fox

Then we should be seeing Barack Obama working at Fox in 2 years, 4 months, and 14 days.
ChiliPeppersFan

haha…possibly if the economy doesn’t turn around and people are still being denied health care due to preexisting conditions
juan

Scooter, everyone know that you were framed!
juan

Should be:

Scooter, everyone knows that you were framed!
juan

The author, Glenn Davis, wrote:

As one might expect, Crowley didn’t exactly put Libby through the gauntlet.

Hey, Glenn, Libby has already been put through the gauntlet!
puck30

Andy Lamb said:
Then we should be seeing Barack Obama working at Fox in 2 years, 4 months, and 14 days.

If I may correct you Andy, I think that will be MSNBC.
lonestar77

Glenn:
I was a big fan of yours as a kid. I even had a “big bopper” poster. I wondered what happened to you.

http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/alltime/firstbase.html
Mr.Papshmer

juan said:
Should be:

Scooter, everyone knows that you were framed!

Not framed, but certainly being pursued for a crime that the prosecutors already knew the answer to. It was a perjury witchhunt, for sure, and Fitzgerald should be tried privately for his actions.
http://www.karlspensen.blogspot.com Karl Spensen

This man is an AMERICAN HERO who did a brave, brave thing!!!1 I am SO GLAD to see he was given the RESPECT he deserves on, of course, FOX NEWS (The Most Powerful Name in News)!!!1
Bania

THAT”S GOLD kArL !!!!!!!!2 GOLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2
Glenn Davis

lonestar77 said:
Glenn:
I was a big fan of yours as a kid. I even had a “big bopper” poster. I wondered what happened to you.

http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/alltime/firstbase.html

Thanks lonestar. The amazing thing is I did that after winning that Heisman in the 40s and Olympic gold almost two decades later. Watson being ‘more versatile,’ though, that hurts. But I guess it’s hard to compare with a guy who was a player AND a GM.
Some_Dude

Well it shouldn’t come as any surprise that an interview with Libby was subdued, especially on FNC. The guy was the center of a very serious issue, and he obviously was thrown under the bus (apparently willingly, but chucked beneath some wheels nonetheless). I’m fairly certain this guy will go to his grave without ever revealing any more than he already has.
JimBob

He was railroaed by that shyster Fitzgerald! Fitzgerald knew Libby didn’t
out that bleached out CIA Filing Clerk, Plame and he pushed to the point
Libby was just being loyal to his employer! Pathetic ! Played Gothcha Games!!
And I hope Blago shoves it up Fitzgeralds ass again!
BatBoy

ChiliPeppersFan said:
wow, if you get caught fucking up don’t worry

We catch you all the time and you are still here!
http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

Some_Dude said:
Well it shouldn’t come as any surprise that an interview with Libby was subdued, especially on FNC. The guy was the center of a very serious issue, and he obviously was thrown under the bus (apparently willingly, but chucked beneath some wheels nonetheless). I’m fairly certain this guy will go to his grave without ever revealing any more than he already has.

What is there to “reveal”??? Rich Armitage leaked Valerie Plame’s name! It’s that simple!
niniqw12

My boyfriend is a black man, lol. We met online at an interracial dating site_________ **** B l a c k W h i t e C u p i d (C o m) ***** ______—a nice and free place for singles- black & white, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends. ;) ;)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Propenski/1260913499 Joseph Propenski

Not giving in to Dick Cheney’s demands for a pardon for his aide Scooter Libby was one of the wisest things George W. Bush did during his Presidency.

Lewis I. (Scooter) Libby lied to the Grand Jury concerning his role in the Valerie Plame leak. And there is no question he told the Grand Jury an untruth. Libby admits it himself—that point is not even in contention. Libby told the Grand Jury that he heard from Tim Russert that Plame was an undercover agent, when it was actually Libby that did the telling to Russert. Libby claims that this was a mere mix-up on his part, and not an intentional lie.

Does anyone believe that? First, realize that Joe Wilson’s New York Times article had been written only two days earlier than this conversation between Libby and Russert. Second, realize that Libby’s boss Cheney was so incensed by the article that he wrote a handwritten note on the top of his copy of the New York Times asking “…did his wife send him on a junket?” Third, realize that (at least) three other White House staffers (Karl Rove, Ari Fleicher, and Richard Armitage) leaked the same information about Plame to (at least) five other reporters, all on the same day as Libby’s leak to Russert ; in fact, probably within minutes of Libby.

All this makes it clear that Libby and the other staffers were carrying out an intentional leak at the behest of Cheney, to get back at Wilson for daring to write that the White House was wrong (and also to blow some smoke—, i.e., they could get clueless Fox News watchers to ask pointless questions like, “Who ordered Joe Wilson on his trip?”).

And so it is ridiculous for Libby to later claim that he was merely mistaken when he told the Grand Jury an untruth. It was foremost in the minds of the highest levels of the White House at the time. Libby lied to the Grand Jury just to blow some more smoke into the narrative—that’s what Libby does as Cheney’s top aide. I sure don’t believe his claims that it was merely a mistake on his part, and more to the point, a jury of his peers didn’t believe him and convicted him fair and square.

I believe that George W. Bush for much of his Presidency was dominated and used by Dick Cheney. And I think towards the end, he began to realize it and resent it. So it is to Bush’s credit that he did not give in to the Cheney pressure to pardon Libby—after all, Libby shows absolutely no remorse. He was sentenced to a very fair (for the crime of perjury) 20 months, and he should have gone to jail.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stor-e-Tella-Dauz/610151239 Stor-e Tella Dauz

As someone that seems to push his open quest for truth – Dan is falling short
Here is a chance to question or push back the lie of Evil Sadam an give Crowleys fluff less weight.
But we get a PRreport from fox with Mediates News/views about it as

GIVE Libby Credit – he whines less.

Last time i read english the above is opinion not news or truth you can prove.
murphy0071

Monica Crowley is a light weight and should not have soft pedaled this issue. For her to say it was all political is false. Scooter Libby broke the law by lying to Congress. Yes, others in the Bush administration were involved, but Scooter was very careful not to bring any discredit to these Republican cannibals.
http://none pyrope

juan said:
Hey, Glenn, Libby has already been put through the gauntlet!

AND HE WAS FOUND INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES.
http://none pyrope

But, as usual, this means less than NOTHING to the libtards.
http://none pyrope

AnonymousFinch said:
What is there to “reveal”??? Rich Armitage leaked Valerie Plame’s name! It’s that simple!

WHICH IS WHY MR. LIBBY WAS FOUND INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES. Thanks Finch!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Propenski/1260913499 Joseph Propenski

What the heck is @pyrope talking about? Scooter Libby was not found innocent of all charges. He was found guilty of three counts of perjury.

See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256965,00.html Yes indeed, that’s a Fox News site. So even a naive right wing fool will have to accept it.

And lets make further clear, Libby doesn’t deny that he told the Grand Jury an untruth. He admits it. He just makes the completely unbelievable claim that it wasn’t perjury because he simply got mixed up when he testified to the Grand Jury.

Libby was never pardoned. George W. Bush gave him clemency (reduced his 20 month sentence to nothing). But Libby is still officially a convicted felon. He cannot practice law anymore. So let’s stop that ridiculous talk about him being “found innocent of all charges.”

Oh, and about Richard Armitage being the leaker—he was only one of the FOUR leakers (Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Ari Fleischer, and Richard Armitage). It’s a Bush White House talking point to only mention Armitage because his leak was the least serious—it was more like repeating gossip in his case. Far worse was Karl Rove, whom Chris Matthews reported that he was told by Rove that Valerie Plame was “fair game” after the Wilson article came out. No one deserved to go to jail over the Valerie Plame case more than Karl Rove.

But ultimately, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald did not prosecute anyone for the leak itself, just Libby for lying so audaciously about it to the Grand Jury.