INDIANAPOLIS - In the latest Spygate wrinkle, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says the NFL is "stonewalling" when it comes to talking to key witness Matt Walsh, a former New England Patriots assistant, ESPN.com reported.

This report comes shortly after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that he hopes to meet with Walsh about the tapes he reportedly made of the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl.

“The lawyers are still talking and we’re anxious to speak to him. We’re anxious to get an agreement to get him to come forth.” Goodell told the Associated Press on Wednesday before the start of the NFL combine.

“We hope to be able to talk to him shortly.”

When and if Goodell does talk to Walsh, Specter says he wants to be present. But he's skeptical that will happen.

"My suspicion is that they're going to put enough conditions on it so that he won't talk," Specter told ESPN.com. "If they had wanted Walsh to talk, it would have been done a long time ago. They are not helped by keeping him on ice, unless they intend to [permanently] keep him on ice."

Walsh, now a golf pro in Maui, did video work for the Patriots when they won the first of their three Super Bowls after the 2001 season. Three weeks ago, the Boston Herald reported that Walsh claimed he had taped the practice before the Patriots’ 20-17 upset of the Rams, who were two-touchdown favorites.

NFL lawyers have been meeting with Michael Levy, Walsh’s Washington-based lawyer, who is seeking further protection for his client if he tells what he knows.

Levy said last week that the NFL’s offer of protection “is highly conditional and still leaves Mr. Walsh vulnerable. I have asked the NFL to provide Mr. Walsh with the necessary legal protections so that he can come forward with the truth without fear of retaliation and litigation.”

Goodell has said that Walsh was not interviewed as part of the NFL’s investigation into “Spygate,” which involved the NFL confiscating tapes from a Patriots employee who recorded the New York Jets’ defensive signals from the sideline during the opening game of the 2007 season.

The Patriots' pattern of videotaping may have started even sooner than that. According to a report in the New York Times, Belichick began taping during his first season as coach. A former Patriots players told the paper that the Pats videotaped preseason games, then used that information during their 2000 season opener against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

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It was one of several times league coaches reportedly knew about the Patriots taping opponents, including a 2006 preseason game against the Giants.

But those early tapings didn't create any controversy. That came when a Patriots employee was caught videotaping the New York Jets coaches during their opener. The league promptly investigated.

As a result of that investigation, Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 and forfeited its 2008 first-round draft choice.

Six confiscated tapes and other documents pertaining to the Patriots’ taping were subsequently destroyed by the league. Goodell has defended the destruction of the tapes.

Last week, Willie Gary, who played seven games for the Rams that season, filed suit in New Orleans accusing the Patriots of fraud, unfair trade practices and engaging in a “pattern of racketeering.” Three fans joined in the suit.

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