Cheney spokeswoman going to stand Thursday in Libby trial

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Vice President Dick Cheney's former spokeswoman was among witnesses on tap to testify in the CIA leak trial Thursday as prosecutors strove to find more certainty in a case so far

Thursday, January 25th 2007, 5:59 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Vice President Dick Cheney's former spokeswoman was among witnesses on tap to testify in the CIA leak trial Thursday as prosecutors strove to find more certainty in a case so far memorable for its forgetfulness.

Cathie Martin was expected to testify that in 2003 she told Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, that a prominent Bush administration critic was married to a CIA operative.

Martin's memory will be put to the test. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's first three witnesses told similar stories during the trial's opening days but each conceded a memory problem. One could not actually remember the conversation. Another recalled it differently than when he first spoke to investigators. A third said his memory improved as time went on.

The early testimony points up the difficulty prosecutors will have proving their perjury and obstruction case against Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. In a case that hinges on whether Libby lied to investigators or simply remembered poorly, defense lawyers are eager to show a bad memory is in good company.

Libby is accused of lying to investigators who were trying to figure out who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the journalists. Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was a vocal critic of the administration.

Neither Libby nor anyone else was charged with the leak. Prosecutors, however, say Libby talked to reporters about Plame, then made up a story about learning her identity from other journalists when he actually learned it from Cheney and other officials.

Libby says he did not lie, but rather honestly remembered it that way. His lawyers were eager to point out honest discrepancies in the testimony of government witnesses.

Defense lawyer John Cline planned to continue cross-examining CIA official Craig Schmall on Thursday about briefings with Libby that Schmall says he cannot remember.

Relying on a handwritten notation in the margin of a document, Schmall testified Wednesday that Libby must have mentioned Wilson and his wife in June 2003 _ days before Libby claimed he learned about it from NBC News reporter Tim Russert.

Cline wants to make the point that if Schmall cannot remember the details of the briefing _ which included more than two dozen potential terrorist threats or intelligence issues _ it is plausible Libby forgot about it, too.

Fitzgerald's first two witnesses had similar memory problems.

Marc Grossman, the former No. 3 official at the State Department, acknowledged making inconsistent statements during the investigation.

Robert Grenier, the former CIA Iraq mission manager, said he told Libby that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA _ but he only recalled that 18 months after initially telling investigators he couldn't remember telling Libby.

"I developed a growing conviction that I must've said it," Grenier said, recalling feeling guilty for having revealed the information. "It's like, 'Wake up and smell the coffee. You must've told him.'"

When asked what triggered his memory of the guilt, Grenier could not quite remember.

Such exchanges have slowed cross-examination, with defense lawyers trying to refresh recollections using heavily redacted documents and e-mails. Sometimes, it worked.

Fitzgerald did not appeared worried by the strategy. He has a stream of witnesses whose recollection differs from Libby's.

"Having a bad memory is not a crime," Fitzgerald said during his opening statements. "The defendant is not charged with having a bad memory."