The vice president, through surrogates, has indicated he will not try to dodge testifying on behalf of his former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, in his upcoming trial, the Washington Post reports this morning:
Vice President Cheney is willing to testify in the perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial of his former chief of staff that is scheduled to begin next month, according to defense lawyers and sources familiar with his plans.Lawyers for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s former top aide, told a federal judge yesterday that the defense plans to call the vice president and expects him to cooperate. That would make Cheney the first sitting vice president to testify in a criminal case, presidential historians and legal experts said… .
Ohio State University law professor Peter Shane said Cheney’s appearance is also unusual because of his aggressive efforts in other matters to protect the executive office from being forced to disclose details of its deliberative process or inner workings… .
Lea Anne McBride, Cheney’s spokeswoman, said that “historians are entitled to their opinions, but the vice president has said from the very beginning that we’re cooperating in this matter and we will continue to do so.”
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