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Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial

The New York Daily News is reporting that former CIA official Robert Grenier has been disclosed in pleadings by Team Libby to be the unnamed CIA official who allegedly told Libby on June 10 that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson,worked for the C.I.A. and had a role in sending her husband to Niger to check on the uranium claim.

Unless I'm missing something, this news is two months old. The first such pleading was filed on March 17. (pdf) The latest was May 12. Both have been previously reported on.

Jason Leopold reported this on March 18.

In Friday's filing, Libby's attorneys attempted to push the blame for the leak onto other officials at the CIA and the State Department and said these officials will likely be called to testify at next year's criminal trial. In doing so, the attorneys disclosed in the 39-page document the identities of four CIA employees who possibly provided their client with information about Plame Wilson's work for the CIA.

The individuals were previously identified by their job titles in the five-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in late October against Libby. In Friday's court filing, Libby's defense team argued that they should be entitled to receive additional evidence being used by the Special Prosecutor to prove Libby lied to the FBI and the grand jury when he was questioned about his role in the leak.

In describing the evidence and the prosecution witnesses it pertains to, Libby's attorneys revealed the names of previously unknown CIA officials who may have communicated Plame Wilson's classified CIA work to Libby.....

....What's interesting, however, is that one of the CIA officials named in the indictment as a possible source of information for Libby is Robert Grenier, 51, head of the agency's top counterterrorism office. Grenier was fired last month because he opposed using torture tactics against al-Qaeda suspects at secret detention facilities abroad, intelligence sources and news reports said.

"When al Qaeda struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Grenier was station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan," < the Washington Post reported in February. "Among the agency's most experienced officers in southwest Asia, Grenier helped plan the covert campaign that preceded the U.S. military ouster of al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from Afghanistan."

... In their court filing Friday, Libby's attorneys wrote that if not Grenier, it's possible that John McLaughlin may be the CIA official who provided Cheney's former chief of staff with information on Plame Wilson.

"On or about June 11, 2003, Libby was informed by a senior CIA officer [possibly Robert Grenier or John McLaughlin] that Wilson's wife was employed by the CIA and that the idea of sending him to Niger originated with her," Friday's court filing states. This passage is identical to the October indictment filed against Libby. However, the indictment did not include the names of the individuals, only their positions in government. McLaughlin was deputy director of the CIA. He resigned from the agency in November 2004 over bureaucratic infighting.

Jason also wrote that Libby identified Craig Schmall as the likely CIA briefer referred to in the Indictment.

The indictment also quotes Mr. Libby as criticizing the CIA for "selective leaking" of various "intelligence matters." The filing states "We believe that the briefer referred to is Craig Schmall and that he will be a witness for the government at trial too. (However, it is also possible that the briefer referenced in this paragraph is Peter Clement or Matt Barrett.)."

Tom Maguire also analyzed the March 17 filing -- as did I.

Update: Booman Tribune has more today on Libby and Grenier

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    Re: Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial (none / 0) (#1)
    by Phoenix6 on Tue May 23, 2006 at 11:22:03 AM EST
    Do you think it possible Fitzgerald is contemplating further charges against Libby? Do you think Fitz might be building towards a larger conspiracy indictment that could net many of the WHIG'ers?

    Re: Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial (none / 0) (#2)
    by scribe on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:38:02 PM EST
    TL: Way to rub the MSM's nose in Jason (and you) beating them on a story by, oh, two f'g months. And, the NYDN report reads suspiciously like what was posted, oh, two f'g months ago. Oh, for more reporters who actually wear out their shoes chasing stories instead of grinding the soles away on the understructure of their cubicles.

    Re: Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 05:09:32 PM EST
    Olberman just led the first item in his broadcast by affirming that "last week an internet journalist reported" the imminent indictment of Karl Rove. "That didn't happen", he added, "but two months ago the same internet journlist reported..." followed by the details of today's NYP story. He then segued with "Then today the New York Post reports"... and repeated the story verbatim. Keith seemd to be hinting that Jason Leopold might not be so off base as everyone's been saying. Interesting.

    Re: Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 05:25:00 PM EST
    Well, there is one big difference between the Daily News and Leopold's story and that is the DN is claiming definitively that Greiner and Schmall will be testifying against Libby separating them from the pack of five CIA personnel (Greiner or McLaughlin, Schmall or Clemet or Barrett) mentioned by Libby's attorney in their filing. The Leopold article mentioned the interesting point, however, that Greiner was the head of the Iraq planning group. The DN's interesting point was that Greiner was let go from the CIA a month after that filing.

    Re: Robert Grenier as a Witness in Libby Trial (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 05:27:57 PM EST
    Damn, I hate when bad things happen to perfectly good sentences. Spelling correction: Grenier and Clement! :)