The indictment disclosed that the CIA were responsible for the information.
What we need is a new thread for questions for the trial.
Not exactly question, but let me start with this after reading the indictment. Two impressions that I have:
1. Fitzgerald must not have understood or cared much about the entire background of the case when he includes the following in the preface of the charges.
On May 6, 2003, the New York Times published a column by Nicholas Kristof which disputed the accuracy of the “sixteen words” in the State of the Union address. The column reported that, following a request from the Vice President’s office for an investigation of allegations that Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger, an unnamed former ambassador was sent on a trip to Niger in 2002 to investigate the allegations. According to the column, the ambassador reported back to the CIA and State Department in early 2002 that the allegations were unequivocally wrong and based on forged documents.
There were no "forgeries" know to anyone in either the CIA or the administration at the time Wilson made his "report". While Wilson claimed that in his June 2003 romance with reporters, it was proven by the Senate and even admitted to by Wilson, that he had no knowledge of any such forgeries at the time he made his trip or when he reported his "findings" afterward. To include that line shows that someone in SP office is obviously not up to speed and I expect Scooter's lawyer will have a convenient starting place for ripping the entire indictment apart over that gaff. Show one item to be false in the beginning, and the jury starts quickly questioning every part of the indictment.
2. The "classified" thing in describing Valerie Wilson employment. The fact that no charges were brought for disclosing the identity of a "covert" operative may indicate that Fitzgerald may have been playing semantics with members of the Grand Jury. Many people have classified jobs, but their place of employment is not at all classified. Did Ms. Wilson go into the office (i.e. CIA Langley HQ) 5 days a week? How did she get there in the morning? Did she drive her own car? Did anyone without proper clearances and "need to know" know where she worked? Was their any requirement in her file that she not divulge her place of employment? Are people working in the same section as her (WMD intel) required to keep their place of employment secret? How was she paid? With a Government check or from a CIA front company account? Was she on a Federal health insurance program?
Again, another spot where a good attorney can unravel the indictment.
And that says nothing about those who would have to testify against Libby in court. All reporters who would be required to tell all they know in open court session. It would be very easy to shake their credibility since they are not by nature credible people. A trail could get very interesting. It’s also curious that there was no mention of Robert Novak having spoken to Libby.