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Bloomberg has a nice summary up of today’s Libby hearing.  It looks like Libby’s got nothing but smoke and mirrors, and the judge is getting tired of the sideshow:

Lawyer Ted Wells, representing former chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, said about five witnesses would testify that agent Valerie Plame’s husband, Joseph Wilson, revealed her secret job duties before they were disclosed in a 2003 newspaper column.

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“I don’t see how this is relevant to the case,” Walton told Wells during the hearing. Any focus on Wilson’s report would turn the trial into an inquiry on “statements the president made in the State of the Union. You want to try the legitimacy of us going to war,” the judge said.

Walton questioned how evidence about Wilson’s findings would “help the jury decide whether Libby lied to the FBI or the grand jury” in the leak investigation. The judge said he’ll issue a written ruling on the documents later.

If Walton thinks the whole thing sounds like bullshit now, wait ’til he sees the witness list. Can we assume the list will include Lt. General Tom McInerney and Maj. General Paul Vallely?  They’ve made these claims before and Vallely’s couldn’t even stand up to Jeralyn’s Lexis/Nexis debunking (as I recall this erupted around the same time as the "Joe Wilson is a French Spy" theory, Vallely eventually admitted he screwed up the dates and Sean Hannity told us that this made his story even more plausible).  They’re both big neocons, authors of the Regnery classic  "Endgame: The Blueprint For Victory in The War On Terror," and as Digby noted:

These are all extremely creepy people involved in all kinds of neocon cloak and dagger fantasies. Just like Dick Cheney, whose idea of military leadership was gleaned from watching movies and TV series. They are part of the crackpot Cheney cabal. These two men specifically are Jack D. Ripper and Buck Turgidson come to life.

No wonder Wells didn’t name them — it would’ve killed all the PR value.  Oh well, he can thank Hookergate for that anyway.

But how could the Scooter Crew pass up the opportunity to continue the War on Wilson, even if their sources are incredibly sketchy?  I guess it’s all they’ve got.  Bloomberg:


Wilson "is going to be a witness in this case,” Wells said. “I’ve got about five witnesses who will testify Mr. Wilson talked to them about his wife” before syndicated columnist Robert Novak wrote about Plame in July 2003. Wells didn’t give details on the witnesses’ identity.

Walton again expressed doubts.

"I don’t know how it has any bearing on whether your client allegedly testified falsely,” the judge said.

I’m a little worried.  If Walton is going to continue to point out the obvious like this it could put us out of business.