Libby jury views parts of White House videos

updated 5:38 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2007

WASHINGTON - A federal judge allowed Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to play portions of White House briefing room videos Thursday at the perjury and obstruction trial of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Fitzgerald said he wanted to play lengthy videos of then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan discussing the leak of a CIA operative's identity in 2003. Libby's attorneys objected, saying the videos were not relevant to the case.

McClellan originally told reporters that President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, had nothing to do with the leak, and prosecutors say that Libby pressed McClellan to make a similar statement on his behalf. McClellan ultimately did clear Libby's name in news accounts.

Fitzgerald says the briefing room tapes show that Libby was eager to publicly conceal conversations he had with reporters about CIA official Valerie Plame. Libby was eager to save his job and spare him public embarrassment, Fitzgerald said.

He also said Libby had drawn a "line in the sand" by getting White House officials to clear him of leaking classified information.

"He has every reason to be sure he doesn't cross that line in his conversations with the FBI," Fitzgerald said.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he would not permit Fitzgerald to play the entire tape, which includes a heated question-and-answer period that McClellan had with reporters. He said Fitzgerald could play the portions in which McClellan clears Libby and says anyone who leaked classified information would be fired.

Fitzgerald also appeared to be planning another multimedia display that would let jurors hear Libby's grand jury testimony in court. FBI agent Deborah Bond was the next witness Thursday .

Fitzgerald believes jurors should hear and see Libby's words for themselves. He successfully fought to allow into evidence Libby's full grand jury testimony -- the sworn statements he gave prosecutors during the investigation -- and Fitzgerald played a brief clip during his opening statement.

That tape would give jurors the chance to hear for themselves the testimony that Fitzgerald says is a lie and that Libby says is a product of faulty memory.

Fitzgerald told the court that he expects to "publish" or play to the jury Libby's grand jury testimony on audio tape Monday. That would likely last into Tuesday. The tape is approximately eight hours according to the lawyers.

There is one evidentiary issue the two sides say they are discussing which might result in one brief witness prior to the appearance onf NBC news Tim Russert.

(MSNBC.com is owned, in part, by NBC News.)

Russert would be the final prosecution witness and the government says it may be able rest Tuesday - but it seems very possible it could take longer.

Russert says he did not discuss Plame with Libby, a recollection that is directly at odds with the former aide's testimony.

The defense is objecting to the public release of the Libby audio tape. The judge acknowledged his concern that releasing the audio might increase the news coverage and risk the defendant's right to a fair trial.

A lawyer representing the media will be heard by the judge as well.

The perjury and obstruction trial hinges on whether Libby lied about his conversations with reporters regarding Plame.

Fitzgerald spent the first week of the trial presenting witnesses who said they talked to Libby about Plame, the wife of prominent Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson. Some witnesses, such as officials from the CIA and State Department, said they told Libby about Plame.

Others, such as former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and journalists Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, said Libby talked about Plame to them.

Those witnesses undercut Libby's claim that he didn't remember learning about Plame through official channels and was surprised to hear about her during a much later conversation with Russert. Any conversations he had about Plame, Libby said, were just recollections of what he heard from Russert.

Fitzgerald contends Libby concocted that story to avoid embarrassment, prosecution and possibly losing his job.

Libby, ex-chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is on trial on charges he lied to the FBI and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters about Plame and obstructed the investigation into how her identity leaked to the public in 2003. No one has been charged with the actual leak.

Defense attorneys say Libby will be his own star witness and will explain to the jury that he was preoccupied with national security issues and simply forgot about his conversations regarding Plame. Attorneys also have indicated they'll call Cheney to testify.

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