Aide testifies: Cheney helped effort to discredit Wilson

Los Angeles Times has the story:

She described the reaction inside the administration as questions began to be raised, starting in May 2003. At that time, The New York Times described the Wilson trip to Niger but did not name him. The article said the administration had engaged in a "campaign of wholesale deceit" and suggested that Cheney was directly involved.

Martin said that Libby asked her to call the then-chief public affairs officer at the CIA, William Harlow, to find out about the trip by the then-mysterious former envoy.

"So I was saying, 'Who sent him? Who is this guy?' " Martin testified. "I remember Bill Harlow saying his name was Joe Wilson, he was a charge in Baghdad, and his wife works over here." Martin said she promptly went to see Cheney and Libby with the news.

Remember, Libby initially said he learned Plame's identity from journalists. Libby's "blame-the-White-House" defence is not looking good. And it looks to me like Fitzgerald's greatest accomplishment could turn out to be his success in turning people within the close-knit Cheney camp against one another. I mean, an aide like Martin would not have dared testify against her bosses two years ago.

I'm looking forward to some speculation from Murray Waas about how the Libby trial reflects a split between Bush and Cheney, and what substance lies behind that.

Impeach the lot of them!