Key witness Talansky's credibility questioned

VIDEO - Witness under fire: A video showing parts of Moshe Talansky's testimony against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were released for publication Friday, raising question regarding the credibility of the key witness in the corruption probe against the PM. In the video, Talansky appears to be contradicting himself while answering several questions. However, the video, released by Olmert's attorneys, prompted State Prosecutor Moshe Lador to say that it shows "a partial picture only." The bigger picture is much more complex, Lador said. Meanwhile, police sources slammed the video, also saying it does not reflect the overall picture. "The prime minister's lawyers should provide the public with all the investigation materials, not only the parts they chose," one police official said. The video in question was presented at the end of yet another day of cross-examination at the Jerusalem District Court. PM Olmert's attorneys are attempting to undermine Talansky's testimony and prove that he is an unreliable witness. Contradictory answers During the police interrogation, Talansky was asked who requested the money he provided, Ehud Olmert or his longtime aid Shula Zaken. The witness provided confused answers. In addition, after he was asked how much money he fundraised on behalf of Olmert, Talansky failed to provide unequivocal answers. Finally, when asked whether the money he gave Olmert was used by the prime minister for personal purposes, Talansky said this is what he was told during the interrogation, but did not know what the money was used for before that. Some of the contradictions discovered in Talansky's testimony include the following: On May 21 he was asked about a fundraising event at a New York restaurant. Talansky claimed Olmert requested the meeting, yet in court Friday he said it was Olmert's lawyer. On another occasion, Talansky told police he can provide the names of people who donated money to Olmert's campaign, yet the witness contradicted his earlier testimony at court Friday. When asked about the donors, Talansky said he does not have a list and that he needs to think about it. Notably, the video released Friday shows only brief parts of the interrogations, which lasted long hours. The video was provided in the wake of a request submitted by Ynet and other media outlets in Israel. Aviad Glickman contributed to the story

Key witness Talansky's credibility questioned

Witness under fire: Video of Talansky testimony released by Prime Minister Olmert's attorneys raises questions regarding key witness' credibility; however, state prosecutor says brief video only provides partial picture