Libby's Lawyers Seek Papers on Plame's CIA Employment
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; A05
Attorneys for Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff urged a court yesterday to force a prosecutor to turn over CIA records indicating whether former CIA operative Valerie Plame's employment was classified, saying the answer is not yet clear.
The defense team for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby also asked that the court require Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald to turn over any informal assessments conducted by the CIA to determine whether the leak of Plame's identity in July 2003 damaged national security or agency operations.
Libby was indicted in October on five counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice in the course of Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of Plame's identity to the media. The indictment charges that Libby lied to investigators when he said he did not provide information about Plame to two reporters and when he said he learned about Plame from a third, NBC's Tim Russert.
Defense lawyers argued in court papers that it is crucial to determine whether Plame was not an undercover operative at the time Libby was discussing her with members of the media, and whether little or no damage was done to national security when her identity was publicly disclosed.
If either is true, the defense argued, it will "challenge the prosecution's contention that Mr. Libby has reason to lie to the FBI and the grand jury about his conversations with reporters in July 2003."
Plame's identity was first disclosed in Robert D. Novak's syndicated column on July 14, 2003. It appeared eight days after her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly asserted that the administration had twisted intelligence to justify war with Iraq.
The defense said it also is seeking records of daily briefings from the Office of the Vice President to show that Libby was immersed in national security matters from dawn to dusk every day.
"These documents are material to establishing that any misstatements he may have made were the result of confusion, mistake and faulty memory . . . rather than deliberate lies," according to the papers.
The demand for records is one of several pretrial discovery disputes that will likely be discussed when Fitzgerald and the defense lawyers appear before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Friday.
A spokesman for Fitzgerald's office has declined to comment on defense motions. Defense lawyers also declined to comment on their filings.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; A05
Attorneys for Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff urged a court yesterday to force a prosecutor to turn over CIA records indicating whether former CIA operative Valerie Plame's employment was classified, saying the answer is not yet clear.
The defense team for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby also asked that the court require Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald to turn over any informal assessments conducted by the CIA to determine whether the leak of Plame's identity in July 2003 damaged national security or agency operations.
Libby was indicted in October on five counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice in the course of Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of Plame's identity to the media. The indictment charges that Libby lied to investigators when he said he did not provide information about Plame to two reporters and when he said he learned about Plame from a third, NBC's Tim Russert.
Defense lawyers argued in court papers that it is crucial to determine whether Plame was not an undercover operative at the time Libby was discussing her with members of the media, and whether little or no damage was done to national security when her identity was publicly disclosed.
If either is true, the defense argued, it will "challenge the prosecution's contention that Mr. Libby has reason to lie to the FBI and the grand jury about his conversations with reporters in July 2003."
Plame's identity was first disclosed in Robert D. Novak's syndicated column on July 14, 2003. It appeared eight days after her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly asserted that the administration had twisted intelligence to justify war with Iraq.
The defense said it also is seeking records of daily briefings from the Office of the Vice President to show that Libby was immersed in national security matters from dawn to dusk every day.
"These documents are material to establishing that any misstatements he may have made were the result of confusion, mistake and faulty memory . . . rather than deliberate lies," according to the papers.
The demand for records is one of several pretrial discovery disputes that will likely be discussed when Fitzgerald and the defense lawyers appear before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Friday.
A spokesman for Fitzgerald's office has declined to comment on defense motions. Defense lawyers also declined to comment on their filings.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
posted by Jamie @ 10:36 AM
1 Comments:
At 12:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
I'm as tired as the next former Agency case officer (c/o) of hearing about the Plame "game", BUT there are very serious issues here which Libby's attorney are obfiscating with such naive legal strategizing.
It is obvious that Plame was undercover and operated overseas as a NOC or case officer at some point in her career. Whether she has been on a desk in Washington, and away from handling assets, for five years or five months SHOULD make no matter. The assets who entrusted their very lives, livelihoods and family members, to Plame must be protected PERIOD. Most foreign cultures put more stock in relationships and "friendships with Americans" than the US culture. Memories are long. By outing Plame or any other case officer, while these assets are still alive is unconscionable. To argue that if she (or any c/o) is sitting on a desk, it is no longer encumbent or illegal to disclose her identity and affiliation is even more ridiculous. We promise to keep their identities AND OUR RELATIONSHIP confidential PERIOD. I don't recall ever pitching someone by saying, WE MUST BOTH KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL I RETIRE OR SIT ON A DESK FOR FIVE YEARS...imagine that! if this case sets the precedent, any intelligent would be assets will decline to work with US case officers - - just as they no doubt are for the damages done by administration leakers already. Stop the madness. Confess and take the punishment; these legal wranglings are only further damaging the US's ability to operate intelligence assets abroad.
Post a Comment
<< Home