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British Ministry of Defence Schooled Kelly for Committee

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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-22-03 04:52 PM
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British Ministry of Defence Schooled Kelly for Committee
I'm surprised this hasn't been picked up on more. From today's Hutton Inquiry - going through Alistair Campbell's diary with him (ie 'Q.' is the lawyer, 'A.' is Campbell's answer):
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/content/transcripts/hearing-trans40.htm

12 Q. 15th July, finally:
13 "Looking forward to Kelly giving evidence, but GS,
14 CR and I all predicted it would be a disaster and so it
15 proved."
16 I think that was the point about it not always being
17 good news.
18 A. I think it goes back to the point I made about 9th July.
19 I mean, through this whole episode, really, what has
20 been so -- it has obviously been terrible and far worse
21 for Dr Kelly and his family than for anybody else but
22 what has been terrible from our perspective is that at
23 every stage of this we have felt as it were to be the
24 wronged party and yet nothing has really ever gone
25 according to the outcome that we might have wished, and

229
1 frankly I think it just reflected in the mood that then
2 existed in Downing Street that this was something which
3 we were just going to have to sort of put behind us and
4 forget.
5 Q. "Despite MoD assurances he was well schooled..."
6 Who gave you those assurances?
7 A. Again, I think that was a -- myself and Jonathan Powell
8 just wanted to be assured by the MoD that Dr Kelly was
9 being prepared, as an FAC appearance does require a lot
10 of preparation. I think it was Kate Wilson, at
11 a morning meeting.

Prepared? Schooled? 'Schooled' doesn't sound like something you should be doing with what was meant to be personal evidence, in front of a Parliamentary committee. Should we now assume that all Kelly's evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee was government spin after all?
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AP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-22-03 04:54 PM
Response to Original message
1. Lawyers always prepare their witnesses. He's still under oath
to tell the truth. Also, with a guy privy to so much sensitive information, it would be crazy to let him go out in public without going over the things withing his knowledge.
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-22-03 05:31 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I take your point about sensitive information
But I'd still say it was meant to be him giving evidence, not the MoD, so they shouldn't have been 'schooling' him. That sounds like 'here are the answers we want you to give'. If he was under a lot of pressure from them to perform in a certain way, that is actually important in the question of why he committed suicide a few days later.
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