February 15, 2007: Author: Two Close Friends of Libby’s Implored Him to ‘Cut a Deal’ with Prosecution; Libby Insisted on Trial

Author and former Clinton administration adviser Sidney Blumenthal writes that months before the start of the Lewis Libby trial (see January 16-23, 2007), “one of Scooter Libby’s old mentors, a prominent Washington attorney and Republican with experience going back to the Watergate scandal and with intimate ties to neoconservatives, implored him repeatedly to stop covering up for Vice President Cheney and to cut a deal with the special prosecutor [Patrick Fitzgerald]. Yet another distinguished Washington lawyer and personal friend of Libby’s, privy to the mentor’s counsel, reinforced his urgent advice and offered to provide Libby with introductions to former prosecutors who might help guide him. But Libby rebuffed them. He refused to listen. He insisted on the trial.” Blumenthal does not name the two attorneys who allegedly urged Libby to make a deal with the prosecution. [Salon, 2/15/2007]