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Liveblogged: U.S. vs. Libby -- A primer

As FireDogLake's liveblogging of Libby's trial continues, I note a number of abbreviations, acronyms, slang, shorthand popping up on the fly that most of us Plame-maniacs already know but newbies may not grasp. I'm going to try to document them here, a kind of not-so-secret decoder ring. If there's something you'd like to see added, leave me a comment and I'll cover it here. NOTE: in the event of a server crash at FireDogLake.com, check Windcatpond for announcements, as well as DailyKos for alternative live blogging posts.

Complete list of FireDogLake's Libby trial live blog and related posts here.

Acronyms and Abbreviations:





"ADD"

From notes introduced during testimony by David Addington; abbreviation referred to Addington himself.

ADDOPS

? -- Believe to be “Asst. Deputy Director Operations”-CIA

(if you can confirm this one, leave me a comment, tks!)

CIPA

Classified Information Protection Act (see Resources below)

CPD

Counter Proliferation Division (CIA)

DCI

Director, Central Intel

DDCI

Deputy Director, Central Intel

EO

Executive Office (Executive Branch, President's Office or White House)

IIPA

Intelligence Identities Protection Act (definition at Wikipedia)

K”

From notes introduced during testimony by David Addington, who maintained this indicated a "contract.” (This may be a typo in quasi-transcription and may actually represent “contact”.)

MIB

Morning Intel Briefing

OVP

Office of the Vice President

SF-312

Non-Disclosure Agreement required of government employees and contractors if they handle classified materials.

TOC

Table of Contents, specifically in regards to brief prepared for OVP's office

TS

Top Secret classification

TS/SCI

Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information

WINPAC

Weapons Intelligence Nonproliferation and Arms Control Division (CIA)

Whitmore

Erroneous reference to a reference text, referred to as "Wigmore Rules of Evidence"; the actual title is Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law, written in 1904 by American jurist John Henry Wigmore.

1x2x6

Early theory outlining the genesis of smear campaign against Joe Wilson while outing Valerie Plame. “1x2x6” theory, so-named by blogger Swopa of Needlenose.com, originated from a Washington Post article written by Mike Allen and Dana Priest, arising from this key graf:

Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife.”

302

Refers to Rule 302, Applicability of State Law in Civil Actions and Proceedings.

403

Refers to Rule 403, Exclusion of Relevant Evidence on Grounds of Prejudice, Confusion, or Waste of Time

5A

Pending

5K1.1

Refers to Section 5K1.1 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines; a prosecutor requesting a lesser sentence will write what is referred to as a "5K letter". A 5K letter is not expected in this trial, but has been the subject of speculation during the course of the trial.

801

Rule 801 of Federal Rules of Evidence




Definitions:

(NOTE: IANAL, please correct me if this interpretation or definition needs tweaking, thanks!)

Term

Definition

Brady

From Wikipedia:Brady material consists of exculpatory or impeaching information that is material to the guilt or punishment of the defendant. The term comes from the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland,[1] in which the Supreme Court ruled that suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to a defendant who has requested it violates due process.”

Giglio

The government must disclose any material evidence favorable to the defendant; the government is obligated to comply even if the defendant doesn't ask for this evidence. Documents or evidence that fit this description are supposed to be supplied in advance of the trial, and are referred to as "Giglio filings". (See U.S. Supreme Court case GIGLIO v. UNITED STATES, 405 U.S. 150 (1972))

Jencks

From Questia Online Library: "Discovery is also governed by the Jencks Act(57) and Rule 26.2 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.(58) Under the Jencks Act, statements or reports in the possession of the United States made by a potential government witness are not subject to discovery until after that witness has testified on direct examination.(59) After a witness has testified, at defendant's request, the government must turn over documents relevant to the witness' testimony.(60) If the government does not turn over requested documents the testimony of the witness will be stricken and the trial will continue, or the court will declare a mistrial if required by the interests of justice.(61) Rule 26.2 incorporates the substance of the Jencks Act, and further applies to defense witnesses other than the defendant.(62)" (See U.S. Supreme Court case JENCKS v. UNITED STATES, 353 U.S. 657 (1957))

Memory defense

Defense strategy to be deployed by Scooter Libby against charges of perjury, false statements and obstruction, by which defendant will claim he was so very, very busy with so many very, very important things that he just plain forgot that he was leaking classified information about a deepest cover operative. (Theory of this expected defense strategy outlined by blogger emptywheel at FireDogLake).

Proffer

An offer of evidence in the course of a trial to support an argument. (See Proffer at Wikipedia.)


Witnesses [date of testimony in brackets]:

Witness

Profile

Date sworn in

Grossman, Marc

Former Under Secretary for Political Affairs

[24-JAN-07]

Grenier, Robert

Chief of the Iraq Issues Group in 2003, former CIA top counter-terrorism official

[24-JAN-07]

Schmall, Craig

CIA briefer

[24-JAN-07]

Martin, Cathie

Former Press Aid to the Vice President

[25-JAN-07, 29-JAN-07]

Fleischer, Ari

Former Press Secretary to the President

[29-JAN-07]

Addington, David

Chief of Staff to Vice President, Libby's successor in this role

[29-JAN-07, 30-JAN-07]

Miller, Judith

Former journalist for The New York Times

[30-JAN-07, 31-JAN-07]

Cooper, Matthew

Journalist, Times magazine

[31-JAN-07]

Bond, Debra

FBI Agent assigned to investigate leak case

[01-FEB-07, 02-FEB-07]

Mystery Witness

Pending

Est. [05-FEB-07]

Russert, Tim

Pending

Est. [05-FEB-07]



Defendant, Attorneys and other supporting characters:


Name

Role

Team

Bonamici, Debra

Attorney

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Bond, Debbie

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Brady, Harry

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Cline, John

Attorney (memory defense expert)

Team Libby/Defense

Comstock, Barbara

Unspecified (former lobbyist and strategist for RNC, former director of the Office of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice, current advisor to 2008 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney)

Team Libby/Defense

Fitzgerald, Patrick

Attorney, U.S. Special Counsel (lead for prosecution)

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Francisco, Gerard

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Hance, Katie

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Hansen, Bonnie

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Jeffress, William Jr.

Attorney

Team Libby/Defense

Kedian, Kathleen

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Richards, Jared

Unspecified

Team Fitz/Prosecution

Wells, Ted

Attorney (lead for defense)

Team Libby/Defense

Zeidenberg, Peter

Attorney

Team Fitz/Prosecution


Cast of key characters:


Name

Role

Wilson, Joseph

Former ambassador to Gabon, sent by CIA after inquiry by Vice President Cheney into possible sales of yellowcake uranium by Niger to Iraq. Last American official to speak directly to Saddam Hussein before beginning of Gulf War I. Married to the former Valerie Plame

Wilson, Valerie, nee Plame

Former non-official cover operative for CIA that worked in counterproliferation of WMD. “Outed” by person(s) within the Bush administration, ostensibly as a punishment or threat to her spouse, Joe Wilson for Wilson's outspoken op-ed, “What I didn't Find in Africa.

Libby, I. Lewis “Scooter”

Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, indicted for five counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction in relation to the investigation of the outing of Valerie Plame.

Hamsher, Jane

Blogger who created popular progressive blog, FireDogLake. The blog has hosted salons for discussions between readers and guests, including former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Smith, Christy Hardin

A co-blogger at FireDogLake, Christy is a former assistant prosecutor and an attorney.

Emptywheel

Pen name adopted by Marcy T. Wheeler, author of Anatomy of Deceit, and blogger at her own site, The Next Hurrah. Marcy “live blogged” the first weeks of testimony during the U.S. v. Libby trial from Prettyman District Courthouse, a first in blogging. She is also the undisputed expert on the Plame leak case.

Swopa

Pen name adopted by creator of popular progressive blog, Needlenose.com. Swopa is one of the blogosphere's key experts in the Plame leak case as well as the progenitor of the “1x2x6” theory.

Merrit, Jeralyn

Blogger for popular progressive website TalkLeft.com; Jeralyn is a defense attorney providing analysis of court room proceedings on the U.S. v. Libby trial from Prettyman District Courthouse.

Pachacutec

A co-blogger at FireDogLake, Pachacutec writes under this pen name. As a psychologist and consultant specializing in organizational management, Pachacutec provides analysis of key persons from his perspective from U.S. v. Libby trial from Prettyman District Courthouse

Looseheadprop

Co-contributor at FireDogLake writing pseudonymously, looseheadprop is an attorney providing fundamental primers in U.S. Law pertinent to the U.S. v. Libby trial from Prettyman District Courthouse.

TRex

A co-blogger at FireDogLake, TRex's pen name pays homage to his intrinsic therapodian nature. His live blogging from Prettyman District Courthouse will provide additional color on otherwise banal trial participants.


Other References and Resources:

Subject and link where applicable

Source / Author where applicable

U.S. vs. Libby

Filings, USDOJ-USOSC Patrick F. Fitzgerald (website of Special Counsel)

List of Potential Witnesses

Source: Next Hurrah

List of Documents Produced

Source: AP

WMDGate: Fixing Intelligence Around Policy

Source: eriposte at The Left Coaster - link to Introduction of a series of related posts

Anatomy of the WH's Smear Defense

Source: emptywheel at Next Hurrah - Plame primer #1

Anatomy of a White House Smear, Redux

Source: emptywheel at Next Hurrah - Plame primer #2

Plame Affair

Source: Dkosopedia

Plame Affair timeline

Source: Dkosopedia

Classified Information Protection Act (CIPA)

Copy of act at FAS.org



Commonly used terms and slang:

Acronym

Definition

BTW

By the way

EPU, EPU'd

Acronym for “Evil Parallel Universe”, name of a long-time, popular commenter at FireDogLake; acronym “EPU'd” used to describe condition in which a commenter posts at the end of a comment thread as a new thread begins, often without realizing the new thread has started. Evil Parallel Universe often EPU'd himself because his comments were thoughtful and dense in content; by the time he'd completed and submitted his comment in response to a comment mid-thread, he would wind up at the end of a thread with many users having moved on to the new thread.

IANAL

I am not a lawyer – frequently used caveat qualifying a comment as an opinion from someone without a Juris Doctor.

IIRC

If I recall correctly

MSM

Mainstream Media, referring to traditional, corporate-owned media outlets in both print and broadcast.

OMG

Oh my God. Variant OMFG also frequently used.

WRT

With regard to

Comments

HotFlash said…
Hi Rayne,

Team Libby, as authorized for court access:

Patrick Fitzgerald
Peter Zeidenberg
Kathleen Kedian
Debra Bonamici
Debbie Bond
Gerard Francisco
Jared Richards
Katie Hance
Bonnie Hansen
Harry Brady

h/t from the Desk of Patrick Fitzgerald http://patrickjfitzgerald.blogspot.com/2007/01/americas-team.html
Rayne Today said…
Thanks, HotFlash; I got an email today from somebody who was able to use that info.
anotherpawn said…
Hi Rayne,
You forgot the shameless plug for Anatomy of Deceit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979176107&tag=firedoglake-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
Rayne Today said…
Oh nuts, I did!! I should put it up as an Amazon button that benefits FireDogLake, too!

I'll try to get to it within the next 24 hours, thanks for the poke!
Hey Rayne great list.

I'm pretty sure K is for contact, not contract.

Btw fdl is back up.
Rayne Today said…
egregious -- thanks, I'll go back and check Marcy's transcript for that "K".

Should probably post a link here, too, for folks to check for status announcements in case of future crashes at Wind Cat Pond:
http://www.windcatpond.blogspot.com/

Catch you at the 'Lake!
Rayne Today said…
egregious -- just went and checked the citation in emptywheel's live blog for th "K" reference. It was in Addington-Pt.3. Says:

quote begin]]

Wells back. Looking at Libby's notes.

W Prior to your interview with FBI, you reviewed this document.

A I'm not certain of the timing. I certainly saw it before I went to the GJ.

W Makes reference to you by name. Addington.

A Yes.

Addington on 1) declass 2) Wilson K

A The symbol K is often used to refer to a contract.

[[quote end

You could be right that "contact" and not "contract" is meant, but this is the way it appears in the quasi-transcript.

Raises a much bigger question, though, in the context of "K" used in the notes elsewhere -- in particular, in reference to a now-jailed Russian oligarch. Hmmm.
Rayne Today said…
teddysanfran -- thanks much.

And yes, I should also add a table with references to the 'Lake's cultural references like EPU. ;-)
anotherpawn said…
Also, 1 X 2 X 6
Thanks for the page!
Rayne Today said…
anotherpawn -- funny you should mention that, have it in the new version which should be posted momentarily!
Rayne Today said…
Note to self: add this link to references

http://www.btcnews.com/btcnews/images/plamechart6.png
Shez ZK said…
Looking great Rayne! I'm getting close to having my extra list done for you.

Noticed a bad link under Other References for:
'WMDGate: Fixing Intelligence Around Policy - Intro' (eriposte)
Rayne Today said…
Thanks, shez, I'll crack this open and revise the link.
Rayne Today said…
Added Rule 403, per reference today in court.
Shez ZK said…
I have my Libby links posted at my new blog Multi Media Netroots for you Rayne, divided up into sections.

There's a "See Also" referencing the series, your primer, plus the full links page on each one. Trying to keep it updated ;)

(Check your IM, left more info there. Thanks and mwah!)

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