Wednesday, February 28, 2007

CNN: Libby jury asks judge if he said Libby had lied, then write back saying they answered their own question

A question sent from the jury to the judge in the trial of former Cheney chief of staff I Lewis "Scooter" Libby has apparently been answered by the jurors themselves. The question -- which CNN says "essentially" asked if the judge had asserted Cheney's former aide had lied.

CNN's Brian Todd: A bit of activity in Libby trial... The jury sent another note back to the judge essentially saying "We've answered our own question, no clarification needed. We apologize. We are going to get back to work." ... The original question had to do with Count #3 of the Libby indictment ... that is Libby made false statements about a conversation he had with Time Mag. reporter Matt Cooper in July of 2003.

Libby told Cooper that reporters were telling the administration that administration's critic Joe Wilson worked for the CIA but Libby didn't know if it was true. The prosecution contends that Libby did know it was true and confirmed it unequivocally in that conversation ... the question from the jury, verbatim, "Is the charge that the statement was made or about the content of the statement itself?"

Essentially [they were] asking the judge, "Are you saying that Scooter Libby lied that the conversation even happened or is he lying about the content of the conversation."... but after further discussion they said "We are clear on what we have to do. No further clarification needed. Thank you. We apologize." ... There was a lot of laughter in the courtroom from attorneys on both sides.

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