Judge will allow Libby tapes' release to public

Story Highlights

• NEW: Judge will allow jurors to see articles about fallout from leak
• Judge allows tapes of Libby's grand jury testimony released to public
• Prosecution could rest its case by Tuesday

From Paul Courson
CNN Washington Bureau

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Audio recordings that had been part of a secret grand jury probe became part of the public evidence Monday in the criminal trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, as he described his job working for Vice President Dick Cheney.

"Occasionally, it's part of my job on his behalf to talk with the press and to relay his positions to the press if he so wishes, or to other issues that the White House is doing," Libby told Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, questioning him on March 5, 2004, during the investigation.

Libby is accused of obstructing the FBI investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. Leaking classified material is a criminal offense.

Wilson's husband, Joseph Wilson, wrote a July 2003 New York Times piece accusing the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.

In the column, Wilson challenged the assertion by the Bush administration that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was pursuing a nuclear-weapons program.

Libby is fighting a five-count indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice related to an investigation into who disclosed Valerie Wilson's identity.

He is not accused of leaking that classified information, but Fitzgerald hopes to show that Libby lied under oath in an effort to save his job.

During the grand jury testimony, Fitzgerald asked at least three times if Libby remembered discussing the Wilsons with Marc Grossman, number three at the State Department.

Each time, Libby answered that he had no recollection of having done so.

Grossman testified earlier in the trial that he told Libby that Valerie Wilson was a CIA agent on June 11 or 12, although he could not recall if the conversation had been in person or by telephone.

Libby also told the grand jury that Cheney had a "curious" tone of voice when the two discussed Joseph Wilson's wife.

"Curiosity might mean nothing, might mean something, I don't know," he said when pressed on the matter.

Earlier Monday, the defense lost the battle over the release of the tapes when Judge Reggie Walton ruled that they would be made public after they are heard by jurors.

Defense lawyers sought to block public airing of audio recordings of Libby testifying to a grand jury, saying the media's use of sound bites from the recording could make it difficult to insulate the non-sequestered jury from news of the case.

Walton ruled that the tapes will be released to the media and the public after the several hours of recordings have been played to the jury in Libby's criminal case. Transcripts of those tapes will also be entered into the public case file, said Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

Later in the day, the defense lost another argument over information when Walton ruled that articles about the political fallout from disclosure of the identity of a CIA agent married to an Iraq war critic will be shown to jurors.

Prosecutors want to show the jury two Washington Post articles found in the files of the former aide to Cheney to help jurors understand Libby's state of mind when he told investigators he first learned the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson from television journalist Tim Russert.

The defense objected, saying the articles include information they cannot dispute during the trial.

Walton said some passages of the articles would be excised, but the redacted articles will be shown to jurors.

"I will take information out, but to the extent the articles suggest wrongdoing, the fact that it's in his files, they could reasonably infer that he did read it," Walton said. "People don't download and keep in their personal files information they haven't read."

The newspaper articles from October 4 and October 12, 2003, mention the damage caused by the disclosure of Valerie Wilson's CIA connection, and refer to her classified status. Neither point has been brought forward through other evidence or testimony that the defense could challenge.

The disputed newspaper articles, Fitzgerald said during last Thursday's court session, show a state of mind that "you may be involved in something that is a big mess in terms of law, in terms of politics and in terms of getting yourself fired."

Prosecutors plan to rest their case no later than Tuesday after calling nearly a dozen witnesses, the last of whom is expected to be Tim Russert, the moderator for NBC's "Meet the Press."

Witness testimony began January 24, and media outlets and reporters have played a prominent role in the prosecution's case.

On Thursday, FBI agent Deborah Bond testified about the first interview Libby had with investigators trying to determine how Valerie Wilson's name and occupation were leaked.

When she was cross-examined by defense attorney William Jeffress, he repeated her testimony that Libby said "he had been told by the vice president during a telephone call that Mrs. Wilson worked at the CIA in the Counter Proliferation Division, correct?"

Bond replied, "Yes, but that he had forgotten about it."

The phone call between Libby and Cheney took place June 12, 2003, about a month before Libby says he first learned about Joseph Wilson's wife from Russert.

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