Libby Denies Seeing Notes From Cheney

[DoYouEverWonder]

May 20, 2006

Lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, said in a court filing late yesterday that Libby did not see the notes Cheney inscribed on a key newspaper column criticizing the administration's rationale for invading Iraq until he was shown the annotations in the course of an FBI investigation.

The lawyers raised the issue to cast doubt on a claim by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in a court filing a week ago that the annotations "serve both to explain the context of and provide a motive for" Libby's statements and actions, which in turn brought about his indictment.

The annotations by Cheney on a opinion column written by former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV raised the possibility that a report by Wilson questioning Iraqi efforts to buy material in Niger for a nuclear weapon was instigated by Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, whose position at the CIA was classified.

After the Wilson column appeared, several journalists published Plame's name and wrote that it was leaked by administration officials, a circumstance that led to Fitzgerald's investigation and the charges against Libby of lying to investigators about conversations with journalists.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000176.html?nav=rss_nation

[rodeodance]

1. Fitz saying he will not call Cheney as a witness.

....But Libby's lawyers, in a filing that amplifies Libby's previous requests for access to government documents, quoted from previously sealed grand jury testimony in which Libby said he had not seen the Cheney annotations until the FBI gave him a copy. They also state that Fitzgerald may have difficulty authenticating the annotations in court because he has already said he does not intend to call Cheney as a witness at Libby's trial.

[BR_Parkway]

2. Earlier filings also indicated that Fitz had been given MULTIPLE copies of

that document - which suggests more than one person gave it to him. I think he's got some folks cooperating who will testify that Libby did have a copy, maybe even have been the one passing along copies to these other people.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. I think Fitzgerald

has at least a couple of decks of aces up his sleeve for these guys.

[rodeodance]

4. well, the article obviously made a stir in the WH-and for libby to deny

seeing it is silly.

[speedoo]

5. If Fitz got the Cheney notes after the Libby indictments...

my guess is that Fitz is going for additional perury count(s) against Libby.

Of course, what I REALLY want is for Fitz to eventually indict Cheney. For something. Anything.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. He's not saying he didn't see the article

He's saying he didn't see Cheney's annotations. Therefore how could he possible know anything about what Cheney knew?

[remfan]

7. Multiple copies - that was another article

The article that Fitz has multiple annotated copies of is the Sy Hersh "Stovepipe" article from October 27, 2003.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Oh my

I'd love to see those little sweet nothings. I hope Fitz releases that one too someday,

[Evergreen Emerald]

8. Some times my assistant does not see my notes, but she

knows what I want her to do. Sometimes I write notes for my own reference and give her verbal directions. She could honestly say she has not seen my notes.

[tanyev]

10. Then where did Fitz get the copy w/Cheney's notes on it?

When I first saw it, I assumed he got it from Libby. Does he have records directly from Cheney?