By PETE YOST
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday.
In a victory for the news media, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way, but that he has little choice under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C.
One of Libby's lawyers, William Jeffress, said that playing sound bites of the defendant's grand jury appearances in a public setting such as a trial ``seriously threatens Mr. Libby's right to a fair trial.''
A number of news organizations had sought the release of the grand jury recordings which are to be played for the trial jury. Libby is charged with perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in an indictment that focuses in part on his statements to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of the CIA identity of Valerie Plame.
Libby is charged with lying to the grand jury about how he found about the CIA identity of the wife of Bush administration critic Joe Wilson and what Libby told reporters about Wilson's wife.
Jeffress argued that the news media will undoubtedly issue commentary to accompany any excerpts it plays from the audio recordings of Libby's grand jury testimony.
``It's great stuff,'' Jeffress told the judge in asking that the recordings not be released during the trial.
``I have my concerns,'' Walton said, adding that cases in the federal judicial circuit covering Washington, D.C., point to disclosure of the material rather than waiting until the trial is over.
Media attorney Nathan Siegel said publicly releasing the grand jury recordings during the trial is hardly ``some novel proposition.''
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