...used to be a good reporter would interview a subject, find out something nobody else had and file the breaking story... now the story becomes what the reporter didn't tell the subject...
Isikoff has a piece out explaining the deal that prosecuter Fitzgerald gave Russert...apparently Fitz wanted to compare notes on Libby's claim that he was given the name of Valerie Plame by a reporter.
Common sense tells us that the White House has logs of every single phone conversation or meeting that Mr. Libby has partaken since day one of this godforsaken administration...I'm not sure how forthcoming the chief of staff of the Prince of Darkness has been over the years but it strikes me that the veil of secrecy Cheney wanted over his energy meetings early on precluded Libby from being a go-to guy for any White House beat reporter...unless he's been the deep background guy all along...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8682500/site/newsweek/
has this...
"The deal was not, as many assumed, for Russert's testimony about what Libby told him: it focused on what Russert told Libby. An NBC statement last year said Russert did not know of Plame, wife of ex-ambassador Joseph Wilson, or that she worked at the CIA, and "he did not provide that information to Libby."
so, the selective memory of both Rove and Scooter is about to be hopefully restored via indictments, Fitzgerald is dotting the i's and crossing the t's....let's hope it's more than perjury and becomes conspiracy:
more from Newsweek: "This now appears significant: in pursuing Russert's testimony, Fitzgerald was testing statements by White House aides--reportedly including Libby--that they learned about Wilson's wife from reporters, not classified documents. Libby's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. A source close to Karl Rove, who requested anonymity because the FBI asked participants not to comment publicly, says the White House aide--who passed info about Wilson's wife to Time's Matt Cooper--only knew about her CIA job from either a reporter or "somebody" who heard it from a reporter; he can't remember which or who."