Novak Likely to Testify in Libby Trial

[kpete]

Novak Likely to Testify in Libby Trial

By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Robert Novak, who triggered an FBI investigation in 2003 by revealing the identity of a CIA operative in his syndicated column, is among witnesses that lawyers said were ready to testify Monday in the perjury and obstruction trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney is charged with lying and obstructing the investigation into how Novak and others learned the identity of Valerie Plame, whose husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a prominent critic of the Bush administration's Iraq war policy.

Novak has said that Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state, and Bush aide Karl Rove were the sources for his July 2003 column.

"You're going to hear that," defense attorney Theodore Wells said in court Monday morning. "He's going to testify about that in a few hours."

more at:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CIA_LEAK_TRIAL?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-02-12-01-59-56

And

Libby Defense To Call More Reluctant Media Figures To Stand: Bob Woodward, Andrea Mitchell
Washington Post | Carol D. Leonnig | February 12, 2007 09:16 AM

Defense Exhibit 1972, a tape-recorded interview from the "Imus in the Morning" radio show, is another of those revealing moments in the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"So . . . what happened?" radio host Don Imus asks NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell about her confusing reporting on an undercover CIA officer. "Were you drunk?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021101281_pf.html

[Hubert Flottz]

1. I hope the DB of Liberty comes apart on the stand and screams

out "Bullshit" like he did at CNN.

[Tin Man]

2. Wonder if they'll issue garlic necklaces to the jury?

(Novakula joke)

[gratuitous]

3. Keep the bailiff on his toes

Novak's likely to intone "This is bullshit," stand up in the witness box and attempt to flee. If I were at the prosecutor's table, I'd make sure there was a copy of "Who's Who" prominently perched on the corner of the table. It was when Carville was about to show Novak for the liar he is by having a copy of "Who's Who" on hand that Novak torched his CNN career and stomped off the set.

[JDPriestly]

4. Sounds more and more like a conspiracy.

Think of it. Plame's role in sending Wilson to Niger was insignificant. The significant facts were 1) that Wilson went to Niger and found no facts to support the claim that Saddam had bought yellow cake from that country; 2) that, in spite of Wilson's findings, the Bush administration insisted that Saddam had bought the yellow cake; 3) that Plame (who again had only a peripheral connection with Wilson's trip and findings) was an undercover agent; 4) that the law provides that knowingly outing a CIA agent such as Plame, including confirming that she was a CIA agent, was a criminal act.

Yet all these people in high positions in the administration, especially Libby and Rove knew of, told about or confirmed Plame's role to reporters. Look at the pattern in disseminating the information about Plame. It was spread through the press in the same way the Bush administration put forth other talking points. It was systematic. It's as if the Bush spokespeople had discussed how to sell their take on Wilson's trip, agreed on what story would be sold to the press and which reporters they should approach.

And look at the reporters who were told about Plame. They were the regulars -- the same ones the Bush administration counted on to spread their other talking points. The Plame connection story was handled the same way as all of the Bush administration's other talking points, except that instead of simply distributing a sheet of paper to reporters, the conspirators used word of mouth.

The Plame angle of story was actually insignificant. Considering the extreme amount of nepotism in the Bush administration, the fact that Plame and Wilson were married and were both involved in obtaining information about the dissemination of nuclear material was just par for the course. And Plame's role in Wilson's trip was unimportant. Wilson would have been the right man to send even if Plame had been a housewife who had never worked for the CIA. That must have been obvious to everyone.

I don't care what Armitage said he said or to whom. There was a conspiracy to out Plame. It was not so much intended to discredit the facts Wilson had found as to intimidate anyone who might in the future publish facts embarrassing to the Bush administration. It was revenge for having embarrassed Cheney and Bush -- pure and simple. It was a criminal conspiracy to silence future dissidents, future whistleblowers. It was a violation not only of the rights of a lower level CIA employee who was just doing her job and minding the country's business and her own but of our rights. What a horrible abuse of power.

It just makes me mad that these conspirators appear to be getting by with their crimes. Surely this conspiracy cannot have been legal. If we are to continue to live under the rule of law, all who participated in this conspiracy must be punished.