Posted on 06/12/2006 4:39:16 PM PDT by STARWISE
The special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation said Monday he doesn’t expect the White House to attempt to block Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide from using classified intelligence material in his defense to perjury charges.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald told U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton that the White House has designated certain documents that it is concerned about being made public during a trial.
If those documents are among those that I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby wants to prepare his defense, Fitzgerald said, he and Libby’s lawyers will work out solutions with the judge in secret under a law designed to deal with defendants’ access to classified government information.
Libby, 55, was charged last October with lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned and when he subsequently told three reporters about CIA officer Valerie Plame. He faces five counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice.Under the Classified Information Procedures Act, Walton will broker compromises between the government and the defense as to what information can be used at trial and in what form. Much of what Libby wants likely will be provided to the jury via summaries of the classified material.
So far, the government has turned over an initial batch of about 55 pages to Libby’s defense team, and another group of documents is to be delivered Tuesday, defense attorney John DeWitt Cline said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Walton set an Aug. 16 hearing to resolve the differences. The hearing will be held behind closed doors.
Fitzgerald also said he doesn’t anticipate any fights with the White House over witnesses he plans to call at Libby’s trial in January. Fitzgerald has indicated that he might call witnesses ranging from Cheney to former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and former State Department official Marc Grossman.
“The White House is aware of the witnesses we intend to call ... and the subject areas,” the prosecutor told Walton. “This is not a crisis that is looming. I want to assure you of that.”
~~~~~
Scooter Ping!
(snip)Cline also told Walton the defense has not yet decided whether it will call an expert on memory to testify at trial.
A key to Libby’s defense is whether a jury should believe what NBC’s Tim Russert, Time magazines’s Matthew Cooper and former New York Times reporter Judith Miller remember about their conversations with Libby — or what Libby recalls telling them."
The first two paragraphs. Isn't showing a "concern" about certain documents now an "attempt to block?"
Sounds like "If we can't get him the stuff we wanted to, them we'll 'Al Capone' him!
good, get one memo from Plame and have a CIA higher up testify to if some one in that department is considered a covered person. Puts the whole Dem victimhood gambit to bed and makes Fitzy look like he didn't do his job on finding out if a crime had been committed in the first place.
He seems confident that he and the White House will be able to work it out .... we shall see. I still say, even if Fitzie lands on his ear for sheer buffoonery and MissCleo-itis, it could still be tossed due to the classified info factor and the WH's refusal to turn that over.
I don't know. He continues to sound like an arrogant a**hole to me.
Well, he sure can't speak for the White House, even though he seems confident they can work it out. I think Alberto Gonzalez is gonna be caught in a meat grinder at some point.
Fitz hasn't been conducting a leak investigation, he's on a poorly run witch hunt. I want a Congressional investigation of all the money this bozo has wasted.
Agree with you on both points. What a total waste of taxpayers' money. It would be different if there was a significant crime involved, but perjury related to what someone said to some reporters? Sheesh!!!!
I *could* be the sound of wishful thinking. ;-)
Pinz
BUMP Wolfstar's comments.
I = It.
Oops
Pinz
:)
Total waste of our money.
I'm wondering when he's going to be called upon for some regular periodic financial reporting on this farce. Isn't that part of a Spec. Prosecutor's responsibilities?
Yes, most definitely.
Remember all the complaints about Ken Starr's?
But notice there haven't been any public whining rants, except here, about the Barret Report after what .. 12, 13 years ?... for Cisneros.
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