Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson continues the nationwide tour of speaking engagements on behalf of the Democratic party. I mentioned on Saturday, that Wilson was to speak that evening to the Larimer County Democrats in Fort Collins, Colorado, and according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, his keynote address was a... success... sort of.
Larimer County Democrats gathered Saturday to celebrate what they're calling a renewed sense of energy in the party.
Former U.S. ambassador Joe Wilson was the keynote speaker at the annual president's day dinner attended by more than 600 Democrats.
The "renewed sense of energy" couldn't keep Larimer County Dem's from falling short of a full house for their annual President's Day dinner. As reported earlier in the Daily Times-Call, News and Information from Longmont and Northern Colorado, about 800 Democrats were expected, but just over 600 were willing to cough up $95 for the pleasure of listening to Ambassador Joe.
But that was Colorada. Now it's on to Florida. Joe will continue his speaking tour at a Florida State University event sponsored by FSU's Student Government Association Lecture Series, the FSU College Democrats, and the Student Life Cinema and Union Productions. As the Tallahassee Democrat reports,
Wilson, the husband of former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, will discuss his experiences in Washington, D.C., and his book, "The Politics of Truth." The free event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Ruby Diamond Auditorium. A social event with students and faculty will start at 6 p.m.
The reduced price will undoubtedly improve prospects for a good attendence. A bit further down in the Tallahassee Democrat story there are hints of yet another speaking engagement that may be in the works for Ambassador Wilson. This one might even include his "Jane Bond" wife as well.
Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted last year on a charge of lying to a grand jury about leaking Plame's identity as a CIA agent. Wilson, who spoke in Tallahassee last year about the scandal, has said that Plame's identity was leaked to the media after he criticized the Bush administration over claims that Iraq was trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
Unless Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald does an about face and drops the charges against Scooter Libby, or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia decides to dismiss those same charges, the witness stand will be among Ambassador Joe's future speaking venues. In the Third Motion of I. Lewis Libby to Compel Discovery Under Rule 16 and Brady, link compliments of Tom Maguire, the name Wilson comes up 134 times. Imagine that. According to the Associated Press, both Joe and Val will get a fair shot to tell their story one more time -- with feeling, no doubt.
Potential witnesses in the upcoming criminal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, as referenced in court papers by Libby's lawyers. The trial is scheduled for January:
_Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state.
_Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary.
_Marc Grossman, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.
_Colin Powell, the former secretary of state.
_Karl Rove, the deputy White House chief of staff.
_George Tenet, the former CIA director.
_Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador.
_Valerie Plame Wilson...
Should Joe and Val take the booking at the United States District Court in DC, it will be more challenging for Joe by far than any this year's speaking engagements. Not only is the audience expected to be far less sympathetic than either the Fort Collins or Tallahassee audiences, the question and answer session is likely to prove particularly trying. Here is a piece from the Libby defense team's motion to compel discovery.
We expect that documents from the White House, the State Department and the CIA will corroborate Mr. Libby’s account that Ms. Wilson’s affiliation with the CIA was regarded throughout the government as a minor issue prior to Mr. Novak’s article. Such documents will show that the overwhelming focus of the government’s response to Mr. Wilson’s charges included making the following types of counterarguments (among others) to reporters:
- Mr. Wilson was not sent to Niger at the Vice President’s behest.
- The report of Mr. Wilson’s debriefing after his trip was not shared with the Vice President, or any senior officials in the White House or CIA, before the State of the Union Address.
- Contrary to Mr. Wilson’s claims, he did not debunk as forgeries documents suggesting that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from Africa.
- Mr. Wilson’s report was not conclusive.
Documents that substantiate these themes are material to the preparation of the defense because they contain what the Supreme Court calls the “persuasive power of the concrete and particular.” Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 187 (1997); see id. at 189 (“A syllogism is not a story, and a naked proposition in a courtroom may be no match for the robust evidence that would be used to prove it.”). In other words, a jury is not likely to be convinced that Mr. Libby was not focused on Ms. Wilson’s identity during June and July 2003 based only on his unsupported denials. The defense will need to demonstrate, in part through the documents sought by this motion, a more complete account of the government’s response to Mr. Wilson’s criticism, and the defense will also need to corroborate Mr. Libby’s version of events.
In their corroboration of the "more complete account of the government's response to Mr. Wilson's criticism," the defense team might just ask the Ambassador to kindly reiterate his criticism -- under oath. They will prove to be a tough audience, the defense team. I eagerly await Ambassador Joe's response. Val's too.
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