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NOTES: (1) This is not a transcript — It's the blogger's approximation, and no one really knows what that is yet! But I do know you shouldn't quote anything not in quotation marks. (2) I'll timestamp the updates and will update about every 15 minutes, servers willing. The hamsters that run the servers will appreciate it if you don't refresh excessively in the meantime. (3) If you're not having enough fun just reading along the liveblog, consider buying my book on this case.

none of the other witnesses had the same intense focus on Wilson's wife as the defendant.
People followed up on what he was interested in.
He's doing the inside baseball. None ofthem invented a conversation.
There's one small factor. He did talk to one person.
Why in Fall 2003, does he not tell VP, btw I did talk to reporters. Doesnt tell McC, btw, you should know that Rove spoke about the wife.
Does he tell VP, that he talked to Miller?
What's the one thing he told, he told the one person from whom he learned from in the first person. Why is that one fact so important.
Why does the one thing, of all the facts in the case, not that I heard it through Rove, all he tells VP that it was Russert. What they tell him, when he saw the note, he goes back and tells the VP, the VP cocked his head.
Why is the ONLY thing he told anyone is who he said was the source, to the guy who was his source.

Do you believe that Libby is going around with a string around his finger. He doesn't know if Libby read the briefings,but he knows LIbby read the Wilson briefings. He doesn't he knows that

I wonder if Wilson's married, I wonder if he has a wife. What examples do you have of how good his memory was. Zeidenberg has a phenomenal memory of someone else talking about Wilsons wife. Rove, he had a conversation with someone else's wife.
Defendant had a better memory of Roves conversation with Novak, than Rove did.

He remembers things. If I told you what conversation you had. If I asked what days of the week a series of articles ran. IN March 2004. When asked about Pincus articles, he says there were articles from the fourth week of May last year. THat's why we showed Pincus some articles. Libby could remember those articles. Could remember the week in March 2003. Which shows you hos focus on the press. Remember his discussion of leak to WSJ. They seem to have good relationship with WSJ. Libby talks about how to get oit, give it to Wolfie, and lo and behold it's on the editorial page. He says, VP and I talked abut it on Tuesday, and it appeared on Thursday. He can tell you the day o fthe week.

What are people suppsoed to say. Investigators already know that Russert said that never happened. He wasn't charged with leaking to Kessler. Of course he was questioned closely. When someone is questioned closely in GJ, it's like being in a house of mirrors. What

Matt Cooper, he was sitting there with two other witnesses. Libby wasn't going to tell all these other reporters.

He was busy telling Pincus a lie, That an aid caused the trip.

Best way to get the story, is to leak an exclusive. Showing that other people didn't get it doesn't help.

The three things they don't want you to focus on. Unique, importance,anger. 

We all remember unique. That's why a lot of the witnesses remembered stuff frm their conversation with Libby.

Libby said this was the FIRST TIME he had ever declassified something by virtue of talking to VP. It had never happened before, hadn't happened since.

Importance Remember the others things going on. He had ten conversation with nine people.  He's asking Schmall about . He's monitoring Hardball. He's not watching other things. He's remembering Rove telling him. Why is that important? It goes into his brain, bc that's important. VP cuts out column, he makes note on Dowd column. One thing that's really important, Schmall told him, this is a big deal, every intell service, whether innocent or not, they could arrest, torture, kill them. If you're sitting ont eh beach as a 21 year old, and you say, what you did, that can get people killed. If someone brought to your attention, you could get some people killed, that better be important, certainly NSA to VP in time of war. 

Sidebar.

5:01 

Just so we're perfectly clear, I'm talking about Libby's state of mind. They're saying he's like a 21 year kid not remembering anything after the summer. Schmall did not know about Plame. He's saying that if this happens, you can get people killed. For his state of mind, When you're reading about a front company being exposed. Isn't that important. They want to tell you the wife wasn't important until later. They're saying it was important enough to read on July 14. IMportant when someone tells you, harm can happen. ANd unimportant when facts prove defendant told a lie.

Anger. What did Defense say, about anger. We know from different witnesses about Libby's demeanor.

Schmall, with all the terroist threats in teh world, Libby was bringing up Wilson and Valerie Wilson.

Judy MIller, she's saying really annoyed.

July 8, also frustrated, unhappy.

Tim Russert, agitated, damn it , what the hell, upset.

We all know, when you're angry at someone, you remember. Whether you're a chief of staff, whatever you do for a living, He was angry about Wilson. What Wilson said is that country got lied into war. One of the people he blamed was defendant. ANd VP. Don't for a second believe, that the defendant wouldn't get pissed if someone said you lied the country into a war.

If you think it's important, when you're focused on it, when you're angry about it. You know the things you forget and the things you remember. You know how to tell the difference. It's actual common sense.

Turns off overhead. I'm going to flip through my book as if I'm organized.

Remember to talk, two things have to happen. you have to be asked, you have to talk.

5:09 Think about the mindframe of trying to subpoena. Sitting in a room, as someone who sits behind VP in meetings. When it has already been proclaimed that no one will investigate. The mindset is to make sure Agent Bond is satisfied. He made his bet, planted his feet, and stuck. From then on he told the same story. YOu have to assume that the reporters will not want to talk. If the FBI agent doesnt' catch Rusert at home. Russert feels compelled to knock down false allegation. Don't be confused by looking backwards at history.

You would be very very rational to think you'd get fired if you did something like taht.

Armitage and Rove. Don't be distracted by things you don't know. You have no evidence to indicated that they walked into GJ that they learned it anew, they were sitting around wondering if Wilson had a wife. DOn't be distracted by peple who aren't mentioned.

Is this about a bunch of madmen, two men. Or is about somemthing bigger, Is it about someone to whom Wilson's wife wasn't a person, but an argument. He focused on it June 23, July 8, July 7, focused on it when he talked to Addington. His boss thought it was important. His boss thought it was important. Did his boss forget about the wife/ One of the first thing he wrote, did his wife send him on a junket. They both talked to a briefer about it. You can't believe that 9 witnesses remember 10 conversations the same way. There is no conspiracy. There is no memory problem. He remembers a conversatoin that did not happen. But forgets all of his. He had a motive to lie, and he lied in a way that exactly matches his motive.  You don't forget something on Thursday that you've passed along on Monday and Tueday. You don't forget about important arguments. You know they talked about a cloud over the VP.,

DONT YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE ENTITELD TO ANSWERS [ed. This is me yelling, not Fitz--there's no time to bold when trying to keep up with Fitz's fast talking]. If as a result his wife had a job, she worked at CPD, She gets dragged into newspapers. People want to find out was a law broken when people want to know, who did it. What role did Defendant play. What role did VP play? He told you he may have discussed this with VP. Don't you think FBI desesrves straight answers. When you go in taht jury room, you commonsense will tell you hthat he made a gamble. He threw sand sin the eyes o fthe FBI. He stole the truth of the judicial system. You return guilty you give truth back.

 5:16

Scooter, looking impassive at this point.

Walton: Sometimes during course of argument. Lawyers say things they don't mean to say. I want to say a couple of things to make sure. Reference to AG guidelines, those were admitted for a limited purpose, so you could assess whether Fitz' interaction was consistent with those guidelines. Argument that Libby would have been aware of those guidelines.  There is no evidence before you [shit--Fitz could have used the fact taht Libby refused to sign waiver!]

Walton THe truth of whether someone could be harmed based on disclosure of covert identity should not be dismiseed. What is relevant here is what, if any impact, things had on his state of mind.  

Walton Considering the hour, we'll recess at this time. Same time tomorrow. I hope my voice will hold out. I've been fighting a cold, my throat is being challenged. Based upon my calculation, it'll take 1.5 hour, I'll give you half, then give you the other half. With that I would hope that sometime before 11 the case will be submitted to your for your proceedings. Continue to avoid havign contact with anyone associated with, also with media coverage of this case. I trust you will continue, and have not had any contact with media coverage. I assume it hasn't happened. I implore you to continue to avoid media coverage.

See you tomorrow at 9:30.

Beer Thirty, A big one.

The cautionary instruction I just gave do you want me to introduce that to writing?

Have a good evening.