Scooter Libby was indicted on five counts today: 1 count obstruction of justice, 2 counts false statements, 2 counts of perjury (see the indictments at The Smoking Gun). Ehem… BOOO-YAH!

I watched the entirety of Fitzgerald’s press conference and the one thing that struck was that this guy is as cool as a cucumber. He stayed on message and on the law - no information about anyone other than Libby. He rightly described the media’s attempts to get more information out of him as trying to read tea leaves. It was frustrating not hearing more explicitly from Fitzgerald about those who haven’t been charged, but are referenced in the indictment, specifically “Official A” who was Novak’s original source and an Under Secretary at State (Bolton?).

Fitzgerald, nonetheless, succeeded in framing the charges as connected to serious national security threats. He was chosen to investigate whether or not there was a crime committed when Valerie Wilson’s identity was leaked. During the course of that investigation Libby committed perjury, made false statements, and obstructed the investigation. Fitz implied that it was this obstruction that, at least in part, prevented him from presenting charges for the leak of Plame’s name.

Fitzgerald was also extremely diligent about not discussing any further Grand Jury targets or people that have escaped indictment at this time. From the looks of things, though, this isn’t the end of the investigation nor any negotiations about who will be charged for what. The bottom line is that Bush administration officials like Libby would not be lying about the truth of a CIA leak if they had not done some wrong in connection to that leak.

One thing I can say for sure was that Fitzgerald made it clear, through his words, tone, actions, and consistency, that he was the smartest person in the room. Not a partisan. Not an out of control prosecutor. A brilliant lawyer who takes his job seriously and the safety of America even more so. Fitzgerald was acting in America’s best interest to protect us (not to mention to protect CIA agents) from the politicization of national defense at the hands of Libby, Rove, Bush and Cheney.

Kudos to you sir! Happy Fitzukkah!

Philo

[Update] As predicted, ReddHedd has an incredible breakdown of the indictment and the press conference. Her read: Fitz is still on the warpath. I agree with her.

I’ll say this: after watching Fitz, anyone who tries to raise the question of whether perjury is a “technicality” is going to end up looking like a moron. Because that clip of him explaining the importance and ethics of the rule of law in an investigation was exceptional. And the multiple allegations of false statements and testimony point to a considered pattern on the part of Libby.

This reaches to the very heart of how this Administration conducts itself. This reaches to the very heart of how they operate in shutting down any and all criticism — inside and outside the government. And there are going to be some very difficult questions for them to answer.

Digby also does a spot on job connected many bloggers pre-indictment search for meaning in the Plame case and the post-indictment truths that have been revealed.

I wrote previously that I believed Fitzgerald was investigating a fairly narrow case and would not get into all the bigger issues of the lead up to the war. I also wrote that what is important is that the story of how we got bamboozled into the war by a corrupt, venal Republican political machine is finally told. This case is the hook that allows those stories to be told. It’s all tied into the same thing — dishonesty, secrecy, revenge and dirty politics at the highest levels in both large and small ways.

More choice words to come…