Did Matt Cooper change a material or a trivial detail of his Time Magazine article about meeting with Scooter Libby? Judge Walton today issued a 40 page opinion (text of opinion here (pdf), thanks to Tom Maguire) in which he ordered Time to turn over earlier drafts of his article to Libby. Walton has been reviewing in camera the materials Libby subpoenaed from Cooper, Judith Miller, Andrea Mitchell and other NBC reporters.

Walton said Time magazine must turn over drafts of first-person stories that reporter Matthew Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby because the judge found inconsistencies between them..... Walton said, he found "a slight alteration between the several drafts of the articles" Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby and the reporter's first-person account of his testimony before a federal grand jury.

"This slight alteration between the drafts will permit the defendant to impeach Cooper, regardless of the substance of his trial testimony, because his trial testimony cannot be consistent with both versions," Walton wrote.

Patrick Fitzgerald has filed another response (pdf) to Scooter Libby's motion to compel documents. He includes portions of Libby's grand jury testimony from March 4 and March 24 as exhibits (pdf).

An AP report of tonight's filing is here, with a headline that Cheney may be called as a witness in Libby's trial. What Fitzgerald really said is, with respect to the issue of authenticating the copy of Joseph Wilson's July 6 New York Times op-ed with Cheney's hand-written notes on it (discussed here) that there are three ways to authenticate the article, one of which would be by calling Cheney as a witness. Fitz adds:

Contrary to defendant's assertion, the government has not represented that it does not intend to call the Vice President as a witness at trial. To the best of government's counsel's recollection, the government has not commented on whether it intends to call the Vice President as a witness.

Fitzgerald is clearly gung-ho to introduce Cheney's hand-annotated copy of Wilson's column into evidence at trial. Cheney had written on the article:

The New York Daily News is reporting that former CIA official Robert Grenier has been disclosed in pleadings by Team Libby to be the unnamed CIA official who allegedly told Libby on June 10 that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson,worked for the C.I.A. and had a role in sending her husband to Niger to check on the uranium claim.

Unless I'm missing something, this news is two months old. The first such pleading was filed on March 17. (pdf) The latest was May 12. Both have been previously reported on.

Jason Leopold reported this on March 18.

In Friday's filing, Libby's attorneys attempted to push the blame for the leak onto other officials at the CIA and the State Department and said these officials will likely be called to testify at next year's criminal trial. In doing so, the attorneys disclosed in the 39-page document the identities of four CIA employees who possibly provided their client with information about Plame Wilson's work for the CIA.

Team Libby has filed yet another memorandum (pdf) in support of his requests for documents pertaining to potential trial witnesses and others.

Libby begins by noting:

So far, the defense has identified by name the following current and former government officials as potential defense witnesses: (1) Richard Armitage; (2) Colin Powell; (3) Stephen Hadley; (4) Bill Harlow; (5) Karl Rove; (6) Joseph Wilson; and (7) Valerie Wilson. See Mot. at 15-16. All of these persons were discussed by Mr.
Libby during his grand jury testimony.

I have just received the May 5 hearing transcript in the Scooter Libby case (thanks to reporter Jason Leopold for sharing it with me.) I haven't yet read it, so you can have first takes.

Update: Christy of Firedoglake weighs in here and here . Empty Wheel includes her thoughts in her post about Cheney. Tom Maguire also has a detailed analysis.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has filed his response to various reporters' motions to quash his subpoenas for records and notes.

Thanks to Tom Maguire for hosting the 45 page response, here and here.

I've only skimmed them, so I'll be back later with some thoughts. In the meantime, feel free to weigh in, or for analysis, check in with Empty Wheel.

Related: Jane at FDL has a new Karl Rove timeline.

Judge Reggie Walton today denied Scooter Libby's motion to dismiss the indictment based on a claim that Patrick Fitzgerald's appointment was constitutionally and statutorily improper. Tom Maguire has the 31 page ruling.

No suprise on this one.

On April 13, the judge in the Scooter Libby case issued an order (pdf) asking both sides to submit grounds in writing why a gag order should not be imposed as a result of disclosure of non-public information to the media and statements lawyers had made to the media about the case. Their responses were filed today. [Libby Response, Fitz Response, Fitz Affidavit.]

Shorter Fitz: His office didn't leak anything and because his office doesn't talk to the media about the case he takes no position on whether there should be a gag order.

Shorter Libby: Team Libby admits to two disclosures, explains and justifies them, (quite well in my opinion) and opposes a gag order.

I think the Judge will not issue a gag order based on Libby's response. The longer version:

Arianna has a great post today on the subpoena (pdf) Scooter Libby issued to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Arianna notes,

For example, point #7 of the eight-point subpoena reveals that Libby's defense team is as curious as we are about exactly what happened in the Times newsroom after Miller received the exclusive National Intelligence scoop from Libby on July 8th. It requests:

"All documents, whenever prepared or received, reflecting or referring to any request or recommendation by you, prior to July 14, 2003, to Jill Abramson or any other employee or agent of The New York Times, to pursue a news story or investigation relating to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger or his claims concerning that trip."

The issue being, of course, did Judith Miller ever ask to write an article about what Libby told her? Arianna concludes (and I agree with her):

Reporters subpoenaed by Lewis "Scooter" Libby filed their motions to quash today. Some of them, including Andrea Mitchell, filed paper documents, and the Court has now ordered them to file electronically, so they should be available tomorrow if not later tonight.

Judith Miller and Time Magazine did file electronically -- lengthy responses, arguing the subpoenas are overbroad, vague and not directed to admissible evidence. Time argues that Libby is on a fishing expedition in seeking documents from Time editors and reporters other than Matthew Cooper, the only Time employee endorsed as a witness in the case.

Both filed the actual subpoenas listing the sought-after documents as exhibits. Here is Libby's subpoena to Time (pdf) and here is Libby's subpoena to Judith Miller.

Jason Leopold, writing at Truthout, says former Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, who has been cooperating with Fitzgerald in the Valerie Plame leaks investigation, has witnesses to support his claim that he told Libby in June, 2003 that Valerie Plame Wilson worked for the CIA.

Libby has claimed in his latest filing (see pages 15-16) that he doesn't remember the conversation, that it might not have happened, that Grossman may have confused him with someone else or that Grossman may be biased.

Ari Fleischer is a very dangerous witness for Scooter Libby. Check out Fitz's affidavit from August, 2004 submitted in the Judith Miller subpoena suit, which was unsealed by the Court in February, 2006. You can read the unredacted portions in the Court's opinion here or in my prior summary with lengthy quotes.

It's not just that Libby allegedly told Fleischer at lunch on July 7 before Fleischer left for Africa with President Bush that Joseph Wilson's wife worked in the Counterproliferation area of the CIA and that she was involved in the decision to send Wilson to Niger. It's that Fleisher told Fitz and the grand jury that Libby told him the information was "hush-hush" and "on the qt."