Moreover, the administration officials told Fitzgerald that from September 2003 through March 2004 Libby urged White House communications director Dan Bartlett on numerous occasions to aggressively respond to Wilson's further attacks against the administration. Libby's attorneys have said in court documents that Libby had forgotten about Wilson during this time and that is the reason his grand jury testimony wasn't accurate.
Libby also discussed with Cheney and other aides to the vice president Wilson's relentless "campaign against the administration" and sought his colleagues' support for issuing a response, one person close to the investigation said.
"Mr. Libby was a lone wolf in that regard," this person said. "He did not receive any backing from the administration. Everyone thought he should just let it go."
Still, Libby's attorneys have said in several court documents that during his grand jury testimony, nearly eight months after the leak, Libby had been dealing with more serious matters and as a result he could not remember the true facts about Plame Wilson or how and when he first learned about her, because it took place months earlier.
Weeks before he was questioned by investigators probing the leak in November 2003, people close to the case said, Libby had discussed Wilson with unnamed individuals of the Republican National Committee and sought help in discrediting Wilson.
Libby reportedly became angry when Joseph Wilson's book, "The Politics of Truth," was released in April 2004. He had been closely following the book's release during the prior weeks, which coincides with his grand jury appearance, and had again pressed the White House to respond to certain passages he believed were untrue, according to sources close to the case.
"The Wilson affair was still very much on his mind," said one attorney who is representing a witness in the case. "Mr. Libby seemed to be consumed by it."
Jason Leopold is the author of the forthcoming memoir, NEWS JUNKIE, to be published in April on Process/Feral House Books. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview and to read an excerpt
Libby also discussed with Cheney and other aides to the vice president Wilson's relentless "campaign against the administration" and sought his colleagues' support for issuing a response, one person close to the investigation said.
"Mr. Libby was a lone wolf in that regard," this person said. "He did not receive any backing from the administration. Everyone thought he should just let it go."
Still, Libby's attorneys have said in several court documents that during his grand jury testimony, nearly eight months after the leak, Libby had been dealing with more serious matters and as a result he could not remember the true facts about Plame Wilson or how and when he first learned about her, because it took place months earlier.
Libby reportedly became angry when Joseph Wilson's book, "The Politics of Truth," was released in April 2004. He had been closely following the book's release during the prior weeks, which coincides with his grand jury appearance, and had again pressed the White House to respond to certain passages he believed were untrue, according to sources close to the case.
"The Wilson affair was still very much on his mind," said one attorney who is representing a witness in the case. "Mr. Libby seemed to be consumed by it."
Jason Leopold is the author of the forthcoming memoir, NEWS JUNKIE, to be published in April on Process/Feral House Books. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview and to read an excerpt
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