Ted Wells, an attorney for Libby, just got up to respond to the attorney for Sanger. He claimed that Sanger's testimony is needed because the fact that Scooter didn't leak to Sanger about Plame on July 2, 2003, shows that he wouldn't have leaked to Judith Miller or anyone else. He also, somewhat apropos of nothing, chooses this moment to dispute the notion that Scooter and Judy "had a close personal relationship," suggesting that their June 23rd conversation was the first time they had ever met in person. Um, or maybe there was one prior occasion, but that's it.
Judge Walton is now talking about the First Amendment issues involved. It's 9:50. (P.S. He just ruled for the defense that Sanger must testify; I suppose there will be an appeal.)
The jury had been brought in, and they're resuming the replay of Libby's grand jury testimony in March.
Fitzgerald (F): Did you speak to David Sanger of the NYT?
Libby (L): Yes.
F: When?
L: My notes show July 2nd.
F: Did you meet in person?
L: Yes.
F: Had you done that before?
L: Yes (suggests it was informal)
F: Was this the first time you'd met with him as a source?
L: I'm not sure.
F: Did you talk about Wilson's wife?
L: I've looked at my notes, and I don't recall discussing that. He was mostly interested in the Powell UN presentation before the war.
F: Sanger wrote about doubts regarding in Iraq and uranium. Did you tell him that the Wilson warnings never reached the WH?
L: (long commentary disputing that Wilson's report constituted a warning that Iraq uranium intelligence was bogus… not sure how he segued to this)
F: Let's talk about July 6th. Wilson op-ed, appears on Meet the Press with Andrea Mitchell, and WaPo article. Did you see/read those items?
L: Don't think I saw MTP. I think I read the articles later, I took Sunday off.
F: Your reaction?
L: He was saying he had proven no attempt by Iraq to purchase uranium. That's not what his report said. He was saying VP must have gotten report, and because his report was definitive — which it wasn't — that VP must have known intelligence was wrong and so twisted the facts. But he also said he would want to know if we thought there was something wrong with his report, so we hoped that he might withdraw the accusation if informed of why we felt it didn't prove what he thought it did.
F: Fair to say this was seen as an attack on the administration?
L: Yes.
It's 10:06am ET.
Judge Walton is now talking about the First Amendment issues involved. It's 9:50. (P.S. He just ruled for the defense that Sanger must testify; I suppose there will be an appeal.)
The jury had been brought in, and they're resuming the replay of Libby's grand jury testimony in March.
Fitzgerald (F): Did you speak to David Sanger of the NYT?
Libby (L): Yes.
F: When?
L: My notes show July 2nd.
F: Did you meet in person?
L: Yes.
F: Had you done that before?
L: Yes (suggests it was informal)
F: Was this the first time you'd met with him as a source?
L: I'm not sure.
F: Did you talk about Wilson's wife?
L: I've looked at my notes, and I don't recall discussing that. He was mostly interested in the Powell UN presentation before the war.
F: Sanger wrote about doubts regarding in Iraq and uranium. Did you tell him that the Wilson warnings never reached the WH?
L: (long commentary disputing that Wilson's report constituted a warning that Iraq uranium intelligence was bogus… not sure how he segued to this)
F: Let's talk about July 6th. Wilson op-ed, appears on Meet the Press with Andrea Mitchell, and WaPo article. Did you see/read those items?
L: Don't think I saw MTP. I think I read the articles later, I took Sunday off.
F: Your reaction?
L: He was saying he had proven no attempt by Iraq to purchase uranium. That's not what his report said. He was saying VP must have gotten report, and because his report was definitive — which it wasn't — that VP must have known intelligence was wrong and so twisted the facts. But he also said he would want to know if we thought there was something wrong with his report, so we hoped that he might withdraw the accusation if informed of why we felt it didn't prove what he thought it did.
F: Fair to say this was seen as an attack on the administration?
L: Yes.
It's 10:06am ET.
Update 2:
F: (gives Libby the Wilson op-ed) What was your reaction? Were you angry?
L: I was confident that the facts were clear, that this was wrong.
F: Were you upset?
L: (long pause) I guess I was upset. I didn't like the article.
F: And did you discuss it with the VP?
L: (pause) Yes.
F: Are you uncertain?
L: I'm just trying to remember when. I didn't see him on Sunday.
F: Tell me about that conversation.
L: I don't remember it in detail. It was the same claims we had seen before.
F: Leaving aside if charges were true or false, is it fair to say this was most serious attack on administration credibility?
L: (doesn't want to concede this, but finally does)
F: Was this discussed on a daily basis in WH over the next week?
L: Yes.
F: Multiple times each day?
L: Yes.
F: What was Cheney's opinion.
L: He wanted to get all the facts out (this is an excerpt we've all read about before, I'm going to skim the main points)
(discussion of Cheney clipping out Wilson op-ed and keeping it on his desk)
(confirmation that copy of op-ed has Cheney's handwriting & underlining - "I have no choice but to conclude Iraqi intelligence was twisted")
(walks Libby through Cheney's notes about "did wife send him on
F: Do you recall discussing those issues with VP?
L: He was interested in how this person came to be selected for this mission. At some point after he learned that his wife worked
F: Cheney had told you this in June.
L: Yes.
F: So when you say "after we learned…" didn't you already know?
L: By this week I no longer remembered that. (mentions Russert conversation on July 10)
F: Do you recall when you discussed this with the VP, about Wilson's wife?
L: I don't recall it happening until after the Novak piece. I don't recall that he asked about it early on, though he may have given the note he took.
F: Prior to that, you didn't discuss it with the VP?
L: Don't recall discussing it before conversation with Russert on July 10th.
F: You didn't talk about it with anyone between the 6th and the 10th?
L: No. I recall being surprised when Russert told me.
F: Do you remember lunch with Ari Fleischer on July 7th?
L: Yes.
F: What did you talk about?
L: His leaving, future plans, Miami Dolphins. We probably also talked about uranium issue, but I don't recall that as well as the Dolphins.
F: Do you recall asking Craig Schmall in your 6:45 briefing on July 7th about the origins of Wilson's trip?
L: Makes sense that we would have asked.
F: Do you recall Karl Rove saying in the 8:45 senior staff meeting that WH needed to get a message out about Wilson?
L: Recall Rove saying something similar around that time.
F: Do you recall Cathie Martin sending talking points to Ari Fleischer at 9:22 am? (shows talking points)
L: Don't remember that email, but recognize the talking points and know Ari made a statement; we probably talked about it at lunch.
It's 10:23am ET.
F: Do you recall discussing Mr. Wilson with Ari Fleischer?
L: I was confident that the facts were clear, that this was wrong.
F: Were you upset?
L: (long pause) I guess I was upset. I didn't like the article.
F: And did you discuss it with the VP?
L: (pause) Yes.
F: Are you uncertain?
L: I'm just trying to remember when. I didn't see him on Sunday.
F: Tell me about that conversation.
L: I don't remember it in detail. It was the same claims we had seen before.
F: Leaving aside if charges were true or false, is it fair to say this was most serious attack on administration credibility?
L: (doesn't want to concede this, but finally does)
F: Was this discussed on a daily basis in WH over the next week?
L: Yes.
F: Multiple times each day?
L: Yes.
F: What was Cheney's opinion.
L: He wanted to get all the facts out (this is an excerpt we've all read about before, I'm going to skim the main points)
(discussion of Cheney clipping out Wilson op-ed and keeping it on his desk)
(confirmation that copy of op-ed has Cheney's handwriting & underlining - "I have no choice but to conclude Iraqi intelligence was twisted")
(walks Libby through Cheney's notes about "did wife send him on
F: Do you recall discussing those issues with VP?
L: He was interested in how this person came to be selected for this mission. At some point after he learned that his wife worked
F: Cheney had told you this in June.
L: Yes.
F: So when you say "after we learned…" didn't you already know?
L: By this week I no longer remembered that. (mentions Russert conversation on July 10)
F: Do you recall when you discussed this with the VP, about Wilson's wife?
L: I don't recall it happening until after the Novak piece. I don't recall that he asked about it early on, though he may have given the note he took.
F: Prior to that, you didn't discuss it with the VP?
L: Don't recall discussing it before conversation with Russert on July 10th.
F: You didn't talk about it with anyone between the 6th and the 10th?
L: No. I recall being surprised when Russert told me.
F: Do you remember lunch with Ari Fleischer on July 7th?
L: Yes.
F: What did you talk about?
L: His leaving, future plans, Miami Dolphins. We probably also talked about uranium issue, but I don't recall that as well as the Dolphins.
F: Do you recall asking Craig Schmall in your 6:45 briefing on July 7th about the origins of Wilson's trip?
L: Makes sense that we would have asked.
F: Do you recall Karl Rove saying in the 8:45 senior staff meeting that WH needed to get a message out about Wilson?
L: Recall Rove saying something similar around that time.
F: Do you recall Cathie Martin sending talking points to Ari Fleischer at 9:22 am? (shows talking points)
L: Don't remember that email, but recognize the talking points and know Ari made a statement; we probably talked about it at lunch.
It's 10:23am ET.
F: Do you recall discussing Mr. Wilson with Ari Fleischer?
More on the Libby trial.
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