Posted on 12/19/2006 12:02:21 PM PST by seanmerc
Cheney to Be Defense Witness in CIA Case Dec 19 2:54 PM US/Eastern
By MATT APUZZO Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Vice President Dick Cheney will be called as a defense witness in the CIA leak case, an attorney for Cheney's former chief of staff told a federal judge Tuesday. "We're calling the vice president," attorney Ted Wells said in court. Wells represents defendant I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who is charged with perjury and obstruction.
Early last week, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said he did not expect the White House to resist if Cheney or other administration officials are called to testify in Libby's trial, expected to begin in January.
Libby is accused of lying to investigators about what he told reporters regarding former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame's identity was leaked to reporters around the time that her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.
In addition to Cheney, other government officials and journalists are expected to be key witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled to start next month.
Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller and NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert are expected to be prosecution witnesses. Libby's lawyers said in court papers that several reporters will testify on Libby's behalf.
Two unidentified reporters may resist testifying, Libby's attorneys said, but they expect to resolve that issue before trial.
Libby also has sought a subpoena for the tape of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's interview with former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage has admitted he discussed Plame's job with Woodward in 2003 but said it was a passing, inadvertent comment.
If admitted into evidence, the tape could be played at trial. The tape has been turned over to prosecutors, and Libby's attorneys said they expect no objection to their subpoena.
Hmmm and Woodward is a reporter too
There is no way that Nicholas Kristof will not be on the list to testify. He's the one who authored the original Wilson/Niger story.
Walter Pincus is another one who should be testifying.
They could get to the bottom really fast by having him give sworn testimony!!
I also live with the hope that there is a secret grand jury getting ready to indict Fitzgerald, but then it's Christmas, so I am always hoping for impossibly wonderful things!
bump
FREE Scooter bump
HEY!!!!
We need the picture of the "AW not this sh*t again !!"
Worst. Fitzmas. Ever.
"No, the leaker's never been in the CIA, but his wife used to be and he got sent on a trip to Africa by them once.
"
No. His wife used to be and he was on a business trip to handle the sale of yellowcake ore for the President of Niger. He had a private company that did this brokering business in Niger, and special deals involving the President of Niger he personally handled. Since he was already going, his wife got the CIA to have him 'spy' (good idea since he had the right connections), and paid for his trip, no strings attached (no nasty CIA documents or binders to sign, no debriefing, etc).
Not only that, but this happened exactly the same during the Clinton Administration. Same deal, same answer was given.
Same person continued to sell Yellowcake from Niger through another third world country, then on to Saddam. BUT, Niger wasn't selling it directly to Saddam, which is what this person did report back to the CIA, which made everyone happy and kept pockets filled.
Kinda like arguing who is the dumbest senator, Partica Bin Murray of Washington or Barbara Boxer of California, eh?
It'll be very interesting to see if Cheney will be allowed to testify. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a positive note:
The National Law Journal Selects Libby Defense Lawyer
Theodore Wells as 2006 Lawyer of the Year
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061218005270&newsLang=en
The National Law Journal® today announced the selection of litigator and high-profile defense attorney Theodore V. Wells Jr as its 2006 “Lawyer of the Year.” Wells, who is preparing to defend I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby in a trial scheduled for Jan. 16, is co-chairman of the litigation department at New York’s Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
The newspaper also named Neal K. Katyal and Carter G. Phillips as this year’s runners-up. Katyal was chosen for his successful handling of Salim Hamdan's U.S. Supreme Court challenge to President Bush's order establishing military commissions to try enemy combatants.
Phillips was named for his performance in an extraordinary six arguments before the high court last term. Profiles of all three lawyers headline the year-end December 18th issue of The National Law Journal, available today, and are also online at www.nlj.com.
The Libby case, which centers on the former vice presidential aide’s alleged role in the leak of a CIA officer’s identity to the press, is just one high-profile matter that consumed Wells in 2006.
He also obtained a mistrial for the former chairman of the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical distributor in one of the largest securities fraud cases in history and helped negotiate a unique deferred-prosecution agreement in the federal case against investment banker Frank Quattrone.
As counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, he helped defend racial integration education programs in two separate ongoing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006. Wells’ other clients in the court room spotlight this year included Exxon Mobil Corp and Philip Morris USA.
“Wells has consistently been one of the top go-to litigators in the country the last few years, but this last year he’s really raised the bar with his string of accomplishments,” said Rex Bossert, editor in chief of The National Law Journal.
Huh? Cheney has volunteered to be a witness and no one will stop him. He will probably testify by videotaped presentations. He will destroy Fits' theory of Libby's motivation to lie' support Libby's overworked defense and generally flatten Fitz.
I hope the VEEP is going happily to defend Libby.
Cheney is an honest man with nothing to hide. He'll testify if he wants. :)
What I mean is I wonder if the govt. will allow him to testify, given the classified nature of the issues.
Right.
Cheney's testimony will be right on target. ;)
Ithink Cheney would perform brilliantly if asked. It doesn't sound like he's being subpoenaed, just requested to testify in Libby's behalf. Fitz would be outclassed by a country mile asking Cheney anything on crossexam.
The defense needs to call Armitage and Powell as hostile witnesses and find out just what they knew and when they knew it.
Goes to motive. If Libby can demonstrate that knowledge of Plame and her CIA gig was all over town (ie., the Washington newsrooms and cocktail circuit) then he can credibly claim that he had no motive to lie about anything to do with the Plame investigation in the first place.
Fitz could hardly convince a jury that Libby lied to a federal prosecutor just for the fun of it. Fitz needs to prove that Libby had a compelling reason to lie, and Libby needs to be able to defend himself. Hence, Libby needs the tape.
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