Lawyers: Libby needs media records

[Judi Lynn]

Lawyers: Libby needs media records
Ex-Cheney aide seeks e-mail, notes, drafts of articles
Updated: 1:19 a.m. ET May 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Lawyers for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby urged a federal judge Monday to force several media organizations to turn over e-mails, drafts of news articles and reporters’ notes they say the former top White House aide needs to receive a fair trial in the CIA leak case.

In a 45-page filing, Libby’s lawyers said reporters have “no right — under the Constitution or the common law — to deprive Mr. Libby of evidence that will help establish his innocence at trial.”

Libby, 55, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned about CIA operative Valerie Plame and what he subsequently told reporters about her.

The key to Libby’s defense is whose memory is correct — Libby’s or three reporters who talked with him in June and July 2003. His lawyers said they need the reporters’ records to use in cross-examining them and government officials, who, the lawyers said, may be “shading” the truth to protect themselves or their bosses.
(snip/...)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12587345/from/RSS/

[NanceGreggs]

1. In the words of the great Adam Schiff (L&O) ...

... "Libby, ya got NO case."

[HuffleClaw]

2. the 'attack the attackers' defence!

which, considering how the white house has made secrecy a sacrament, is pretty damn funny.

[mike_c]

3. in other news, Libby's lawyers subpeona George Washington...

...Thomas Jefferson, and Mario the Plumber. Libby's defense team argued that conversations the founding fathers had regarding powers of the executive would show that the balance of power was deliberately prejudicial to sacrificial scapegoats, and that his defense therefore had every right to demand their appearance. They contend that Mr. Mario, a partner at the firm of Mario Bros, is arguably the world's most famous plumber and therefore an authority on high-level leaks. Failure to produce the founding fathers or the renowned plumber, they argued, would render it impossible for Mr. Libby to obtain a fair trial. However, the defense has eased it's earlier position somewhat and left open the possibility that it might accept trial by combat between the presiding judge and Godzilla in lieu of classified documents kept in secret storage facilities in the mythical city of Atlantis. More on this story as it develops....

[hang a left]

8. lol

[dweller]

4. in other words

this throwing shit at the walls in hopes that something sticks could last until Jan 19, 2009, and then a full pardon will be issued.

i'll check back again then.
dp

[Jazz2006]

5. Well, even as sleazy as Scooter may be,

to the extent that the prosecution's case against him relies upon what journalists/reporters have to say, he really should be entitled to see what their records (emails, drafts and notes) say.

From the linked article, it appears that the real argument is about the breadth of the subpoenas, which may go further than that to which he is entitled... but I don't think there should be any question about his entitlement to the records of the reporters actually involved, those relied upon, and/or those interviewed by the prosecution.

I say give him ALL of the relevant records ... and then nail his ass to the wall with evidence - I'd never advocate withholding records or evidence in any case, no matter who the accused is.

[Peace Patriot]

6. The game was to "seed" Plame's identity around town so that it would

appear that "everybody knew." Libby's undoubtedly fishing for those planted seeds. But I'm not concerned about that. I think Patrick Fitzgerald knows what the game was. And, as far as I'm concerned, I would like to see ALL records of the Bush White House and the Pentagon, AND all records at the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, and a couple of other war profiteering corporate news monopolies, for the last five and a half years, fully opened to public view. I don't consider the people who edit or write the crap in these "news" publications to be journalists. And I think the corporate "news" monopolists who pay them should have their corporate charters pulled, and they should be dismantled and their assets seized for the public good, along with the oil companies.

[Jazz2006]

7. I hear you....

but we're talking about what an accused person is entitled to by way of disclosure as opposed to what (rightly) outraged individuals would like access to for other reasons.

There is a vast difference between the two when it comes to the right to access to what would otherwise be private/protected/non-public information.

[dave29]

9. Libby's Lawyers Seek Media Records

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/02/politics/main1570419.shtml

(CBS/AP) Lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby have urged a federal judge to force several media organizations to turn over e-mails, drafts of news articles and reporters' notes they say the former top White House aide needs to receive a fair trial in the CIA leak case.

In a 45-page filing on Monday, Libby's lawyers said reporters have "no right, under the Constitution or the common law, to deprive Mr. Libby of evidence that will help establish his innocence at trial."

------

Lawyers for NBC News, The New York Times and Time Inc. want U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton to limit Libby's subpoenas. The media groups say the subpoenas are so broad that they threaten the integrity of their news-gathering operations by targeting all of their employees, not just the three reporters involved in the case.

[zbdent]

10. But didn't the courts disallow a dictionary

for the terrorist trial?

Said it was something about "adding new evidence" . . .