The answer to that Libby question

Posted: Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:24 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Courts

From NBC's Joel Seidman
NBC News has learned that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has paid the court fine of $250,400.00 with personal funds.

A source close to Libby said that the "Scooter Libby Defense Trust," which has raised more than $5 million in donations, is still paying out legal fees. The source emphasized that the fine imposed by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton was paid entirely from Libby's personal funds.

Click for larger image

EMAIL THIS

Comments

That doesn't mean that Libby won't be reimbursed later on when the legal defense fund is dissolved.

Cynicism Is My Middle Name (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:29 PM)

Yeah.....like I believe that.

J. Merle Stanley, Westchester, NY (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:30 PM)

Yeah, and the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy all had lunch with the decider and dead-eye dick on the White House lawn yesterday....they discussed where Saddam may have hidden those pesky WMDs....

The Edge, Macon, GA (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:37 PM)

Oh to have that amount of money in my personal funds

Dawn, somewhere in Kansas (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:38 PM)

A source close to Libby. How many more lies can these repubs tell. They really do think we Americans are stupid.

Ollie frenchburg ky (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:44 PM)

I need a Roth IRA to the tune of that amount.

Desmond (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:45 PM)

Income tax question:
You are allowed to receive $11,000 dollars from a single source as a gift. Anything above that counts as income. Let's say I am on the hook for a million or so in legal fees and a quarter million in fines, and a friend raises the cash for a "legal defense fund" for me. I then use the funds to pay the bills, but pay the fine out of my own funds. Am I liable then for the taxes on the gift I received?

I'd say, "Yes." But given the two-tiered justice system that has developed, I doubt that little Scooter has that worry.

I'd love to see a journalist cover this angle.

David, Tallahassee FL (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:53 PM)

"A working class hero is something to see, a working class hero is something to be" John Lennon 'Working Class Hero'

The Edge, Macon,GA (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 3:59 PM)

Justice in America is for the wealthy and only for the wealthy.

Marty in Kansas City (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 4:09 PM)

There are two classes of people in the opinion of the VP. Those who make at least $300,000/yr (only ones he will talk to), and the rest of us. The uber-wealthy rule. GOPers make laws to "trickle up" wealth to uber-wealthy.

We outnumber them, but Rove is good at getting morons to vote his way. The masses are asses.

Flat-earther, Georgia (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 4:31 PM)

Well well.How many of the ''rest of us'',Flat Earther,did you see hanging around the Ritz-Carlton in NYC at another ten grand-a-plate fundraiser for another Democrat?How many of the ''rest of us'' live in Grosse Pointe,Beverly Hills,The Hamptons,Cape Cod,Marthas Vinyard,or Pacific Heights?Heh.You are merely trading one set of the monied mavens for another,yet having the temerity to call these million and billonaires some kind of Joe Shuck driving a 57 Ford pickup in Macon,just to make em look like ''the rest of us''.

Lee Holmes (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 5:10 PM)

I don't know. I saw an awful lot of corporate jets landing in Texas after our President was elected, selected, and became President. I don't own a corporate jet nor do I belong ho the exclusive "Ranger"club. You have to have big bucks and be a Republican to belong to that. I ,however, am just an American citizen that is "unpatriotic".

Desmond (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 6:03 PM)

What happens to the "Defense Fund" when Scooter goes home without so much as an ankle bracelet? Do the Repubs keep it to defend the next idiot who perjures and obstructs justice? I guess the Golden Rule applies here-the one with the gold makes the rules.
PS-If any "gold" is left over from the fund-I would appreciate some of the "trickle down" that the Repubs loved Reagan for!

Michael C, San Mateo, CA (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 7:38 PM)

I think Cheney and Rove should pay Libby's fine, since he is protecting them. Fork up Dick and Karl.

Lennie, Calgary, Alberta (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 7:52 PM)

Paris Hilton did more time than Scooter Libby! and who cares about her?

Piper Miles, Sonoma CA (Sent Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:06 PM)

David in tallahassee: Libby does not have to pay tax on the gift of five million for his legal defense. I don't think gifts are taxable but in any case they can avoid his paying taxes by not giving him the money directly, but just paying the legal bills for him.

jon wheatley (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 8:31 AM)

Dawn: call up your Friends Hiliary and Bill Clinton: I here they have tens of MILLIONS of dollars stashed.

Oh, the travails of being a rich, bleeding heart liberal: how to rid oneself of all that guilt about amassing money like those wealthy, corrupt Republicans. No worry, ask Ted Kennedy how he assuages his guilt of his family's Millions.

If Slick Willie and Hiliary give you any, send some to your local food pantry, like Christian conservative Republicans do by the millions..

jtb (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 10:36 AM)

Desmond: Al Gore flies a private/corporate jet.

So does John Edwards.

How about all of you getting off the "....only Republicans are filthy rich" innuendos and veiled inferences.

You are all more intelligent than the uneducated morons you portray yourselves as, on these blogs.

..sorry for the dangling participle.

jtb (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 12:34 PM)

jtb, why would you assume that Democrats feel guilty about making money? It's the American Dream, if I could snag a cushy job as a top 10% wage earner I'd do it in a heartbeat. What I wouldn't do is turn my back on the reality that 70% of the increase in wealth since 1970 has gone to the top 20% of earners, that if average income had kept pace with inflation since 1960 it would be $71,000 instead of $43,000, and that Middle Class incomes in the 5th year of the GW "Economic Miracle" are still below what they were in 2000 when adjusted for inflation. That's the difference between being fortunate in business and being greedy.

John B, Des Moines, IA (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 12:36 PM)

jtb well, you're right about one thing. I am more intelligent than you give me credit for.

Desmond (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 12:54 PM)

As for Al Gore's plane, he had it flown down ,at his own expense to New Orleansto help rescue Katrina victims.

Desmond (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 1:24 PM)

Dawn, That is the kind of comment you get from some christian conservative republicans.

Ollie frenchburg ky (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 1:50 PM)

First good nights sleep I have had since scootey got his get out of jail caard.That money was raised for scootey by old Fred thompson ----we should all remember that when old fred throws his moldy hat in the ring.

HMT (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 2:11 PM)

"Money, money, money" Pink Floyd

Dave, AZ (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 2:15 PM)

What happens to the Libby Defense Fund when the fees are paid? He can receive the balance as regular income, pay taxes on it and keep the rest. Considering the highest tax rate is about 39% (any CPAs out there can correct me if I'm wrong)before deductions looks like pretty good deal for him. Bas-e-ball been berry berry good to Scooter (apologies to Chico Esquala).

Dave, AZ (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 2:22 PM)

Piper, that's the point exactly. Paris Hilton is not worth caring about with all that is going on in the world.

? (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 3:04 PM)

Desmond--Thanks for mentioning that Al Gore had had his own plane flown down to New Orleans at his own expense to help Katrina victims. I'd somehow missed hearing about that.

Olivia (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 4:27 PM)

Olivia, that's because he did not advertise te fact. He just saw the need and helped.

Desmond (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 4:48 PM)

Olivia,

John Travolta also flew in plane loads of water and supplies.

Barbara, TN (Sent Friday, July 06, 2007 10:51 PM)

Oh Please, flying pigs will deluge DC ... long before I will ever believe that Scooter Libby paid that fine personally. Its bad enough to be sold a bill of shoddy goods but DON'T INSULT OUR COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE ...

Chris Tampa Florida (Sent Saturday, July 07, 2007 4:09 AM)

Chris Tampa Florida (Sent Saturday, July 07, 2007 4:11 AM)

SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.):

Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private) Remember me?

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=259104