How This White House Operates

For his part, Dickerson responded in Slate: "In his testimony today, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told the courtroom -- which included me -- that when I was a White House correspondent for Time magazine, he had told me that Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.

"He did? . . .

"I have a different memory. My recollection is that during a presidential trip to Africa in July 2003, Ari and another senior administration official had given me only hints. They told me to go inquire about who sent Wilson to Niger. As far as I can remember -- and I am pretty sure I would remember it -- neither of them ever told me that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. . . .

"So, why was Ari testifying about something that I don't think ever happened? I don't know. Ari asked for immunity from prosecution based on the idea that he'd told me and David Gregory of NBC that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, so Ari clearly believes he spilled the beans. But my memory is just the opposite. Could I have forgotten that Ari told me? I don't think so."

David Corn blogs for The Nation: "The defense could have used this contradiction to try to impeach Fleischer's credibility. If Fleischer falsely remembers leaking, then maybe he's also wrong about what happened during his lunch with Libby. But Libby's lawyers want Fleischer to be right about the supposed leak to Dickerson and Gregory. They are building a case--or the innuendo--that Tim Russert was wrong when he told Fitzgerald's grand jury that he knew nothing about Valerie Wilson when he spoke to Libby (and could not have, as Libby has claimed, told Libby anything about Wilson's wife). Libby's attorneys have said that Russert may have had knowledge about Valerie Wilson and her CIA position because he may had heard about it from colleagues at NBC News, such as David Gregory. . . .

"But there's at least one problem for the defense. In the indictment of Libby, Fitzgerald noted that the Russert-Libby phone call happened on July 10, 2003. Yet Fleischer's (real or not) leak to Gregory (and Dickerson) occurred on July 11, 2003."

Neil A. Lewis writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Fleischer, who as the public face of the White House for nearly three years and thus widely recognizable, was followed to the stand by a prosecution witness regarded as perhaps the most secretive and publicity-averse employee in the White House, David S. Addington.

"Mr. Addington was counsel to Mr. Cheney at the time Ms. Wilson's identity was disclosed and has since been promoted to replace Mr. Libby as the vice president's chief of staff. He is widely reported to be the theoretician behind Mr. Cheney's belief in a powerful executive branch, in which the president may exert wide authority unchecked by Congress or the courts. . . .

"His testimony concerned a meeting he had had with Mr. Libby in a small room in the vice president's suite between July 6 and July 12. He said Mr. Libby had quizzed him as to whether the C.I.A. would have records showing when someone sent a relative on a mission.

"Mr. Addington said his advice was sought because had he worked at the C.I.A. for years as a lawyer. As he provided the far-from-simple answer, he said that Mr. Libby had held out both hands in front, palms down, as if to remind him the information was sensitive. 'He said, "Keep it down," ' Mr. Addington testified."

Libby Opinion Watch

Eugene Robinson writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "If you've been following the Lewis 'Scooter' Libby perjury trial, I can understand how you might confuse Dick Cheney with Tony Soprano. Cheney's office is beginning to sound a lot like the Bada Bing, minus the dancers.

"Court has been in session for only a week, and already we've heard about characters being set up (Libby, allegedly, to save political wizard Karl Rove), strung along (media bigwigs, who were to be played like patsies), buried in mud (former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who questioned the raison d'etre of the Iraq war) and ratted out (the famously leak-averse Cheney, revealed to be willing to leak like a washerless faucet when it suits his purposes)."