Scooter's Legal Team Drops A Turd

by Steve

Want a good laugh at someone else’s desperation this afternoon? Scooter’s high-paid attorneys, now funded with a slush fund from dupes amongst the right wing, have trotted out their latest legal strategy. Initially they tried the graymail “we’ll bury them through an impossible discovery request” approach, only to find that this approach was undercut by the limited nature of Fitzgerald’s indictment. Then, it was the “I was only following orders” and the “Scooter has a bad memory and was too busy” defense, only to see that one crumble when compared to the evidence that Fitz already has.

Now, the Dream Team legal team has come up with this today:

Lawyers for Vice President Cheney’s former top aide asked a federal judge Thursday to dismiss his indictment because the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case lacked authority to bring the charges.

Fitzgerald was appointed in December 2003 after former Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the investigation because of his close relationships with White House officials. Then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey, acting in Ashcroft’s place in the matter, selected Fitzgerald.

Comey gave Fitzgerald sweeping power to conduct the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity, exempting the special counsel from following rules that apply to all U.S. attorneys throughout the nation.

Libby’s lawyers warned U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton that he may need to require the Justice Department to turn over records — including a secret letter from Comey to Fitzgerald — to determine whether the special counsel’s appointment is legal.

You mean this “secret letter”, the one on Fitzgerald’s website? And you guys are getting paid for this defense strategy?

Yikes, SusanG, Armando, and Georgia10 over at DailyKos have already blown up this strategy, and they did it for free. Hell, it appears that all you need to beat Scooter's team is Google and a healthy diet of "Law and Order" reruns.