Libby bloggers waiting on verdict

Continuing their Himalayan effort to detail every facet of the perjury and obstruction trial of former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the bloggers at Firedoglake speculate how the mood in the court room during Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s closing statement might portend for the accused. Christy Hardin Smith, who was sitting with liberal columnist Sidney Blumenthal writes that, “Sidney … was of the opinion that Fitzgerald's rebuttal, in particular, was going to prove devastating — not just to the jury, but to the shreds of what is left of Dick Cheney's reputation. Based on how fidgety Mrs. Libby became during the rebuttal, I'd say that, on some level anyway, she may have agreed, and that had to be very, very difficult for her to sit through, to be perfectly honest.”

On the other side of the lake or pond, Tom Maguire refers to a different closing argument roundup at No Easy Answer. There, blogger cboldt notes that defense attorney Ted Wells is skillfully using Libby’s contention that he first learned Valerie Plame’s identity from NBC reporter Tim Russert as a pivot, focusing on the testimony given by the reporters Libby spoke with and the weakness of their memories. But this, he notes, is wrong: “And so, it is a powerful defense to continue to make this entirely about the reporters, he-said/he-said between reporters and Libby, and to convince the jury that nothing further, nothing outside of the conversations with reporters need be reviewed. The conversations with others? Mere background. But Ted Wells is wrong."

"The charges in the indictment are very much, in fact MOSTLY, about conversations with Grossman, Fleischer, Martin, et al. Wells is skillfully manipulating perception," cboldt continues. "Reporters can be made to appear to be singularly central to the guilty-innocent decision, because Libby's alleged lies came out in the form of his descriptions of his conversations with reporters. The structure of the charges in the indictment (having information ONLY from reporters) reflects Libby's testimony -- not the alleged "true facts" as set out by the prosecution.”