Libby Mania: Save The Links!

In a no doubt intentional homage to the FBI's losing the original notes of their secret interview with Tim Russert, washingtonpost.com wiped clean an earlier file by Amy Goldstein and Carol Leonnig (blogged here), using that old link to point to Tuesday's page 3 story, Journalists Testify That Libby Never Mentioned CIA Officer, namely Valerie Plame aka Valerie Wilson. The story sums up some key points that track with the liveblogging I followed (if followed is the word for being confused for seven hours):

Six journalists testified yesterday that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, never mentioned an undercover CIA officer to them -- and some said they learned about her identity from other administration sources.

As Libby's attorneys opened their defense in his perjury trial, they argued for a second time that Libby need not take the stand for them to present elements of a defense that his misstatements to investigators were the product of a faulty memory. An irritated U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he felt misled and believed Libby would testify.

Testifying as the first defense witness, Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus revealed that then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer was the first person to tell him, on July 12, 2003, that war critic Joseph C. Wilson IV was married to undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. His remarks contradicted Fleischer's testimony as a prosecution witness last month.

Which is fun, but doesn't mean much except perhaps as another example of faulty memory syndrome, a common affliction in this trial although only one citizen is being prosecuted for it.

As they say, the point of much of that testimony was to show Libby wasn't obsessed with "discrediting" Wilson since he talked to plenty of reporters without mentioning him. There's still a suggestion in this story that it's illegal to discredit a political opponent, but never you mind. This is more interesting:

Bob Woodward, a best-selling author and an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post, told jurors that he learned about Plame during a mid-June 2003 interview with then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage for a book Woodward was researching on the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq. He said he interviewed Libby later that month, and his notes indicate that Libby said nothing to him about Plame but that Woodward might have mentioned her to Libby.

The reporters don't seize the significance of a conversation between Woodward and Armitage, taped by Woodward and played back for the jury. Now you must make allowance for the right side of the blogosphere that is my echo-chamber, but it points to Wilson outing Plame himself.

Here's what Leonnig/Goldstein write:

Armitage explains that "his wife works at the agency" on "WMD" issues.

"High enough that wife can say,  'Oh, yeah, hubby will go?' " Woodward asks.

And a bit more. But they leave out the best part. From  AJ Strat at Stratasphere:

2:15 WOODWARD: But it was Joe Wilson who was sent by
2:16 the agency. I mean that’s just —
2:17 ARMITAGE: His wife works in the agency.
2:18 WOODWARD: — Why doesn’t that come out? Why does —
2:19 ARMITAGE: Everyone knows it.
2:20 WOODWARD: —that have to be a big secret?
2:21 Everyone knows.
2:22 ARMITAGE: Yeah. And I know [ ] Joe Wilson’s
2:23 been calling everybody. He’s pissed off because he was
2:24 designated as a low-level guy, went out to look at it. So,
2:25 he’s all pissed off.

As AJ says:

I have maintained the reason Fitz could not charge anyone with exposing Plame was because Plame had exposed herself (or Wilson had) to back up Joe’s wild claims about forged evidence. Seems I was right. Clearly Armitage is saying everyone is finding out about Plame because of Joe’s calls. Now Mitchell and Russert must be sweating right along with Fitz-Magoo....

One scenario: Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert might be sweating if there's any evidence Wilson called them. Since they deny any knowledge of Plame at that point. But there's something hysterical about the possibility this whole thing starting because Joe Wilson felt disrespected after being described as some low-level guy and started burning up the phone lines. And Armitage's "everybody knows" about Wilson's wife sure does echo Andrea Mitchell's recanted statement that yeah, everybody knew.

And if everybody knew, Libby shouldn't be under prosecution in the first place and could have easily confused exactly which reporter he heard it from. He says Russert, Russert says no, I say it's spinach and I say to hell with it.