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that rather than hinging on the parsing of "verified" as many here speculated yesterday, the "off the hook" fine-line is that the reported abuses were "accidental" and thus somehow don't count.
The WP goes inside with two Justice Department officials saying that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't lie to Congress when he affirmed there hadn't been "one verified case of civil liberties abuse." Even though he knew of the reports that detailed how FBI officials had frequently overstepped their bounds, it turns out they weren't abuses because they weren't intentional.
Like the Libby pardon, if this is upheld as a "legitimate mediating factor", the insanity and other "impairment" defense (not to mention all those "kiddy killers") will get a big boost and all sorts of folks are going to be petitioning for appeals.
