Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary, took the stand in the Scooter Libby trial. Libby, as you may recall, is on trial for lying to federal investigators as they looked into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in retaliation for Wilson’s debunking of the President’s State of the Union claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger.
The federal prosecutor declined to press charges against anybody else in the matter because, he said, he was being told too many lies to make a case.
The Los Angeles Times has a story on Fleischer’s testimony. I always thought Fleischer was a stonewalling, disingenuous s.o.b. when he was serving the White House. But, he was so, very, very good at what he did, I had a grudging respect for his competence. The White House Press Secretaries who followed have not been nearly as good at their jobs. Part of that probably had to do with the fact that Fleischer got out while the getting was good. Before Iraq had turned irrevocably to crap. The L.A. times story focuses on how his demeanor was much different on the stand than it was when he was Press Secretary. Much more affable, apparently, when testifying than when representing the White House.
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