Posted on 02/12/2007 8:30:00 AM PST by Bahbah
NEW WITNESS, GLEN KESSLER:
Walton: Tomorrow we'll have to break at 3:30. I've got a plea I need to make.
Glenn Kessler is up. I'll use GK for him.
David Corn says he went to high school with David Sanger and Brown U with Glenn Kessler. He voted against Sanger taking over the high school newspaper after he left.
New Defense lawyer. (I'll use D for him)
GK 9 years at WaPo, Diplomatic correspondant, travel around world with SOS, talk with anyone involved in foreign policy.
D Covered since you've been at post.
GK Almost five years.
D Have you won any awards.
GK laughs, Yes I have, twice part of groups that won Pulitzer. I've won awards.
D Direct attention to July 2003. What subjects.
GK What I cover now, US foreign policy.
D What were some of the issues.
GK a rather full range involving foreign policy. North Korean, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq.
D More specifically week of July 7, 2003. Did there come a time when you interviewed Libby.
GK Spoke to him on July 12, also July 18.
[they're constructing a timeline of all the journalists with whom libby spoke without leaking.]
GK helping a colleague who asked me to bounce some things off of Scooter.
D Did you contact them
GK No I contacted them, I also sent an email. My colleague had 5 specific questions he wanted to raise. These were the things we're hearing. Cathie gave partial answers, said Scooter would follow up.
D How did he follow-up
GK Telephone. He called me, I had heard from Cathie to expect call over weekend, I was at zoo with children, on a Saturday, on CT Avenue, the National Zoo. I had taken the questions of my colleague, they were in my pocket. I had my 3 children, who were 2, 6, and 10, I had received the call when I was in the elephant house.
D What makes it memorable for you.
GK I hadn't taken many calls in the elephant house, I had to sit on a stool in the middle of the elephant house, and I had to direct my 10 year old to make sure my other children weren't absconded.
D You were able to focus.
GK With occasional pausing to yell at my son to keep an eye on the others.
D Groundrules?
2:59
Thank you Bahbah for all the updates
THE SAGA CONTINUES:
I had had instructions from Martin and Mary Matalin that said that when Scooter says Off the record, he means Deep background. I have never discussed the topics of this subject with Fitzgerald. Libby is a confidential source. Since you're asking me, do I have permission to speak about this?
D Did you conversation have to do with Iraq and OVP?
D Did Libby say anything about Wilson's wife? Did you say anything to him.
GK No I did not.
D Are you certain about that?
GK I'm certain.
D Puts up the October 12 WaPo article.
Fitz Objection.
Kessler looks like he could be an ex-military guy, conservative hair cut, pretty big guy. He's looking around inquistively. Just saw someone and smiled big.
D Puts up the July 12 column with Libby's frantic underlines. This is an October 12 article written by Pincus and Allen. Reading from it. Did you ever discuss, were you a source for Pincus for this article? Did Libby discuss with you whether Wilson's trip was a boondoggle? Did you suggest to him in some way it was a boondoggle.
Fitz up
F Do you recall when your deposition outside GJ took place?
GK June 24?
F You appeared under oath in attorney's office, rather than before GJ?
Objection sustained
F You understand arrangement had to do with you as rep of media. You were asked qusetions limited by scope of Libby's waiver. You testified there were questions about planning for war in Iraq. In June 2004, you were not asked to testify about what the conversation was, only about whether Wilson and wife came up. Is it fair to say that arrangements did not affect truth in deposition.
F You're very clear that you did not discuss this with Pincus. Part of this is the unique memory of taking a cell phone call in the elephant house.
GK From memory as well as contemporaneous notes.
F Did you also check notes.
GK the actual notes were lost. Since I was doing a favor for a colleague, once I came back from Elephant house, I wrote up note and sent it off.
F Is it fair to say that you did nothing in terms of working with colleagues on story about Wilson's wife. You had a reaction when you read about Wilson's wife.
GK I read it in newspaper on 14th. I said Boy this is interesting.
F There's no way you had a conversation two days before.
GK I said, oh, this is news to me.
F And so that reinforces your memory that you had not conversation about this.
D Did you have an opportunity to review your notes.
GK It refreshed what the issues were, I was doing it as a favor for a colleague, they were his questions, not mine. I was able to remember what we talked about.
D This refreshed your recollection as to what you did not discuss.
Next witness–don't know who yet I'll stay here unless it is Harlow.
You are most welcome, Mo.
I sometimes have trouble getting the other site to update. Probably my lack of knowledge.
NEXT WITNESS IS THAT WEASEL, EVAN THOMAS:
3:13
Fitz' line of questioning was to set up that Kessler testified under the exact same conditions as Russert, and he knew he hadn't talked about Plame since he was surprised when he read it in Novak's column.
Evan Thomas, Newsweek
Jeffress up, I'll use J and ET
ET Newsweek, 20 years, editor at large. 30 years as journalist
J Particular area of expertise?
ET No, mostly national security, politics, national news.
J Do you appear on television.
ET Sometimes.
J In July 2003, covering any particular stories?
ET We were writing about a variety of stories having to do with Iraq.
J did the issues concern pre-war intell.
ET [seems unsure] Yes, that summer,yes.
J Asks about 16 words and allegatoins.
J Do you know Scooter Libby, how many times did you talk to him?
ET A dozen times,
J all while he was ib OVP. And also Cathie Martin.
ET Originally about 9/11, then having to do with terrorist threats and invasion of Iraq.
J Do you ordinarily work on Saturdays? Do you recall taking a call from Libby that day?
ET Yes. No.
3:18
J You would return a call to Libby
ET Yes
J You have no recollectoin of doing so.
J Did you have any conversations about Wilson.
ET No.
Pass the witness.
No questions.
Next witness.
(It's like a speedway in here today)
3:20
3:20
New Defense Guy (we're joking this is like emptying the bench at the end of a game)
Carl Ford (I'll use CF and D), I have a one-person consulting company. It doens't sound very good just to say Ford, so I call it Ford and Associates. Had been working at Cantor Partners. I was EVP of Cassidy and Assc. It's a lobbying firm. I was Asst SOS 2001 until 2003.
D What is Intelligence and Research
CF It's part of intell community, but we're part of state. Take info from intell community and provide it to people at state.
D What were you duties.
CF Manage and minister office of 300 people. Primarily doing analysis for senior leadership for State. Powell, Armitage, Grossman,
D You were head of that section. To whom did you report?
CF Powell?
D Informal reporting
CF Most of my reporting to Powell, Armitage, occasionally to Grossman.
D Direct attention to June 2003, did there come a time when Grossman requested you provide info on issues relating to Iraq's attempt to acquire yellowcake. Precise date?
CF First week or so in June.
D Impersonal request? Anything to fix date.
CF It was an unusual request, I'd had a handful of requests, never about WMD and Iraq, just the fact that he asked about that meeting,
D Senior staff meeting,
CF Grossman chaired, SOS normaly chaired himself, on those occasions when he was traveling, Armitage took his place. Armitage not there, I was not privy to where he was at that point.
3:26
Ping to more updates from the Libby Trial
THE STAMPEDE OF WITNESSES CONTINUES:
3:26
Putting up calendar.
D Taking a look at June 9, Monday, does that help refresh the date he asked you to provide information
CF It was Monday June 9
D Did Grossman tell you why he wanted it. Did he recall asking you because Libby requested the information? Is that the kind of info you would recall. After Grossman asked you to find out, what did you do?
CF Called people in INR responsible for following WMD issue. Neil Silver, I gave him the assignment I just received.
D Was a memo created to capture that info?
CF Yes.
[gives him a memo; btw, just a reminder, Ford is the guy who said Bolton was a knock down drag out guy.]
CF memo created in response to Grossman's request. Grossman didn't request you put it in memo.
D Top corner, date.
CF June 10, 2003.
D How long did it take you and your staff to prepare this
CF less than a day
D Do you know who Walter Kansteiner is
CF Asst SOS for Africa
D How long had you known him,
CF We were in many of the same meetings. There were at least one or two occasions in which we worked with Africa Bureau and I went down and talked about the project. We had more than just recognizing name relationship.
D Was Mr. Kansteiner, did you have any meetings or relations with Kansteiner in doing this memo
CF No, I did not.
D Was there a point when Grossman indicated to you that the info was somehow incomplete?
CF I don't recall anything of that nature. I don't recall him saying anything about the memo after it went to his office.
Pass the witness.
Zeidenberg up for Fitz
Z Fair to say this report would have been delivered to Grossman, either on June 10 or July 11.
CF It would have been hand-carried to his office. As soon as we could get it to him.
Witness dismissed
3:35
Thanks, Mo! 70 degrees here and I have been OUTSIDE all day!
I was surprised the defense didn't have Ford describe the contents of the memo he prepared for Grossman. And it was amusing when he admitted that he added " . . . and Associates" to his business name even though he had no associates, it just sounded better.
You know I hate you *L*
just kidding ;-)
:-)
But I'm not sure you would be allowed even to think this today:
"'You were present on the occasion…and, indeed, you are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction.
Cheers,
SB
Yeah, I know....lol. Rain and dreary weather coming in from TX and LA tonight, but a promised low of only 54 degrees. I am feeling a lot happier today. I truly need warm weather and sunshine.
An interesting comment from one of the firedoglake readers:
" pattern emerges as emptywheel notes. They’re constructing the timeline of a gaggle of reporters (I won’t call them journalists) who were on the receiving end of leaks from a plethora of sources, e.g. Ari, Armi, Rove, but not Libby. The reporters who spoke to Libby didn’t learn the Plame identity from him. Ergo, since Libby also spoke with many reporters it’s plausible that he did, in fact, hear for the first time that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA from a reporter during the course of his conversations with them.
That’s my take on Team Libby’s strategery. They certaily seem to be hammering on the “everybody knew” theme."
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