Saturday, October 29, 2005
Libby's Defense: "The Truth Is for Little People"
The AP is reporting that Libby's defense will be (in the reporter's words), "A busy official immersed in important duties cannot reasonably be expected to remember details of long-ago conversations."*
That is, he told the grand jury he got the info on Valerie Plame from some reporter or other, when he actually got it from Dick Cheney, because he was too busy to remember exactly what he was doing in June 2003.
There's a little problem with that: Patrick Fitzgerald learned the truth from notes Libby took during a conversation with Dick Cheney that took place before Libby talked to those reporters.
If Libby's going to use the "bad memory" defense, he's going to have to explain why he didn't review his own records to make sure he got his facts straight. A demonstrable unconcern for the truth is not going to help him beat this rap.
* Pause a moment to recall the Usual Suspects' response to Hillary Clinton not remembering every trivial detail of what she did 20 years earlier at the Rose law firm.
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