CBSnews.com
Opening arguments begin today in former White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, and the concurrent coverage is already buzzing. Reuters reports that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has "damaged the independence of the news media" by forcing reporters like Judith Miller who knew CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to either disclose confidential conversations or go to jail, and cites conclusions from legal experts that Fitzgerald's case may have been weakened by his decision to prosecute Libby rather than former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who admitted revealing Plame's identity to reporters. Meanwhile, jury selection took a day longer than expected due to problems with impartiality. Exactly how many of the final seated jurors disapprove of Bush remains at issue; Reuters claims that at least seven of the jury's nine women and three men have expressed open skepticism about the war and/or the Bush administration, while Editor & Publisher places the number of Bush critics at four. Good luck, Scooter! E&P also reports that one seated juror is none other than a retired Washington Post reporter who worked for Post editor Bob Woodward and formerly lived in the same neighborhood as NBC reporter Tim Russert. Both Woodward and Russert are expected to be called as witnesses during the trial. The New York Times reports that additional jurors include a former curator of prints and drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a retired postal worker whose son was tried on drug charges and sentenced to jail by presiding Judge Reggie M. Walton. Add Libby's defense team of white collar defense giant William Jeffress and trial miracle worker Ted Wells, and it looks to be quite a show in D.C.
Related: Libby Trial to Display Changed Reporter-Source Relations [NYT]
