home

Who Else Will Libby Call as Witnesses?

By Jeralyn, Section Lewis Libby Trial Coverage
Posted on Fri Feb 02, 2007 at 03:19:17 PM EST
Tags: Libby Trial (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Looking ahead to next week in the Scooter Libby trial, I doubt that Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby are the only witnesses Team Libby will call in the defense portion of the case.

Let's go back to the list of possible trial witnesses the Court read off to the jury on opening day.

Both NBC reporter David Gregory and former Time reporter John Dickerson are on the list.

Ari Fleischer testified he told them about Joe Wilson's wife working for the CIA on the Africa trip in July, 2003 before Robert Novak's column appeared. He said he learned it from Scooter Libby at lunch on July 7, the day Fleischer left for Africa with President Bush. Dickerson and Gregory were two of the reporters on the trip. Libby denies telling Fleischer about Valerie Wilson.

John Dickerson has been in the courtroom during the trial, blogging for Slate. He writes that Ari is mixed up, he never told him about Wilson's wife working for the CIA.

So, why was Ari testifying about something that I don't think ever happened? I don't know. Ari asked for immunity from prosecution based on the idea that he'd told me and David Gregory of NBC that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, so Ari clearly believes he spilled the beans. But my memory is just the opposite. Could I have forgotten that Ari told me? I don't think so.

The defense also questioned Matthew Cooper about whether Dickerson was one of his sources, calling and e-mailing Cooper with information from Africa.

Will Team Libby call Dickerson as a witness? In every trial I've been in, there's been a witness sequestration rule -- unless a specific exception is granted, witnesses aren't allowed to hear other witness' testimony. But Dickerson has heard Ari Fleischer and Matt Cooper's testimony. That suggests to me that he was told by Team Libby he wasn't needed as a witness.

How can Team Libby not call Dickerson to refute Fleischer? They knew what Ari would say about his immunity from discovery they received, so why have they not objected to Dickerson sitting in on the trial? What am I missing?

I'll be on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday with John Dickerson and Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, but that's not the topic so I probably won't get to ask him.

And, back to the original topic, who else from the possible witness list will Team Libby call?

< Judge Reggie Walton's Other Case | Cully Stimson Resigns Over Guantanamo Comments >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Who Else Will Libby Call as Witnesses? | 2 comments (2 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    Dickerson (none / 0) (#1)
    by cathy on Fri Feb 02, 2007 at 05:37:39 PM EST
    The only reason I can think of as to why Dickerson wasn't called to testify is because he must have other information that Team Libby doesn't want to get out. Maybe something that implicates Cheney and Libby.

    Dickerson cuts both ways (none / 0) (#2)
    by weldon berger on Fri Feb 02, 2007 at 08:18:06 PM EST
    Yes, his version of the story is different, but it really doesn't undercut Fleischer's testimony that Libby told him about Wilson. Whether or not Fleischer told Dickerson directly or simply tried to point him toward Wilson, Fleischer still had to have known about her. So Libby's defense might be able to damage one part of Fleischer's testimony at the expense of bolstering the more important part. I don't think it would be worth the risk, but I'm in a minority.

    Who Else Will Libby Call as Witnesses? | 2 comments (2 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment