Olmert's defense: It's becoming clear that Talansky is a pathological liar

[bemildred]

Why is it people that give bribes to politicians so often have this propensity to lie too?

Sources close to the prime minister said they were satisfied with the outcome of the cross-examination of Morris Talansky on Thursday and Friday by Ehud Olmert's legal team. "It's becoming clear that Talansky's a pathological liar," one associate said about the American millionaire from whom police believe Olmert accepted bribes.

The associate added that Talansky, who is scheduled to be cross-examined again Sunday, demonstrated that "the people who instructed Talansky ahead of the cross-examination planted his answers for him."

Olmert's associates complained about the State Prosecutor's attempts to convince the Jerusalem District Court to allow Talansky to return to the U.S. and put the cross examination on hold until October. "Now that we are seeing that everything he is saying is complete fantasy, he wants to bolt, and the State Prosecutor's Office is helping him do just that," one associate said. Talansky was quizzed about contributions he had passed on to Olmert during his Jerusalem mayoral campaigns in 1993 and 1998. "So far we have only laid the trap for Talansky," one source said. "In the next few days, he will fall into it."

On Friday, Talansky, the prosecution's key witness in the graft investigation against Olmert, told the court he did not have the energy to withstand the questioning past Sunday. Talansky added that the months-long process has been taxing and has hurt his business and family affairs.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1003501.html