Timing Is Everything: Libby’s Trial Set for January 07
by Pamela Leavey February 3rd, 2006 @ 4:10 pm
They say timing is everything… And, in the case of Republican’s, the Republican controlled Noise Machine and even trials involving Republican’s and CIA Leaks, it’s always better to make sure nothing happens before an election cycle is complete. After all we would not want to unduly influence any voters…
District Judge Reggie B. Walton said jury selection will begin on Jan. 8, 2007. Judge Walton said that he had hoped the trial could begin next September, but that Mr. Libby’s lawyer, Theodore V. Wells Jr., will be tied up with another case. Republicans are likely to be pleased that the trial will be held after the Congressional elections.
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Funny how Libby’s Lawyer happens to have another case in Sept so now the trial is put off till 07. With breaks like this why do the GOP feel they are under siege from the judiciary?
I guess rove is breathing alot easier tonight after all if he ever has to go to trial it will proabably be the year 2020 at this snails pace.
Yet more “coincidences”:
Walton is the judge who will not only be presiding over the Libby case, but he has also been “randomly assigned” to Sybil Edmonds’ Federal Tort Claim after having upheld her ridiculous gag order imposed by former attorney general, John Ashcroft. I call the gag order ridiculous because technically Edmonds ’ driver’s license, birth certificate and any potential job applications she might file can be considered a “state secret” under the provisions set. As I’ve said many times before, somebody is very worried about what Edmonds wants to talk about.
Very little is known about Walton and it would seem that there are those, including Walton, who would just assume keep it that way. But what little is known should be enough to set off all kinds of bells and whistles, beginning with his long history with the Bush gang.
Eight years after becoming a judge on the D.C. circuit, Walton was introduced to Bush the First’s “drug czar”, Bill (the Gambler) Bennett, who asked him to be his number two guy eight weeks later. Walton accepted the offer and began racking up frequent flyer miles to spread the word on Bush’s war on drugs. Two years after that, he became Bush’s senior White House advisor on crime and was then reappointed to the D.C. circuit. After that, things get fuzzy again.
In fact, even the DOJ web site has very little listed about this guy. A press release here, a press release there, but that’s about it. I found he did overrule a stay on bear hunting in New Jersey and he also weighed in as far as not ordering the ATFE to recognize sport rocket motors as propellant actuated devices.
One would think that someone with such important connections would have an Internet history or any recorded history a tad more interesting than this. I mean, think about it; this is the guy you want to send the Libby case and Edmonds case to? But the more you look at Walton, the more “interesting” things get. In fact, I had to “drudge” through the wacky right wing sites to find the following “interesting” tid bit.
Some may remember the hoopla over alleged connections between the Oklahoma City bombings and Iraq . Now, without going into the nuts and bolts of this particular story, an Oklahoma City lawyer named Mike Johnston, aided by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. They sought to obtain FBI files which they felt had been purposely withheld from defense attorneys in the McVeigh trial.
The suit was dismissed in July of 2002 on a technicality. The presiding judge in the decision was none other than Reggie Walton.
Strangely enough, Judicial Watch recently requested and was granted through the FOIA the financial disclosures of federal judges including Walton from the year 2003. Now, if you go to read Walton’s disclosure, you will notice that somebody went wild with one of those black magic markers that have become so popular in DeeCeeVille the last five years or so. In other words, Walton’s 2003 financial disclosure record is completely redacted. And I mean everything.
Subsequently, Professor William Weaver, Senior Legal Advisor for the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) recently filed a request on Walton’s redacted background. Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the NSWBC.
So to quickly sum up, we have a judge with little background available, with long ties to the Bush’s, who someone doesn’t want the public to know his financial dealings, who has denied requests for domestic intelligence records (at least once), who has now been mysteriously “randomly assigned” to not only hear Edmonds’ FTC case, but is also assigned to a case regarding a senior White House official with whom this judge and the defendant worked with the White House at the same time, albeit in different capacities. Have we flunked the infamous Dan Burton “smell test” yet?”
From http://www.oldamericancentury.org/dave3_039.htm
Smell real ripe..