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Libby Trial Last Batter Up: Tim Russert

The Government will call its final witness today in the Scooter Libby trial. It's NBC's Tim Russert.

For other takes, be sure to check in with Firedoglake, Empty Wheel, Just One Minute and Media Bloggers. Here's mine:

Fitzgerald wants to end his case on a high note. That's why even today, he wasn't sure he was going to call "the mystery witness," a low-level DOJ employee. He'd rather end with Russert, who he thinks will be the final linchpin, the one who will put his case over the top and bring it home.

I suspect Jeffress will do the cross-examination since he has crossed all the journalists so far, if I'm not mistaken.

Jeffress may try to hammer home that Russert didn't have to go before the grand jury but got interviewed in his lawyer's office. Jeffress took this route with Matt Cooper (although I thought that line of questioning went nowhere.)

There is another wrinkle with Russert the defense may try to exploit, that Russert and Fitz had a deal whereby Russert was only asked questions about Russert'ss side of the conversation. In other words, he was questioned about what he told Libby, not what Libby told him.

First, some background.

The Indictment against Libby alleges:

On or about July 10, 2003, LIBBY spoke to NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to complain about press coverage of LIBBY by an MSNBC reporter. LIBBY did not discuss Wilson’s wife with Russert. (page 7, Paragraph 20.)

The Libby-Russert saga began following a segment on Hard