The army of journalists covering the Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial showed up for work today. The E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse is still standing. The sun will set in the west. All this despite bloggers showing up today for the first time as credentialed members of the media covering a federal trial.
With jury selection scheduled to begin today, I boarded a DC-bound Amtrak train this morning and arrived at Union Station around lunchtime. Waiting for me was a producer for ABC News who was there to shoot video of my arrival - getting through the train station, walking past the Capitol Building, making my way over to the U.S. District Court in Washington and - perhaps most importantly - dropping off my luggage at a hotel.
I said goodbye to the ABC News producer as she filmed me walking into the courthouse and soon discovered what would prove to be the hardest part of covering the Libby trial so far - getting through security. Two rather no-nonsense fellows at the main entrance were not amused to find wires, computers, ipods and other assorted electronics stuffed into my shoulder bag. The final straw was the digital camera I had forgotten to leave behind at the hotel. At that point they wanted me to empty the entire bag much to the dismay of the folks waiting in line behind me. So, lesson one from the Libby trial: don't bring a camera.
The room set up as a media center is ideal for a blogger. There is a widescreen television displaying four feeds from the video camera - the judge, the witness box, a crossshot of both and the lawyer's desks. The Wifi worked perfectly and I was online within a minute of getting into the room.
I am not sure of the rules about writing about the jurors so I am not going to say anything until I get a copy of the judge's orders but the questioning dragged on for quite a while in some cases.
The plan has been to finish the jury selection tomorrow, then assemble the jury and give instructions to the jury and give everyone Friday off so they can begin the trial on Monday. Word is that despite the slow pace at times today, things are pretty much on schedule and Monday looks like the big day.
My plan is to be here this week to make sure that the bloggers that follow behind me have a good sense of what to expect when they arrive at the courthouse. Later I will write up a "protocol" document to share with all of the bloggers. The good news is that we get real chairs, room enough on a long table to work with a laptop, powerstrips and, of course, the WiFi. I would show you a picture but...well...they took my camera.
Well that's enough for my first post from the trial.
More later.
