At Libby's plea, an impressive defense team

WASHINGTON — The oversized Ceremonial Courtroom on the sixth floor of U.S. District Court — a room whose wall's display the portraits of the numerous chief judges of the court — was filled with an estimated 200 reporters and court house personnel for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby’s arraignment on Thursday morning for charges stemming from the CIA leak probe.

With the defense and prosecution teams talking at their respective table just before the judge entered, reporters fidgeted to silence cell phones and conceal their still functional Blackberries so that they could bang out contemporaneous accounts of the proceedings to their audiences.

The entire arraignment lasted only 10 minutes. The most significant detail may have been the introduction of Libby’s expanded defense team; in particular, bringing in prominent criminal defense lawyer Ted Wells just hours before his arraignment.

Criminal defense team
Wells, a distinguished African American attorney and a partner in the New York firm Paul Weiss, is noted for his trial work.

He is also well known in this courthouse and shook hands with many of the old-time court security officers he got to know during his defenses of the likes of former Agriculture Secretary Michael Espy, former Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli and financier Michael Milken.

Washington lawyer William Jeffress was also present as part of the Libby defense team. Likewise, he is well known for white-collar criminal defense work.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald acknowledged during the session that Jeffress had represented another client during the grand jury phase of his investigation.

That client, Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Vice President Cheney — whose name was not mentioned in court — had told Jeffress that she had consented to his representation of another client. Fitzgerald said he did not object.

A pat before the plea
Libby, wearing a blue suit and white shirt, entered the court on crutches (he is recovering from a foot injury). His wife, Harriet Grant, a former lawyer on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at his side, wearing an all black pants-suit, stiletto heeled ankle boots and a gray scarf, with sunglasses atop her head.

Just before Libby took his chair, his wife grabbed his sleeve with one hand and gave him a pat on his bottom with the other, then whispered in his ear. She took a seat just behind him.

Libby entered his plea in front of U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a former prosecutor who has spent 20 years as a judge in Washington. Walton was randomly selected among the trial judges at district court. The judge has recently overseen the civil lawsuit of former bioweapons scientist Stephen J. Hatfill against the Justice Department for linking him to the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Walton asked Libby to stand and asked if he had a plea. "Yes, I do," he told the judge. "What is your plea?" responded Walton. "With respect, your honor, I plead not guilty," he said.

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