A Case of He Said, He Said

Feb. 5, 2007 — -- Jurors in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby heard audiotapes of his March 5, 2004, grand jury testimony. In those tapes, the vice president's former chief of staff made statements that contradict testimony from government witnesses at his perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial.

Libby was charged last year with lying to a federal grand jury and FBI investigators about how he came to know the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a CIA officer married to former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Her name was revealed in a newspaper column by Robert Novak that resulted in the Justice Department investigation headed by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

On the tape, Libby is asked if he was a source for Novak's column. "No sir," Libby told the prosecutors and grand jury members, who would eventually indict Libby on five counts.

At the outset of the grand jury testimony, Fitzgerald is heard asking Libby if he understands that false statements constitute perjury. Libby responded, "Yes." On the tapes Fitzgerald provided a brief overview of the investigation and told Libby, "You are a subject of the investigation."

The jury heard about an hour-and-a-half of Libby's grand jury testimony, during which he told Fitzgerald about his conversations with Vice President Dick Cheney about press reports in the spring of 2003 that criticized the vice president for allegedly organizing Wilson's trip to Niger to investigate whether Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- from the African nation.

The Iraq-Niger controversy grew in the spring of 2003 after President Bush claimed in his 2003 State of the Union Address that Iraq had indeed tried to buy the material from Niger.

Libby is also heard on the grand jury tape describing a conversation he had with Cheney, telling him that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA in June 2003, a month before he told investigators he learned it from Tim Russert of NBC News.

On the tape Libby is heard telling the grand jury, "He said it to me in an offhand manner … as a curiosity … that his wife worked at the CIA."

Libby told the grand jury and prosecutors in 2004 that he was certain Cheney had mentioned it. "It was just a curiosity sort of thing. … Not everyone's wife works there [the CIA]."

During his grand jury appearance, Libby was asked about several handwritten notes, including one he jotted down during a conversation with Cheney that said, "Wife works in that divi'n," apparently referring to Plame working in the CIA's counterproliferation unit.

The defense team has maintained that Libby simply forgot this information. Consequently, Libby's lawyers said it was as if Libby was hearing this for the first time when he spoke to NBC's Tim Russert.

On the audiotapes, the prosecutors also asked Libby if he recalled asking then-Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman if Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. "I don't ever recall asking that," Libby responded. Libby also told the grand jury, "I don't recall that conversation."

Grossman was called as the prosecution's first witness at the trial, and he testified that he spoke with Libby about the Wilsons over the phone and after a White House meeting near the entrance to the White House Situation Room.

The jury also heard Libby's testimony about his conversations with CIA Iraq issues manager and former Associate CIA Director Robert Grenier, who testified two weeks ago that Libby was intensely interested in finding out more information about Niger and the Wilsons.

Grenier testified that Libby had called him on June 11, 2003, to have him pulled out of a meeting to discuss the Wilsons and the Niger issue.

Prosecutors also asked Libby if he remembered discussing Wilson's wife with Grenier. "I don't think I discussed Wilson's wife with Mr. Grenier," he responded.

The jury is expected to hear the remaining six-and-a-half hours of Libby's grand jury testimony from his March 5, 2004, appearance and a second appearance from March 24, 2004. The playing of Libby's grand jury audio could carry over into Wednesday, when the prosecution is expected to call its final witness -- Tim Russert of NBC News.

Judge Reggie Walton today said he would allow the defense to begin presenting its case Thursday.

Libby's defense attorneys plan to argue that he was so busy with pressing matters, especially national security matters, that he could not accurately remember certain events and discussions he had before his FBI interviews and grand jury appearances. In a court document filed late tonight, the defense has indicated that Libby has not yet decided if he will testify during the trial.

According to previously released portions of the March 5, 2004, grand jury transcript, Libby told the grand jury and prosecutors, "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. I just wanted to be clear that I wasn't confirming anything for him on this."