NBC Newsman Faces Daylong Grilling

Feb. 8, 2007— -- Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald rested his case in the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial after a day of cross-examination testimony from the prosecution's final witness, NBC newsman Tim Russert.

Russert, typically the interviewer as NBC's Washington bureau chief and anchor of "Meet the Press," had the tables turned, facing a daylong grilling from defense attorney Ted Wells.

Wells tried to show that Russert held a double standard by openly discussing his Libby conversation with an FBI agent while rejecting a subpoena to testify about the conversation in front of a federal grand jury.

Libby, the former chief of staff to vice president Dick Cheney, is accused of lying to investigators about who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to the press.

Wednesday, Russert testified that he never talked about CIA operative Valerie Plame with Libby.

That directly contradicts Libby's statements to a grand jury in 2004, in which he said that Russert brought up war critic Joseph Wilson and mentioned that Wilson's wife, Plame, worked for the CIA.

"The call, from beginning to end, was a call where Mr. Libby was voicing a viewer complaint?" Wells asked. "Mr. Libby on the phone was not functioning as a source?"

Russert told Wells that he initially did not know what the nature of Libby's call was.

"When a call comes in from the vice president's chief of staff, I view it as a source call," Russert said. "But when I heard that, then it evolved into a viewer complaint call."

Wells then spent a long time asking Russert why he discussed the Libby call with former FBI case agent Jack Eckenrode.

"[He] was sharing information with me," Russert said. "He told me, 'Libby said I revealed Valerie Plame's name.' I felt compelled to address this misstatement."

Wells also questioned Russert about the deposition he gave to the prosecution back in August 2004 and an affidavit he filed with the court. The deposition was the equivalent of a grand jury appearance but lasted only 22 minutes.

Those questions were limited solely to his call with Libby. Russert testified that he tried to vigorously fight the subpoena in the grand jury phase of the investigation.

"I signed the affidavit because I believe every word of it," Russert said. "Because, as a journalist, talking about sources in open court could have a real chilling effect. And that's important to me."

Wells showed Russert several letters from NBC's lawyers to Fitzgerald and asked, "Are you aware lawyers worked out various arrangements with the scope of your testimony?"

Russert told him, "You never know what questions are going to be asked. That's why we fought the subpoena so vigorously."

During a jury break, the prosecutors and defense argued over a potential defense exhibit they wanted to submit.

Wells wanted to show the jury clips of comments made by NBC's Andrea Mitchell on CNBC, where she said, regarding the identity of Plame, "it was widely known among reporters covering the intelligence community."

The defense also tried showing comments from the Don Imus radio show where Mitchell tried to correct her comments, suggesting that she did not know about Wilson's wife. Wells, trying to cast doubt on the Russert testimony, said Mitchell's knowledge of Plame's identity would show that at least several people at NBC knew about Joe and Valerie Wilson.

"All I have to show is they picked up a rumor. In this case Ari Fleischer has testified that he told David Gregory (of NBC) that Mrs. Wilson worked at CIA," Wells said. "He told him in Africa, and that's six hours ahead -- plenty of time to tell people back here. You can't separate that fact either. That's in the record. And it's going to be argued here."

Judge Reggie Walton disagreed with the defense, saying, "This is nitpicking at its best. … I just don't see how it relates to Mr. Russert."

During the afternoon session, Wells asked Russert if he remembered telling Imus on indictment day, "It's like Christmas Eve. … Santa is coming … What surprises are going to be under the tree?"

Wells also asked Russert if he remembered telling Katie Couric, formerly of NBC, that same day, "It's huge. This is the first time in 130 years a sitting member of the White House will be indicted."

Russert said he could not recall these statements even after being shown a transcript of the comment to Couric and the "Christmas" comment clip from Imus.

Wells then flatly asked Russert, "Do you have a bad memory?"

"No," Russert responded. "I'm on TV a lot, and I just don't remember a specific day."

Fitzgerald was brief under redirect, asking Russert if he took joy in Libby's indictment.

"No, and I don't take joy in being here right now," Russert said, uncomfortably.

The defense is currently arguing with Walton to call Andrea Mitchell, Russert's fellow NBC reporter, as a witness. No decision has been made yet on whether Mitchell will be required to take the stand.