2007年VOA标准英语-Closing Arguments in CIA Leak Case Set for Feb.

By Jim Malone
Washington
15 February 2007

Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday in the trial of former White House aide Lewis Libby.  Libby was Vice¹ President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and is accused of lying to investigators² probing who leaked the identity of former CIA covert³ officer Valerie Plame.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

 
Attorney Theodore V. Wells, right, puts his arm around his client I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, left,  as they leave US Federal Court
Libby's defense⁴ team rested its case after announcing that Libby and his former boss, Vice President Cheney, would not testify.

Judge Reggie Walton said he had been misled into believing that Libby would testify in his own defense.  Judge Walton then denied a defense request to present witnesses who would support their contention⁵ that Libby was overwhelmed with pressing national security matters and simply did not remember what he told reporters about Valerie Plame.

Libby faces five felony charges of lying to investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters about Plame.  Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.  Wilson accused the Bush administration of distorting intelligence about Iraq's mass weapons program to justify⁶ the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Libby is not charged with revealing Valerie Plame's identity as a former covert CIA officer, which under some circumstances is a crime.  Instead, prosecutors⁸ say Libby lied when he testified previously⁹ that he first learned of Plame's identity from a journalist.

During the trial, government witnesses testified for the prosecution¹⁰ that they had told Libby about Valerie Plame's CIA connection prior to his conversations with journalists, contradicting what Libby had told FBI agents and a grand jury investigating the Plame case in 2004. 

"This is far removed from the original scandal, which dealt with the disclosure of a covert operative's name, the wife of a whistle blower in the administration," said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University law school.  "This focuses, as is often the case in Washington scandals, not with the original crime, but the response to the investigation¹¹, the response to the scandal.  Libby is accused of lying about his role and actions in the scandal."

Prosecutors played audio tapes of Libby's original testimony¹² before the grand jury, including this exchange with special prosecutor⁷ Patrick Fitzgerald asking about Vice President Cheney's reaction to the Wilson allegations concerning Iraq.

Fitzgerald:  "And do you recall what it is that the vice president said?"

Libby:  "I recall that he was very keen to get the truth out, that he wanted to get all the facts out."

Libby told the grand jury that Cheney had authorized¹³ him to disclose classified intelligence about Iraq's mass weapons capabilities¹⁴ to reporters to rebut¹⁵ Ambassador Wilson's contentions¹⁶.

 
Dick Cheney (file photo)
At one time, defense lawyers said they would call Vice President Cheney to testify at the trial on behalf of Libby, but they later changed their minds.  It would have been the first time a sitting vice president had testified at a criminal trial.

Once closing arguments are given, the case will go to the jury.

Law professor Jonathan Turley says jurors will have to decide whether to believe the prosecution's contention that Libby lied or Libby's claim that he was too busy to remember his specific conversations with journalists about the Plame case.

"The government is going to have to prove that Libby knew that he was leaving out critical facts when he spoke¹⁷ with the grand jury and with investigators," he added.  "Libby's argument is simple, he simply forgot, that his memory is not that good.  So it becomes a test of credibility, who the jury will believe."

If convicted on all five counts, Libby could face the prospect¹⁸ of a 30-year prison sentence and a fine of more than one million dollars.

No one has been charged in connection with the leak of Valerie Plame's name.  Plame's CIA identity became public in a newspaper column published in July of 2003 by syndicated columnist¹⁹ Robert Novak.

Last September, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged that he was the original source of the information about Valerie Plame in conversations with Novak and Washington Post editor Bob Woodward.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

6 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

13 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

14 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 rebut   

v.辩驳，驳回

参考例句：

• He attempted to rebut the assertions made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳控方证人所作的断言。
• This open letter is to rebut the argument of abstractionism.这封公开信是反驳抽象派论点的。

16 contentions   

n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点

参考例句：

• Direct tests on individual particles do not support these contentions. 对单个粒子所作的直接试验并不支持这些论点。 来自辞典例句
• His contentions cannot be laughed out of court. 对他的争辩不能一笑置之。 来自辞典例句

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

19 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。