What's the point of any leak? To catch the other side off guard, and put them unexpectedly on the defensive.
Janice, surely you've heard the expression "trial balloon"? And perhaps you were aware that the Clintons do their own polling, or so I've been told. Even if they don't, the news organizations have done practically daily polling on how Americans view the Clintons blah blah blah TODAY, right now, then that is compared with how they viewed the Clintons YESTERDAY, etc. So then, if you follow the logic, the Clinton defense attorneys "float balloons", see how the public reacts, then formulate an acceptable response. SO....if grand jury testimony is leaked, the Clinton attorneys/advisors/handlers can assess the public's early response; this way the Clintons can control the spin, rather than having the public fasten on to whatever imaginative conclusion they may reach, possibly in haste. After all, it is pretty much public when someone is seen scurrying to Ken Starr's little investigative chambers. BESIDES, since the testifiers are legally free to tell what they testified of (so I've read in the WSJ), then you can bet that somehow the testimony may be made known at some point. Thus the benefit of trial balloons, to gauge the early response of the public.
On the other hand, Starr's investigation will not and does not ultimately hinge upon public opinion; his case must ultimately depend on strict legal requirements, as rrman has pointed out.
DK |
