RUSSERT HOLDS GROUND. The prosecution should finish its principal case today in the Scooter Libby trial with the conclusion of Tim Russert's cross-examination. So far Russert has not played to conservative fantasies and admitted to knowing about Joe Wilson's wife and telling Libby about it on July 10 or 11, 2003. Instead, he's stuck to his story that, contra one of the hinges of Libby's sworn testimony, he and Libby did not discuss Plame in July 2003. The next big question is what kind of defense Libby's attorneys will put on, if any. With the public release yesterday of the recordings and transcripts of Libby's March 2004 grand jury testimony (there are links to the recordings of his two sessions from March 2004 here), the notion that Fitzgerald was clearly as much in pursuit of Dick Cheney's role as Scooter Libby's is really gaining public traction. That is the irresistible impression left by the gripping audio of the questioning of Libby. Beyond that, the recordings should put to rest a few more talking points that have come from the right: that Fitzgerald asked unclear questions; that Fitzgerald set a perjury trap for Libby; that Fitzgerald was only investigating obstruction-type potential crimes, not potential crimes relating to the disclosure of classified information about Plame's CIA employment; that Libby was basically just all mixed up and didn't tell a coherent story; and the funniest of all, that when Libby testified he was surprised when Tim Russert told him about Plame, Libby was merely describing the state of mind he feigned to Russert, not his actual state of mind. In fact, Libby told and retold a highly coherent story: he learned about Plame from Cheney in early June 2003, but forgot all about it, and then was told again by Tim Russert on July 10, which made him think he was learning it for the first time.
--Jeff Lomonaco
