LIBBY KNEW PLAME WAS CLASSIFIED: By Walter Pincus

[kpete]

Libby Prosecutor Focuses on CIA Officer's Status
Filings Say Ex-Cheney Aide Knew That Plame Was Classified, Giving Him Reason to Lie to Grand Jury

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 22, 2006; Page A04

The classified status of the identity of former CIA officer Valerie Plame will be a key element in any trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, according to special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald has said that at trial he plans to show that Libby knew Plame's employment at the CIA was classified and that he lied to the grand jury when he said he had learned from NBC News's Tim Russert that Plame, the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, worked for the agency.


Libby's lawyers have said their client did not know that Plame's job at the CIA was classified, and therefore he had no reason to remember conversations about her or lie about them to the grand jury.

When Libby testified before the grand jury on March 5, 2004, he said, according to the government's indictment: "Mr. Russert said to me, did you know that Ambassador Wilson's wife, or his wife works at the CIA? And I said, no, I don't know that. And then he said, yeah -- yes all the reporters know it. And I said, again, I don't know that."

more on
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/21/AR2006052101024.html

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

Thanks for helping us keep our eyes on the prize.

[faithnotgreed]

5. heres another grand prize to keep our eyes on:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1253045

[robertpaulsen]

2. Bookmarked and recommended!

What an interesting trial this is going to be!

[Sydnie]

3. Kick n/t

[bleever]

4. Ah, yes.

:)

[Old and In the Way]

6. Is outing a CIA NOC a treasonous crime?

If so, is this a capital offense?

[harrison]

7. Friend of mine in DC said Pincus is always a mouthpiece for

the spooks. He said that when Pincus talks you are getting the CIA version.

[TacticalPeek]

8. Those May 12 docs Pincus refs don't want to work for me at the OSC site.

To help counter that contention, Libby's lawyers, in their May 12 court filing, identify former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow as a potential witness in the case, saying he was the government official who disclosed Plame's "employment status," probably in June 2003, to Cheney spokeswoman Cathie Martin, who then passed it on to Libby.

"Mr. Harlow may be called to testify about that conversation and about whether he told her that such information was secret," Libby's attorneys wrote in their filing.


?
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/legal_proceedings.html

[lyonn]

9. Former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow was a potential witness?

If Harlow had any statement to make that would clear Libby he would certainly be expected to testify for Libby. That sounds like Libby is reaching for anything to say or to accuse to get him off the hook.

Also the statement that it was probably in June that this conversation took place, Libby doesn't know exactly the date, has he had any conversation with Harlow lately?

[leveymg]

13. Maybe Martin passed that info on to Cheney and Libby aboard AF2 --

the meeting that seems to have kicked off the actual Plame outing? Very interesting.

[orleans]

10. K&R n/t

[Garbo 2004]

11. Remember, it was previously disclosed that Libby had chatted on the phone

with another guy (I forget who it was) in the Administration, he may also have been in the OVP, and Libby said he couldn't discuss Wilson's wife on an unsecured phone line since that might create problems with the CIA.

Oh yeah, he knew.

[leveymg]

12. So much for the RW meme about "no underlying crime".

Here's the missing link to a conviction under the Intelligence Identities Protections Act (IIPA), if Fitz had wanted to go that way. I'll be happy with an easy perjury and OOJ conviction.:D

What does this say about what Cheney and all the rest knew when they conspired to out Plame?

[stop the bleeding]

14. RW'ers will still say her job was public knowledge,

however this is a step in the right direction, let them talk about this inside the beltway on top of the mountain of problems they have/spin.

15. Watch out Cheney

[Dagaz]

16. So why not enter any evidence?

From what I've read Fitz will not enter any discovery claiming that Plame was classified. Since I'm not a lawyer I wonder how he'll go about argueing a point where he won't enter evidence?