'Yes.'
'We'll come back to that in a minute. First, I'd like for you to authenticate a few photographs for me.' I went to the witness box and handed him the two photographs that showed the first lady with Collins. 'Can you identify these photographs, sir?'
He refused to look at them. He refused to do anything at least initially. He stared at me with that look of complete contempt he had had ever since he realized what I wanted him to do. But he was also a professional and knew he couldn't make a scene, at least not yet.
'Sir, I need you to look at the photographs so you can identify them for me.'
He shook his head. 'I'm not really interested in photographs. I'm not a photographer.'
A small chuckle in the room broke the tension slightly. I tried to reestablish that tension immediately. 'I did not ask you to come here as a photographer, Mr. Grosvenor. I think you know that. You're here as a member of the Secret Service. You knew my private investigator, Tinny Byrd, did you not?'
'Yes.'
'And sometimes you would talk with Mr. Byrd, wouldn't you?'
'On occasion.'
'One of those occasions in which you spoke with Mr. Byrd, he asked you about issues pertaining to the White House, and you knew that he was working for me, or at least for an attorney defending WorldCopter, right?'
'No. I didn't know he was working for an attorney. He asked me some questions about a possible relationship between the first lady and Colonel Collins.'
'What did you tell him?'
'I told him I didn't talk about anything from inside the White House. That there was a rule in the Secret Service that you don't talk out of school.'
'So you didn't tell him anything about any supposed relationship between the first lady and Colonel Collins, correct?'
'That's right. I didn't tell him anything.'
'But you did provide him with something, didn't you? You gave him these two photographs, which you told him might be of interest. Right?'
Grosvenor picked up the two photographs. Put them down. He hesitated. Looked at the judge, looked at the jury, then said, 'Yes.'
The jury wrote quickly in their pads as they evaluated this witness and his unexpected testimony. They didn't know where it was going, but they were paying close attention. I heard the courtroom doors open behind me. I paused and turned. It was a man carrying a briefcase. At first I didn't recognize him, but then I realized it was Richard Packer from the Department of Justice. Our old friend who was heading the investigation of WorldCopter. And right behind Packer was Chris Thompson of the State Department's INR, the Bureau of 'Intelligence and Research.' Thompson stood behind the rail while Packer walked right through it. I looked at him in stunned silence. The judge said, 'Stop right there, sir.'
He stopped, completely unintimidated.
The judge continued, 'Sir, you're interrupting a trial. What is your business here?'
Packer said softly, 'I'm sorry, Your Honor. My name is Richard Packer, from the Department of Justice. Mr. Thompson behind me is from the State Department. I'm here on behalf of the United States, and the witness, Mr. Grosvenor. I am informed there may be areas of inquiry that intrude on national security information. I need to respond in such an eventuality.'
The judge nodded. 'Fine. Please take a seat behind Mr. Hackett.' They did.
I turned around, slightly off-balance, and continued. 'Mr. Grosvenor. Those pictures are authentic and they were provided to my private investigator, Tinny Byrd, by you. Correct?'
'Yes. I gave them to him on the condition that he not involve me in the case, and that he not disclose my identity. He has failed me in that regard. So I guess he's not very reliable.'
I looked up, surprised at his tone. 'Well, sir, he's been murdered. You understand that?'
'Yes. I've heard that.'
'He didn't disclose any of this until after his murder. He left your name with his wife. I think he believes that you have important information. Don't you agree?'
'I don't think those photographs are important at all.'
I nodded. 'Frankly, neither do I.'
Grosvenor squinted at me in annoyance. 'Then may I go?'
'No, sir. I have a few other questions for you.'
I turned to Rachel, who handed me a large manila envelope. I opened it and pulled out four copies of a document that was twenty pages in length. I put them on my notebook in front of me. 'Mr. Grosvenor, who was at Camp David the night that the president was killed?'
'I was, and the usual staff.'
'Anyone else? Anyone, for example, who was not a U.S. citizen?'
Everyone in the room stared at Grosvenor, not even wanting to blink. He paused. 'I'm not sure what you're getting at.'
I nodded and put my hands in my pockets. 'Yes, you are,' I said, and paused. 'Was anyone at Camp David to meet with the president on the night he was killed?
Grosvenor looked at Thompson, then Packer, who stood up. 'Your Honor, I would like to intervene at this point on behalf of the United States and instruct this witness not to answer this question. This question calls for matters that are state secrets. This is a matter of national security and is not subject to disclosure in a civil trial.'
Grosvenor tried not to smile. 'I'm going to follow the advice of my counsel.'
I looked at the judge, who was puzzled. She knew this was leading somewhere important and was annoyed by the diversion of the Justice Department lawyer instructing the witness not to answer the most critical question of the case. She turned to Grosvenor and said, 'Let me make sure I understand your testimony, sir. You have knowledge that there were people waiting for the president at Camp David on the night of his death, and you are now refusing to tell us who they were because of the instruction of the attorney who just arrived from the Department of Justice. Is that correct?'
'That is correct.'
'So there were people there waiting to meet with the president? That's your testimony?'
'Yes-'
The DOJ lawyer stood again. 'Your Honor, again, this is over the line of national security matters. I would move at this point that this witness's testimony be suspended and that I be allowed to file a brief on behalf of the United States to preclude any inquiry into this area. These disclosures could cause irreparable national harm and must be dealt with outside of the presence of the jury and the press and after proper briefing. At the very least, we need to take the proper security steps for a trial that involves national security matters.'
The judge sat back and considered. She could feel where the trial was going, she could tell where I was going, but she didn't know what was behind the door. She didn't want the whole thing to blow up, and the DOJ lawyer was now growing insistent.
She replied, 'Let us find out first where this is going. I will take your motion under submission. You may continue for now, Mr. Nolan.'
'Thank you, Your Honor.' Packer sat down but on the edge of his seat.
'Mr. Grosvenor, let's just establish what it is you know. Let's set the parameters of your knowledge. You personally observed the people waiting for the president at Camp David on the night of his death, correct?'
'Correct.'
'And you know who they are.'
'Yes, I do.'
'Mr. Grosvenor, one of the attendees was the premier of the People's Republic of China. Correct?'
A gasp went out in the entire room. Packer jumped out of his seat. This was exactly what he was trying to stop. 'Your Honor, not only would it be inappropriate to allow Mr. Grosvenor to answer questions that could invade national security issues, but it's equally inappropriate for Mr. Nolan, who now claims to have classified information within his knowledge, to ask questions that implicate national security. I would move again at this time, immediately, and as forcefully as is possible for me to say it, that Mr. Grosvenor's testimony must be suspended until we are able to fully brief this issue.'
Judge Betancourt said, 'He hasn't answered the question. Attorneys' questions are not evidence. Overruled.'
I looked at Grosvenor. 'Your answer?'
'I'm not going to answer that based on instruction of the counsel from the Department of Justice.'
'So you don't deny it. It might have been the premier of the People's Republic of China.'
'I'm not going to answer that.'
'And the other attendees, Mr. Grosvenor, were the president of Taiwan, and the prime minister of Japan, correct?'
Grosvenor remained frozen. 'I'm not going to answer that.' An ironic smile formed on his face. 'He said you weren't reliable. That if I helped you at all, you'd wreck everything.'
I looked up in surprise. 'I'm sorry? Who said that?'
Grosvenor pointed at Thompson. 'He did. Said you were unstable. Looks like he's right. You're reckless.'
I pointed to Thompson. 'Him? Chris Thompson?'
Grosvenor nodded.
I looked at Thompson then back at Grosvenor. 'He wasn't properly introduced. He works for the section of Intelligence and Research at the State Department. Correct?'
'That's my understanding.'
'Well, since we're putting it all on the table, did he tell you that he visited me very early in this case and threatened me? Told me to lay off you, and stop trying to find out what happened at Camp David on the night the president was killed?'
'No, he didn't tell me that. What he did tell me is what happened in Iraq.'
'That's irrel-'
Hackett said, 'No, no, Your Honor. Mr. Nolan wants it all out, let's hear it all.'
