Posted on 03/10/2006 2:43:30 PM PST by Cboldt
A federal judge ordered the CIA on Friday to turn over highly classified intelligence briefings to Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide to use in the aide's defense against perjury charges.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton rejected CIA warnings that the nation's security would be imperiled if the presidential-level documents were disclosed to lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff.
The judge said the CIA can either delete highly classified information from the briefing material and provide copies of what Libby received six days a week, often with Cheney. Or, Walton said, the CIA can produce "topic overviews" of the matters covered in the briefings.
The judge also ordered the CIA to give Libby an index of the topics covered in follow-up questions that the former White House aide asked intelligence officers who conducted the briefings.
In seeking CIA input late last month, Walton appeared to have been trying to broker a compromise between defense attorneys and prosecutors to avoid a lengthy court battle with the Bush administration over the briefing material.
The judge's order indicates he is ready for such a fight. He set a schedule for the Bush administration to file any objections by March 24.
The charges against Libby - perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents - grew out of an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.
On MSNBC they have a little link in the news section to the article but when the indictments came down in was "BREAKING NEWS".
I expect Libby's lawyers may appeal. This story and another say that all the confidential material will be redacted, or that the briefings will be summarized. I'm not sure why Libby should settle for that.
Obviously I miscued somehow, and didn't notice that.
This is an interesting development. Thanks for the ping or I'd have missed this.
"These entities have contributed significantly to the investigation and without their contribution it is unlikely that the indictment in this case could have been secured," the judge wrote.
The tone of the news article is slightly misleading. It isn't the "Bush administration" which is blocking the divulging of this material. It is the CIA. This whole mess is a matter of infighting between the CIA and the Bush people with the fire stoked by Fitzgerald.
These two paragraphs make it sound like the judge understands this!
"Didn't Novak say the leaker would be revealed?
Who the heck is this person???"
Novak said he would reveal once the investigation ended. Instead of closing the investigation when Libby was charged Fitzgerald decided to keep it "open". SO it hasn't ended. Novak isn't talking.
My bet the person was Lawrence ( Larry ) Wilkerson. However I've seen some blogs where certain partly-censored court documents were Buckheaded and they figured out the person was Richard Armitage. Or rather they make a pretty good case it was Armitage.
Hell I remeber reading that reporter Walter Pincus was invited over to the Wilson residence for a barbeque prior to Novak's article. Some state secret!
My own sense of schadenfraude would love it to be Wilkerson, but the leaker seemed to release the information unintentionally to defend the administration against the nepotistic CIA. Wilkerson wouldn't do that.
Both the prosecution of criminal cases and the conduct of foreign policy are within the purview of the Executive Branch of government. What the Executive Branch cannot do is prosecute a case and, at the same time, withhold evidence relevant to that case.
He would do it to protect Powell.
Thanks, this is big stuff!
I want to see this on Court TV. :-)
Thanks for the updates, Howlin!
I hope you're right. It seems to me that in the long run Bush and his administration have more ways to manipulate this business to their advantage than Fitz does, and I hope they use every power they have. It's important for our country as well as their political survival.
I don't see Fitzy wanting this on TV.
Hey, can I hope, can't I?
And well it should. This whole thing was a joke from the beginning. Fitzgerald is a disgrace doing the biding of the DemocRATS.
Which is likely what the CIA will do. That way they can dress up whatever they want, and omit whatever they want. Libby's best hope is that Goss takes charge of this. I sure hope people are talking.
Scooter bump!
Thanks for the ping!
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