Richard Perle, former top US "defense" advisor, unflinching advocate of Ahmad Chalabi, key member of the Project for a New American Century, and top 'Israeli-first' propagandist, may find himself back in the limelight, as his associate, Conrad Black, defends against multi-million dollar fraud charges.

The defense is expected to be, that since the board members of Hollinger approved the questionable transactions, there was no fraud involved.

According to a Globe and Mail Article:

"Legal observers expect Lord Black's defence counsel to focus on board members, including former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former Illinois governor James Thompson, conservative economist Marie-Josée Kravis and former Bush administration defence adviser Richard Perle.

Mr. Perle, in particular, may be pivotal as he was the only outside director to serve on the executive committee and was singled out in a report to the SEC for having approved many of the transactions that form the basis of the indictment.

But Columbia University securities law professor John Coffee said it can be a mistake for white-collar defendants to argue that they had board approval for allegedly fraudulent activities.

"That's the finger-pointing defence — it throws mud and says: 'I'm not guilty because they were just as bad,' " Mr. Coffee said. "But the jury can sit back and say: 'They're all a bunch of crooks and we only have one indictment in front of us.' "

He said the issue is not whether directors appointed by Lord Black approved the transactions, but whether Hollinger executives effectively hid them from shareholders."