Rove, Cheney, & Others Win Another Round One in Plame Matter

With the Libby commutation in hand, and no charges filed against any leakers in the Plame matter, the only remaining sign of the case was the civil action brought by Plame against several administration officials. And that too is now history as a result of the immunity provided to government officials.  The court dismissed Plame's lawsuit, noting its lack of jurisdiction. (See Washington Post)

So let me see if I understand the final results here. A prosecutor investigated the leak and indicted a senior level official on after-the-fact charges.  A jury convicted this individual, but the President commuted his sentence. Thus, the criminal process failed to ascertain who was responsible for the leak and the executive didn't seem to care.

And so the aggrieved party tried the civil process, but found that the executive has immunity.

And the executive is claiming executive privilege for certain former executive level employees who were called before Congress to testify about "firings" of US Attorneys.

I keep wondering how Alexis de Tocqueville  would have written this chapter in his book "Democracy in America."

(esp)