CHENEY Expected To Take Witness Stand & FITZ Is Prepared to "SLAM HIM"

[kpete]

NYT: Cheney expected to make 'historic appearance' on witness stand at CIA leak trial RAW STORY
Published: Sunday February 11, 2007


Vice President Dick Cheney is expected to make a "historic appearance" on the witness stand at the trial for his former aide, I. Lewis Libby, who is accused of obstructing justice and lying to officials investigating the Bush Administration's alleged "outing" of a CIA officer, Monday's New York Times reports.

..............................

"Now, as the defense phase of the perjury trial begins, Cheney is expected to make an historic appearance on the witness stand," the Times reports. "It is an act of loyalty that carries considerable risk for Cheney."

.................

If Cheney makes a statement that conflicts with the public record — and nearly every witness so far has done so at least once — it could prove embarrassing for him and for the administration.

"If Cheney said anything that's contradicted in the record, though I think that's unlikely, Pat will slam him," said a former federal prosecutor who knows Fitzgerald. "He'll do it respectfully, but I have no doubt he'll do it,"


more at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/NYT_Cheney_expected_to_make_historic_0211.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/11/news/cheney.php

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "An act of loyalty"? Oh, really? Will he testify voluntarily

or did they subpoena his wrinkly old ass?

This should be fun. I'd give my eyeteeth for the chance to cross-examine that treasonous bastard.

[whistle]

2. Will that be before or after he goes out of the country on his trip into Asia?

....If after, there may not be a trial, or a country to come back to, at least not the constitutional United States of America. It may be the 4th Reich by the time he gets back.

[Kagemusha]

3. One wonders if he'll cite the trip and resist a subpoena on those grounds

say that he's too busy doing er...

...Come to think of it, it has like, nothing to do with his actual constitutional duties, does it? Only his imagined, purely symbolic foreign policy role...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Cheney is stuck between a rock and a hard place

the evidence presented so far shows heavy involvement by Cheney in the whole affair. If he decides against testifying, then people will be free to make their own interpretations of his motives. If he testifies, perhaps he can explain some of his actions away in a manner that will satisfy the jury and help Libby as well. However, I doubt if he can pull it off. His huberis is telling him he can, of course, which is why he will go ahead.

[sam sarrha]

5. maybe he can find some 'Exucative Privlige' between there

[Edweird]

49. yeah, that and "national security"

:eyes:

[liberal renegade]

6. An act of loyalty

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TexasLawyer]

10. more like

an act of CYA!

:popcorn::rofl::popcorn::rofl::popcorn::rofl::popcorn::rofl::popcorn:

[havocmom]

52. & try to make it look like you have a friggin choice in the matter

the Vice Emperor has no knickers and he hopes we don't notice. ;)

[Cerridwen]

7. They better call him soon; he's scheduled to leave the country on

the 19th.

I'll go find the link.

edit to add links:

DU Thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x185408

which talks about this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17075504/site/newsweek/

[colbertforpresident]

8. the fifth

will Cheney take the fifth?

[karlrschneider]

11. The fifth...deferment? Heart attack? Not the Jack Daniels, chimpy has that under his desk.

:D
Welcome to DU

[karlrschneider]

9. He would swear to tell the truth, and then lie his ass off.

I wouldn't trust him to fall if someone kicked him off the Eiffel Tower.

[blogslut]

12. K&R

I'm praying for flop sweat.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Among the words I would like to hear from the Big Dick's mouth

I refuse to answer the question on the grounds that the answer may incriminate me.

[sakabatou]

14. Oooo

I wanna hear/see this!

[Swamp Rat]

15. That'll be fun!

:D

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Oh, man. I would risk a mistrial just for a chance to pie Cheney in the face.

[williesgirl]

17. Happy to be 5th rec - hope this bastard does his usual lying on the stand

and then maybe we can be rid of him.

[Olney Blue]

18. I would be honored to buy Fitz a supergrande coffee that morning!

[Missy Vixen]

22. Supergrande coffee? Hell, sign me up to fund the coffee IV!

I'm thinking it's a very slim chance we'll actually see Crashcart take the stand, but in the meantime, the Office of the Special Counsel -- brought to you by Starbucks: Crime doesn't sleep, and neither does he!



Julie
still president for life of the PFEB

[Olney Blue]

24. LOL- that is precisely the image that inspired my post!

:9

[spooky3]

19. Where can I get tickets for this?

I want to watch it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[speedoo]

20. kpete, this "story" is nothing more than speculation.

I don't think it will appear in the NYT and I don't see much chance Cheney will actually testify.

Do you?

[kpete]

31. I am just the happy poster

your guess is as good as mine. But I will tell you one thing - If he does, I want to see it!

And, my money has always been on the side of truth - so Fitz/Cheney? Fitz WINS! We WIN!

[speedoo]

35. Oh I want to see it too.

But I doubt it will happen. The more I learn about the case, and what's been going on in the trial, the more doubtful I am it will happen.

[WillyT]

44. Check Post #41

:shrug:

[blogslut]

33. I agree, the writers make a leap

Scott Shane and Jim Rutenberg - the writers of the article - both have pages on the NYT website:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/jim_rutenberg/index.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/scott_shane/index.html?inline=nyt-per

Whether or not the NYT decides to put this article into its own paper is not a question I can answer.

I will say that they do make a definitive statement with this:

Now, as the defense phase of the perjury trial begins, Cheney is expected to make a historic appearance on the witness stand. It is an act of loyalty that carries considerable risk for Cheney.

I don't see any attribution in the article to back up that statement.

I'm with the skeptical crowd on this one. I don't see Cheney can help Libby without lying and/or incriminating himself. Unless he thinks he can just baffle the court with his magical bullshit.

Just the same, I hope he does testify. I want him sweating....buckets. I want him to lose it. I want him to purjure himself. I want him to quit AND be indicted...I want. I want. Iwant.

[speedoo]

38. I agree 100%.

None of these evil bastards want to risk cross examination by Fitz. They are not so stupid as to misread him... it's simply suicidal.

My take on the article.... the reporters have just done a quickie teaser for the IHT only. I'll be very surprised if anything like this gets into the Times.

But then again, Judy Miller's bullshit got in there, repeatedly, so I should stop trying to predict what they will do.

[WillyT]

43. Check Post #41

:shrug:

[VP505]

21. I sense a

terrorist attack plan being discovered which will require the court house being shut down until a through investigation can be completed. Unfortunately Cheney won't be allowed to participate because it's just too dangerous, sorry but the trial will have to go on without him.

[Danascot]

23. Top Ten Reasons Why Cheney Won’t Testify at the Libby Trial

"Loyalty? What loyalty, Scooter-scum?"

He can’t take a breath without committing perjury

He neglected to tell the court where to find his undisclosed location

He’s busy playing Lord Vader on the set of the next Star Wars movie

He has other priorities

Can’t get his shotgun past the metal detector.

Unable to testify for “medical reasons”.

The Bible will burst into flames if he takes the oath

He’s already pardoned himself.

“Yes, in fact, if I say it’s true, it IS true.

[Mme. Defarge]

45. These are choice!

[Imagevision]

25. Cheney takes the stand while Bush attacks Iran....

[dicknbush]

26. I will be very surprised if they actually call Little Dick Cheney to the stand

I will be very surprised...considering that Scotty Pooty is a dead duck already. WHy bother to put the Dick head at risk at this stage of the game. I would bet that Cheney's boys are already telling the Defense hey stay away from Dick....You may choke to detah!

[Imagevision]

27. Look at it from Rove's perspective, what's Cheney have to gain and how??

[goforit]

28. Cheney's 1st response....."You're outa line on this one Fitz" LOL!!!

Wage your bets folks!!!

Show or no show!!!

[frogcycle]

37. or "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

[stevedeshazer]

29. Oh my

This is really getting interesting.

[TahitiNut]

30. That reduces the chances that Libby will take the stand himself, imho.

If neither Libby nor Cheney testified, they'd have NOTHING they could hang evidence of how busy Scooter was ... the purported 'reason' for his alleged memory problem. In order to get any evidence of things not directly related to the matters on which he was questioned (and perjured himself), they have to have someone with 'standing' (himself or the person to whom he reported) to testify about the OTHER things he was doing.

It'll be interesting to see how much Fitzgerald is able to uncover all the RECREATIONAL and SOCIAL activities ol' Scooter found time to fit into his busy schedule, too.

[frogcycle]

32. just saw the end of "A few Good Men"

while channel-surfing... picture fitz as tom cruise, cheney as Jack Nicholson...


think fitz could push cheney into a meltdown like that??

prob not, but what an image!

[caligirl]

34. I JUST SAID THAT TOO, Fitz saying,to Cheney : your excused when I say your excused.

[frogcycle]

36. and cheney saying "you're damned right I did"

when fitz says "You ordered the leak!"

[texpatriot2004]

39. Really? I thought he and I. Liar Libby weren't taking the stand. nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. What about contempt of court?

If they subpoenaed him (I assume they did as normal procedure) and he refuses to show, won't Fitz make a Motion for Contempt, and can't the Judge hold him in contempt of court, throw him in jail, at which time he will invoke "executive privilege" and then we'll have a major Constitutional fight on our hands.


MORE POPCORN!! MORE BUTTER!!!

[WillyT]

41. TIMES ARTICLE IS UP NOW (LINK) !!! - K & R !!!

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/washington/12cheney.html

:kick:

[Catherine Vincent]

42. What happened with Cheney's 10-day Asian trip?

[Doondoo]

46. bump

[Hubert Flottz]

47. If the witness stand is oak I guess Cheney thinks it will bring a fair

price on Ebay! Plunder is plunder to old Deadeye.

[Toots]

48. Slam him how?

I doubt seriously he will charge him with lieing under oath though I truly hope I am wrong..

[myrna minx]

50. I think that I'll really enjoy this week. n/t

:hi:

[progressoid]

51. More embarassing than they already are? I doubt that.

[yellerpup]

53. Maybe this is how he plans to say goodbye.

He'll have to resign, then McCain can run as an incumbent. It would explain those creepy B*** hugs. :tinfoilhat:

[petepillow]

54. my thoughts exactly...

one way or another they're going to conveniently replace cheney with whomever is tapped by the GOP. McCain is mightly likely. and after all those yicky-icky-creepy hugs with mr. dubya, there has to be some reward for mccain's sale of his own soul to the admin over the past 7 years.

[yellerpup]

55. He's not doing it for the cuddles.

Glad I'm not the only one, petepillow. :hi:

[symbolman]

56. A massive coronary

on the witness stand would create massive expulsion of gas all over the country, from champagne corks, followed by bubbles, then CHEERS :)