The government said in court papers that it is entitled to portray a Texas businessman as so eager to win oil contracts from Saddam Hussein’s government that he told Iraqi officials about the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq and encouraged opposition to the war.

The government argued that jurors should hear about statements that Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. made to win favor with those who handed out lucrative Iraqi oil contracts. The documents were filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan late Thursday for Wyatt’s Sept. 4 trial…

The statements about him were contained in a diary kept by an employee of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization. The diary claims that Wyatt bragged at a Jan. 27, 2003, meeting that he had convinced a U.S. senator to speak out against an attack on Iraq. The diary said Wyatt also discussed the nature of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, including anticipated troop numbers, timing and direction of attack, prosecutors said.

Current U.S. Senate Seniority Rank Name Seniority Date Other Factors
1 Robert Byrd (D-WV) January 3, 1959
2 Ted Kennedy (D-MA) November 7, 1962
3 Daniel Inouye (D-HI) January 3, 1963
4 Ted Stevens (R-AK) December 24, 1968