Libby’s lawyers want to examine records of confidential conversations three journalists had with Bush administration sources during the two-year investigation of the leaking of the name of former CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Plame was reportedly mentioned in discussions between Libby and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Tim Russert of NBC News. Miller spent 85 days in jail for contempt for not cooperating with the investigation, but was released upon divulging her source with his permission.

Libby was indicted in October on charges of obstructing justice, five counts of making false statements to the FBI and perjury before a grand jury. Libby resigned from Cheney’s office after the indictment.

Plame was identified as a CIA operative in a July 2003 column by Robert Novak, a week after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly criticized the Bush administration`s justification for invading Iraq.