Posted on 01/29/2007 10:34:34 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Fleischer: Plame came up over lunch
By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer testified Monday that then-colleague I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby told him over lunch that the wife of a prominent war critic worked at the CIA.
Fleischer said the conversation happened June 7, 2003, days before Libby told investigators he was surprised to learn about the CIA operative from a reporter. That discrepancy is at the heart of Libby's perjury and obstruction trial.
Fleischer, who was the chief White House spokesman for the first 2 1/2 years of President Bush's first term, said Monday that Libby invited him to lunch to discuss Fleischer's planned departure from the White House. He said it was the first time he and Libby had eaten lunch together.
They talked about Fleischer's career plans and their shared interest in the Miami Dolphins football team, Fleischer testified. He can't remember who brought it up but he said the conversation then turned to the growing controversy over former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the White House of ignoring prewar intelligence on Iraq.
"Ambassador Wilson was sent by his wife," Fleischer recalled Libby saying. "His wife works for the CIA."
Fleischer said Libby also used the woman's name, Valerie Plame, and told him it was "hush hush."
"My sense is that Mr. Libby was telling me this was kind of newsy," Fleischer said.
Fleischer testified under an immunity deal with prosecutors and arrived in court with his attorneys. He sought the deal because he discussed Plame with reporters. Libby's attorneys plan to argue during cross-examination that the immunity deal makes Fleischer's testimony less credible.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Is this 'throw Libby under the train' day at the trial?
"Plame came up over lunch"
Unfortunate phrasing...sounds like reflux.
or a nooner
Ari might be a real problem for Libby.
Hey Libby was willing to throw Cheney under the train. Payback is hell. Libbys problem is not challenging Fitzgerld on the validity of Plume being covert. Unless she is covert, no law was broken, period! This trial should have been over in 5 minutes!
If that is what happened, Fleischer has a responsibility to tell the truth. That beings said, if convicted, Libby will be pardoned and GW will state the reason he was pardoned is Fitzgerald never charged the actual leaker of Plame, which Fitzgerald was appointed to do.
Let's wait for the cross examinaion.
This whole thing is such a non-story, why is it even going to trial.
This is the "Seinfeld" of scandals, a scandal about nothing.
Ping
If that is so, then I don't understand whats the charge? The judge disavows the law, throws out the rule of the law, so no law could have been possibly broken! Fitzgerald who crux of his argument is that a covert CIA agents name was leaked out is now null and void is it not?
Hmmmm...no documentation.
"If that is so, then I don't understand whats the charge?"
I think that they are attempting obstruction of justice, or perjury. That's a real sham. though.
This is idiotic. I still can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, and these people claim to remember who told them what on which day in 2003.
Granted, they are probably smarter than me, but I have my doubts that they are that much smarter.
Why is this important? It certainly does not prove that he was not surprised when he learned it from a reporter. All it proves is that he repeated it to Fleischer.
"Spot the Spook" is a staple of Washington DC lunchtime gossip and has been for generations.
Don't sell yourself short. You'd be amazed how many people in positions of power, especially Washington, have IQs scantly higher than their shoe size.
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