XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN OCT 30, 2005 18:31:21 ET XXXXX
PROSECUTOR PLANS ON CALLING CHENEY AS WITNESS IN OPEN COURT; EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE FIGHT LOOMS
**Exclusive**
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is planning to call Vice President Dick Cheney as a witness in the trial of Lewis Libby, the DRUDGE REPORT has leaned.
But the high stakes move could result in an executive privilege showdown between the White House and Fitzgerald, a top government source said Sunday.
"If Mr. Fitzgerald is going to demand a public recounting of conversations between the vice president, or even the president, and his staff, on matters he, himself, has acknowledged are 'classified,' executive privilege will obviously be invoked."
Fitzgerald has made it clear to lawyers involved in the case that he prefers Cheney appear as a witness in open court.
"Mr. Fitzgerald is starting from the position that this should not be done on remote or videotape," the well-placed source said.
Fitzgerald and Libby's attorney Joseph Tate discussed possible plea options before the indictment was issued last week, TIME magazine reports in new editions. But the deal was scotched because the prosecutor insisted that Libby do some "serious" jail time.
Developing...
Okay, that's it! Now Chris Matthews really is going to have a stroke . . . or a cow.
This is BS for SO many reasons...one of which is that Cheney's conversations ...whether classified or not...are perfectly legal to discuss with his chief of staff. Libby is NOT saying the Cheney didn't tell him. He's saying that he remembered, incorrectly, the timing of those conversations. A deposition or videotaped (like CLINTON DID) would give the prosecutor what he wants....but he doesn't want the facts.
Fitzgerald's call for Cheney's testimony is sure to drag this thing on for years.
That executive privilege claim alone will take 18 months to make it to the Supreme Court.
What was maybe a two year case just turned into a 4 year case, and if continued, will be decided long after Bush leaves the White House.