The Trial Without a Crime Begins in Washington

The Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial opened today with the prosecution trying to make Dick Cheney into the bad guy, and the defense trying to do the same to Karl Rove:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald described for jurors Tuesday a Bush administration effort to beat back early criticism of the Iraq war and accused former White House aide "Scooter" Libby of covering up his role in the probe of the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

I. Lewis Libby's attorney countered by painting a different White House plot, alleging that administration officials sought to blame Libby for the leak to protect Bush political adviser Karl Rove's own disclosures.

"They're trying to set me up. They want me to be the sacrificial lamb," attorney Theodore Wells said, recalling a conversation between Libby and his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, as the leak investigation heated up in 2003. "I will not be sacrificed so Karl Rove can be protected."

Nobody, not Rove, Cheney or even Libby has been charged with the leak. This is a process prosecution based on the allegation that Libby lied to investigators. There is no underlying crime. It's much ado about nothing.