Cheney will testify in Plame leak case

Raw Story
Dec. 20, 2006

Vice President Dick Cheney will is set to be a witness for the defense in the case against former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, according to a report filed by the Associated Press and a statement obtained by RAW STORY.

"We're calling the vice president," the news agency quotes attorney Ted Wells as saying in court. Wells represents Libby, who is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

"We have cooperated fully in this matter," a statement released by Cheney's spokeswoman read, "and will continue to do so. In fairness to the parties involved, and as we have stated previously, we are not going to comment further on a legal preceeding."

The charges stem from an investigation by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into how the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame came to be revealed in the press. The undercover operative's name appeared in a column by conservative columnist Robert Novak just one week after a New York Times column by her husband, ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush Administration's handling of pre-war intelligence on Iraq.

Famed reporters Judith Miller and Tim Russert are also expected to testify, though on behalf of the prosecution. An audiotaped interview of former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage conducted by Bob Woodward is also considered likely to be subpoenaed.