Libby repeatedly told grand jury he couldn't recall discussions on

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 6, 2007 by Pete Yost Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Prosecutors in the CIA leak trial Tuesday zeroed in on I. Lewis Libby's alleged lies to a grand jury, playing audiotapes of Libby saying repeatedly that he could not recall conversations about the CIA employment of the wife of Bush administration critic Joe Wilson.

The eight hours of grand jury testimony conflict with testimony earlier in the trial by former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and other witnesses who said Libby indeed had discussed the CIA employment of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame.

In the audiotapes, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald walked Libby through the Bush administration's response to Wilson's suggestion in 2003 that the government had twisted prewar intelligence about Iraq.

The administration wanted to show that Wilson's criticism "didn't hold water," Libby testified.

Libby's defense to charges of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI is constructed on assertions that he was immersed in national security issues for Vice President Dick Cheney, that his memory may be faulty and that the recollections of the witnesses against him also are faulty.

In the grand jury audiotapes, Fitzgerald focused on a going-away lunch Libby had with Fleischer that Libby seemed able to recall in some detail.

Libby and Fleischer were friends, Fleischer told the grand jury, and the two discussed the Miami Dolphins and Fleischer's future plans.

In the recording, Fitzgerald asked Libby if recalled telling Fleischer about the CIA employment of Wilson's wife and that it was "hush-hush."

"I don't recall that," replied Libby, speaking softly.

Libby's own notes show that he was told by Cheney about the CIA employment of Wilson's wife, more than a month before Plame's CIA identity was publicly revealed.

Libby says he had forgotten that Cheney had told him. Libby told the grand jury that he was "surprised" to hear about the CIA employment of Wilson's wife a month later, from NBC News reporter Tim Russert. Russert, who will testify for the prosecution once the Libby grand jury tapes are played in their entirety, says he didn't discuss Wilson's wife with Libby.

In the recordings, Fitzgerald asked Libby if, up until the conversation with Russert, did he have no recollection of discussing the CIA employment of Wilson's wife.

"Yes sir, in that period, I have no recollection," Libby replied.

The tapes were played to trial jurors after the U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton refused to block a subpoena seeking testimony from New York Times reporter David Sanger, a witness summoned by Libby's defense team.

Lawyers for Libby want Sanger to testify about a July 2, 2003 conversation in which Libby did not bring up Plame's name, her relationship to Wilson or the fact that she worked at the CIA.

Libby's lawyers are trying to rebut prosecution evidence that there was a scheme to reveal Plame's CIA employment as a way of undermining Wilson's criticism that the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Invoking First Amendment concerns, lawyers for The New York Times said it is imperative for reporters to protect their confidential sources and that compelling Sanger to testify would damage the news gathering process.

Walton said Libby's right to a fair trial trumped any First Amendment right there might be to protect confidential sources. Walton pointed out that it was Sanger's source -- Libby -- who was asking the reporter to testify.

Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.