William Buckley Considers the Outing of a CIA Agent to be a Trivial Matter

On one level, William Buckley admits to the obvious:

The evidence appears to have been overwhelming that he lied to the FBI, and that in so doing he hindered the execution of justice.

Before you begin to think that Mr. Buckley has decided to rise about the partisan liars known as the Corner Kids, read on:

What he did was to involve himself in a security matter of no consequence. It was of no consequence at the time Libby figured in the proceedings because the nature of Joseph Wilson’s mission to Niger had already been revealed in the press, and his wife, Valerie Plame, was already moving out of the covert branch of the CIA … What he did was to involve himself in a security matter of no consequence. It was of no consequence at the time Libby figured in the proceedings because the nature of Joseph Wilson’s mission to Niger had already been revealed in the press, and his wife, Valerie Plame, was already moving out of the covert branch of the CIA … In the present case, Mrs. Wilson had already been assigned to non-covert work in the CIA … The reason to give thought to the triviality of Libby’s offense is precisely to unburden Bush of any sense of collaboration with true crime if he uses his pardoning power.

Mr. Buckley is not so stupid to think doing non-convert work during one month necessarily means one will not be doing covert work during the next. Despite all the lies from his National Review colleagues purporting Ms. Plame was no longer a covert agent, the public record now clearly shows she was. Mr. Buckley cannot stand behind a premise that is clearly false. So why does he think the outing of a CIA agent to be a trivial matter? Or for that matter – obstruction of justice seems to also be a trivial matter to Mr. Buckley as well. How can he even begin to make such a statement? Oh yea – he writes for the National Review. Never mind.