Vice President Dick Cheney will be called as a defense witness in the CIA leak case, an attorney for Cheney’s former chief of staff told a federal judge Tuesday. “We’re calling the vice president,” attorney Ted Wells said in court. Wells represents defendant I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who is charged with perjury and obstruction. Early last week, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said he did not expect the White House to resist if Cheney or other administration officials are called to testify in Libby’s trial, expected to begin in January…. Cheney, who would be the trial’s most anticipated witness, has said he may be called to testify. If so, prosecutors could ask how the White House responded to Wilson’s criticisms. Cheney was upset by Wilson’s comments, Fitzgerald has said, and told Libby that Plame worked for the CIA. That conversation is a key to Fitzgerald’s perjury case. Libby testified that he learned about Plame’s job from a reporter. Cheney could also help prosecutors undermine Libby’s defense that he was so preoccupied with national security matters, he forgot details about the less-important Plame issue. Prosecutors argue that Plame was a key concern of the vice president, and thus would have been important to Libby.
Group Think, Duct Tape and Slam Dunks
::Tullycast:: 