Glad Judge Reggie Walton has ruled the Grand Jury tapes will be released to the public. Maybe less wiggle room for the inevitable pardon, circa late 2007.
Libby Grand-Jury Tapes To Be Released After Trial - WSJ.com
Prosecutors at the CIA leak trial on Monday started playing audiotapes of I. Lewis Libby's grand jury testimony, a key piece of evidence against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.
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The tapes, which will be publicly released and broadcast once the trial jury finishes hearing them, form the basis for three of the five criminal charges against Mr. Libby, who is accused of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI about how he learned of the CIA identity of the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson and what he told reporters about it. Portions of the obstruction charge as well as both perjury charges deal with the ex-White House aide's alleged lies to the grand jury concerning his conversations with NBC News reporter Tim Russert, New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.Prosecutors plan to play about eight hours of Mr. Libby's grand jury testimony for jurors. He made lengthy grand jury appearances on March 5 and March 24, 2004.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled Monday morning that those tapes must be made public. In a victory for the news media, the judge said he had little choice under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C, even though Judge Walton also said he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way.
Mr. Fitzgerald successfully fought to enter the tapes into evidence. Although segments of Mr. Libby's testimony would be widely distributed by reporters who are monitoring the trial, Mr. Libby's lawyers had argued that the audio itself was too sensitive to be released until the trial ends.
Tags: Frog March, /Plame
