Word: cheneyism
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...jurors, Denis Collins, said there was "a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury" and that it seemed as if Libby "was the fall guy" for Cheney and others in the White House. It took the jury about 10 days to reach a verdict...
...Wells was playing catch-up by the time he opened the case for the defense, teasing the court with the possibility that Libby and even Vice President Dick Cheney would testify. Wells first trotted out six prominent reporters to say they had never discussed Plame with Libby during the summer of 2003. It was an odd start, an indirect approach, implying that if Libby hadn't talked about the CIA operative with luminaries like The Washington Post's Bob Woodward, he probably hadn't mentioned her to any reporter...
...defense's main strategy was to show that Libby, as Cheney's chief of staff, was far too preoccupied with affairs of state, like the Iraq war and the nuclear capabilities of Iran and North Korea, to remember being told about Plame. "The wheels are falling off the Bush Administration," Wells told jurors in describing the times. "Thousands of young kids are on the ground [in Iraq]. It's a crazy period...
...Libby and then Cheney were expected to testify about just how crazy things were, but without notice, Wells informed the court that they would not take the stand. Instead, he offered John Hannah, Libby's former deputy, who described how terrible his boss's memory was. Then, after only three days, the defense rested its case...
...Declining to put Libby or Cheney on the stand was a controversial move - and one that the defense would pay for. Often in criminal cases, and especially in those involving perjury, jurors like to hear the defendant explain his actions personally. But Libby would no doubt have been cross-examined harshly, and Cheney might have been embarrassed to explain publicly his role in undermining Wilson's criticisms...