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National

Jury in Libby Case Hears His Original Testimony

Government prosecutors play audio tapes of Lewis "Scooter" Libby testifying before a grand jury. Libby is accused of lying to that grand jury and to the FBI about his involvement in revealing the identity of a CIA agent.

On the tapes, when prosecutor ask Libby repeatedly whether he talked about the agent with various reporters, he answers "no." Some of those reporters have testified that he did in fact discuss the agent.

The courtroom heard Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revisiting the same topic over and over again, repeatedly giving Libby a chance to change his testimony or remember events differently.

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But in the recordings, Libby maintains his story that when in the week following the publication of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's op-ed piece in the New York Times, he had forgotten that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. He said he did not disclose that information to reporters because, as far as he was concerned, he didn't know the information.

Libby has told investigators that he actually learned the information from Tim Russert of NBC on July 10 or 11, four or five days after Wilson's op-ed appeared.

The prosecution's theory is that Libby's version is a cover story to hide the fact that he did in fact know about the CIA agent — and had in fact disclosed the information to reporter Judith Miller.

When the prosecutor asked Libby why he talked to Miller for about two hours on July 8, he answered that he chose her because he viewed her as a responsible reporter, and someone who shared his world-view when it came to the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

But since then, Miller has given testimony that directly contradicts Libby: She says that he told her about Wilson's wife.

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After the grand jury testimony portion is over, the final prosecution witness is expected to be Tim Russert.

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