Couric Repeats First Felony in 20 Years/Iran-Contra Mantra She Used Three Months Ago

Photo of Brent Baker.

Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's sentencing occurred on Tuesday and Katie Couric led the CBS Evening News the same way she did when Libby was convicted three months ago: With a comparison to the Iran-Contra scandal and how he's the highest-ranking official convicted of a felony in 20 years. But his conviction was news three months ago, not now. Back on March 6, Couric teased: “Guilty: Scooter Libby is convicted in the CIA leak case, the highest ranking White House official found guilty of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal.” She opened by pointing out how “Libby is the highest ranking White House official convicted of a felony in two decades.”

Fast forward to June 5 and Couric teased: “Tonight, the hammer comes down on Scooter Libby. He was once Vice President Cheney's right-hand man, now he's going to prison. The highest-ranking White House official in nearly twenty years convicted of a felony.” She began the newscast:

“Hello everyone. Not since the Iran-Contra scandal nearly two decades ago has such a high-ranking White House official been convicted of a felony. And today, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in connection with that very convoluted CIA leak case. Libby was not convicted of leaking the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, but rather of lying about what he knew.”

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As occurred back on March 6, neither CBS or ABC uttered the name of the leaker: Richard Armitage. (For more about coverage the night of Libby's conviction, check my March 6 NewsBusters item, “Nets Frame Libby Verdict Around Vile Scheming, Never Mention Armitage, Tie in Reagan.”)

But unlike back in March, the Tuesday NBC Nightly News story by Bob Faw did include a soundbite, from former Bush speechwriter David Frum, naming Armitage: “The actual person who did it, Richard Armitage, he faces no penalty whatsoever. I think a lot of people who are aware of Scooter's huge contributions to public service say that seems a little unfair.”

CBS and NBC led Tuesday night with the Libby conviction while ABC (with Charles Gibson back as anchor after George Stephanopoulos anchored Monday night) began with “the harsh cold war language exchanged between the U.S. and Russia gets tougher as President Bush accuses Russia's President of dismantling democracy” followed by a look at the missile defense system proposed for Poland and a brief item on how Fidel Castro appeared in a television interview. Then Gibson got to Libby. Instead of a taped piece, Gibson discussed the decision with George Stephanopoulos.

After the NBC Nightly News report from Bob Faw, Brian Williams brought aboard David Gergen to talk about the possibility of a presidential pardon. Gergen noted: “This is a very tough sentence. This is a Watergate-type sentence. Bob Haldeman, who was Richard Nixon's chief of staff, went to jail for 18 months, not 30.”

—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center


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Does this mean we can inform

Does this mean we can inform the viewing public that Katie's ratings, three months later, still suck?

Far left wing Bush hating lia

Far left wing Bush hating liar Chris Matthews is sipping Crystal tonight...

I guess she forgot Presiden

I guess she forgot President Clinton (who ranked a bit higher then Scooter) was convicted of the same charge...yet doesn't spend 30 months in prison ... just has to serve his prison time a couple days a year when he has to be with Hillary.

Ha! The libs are right though

Ha! The libs are right though why do we always have to go back to the past like that? Let's focus on Iran Contra like Katie said, man...

Truth,Given that most liberal

Truth,

Given that most liberal's memories apparently only go back to the day Mr. Bush first took office, I doubt very much that her twelve viewers (thirteen if you include her cat) even know what the heck she is talking about.

This republic will not survive the continued neglect of its people.-Neal Boortz

...hee-hee...you mean the day

...hee-hee...you mean the day Bush stole office Dave - you may need some re-training and electro-therapy from nurse ratchet...

Truth,Damn that non-governmen

Truth,

Damn that non-government education! Sometimes I forget to turn it off. Hang on....just.....have....to....ahh.....plug.....it.........in...........

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT.

Inserting right index finger in ear......tilting head......goofy expresion forming.......

-Voice of Gallagher-:  There, I'm okay now.   :-)

This republic will not survive the continued neglect of its people.-Neal Boortz

I cannot resist the temptat

I cannot resist the temptation to quote one of my favorite stand-up comics, John Wing:

"Marriage is a major commitment. Think about it: even if you kill someone, you get out after 25 years! [...] Of course, it's kind of unfair for me to compare marriage to prison. 'Cause it's not. In prison you get sex on a regular basis - whether you want it or not."

~~~

"The current tax code is harder to understand than Bob Dylan reading Finnegan's Wake in a wind tunnel."-- Dennis Miller

Tom...OMG!That is a keeper...

Tom...

OMG!

That is a keeper....I am going to have to tell that one to my other half tomorrow..let alone pass that on via email to friends that will get a roar out of it.

ROFL!

Love closing laughter for the evening.

Thanks.

A libs selectivity and parcin

A libs selectivity and parcing can always be predicted.

Liberalism is a convenient lie.

Maybe Couric is trying for ratings from 3 months ago? Hahahaha

With Couric's ratings fall one of the worst ever witnessed for nightly news anchors could it be she is using a Mantra from 3 months ago in the desperate attempt to get back those still quite lousy but a bit better ratings numbers? Sounds crazy but then again this is Couric we are talking about. Gawwwwwwwd she is awful.

Shut up and blog! If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal. Go Rudy!

Who's Katie Couric?

Who's Katie Couric?

Katie KouriK

She's the zany, wacky perky tidbit chipmonk on CBS

Jack Kevorkian - America's Economist

Remind me to watch her someti

Remind me to watch her sometime ...

Save your time twocents

You're better off watching Dora the Explorer or Blues Clues

Jack Kevorkian - America's Economist

Hey Riled, you just gave me a

Hey Riled, you just gave me an idea for a show.....Dora the Explorer and Sandy Berger: 

 "SWIPER NO SWIPING!    SWIPER NO SWIPING!"

If some people were any more stupid we'd have to water them twice a week.

Well,gee...

I thought that President William Jefferson Clinton was found guilty of perjury to a Grand Jury, impeached because of the same but found "not guilty" by the Senate and disbarred by the State of Arkansas in 1998.

I guess that none of that counts Katie?

The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic

In the words of BT Katie.. who?

Hey Katie you are a WOMAN. Those shoulder pads make you look.. bad to say the least.

And Sandy Bergler?. was he

And Sandy Bergler?. was he found guilty?.. or did they plea his case?

You got to love it when a Bus

You got to love it when a Bush-appointed, conservative judge does just what conservatives expect of one of their appointees - rule by the book.  And, of course, hold the guilty accountable.  Check and check.  As the conservative battle cry goes, "Do the crime, you do the time".  Kinda catchy, huh?

Oh, wait.  It was Armitage, right?  No, it was actually Cheney.  But, that's too long a story for you people right now.  I know you're all too distraught. 

Does someone need a hug?

A SpaceCowboy hug?

No, I don't need a hug from you caballero .  And BTW don't ask, don't tell

Jack Kevorkian - America's Economist

I'll hug you anytime you want

I'll hug you anytime you want. I am just concerned with that chubby that you've had since the verdict was read. They should not last that long, ya know?

I have no problem with the guilty getting punished. There is so much crap being tossed around in regards of what is true and false, I do not think we will ever know what really happened. The punishment was rather extreme, compared to the wrist-slap Sandy Berger received. I think that the partisanship on both sides has been rather sad and obvious. Anybody here who thinks that the current administration (or ANY administration, for that matter) is as pure as the driven snow, are naive or blind loyalists.

Plus, the judge is a Western PA boy, which makes him okay in my book.

If Scooter can get this much

If Scooter can get this much time for something like this, shouldn't Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson get at least 10?

Sandy Burglar. STOLE National Security Documents. If he didn't go to jail, no one should.  Kept under the Clinton-licking-MSM rug.

Anyone who says they support the troops but not the mission is a liar. 

There is so much crap being t

There is so much crap being tossed around in regards of what is true and false, I do not think we will ever know what really happened.

Roger that, um, Roger.  But don’t despair.  We have the transcript from the trial which gives us some idea, right?  I mean, these people are underoath and all - unlike all the spinmiesters out there.  And, did that transcript not pretty much answer the question of where the leak of the information about Plame originated?  Armitage got his information about Plame from a classified State Department memo.  And the source for that memo was the office of the Vice President.  Armitage was a “back channel” to the White House.

It would have been helpful, of course, if we had gotten Libby and Cheney on the stand but his attornies - all 13 of them - had the good sense to know that Fitzgerald would rip them a new one.

If you don't want to get all confused about a pretty straight-forward case, I suggest you just avoid all the talking points being circulated and stick to the credible sources.

Hey, and what’s a little chubby between friends?