Special Post: Judge in Libby Case Favors Protecting Classified Information

The Washington Post and the New York Daily News are reporting that indicted White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby appeared before U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton for arraignment on five felony charges of lying to a grand jury and to the FBI during an investigation into the public disclosure of the identity of non-official cover (NOC) operative Valerie Plame. The New York Daily News article describes Judge Walton—appointed to lower courts by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and appointed to his current seat by President George W. Bush—as a "'long-ball hitter' on sentencing [who] often cows defendants into copping pleas." The article goes on, however, to point out that Judge Walton has recently dismissed a case in which the FBI, itself, claimed that "classified information" would be revealed if the judge were to allow the complaint of official misconduct by a whistleblower within the agency to go to trial.

The case involved former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, who alleged that information related to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, contained in communications in languages in which she was fluent, was not translated until after the attacks had occurred and that other translations were performed by either by individuals incapable of adequately understanding the nuances of the communiqués or by individuals she had already reported as giving evidence of having been compromised by interests possibly related to organizations and persons in the communiqués. Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, through Justice Department lawyers, argued before Judge Walton that a "state secrets priviledge" precluded proceeding to trial and moved for dismissal. Judge Walton ruled in favor of the motion and noted in extension that "...the imminent threat of terrorism will not be eliminated any time in the foreseeable future, but is an endeavor that will consume our nation's attention indefinitely."

With regard to the current matter of the charges against Mr. Libby, in a statement released by his attorney, Joseph Tate, Mr. Libby made representations that news analysts interpreted as being the outline of a defense that would involved simple memory lapses that created the impression of incompatibilities among statements made at various times to the grand jury and to FBI investigators. It appears, however, that such outside speculation about how Libby's defense team will proceed is wide of the mark: because the judge who will preside in the case has shown a marked willingness to dismiss cases when "classified information" might be revealed, it is highly likely—in fact, it is almost inevitable—that Libby's counsel will immediately subpoena, and represent as crucial to their defense, information that the White House will decline to disgorged on the grounds that it contains classified information. A motion to dismiss will then be forthcoming from the defense table, and it will be in the hands of U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton to decide whether or not, based upon his own previous assertions and precedent, he will rule in favor of the motion.

Time will tell, though.



The Dark Wraith will let the matter drop... for the time being.