Prosecution rests case against Libby

WASHINGTON — After 11 days of testimony from some high-profile witnesses, prosecutors on Thursday wrapped up their case against former White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- and the task now facing the defense appears daunting: convincing jurors that one Washington insider is to be believed when his version of events is at odds with that of so many others.

Libby's attorneys have succeeded in showing that prosecution witnesses at times suffered memory lapses. But those testifying against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in his perjury and obstruction trial were consistent on two key points: what they did not tell Libby, and what he told them.

Tim Russert, NBC News' Washington bureau chief and moderator of "Meet the Press," was the latest to testify that Libby's description of events is wrong.

Libby told a grand jury in 2004 that he learned of CIA officer Valerie Plame from Russert.

Previous witnesses have testified they learned of Plame from Libby, which defense lawyers deny.

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald wrapped up his argument in typically matter-of-fact fashion Thursday, telling U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton: "At this time the government rests its case." The defense is set to begin Monday.

Libby's trial, the first high-profile prosecution of a senior administration official in Washington in more than a decade, has been a legal and political spectacle, providing details of how the Bush administration launched a campaign against Plame's husband, a critic of the Iraq war.

The case grew out of Libby's statements to federal investigators about his conversations with three journalists around the time Plame was named in a July 14, 2003, newspaper column by Robert D. Novak. Libby, prosecutors charged, obstructed a federal probe into how Plame's identity became public. Disclosing the identity of an undercover officer can be a felony.

Russert completed his second day of testimony Thursday with a series of testy exchanges with Libby's lawyers, who sought to portray him as an unreliable witness with a grudge against the defendant.

At one point, Libby's lawyers played a tape of an interview with Russert by radio host Don Imus on Oct. 28, 2005, the day Libby's indictment was announced. Russert sounded giddy as he told how the pending release of legal documents targeting White House officials had the feel of "Christmas Eve" for reporters in Washington.