News Intelligence Analysis
February 24, 2006
Libby's Lawyers Say Prosecutor
Acted Unconstitutionally
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 — Lawyers for Vice President Dick Cheney's
former top aide asked a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss
his indictment, saying the special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak
case lacked the authority to bring the charges.
Lawyers for the former aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr., said his indictment violated the Constitution because the special counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was not appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate. They added that the appointment violated federal law because the attorney general did not supervise the investigation. Only Congress, the lawyers said, can approve such an arrangement.
"Those constitutional and statutory provisions have been violated in this case," the lawyers wrote.
Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed in December 2003 after Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the investigation because of his close ties to the White House. James B. Comey, who was then deputy attorney general, selected Mr. Fitzgerald to investigate the leak of the name of Valerie Wilson, the Central Intelligence Agency operative.
Mr. Libby, who resigned as Mr. Cheney's chief of staff after being indicted, is charged with lying about how he learned Ms. Wilson's identity and when he told reporters about it. He is charged with five counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice.
In giving Mr. Fitzgerald sweeping investigative powers, Mr. Comey exempted him from rules that apply to all United States attorneys. Mr. Fitzgerald did not have to seek approval from senior Justice Department officials to grant immunity or subpoena reporters and news organizations. Nor did he have to advise senior Justice Department officials before seeking Mr. Libby's indictment.
Defense lawyers and Mr. Fitzgerald are to appear in Federal District Court here on Friday to argue defense requests for classified records and evidence gathered by the prosecution about reporters who learned about Ms. Wilson from officials other than Mr. Libby.
The trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company
Send a letter
to the editor
about
this article
Directory of Scandals and Corruption
Worse Than Watergate:
Directory of the
CIA Leak
Directory of Law and Legal Issues
This article is copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Back
to The Yurica Report Home Page
Copyright © 2006 Yurica Report. All rights reserved.