Pondering the Mysteries of the Libby Case! (Part 3)

In Part 1, I described four unexplained mysteries that remain from the Libby trial. In Part 2, I offered some speculation on the first two of them. Here’s how I think they may fit with the other two:

Dan Froomkin had a great roundup many weeks ago that included analysis of a possible deal behind the decision of Libby’s attorneys to pack it in after only a feeble effort at getting their client acquitted. His speculation was that Bush had already promised Libby a pardon, so there was no reason to risk revealing more details of the conspiracy to attack Wilson by outing Plame, or of having to sink deeper in lies to conceal those details.

This would explain why a supposedly brilliant, and extremely high priced, legal defense team closed up shop after using Hannah as a poor surrogate for the testimony they had promised from both Libby and Cheney. At that point, it was all over but the crying (by Ted Wells, I mean!)

Surprising no one, the jury returned a guilty verdict on 4 of the 5 counts. With the odds stacked against a successful appeal, a (promised?) pardon now seemed like the only way out for Libby. But this administration is littered with broken promises . . . .

So what of the F-bomb from Libby’s wife? Who was she proposing to f**k?

With little opportunity to do anything to the jury (short of starting a nuclear war in the world they inhabit!), it seems unlikely that they were the target of her wrath. The prosecutors might be frustrated by a successful appeal, but they were just doing their jobs. A setback like having to go through a new trial, would hardly be considered a “f**king” to them. Prosecutors get paid for their work either way, and a new trial would actually give them an opportunity to bring out even more details of the underlying conspiracy!

To me, it sounds like the wife’s emotions probably only caused her to raise her voice at the end of a conversation that was overheard by reporters. I can easily imagine her saying something like “If they don’t pardon him, we’re going to f**k them!” In this case, “they” being Rove, Bush, Cheney, et al. as they were all still the ones being protected by Libby’s predicament.

This clearly makes the most sense, because Libby was now essentially down to only one last chance at a “get out of jail free” card, after being the only one to “put his neck in the meatgrinder!” If Bush doesn’t come through with a pardon, as purportedly promised to quash the politically dangerous spillover from a vigorous defense, then Libby could f**k them all by spilling his guts!

And Libby’s wife wanted “them” to know it!