Washington ? The day of his interview with the FBI, Vice President Dick Cheney’s then-top aide hand-marked copies of two Washington Post articles about the breadth of a criminal leak investigation – and underlined were key passages suggesting any official who had told reporters about a CIA officer could be in legal jeopardy, prosecutors said in court filings Saturday.

Government prosecutors argued that the October 2003 articles – stored in former chief of staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s personal folders, and printed at his request – show that Libby had a motive to lie about his secret conversations with reporters and knew that he was in potential trouble. The prosecutors are urging presiding U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton to let the articles be placed into evidence so the jury can see them.

Libby told investigators in 2004 that he kept and read the articles, according to the papers, and that he may have underlined the key passages about criminal liability and investigators’ interest in any officials’ discussions with reporters about CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Plame’s name was revealed in a syndicated column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003 – eight days after her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify war with Iraq.

Defense attorneys argued in competing filings Saturday that the Oct. 4 and Oct. 12 articles, written by Walter Pincus and Mike Allen, will prejudice the jury against Libby.