Novak testifies Libby not CIA leak source as defense gets underway News
Novak testifies Libby not CIA leak source as defense gets underway

[JURIST] Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak [CST website] testified Monday that former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense website] did not leak to him the identity of former undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Both Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward testified that it was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage [official profile] who had told them about Plame's identity. Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, sued Armitage [JURIST report] in September for serving as the primary source responsible for disclosing Plame's CIA affiliation after he admitted [JURIST report] to unintentionally leaking her identity.

In July 2006, Novak revealed [JURIST report] that Karl Rove [official profile], President Bush's top political advisor, was one of two secondary sources who confirmed that Plame was employed by the CIA and helped initiate the ambassador's 2002 mission to Niger. It was Novak's July 2003 column that publicly outed Plame, thus igniting the CIA leak scandal [JURIST news archive]. Libby is not charged with leaking Plame's identity, but instead faces perjury and obstruction of justice charges [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] in connection with the investigation into the leak. The prosecution rested [JURIST report] its case in the trial late last week. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

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