A little bit of Libby liveblogging, part 4

We're starting another set of transcripts now, after a brief recess.  I had a brief chat with Jane Hamsher and Swopa.  I am, yes, contraband here.  But I'm cute contraband.

Below the fold.

3:01 -- Tape starts, Libby is read his rights.

Oooh, apparently Libby had additional magical recollections about something or another. This time about one Mark Grossman.  He had joked to Mark Grossman about something important, forgotten the joke and now he remembers it.  It looks like it's going to be a long story.

3:03 -- In the story, we get a picture of the internal life of the administration from Libby's perspective.  Basically, being completely convinced of Saddam's WMDitude, they were looking for some kind of list to show the UN.  Undersecretary Grossman (Powell's underling) felt that they were undermining Powell.  So they had some kind of meeting.  Here's the "joke".  Libby says that this guy who went to Niger was one of Grossman's/Powell's.  Grossman denies it and points at the CIA's empty chair at the meeting.  Libby says, it's a sad state of affairs when the CIA has to get its own ambassador to talk to a country when State should have its own ambassadors to do this.   And that's all he talked to Grossman about the Wilson business.  No mention of Plame here.

3:10 -- We're still going on over Grossman.  He does not recall (sigh) talking about Plame to Grossman.  Not "no".  Just...he does not recall.  Not during that period in '02.

3:12 -- Fitz went back over Fleischer again, but Libby didn't say much new there.  He doesn't recall talking about Plame.

Now we're on Richard Armitage.  He's known Armitage for years.  But doesn't really talk professionally much with him.  Now Fitz wants to know whether Libby and Armitage have talked to each other about what Grossman told Libby while Grossman was on vacation.  I'm not quite sure I understand this part.  It's too convoluted. 

In fact, a lot of these questions now involve an added layer of meta-events.  Because Libby doesn't recall much, Fitz has perform another Dance of Calendars, and it's confusing.

3:16 -- We're now onto some documents.  Sounds like they might have been classified.  It's by some guy called John Hannah.  Libby thinks that he didn't receive this document (from the CIA) when it was also sent to Congress (which it was).  Fitz claims to have a fax sheet saying that it was, or should have been.  Libby didn't have any meetings about the document.  He referred to it later.  He did discuss it with Cheney but doesn't remember when he did it.

It turns out that the fax/document refers to an envoy---presumably having gone to Niger. 

3:21 -- Another document.  Libby might have seen this one, but he doesn't remember it as well as the previous one.  It looks like it's from the CIA.   Oooh, it was received on the 12th.  The handwriting looks like VPs but he can't say for sure.  There's a handwritten annotation: "Wilson."  Libby says that it *might* be the VPs, but he isn't sure.

3:25 -- Huh, looks like another document.  For June 9.  Refers to Wilson.  Did he talk to the VP about this stuff between the 9th and the 12th?  Libby doesn't recall.

Another document.  It's just document after document here.  It's a cable from the VP.  Missed the date, but has the handwritten annotation "Wilson" in what *might* be the VPs handwriting.  This came up multiple times with the VP, says Libby.   It came up with reference to other reports that the Nigerian PM had met some Iraqi delegates about "commercial relations", which apparently everyone interpreted to mean "uranium."  They don't make CD players in Niger.

3:31 -- I can hardly keep up with the documents on which they wrote Joe Wilson's name.  One of them, Libby recognizes as his handwriting.   

Fitz summarizes this saying that we've seen a lot of documents (no duh) and one of them has Libby writing annotations about Wilson.  The rest appear to be the VPs.  Libby says that yes, one is his, but he can only guess that the rest is the VPs.  So would it be fair to say that the White House was all agog about Wilson.  Libby doesn't recall/can't say.  Because he's not sure that all the other annotations are the VPs and other interested parties.

(Seriously...)

3:37 -- We went over a bunch of stuff again about what Libby had said to reporters.  No, Libby does not recall talking about Plame to Pincus or to Miller. 

Now we're onto the National Intelligence Estimate.  We're going back over the events that I described way back there about David Addington and the declassification of the NIE.  They had a lot of discussions about the declassification in the WhiteHouse-o-sphere, but he can't give dates for any of those.  It was all declassified by July 18th.    BUT the President had given permission to Libby to declassify some of it for the press (meaning Judith Miller) well before that.

Oh, he showed some of the text to Judith Miller on paper.  But it was redacted.  He let her keep a page of bullets, redacted.  He created this summarized document of redacted materials, but his assistant Jenny Mayfield probably did the actual typing.

3:48 -- Another buncha reporters and when he met them and whether he shared the NIE bits with them.  Incomplete Recall.

Fitzgerald wants to know whether Libby's conversations with Miller had triggered the desire to get the NIE presidentially declassified.  No, says Libby.  It was the other way around.  The criticism of the SotU forced the declassification of the NIE.  By implication, the declassification was because of Wilson at least partly.

3:51 -- Fitz wants to know how the atmosphere changed when Mr. Wilson published his op-ed on July 6.  Did they discuss declassification before or after Wilson started making noise?  Libby says, before *and* after.

Another document.  Handwritten notes by Libby, actually.  It's July 8th.  It has to do with meeting Miller.  I think what Fitz is driving at is that on the 8th, the VP was already interested in getting Libby in touch with Miller.  So maybe they decided in the meeting on July 7th to tell stuff to Miller (what stuff?).  Libby says, could be! 

Libby met Miller at a coffeeshop rather than in his office. Why not Libby's office?  Well, it was a substitute for lunch. Fitz says, isn't it easier to meet in your office?  Libby: Yeah, sure.  Then why meet outside the office?  Ummm, errr, it's easier to meet reporters and talk off the record outside the office.  But it's part of my job! protests Libby.

Fitz is taking this towards suggesting that Libby wanted to tell her stuff that he shouldn't have...ie, Plame.  But Libby waffles and says, well, maybe we *could* have met inside just as well as outside.

Remember that this is all about the declassification of bits of the NIE.  This is the first time that Libby has ever discussed a document that was officially classified with a reporter.  So why did he?  Because Addington told him that the president could authorize it, and the prez did.  Fitz makes Libby reinforce that he did ask about the leaking of classified documents under authorization, ie, presidential declassification.  Did Libby specifically ask of the prez could overrule the CIA leadership?  Libby only asked about the president's authority, and Addington didn't express any reservations about that.

Libby had been informed by the VP, not by the prez directly, about the declassification.  Libby has no idea how Cheney asked Bush about this.

4:05 -- Now we went through a list of people with whom the declassification had been talked about.  None of these people knew that it had ALREADY been declassified, apparently.  The VP only shared that little secret with Libby, and he wasn't allowed to share it with everyone else.  Fitz says, is it unusual that everyone else was in the dark?  Libby says, actually, yes, VP keeps different groups of people in the dark *all* the time. 

So how normal is it that a press member (Miller) has a document, but no one else knows it?  Apparently, very normal!  Rice does it all the time to Libby.

4:09 -- Now we're onto the relationship between Miller and Libby.  Again, she's a serious journalist.  Oh, and, apparently, the magical declassification didn't work, since Miller didn't write about it.  (At least not soon enough?)

4:13 -- We're talking about the phone bills now.  When and on what phone did Libby call Miller.  Not quite grokking what Fitz is driving at here.  The tape goes to a break.  The judge silences the tape and the sound system and is now in closed conference with the lawyers at his bench.

4:17 -- It's over for the day, it seems.   Some private business has to be conducted. Oh, well.

Oh, spoke too soon.  Now we're onto another pleading about something.

4:20 -- OK, so the defence appears to be claiming that Fitz isn't calling certain witnesses because they aren't being straight with the jury or something like that.  Fitz wants to insert into the jury instructions information about DOJ rules for calling media witnesses.  Also some stuff about tomorrow.  There's a couple hours left of testimony, and so they'll have to delay Russert, so Fitz is talking about dealing with that.  Also a bunch of procedural issues regarding certain exhibits and documents.

My next post will contain some final thoughts for the day, but any last trial bits will be here.

4:32 -- Oh, it looks like the defense is questioning the relevance of some newspaper documents that the government is admitting into evidence.  Fitz says that the purpose was to show that Libby was intensely focused on a the Wilson controversy during that period.  I assume this goes toward the likelihood that Libby could have forgotten such important details.  Remember what this trial is about...

Comments

[Tap Duncan]

Wow that Scooter, what a cut-up!!

Mandos, gotta tell ya this is a great addition to todays proceedings. Are you going to get in another day, eh?

[Mandos]

If I get another day at this, it would probably have to be next week.

[Bowen Hinton]

You are as the pre-Revolution pamphleteer, both in the Colonies and France, whose words, either the match or the tinder, changed the world. THANK YOU! Vive Beaumarchais 2007!!!!!

[Happy Days]

Thank you! You are doing a wonderful job. It's great to have you onsite!

[PerryAnn]

Very nice work Mandos. In spite of the subject, you're an easy and amusing read. Thank you for liveblogging, and I vote for you doing more of it. PS - I hopped over from FDL.

[annx]

Let me add my thanks. Great work, citizen journalist.

[annx]

Also want to add my praise for your writing style. Easy to read but very informative. The fact that you are doing this on the fly is doubly impressive.

[Tap Duncan]

So apparently, we're now headed into the Penthouse Forum part of the trial-
Libby: "I come from a small town down south and this has never happened to me before, but I gotta tell you..."

[skdadl]

Thanks a lot, Mandos. I'm so tickled that you just dived in and did this, with your usual style and grace, of course.

[Godammitkitty]

Whew! Great job, Mandos! I'm blown away by your (seemingly effortless) liveblogging, today. What a treat to have a Canuck on-site ;)