Libby's Greymail Tactic Watered Down By Trial Judge
Scooter Libby's defense tactic of over-requesting sensitive government documents in the hopes that a refusal will prompt a mistrial hit a snag yesterday when his trial judge ruled that he is only eligible to receive summaries of the most tightly held of the papers he claims to need.
A federal judge ordered the government yesterday to provide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby redacted versions of documents he reviewed or information he requested during highly classified morning intelligence briefings when he was chief of staff to Vice President Cheney...
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said in yesterday's decision that the government must provide edited versions of intelligence material also viewed by Cheney in morning briefings and a list, by topic only, of information requests Libby made during the top-secret meetings. Walton said that if the government cannot produce redacted copies of the documents in question, a list of general topic areas discussed each day would suffice. He said the material is relevant to Libby's "preoccupation defense."...
Libby originally asked for nearly a year's worth of the documents, including the President's Daily Brief, the CIA's most sensitive intelligence report, to establish that he was dealing with life-and-death issues that dwarfed Plame in importance...
Earlier this week, the CIA objected to providing copies of so much material, saying it would divert too much time and attention from analysts working on other intelligence matters. The same day, Libby scaled back his request in an effort to persuade Walton to order the agency to turn over some material...
In addition to limiting Libby's access to redacted copies or a list of topics, Walton said the government must only turn over documents covering a very specific set of dates. Libby originally sought documents covering the period between May 2003 and March 2004.
Walton noted that most of what he ordered turned over to Libby will not be seen by a jury. Classified evidence that Libby wants to use in the trial must be approved by the judge.
Walton said the White House and the CIA have until March 24 to make claims of executive privilege on the PDBs and related documents.
The White House has it in their power to throw a monkeywrench into the prosecution of Cheney's former chief of staff by making a contentious executive privilege claim and withholding the classified documents.
It's not like the administration lacks a motive to do so.
A federal judge ordered the government yesterday to provide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby redacted versions of documents he reviewed or information he requested during highly classified morning intelligence briefings when he was chief of staff to Vice President Cheney...
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said in yesterday's decision that the government must provide edited versions of intelligence material also viewed by Cheney in morning briefings and a list, by topic only, of information requests Libby made during the top-secret meetings. Walton said that if the government cannot produce redacted copies of the documents in question, a list of general topic areas discussed each day would suffice. He said the material is relevant to Libby's "preoccupation defense."...
Libby originally asked for nearly a year's worth of the documents, including the President's Daily Brief, the CIA's most sensitive intelligence report, to establish that he was dealing with life-and-death issues that dwarfed Plame in importance...
Earlier this week, the CIA objected to providing copies of so much material, saying it would divert too much time and attention from analysts working on other intelligence matters. The same day, Libby scaled back his request in an effort to persuade Walton to order the agency to turn over some material...
In addition to limiting Libby's access to redacted copies or a list of topics, Walton said the government must only turn over documents covering a very specific set of dates. Libby originally sought documents covering the period between May 2003 and March 2004.
Walton noted that most of what he ordered turned over to Libby will not be seen by a jury. Classified evidence that Libby wants to use in the trial must be approved by the judge.
Walton said the White House and the CIA have until March 24 to make claims of executive privilege on the PDBs and related documents.
The White House has it in their power to throw a monkeywrench into the prosecution of Cheney's former chief of staff by making a contentious executive privilege claim and withholding the classified documents.
It's not like the administration lacks a motive to do so.
posted by Effwit at 9:32 AM
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