Libby got the name from CHENEY!!!! Plame Gossip special edition.

This is HUGE from the NYTimes. (Theories on why at the bottom, the update is my current thinking.)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, first learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.

Notes of the previously undisclosed conversation between Mr. Libby and Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003, appear to differ from Mr. Libby’s testimony to a federal grand jury that he initially learned about the C.I.A. officer, Valerie Wilson, from journalists, the lawyers said.

The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation, for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White House to learn about Ms. Wilson’s husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was questioning the administration’s handling of intelligence about Iraq’s nuclear program to justify the war. .....

Mr. Libby’s notes indicate that Mr. Cheney had gotten his information about Ms. Wilson from George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, in response to questions from the vice president about Mr. Wilson. But they contain no suggestion that either Mr. Cheney or Mr. Libby knew at the time of Ms. Wilson’s undercover status or that her identity was classified. Disclosing a covert agent’s identity can be a crime, but only if the person who discloses it knows the agent’s undercover status. ......

Mr. Tenet was not available for comment on Monday night. But another former senior intelligence official said that Mr. Tenet had been interviewed by the special prosecutor and his staff in early 2004, and never appeared before the grand jury. Mr. Tenet has not talked since then to the prosecutors, the former official said.

The former official said he strongly doubted that the White House learned about Ms. Plame from Mr. Tenet. .....

The note written by Mr. Libby will be a key piece of evidence in a false statement case against Mr. Libby if Mr. Fitzgerald decides to pursue it, according to lawyers in the case. It also explains why Mr. Fitzgerald waged a long legal battle to obtain the testimony of reporters who were known to have talked with Mr. Libby.

Okay, so what do we have here? First, let's remember the sources for this are lawyers who are pushing this story line for a reason. So one literal reading of the story here is that Tenet told Cheney that Plame worked for the CIA, but didn't disclose her status. Therefore anybody revealing her name would not be "outing" her. In this version, Libby is patently guilty of perjury and arguably obstruction of justice, but nobody is guilty of the base crime of outing an undercover agent. Also, this storyline would put Cheney at the root of the "conspiracy" to discredit Wilson. (is that the point of this leak?)

So, a gut reaction to a first read of this, puts this story to one of two possible sets of defense attorneys.

1) This leak is from Libby's attorneys to tell Cheney that he's not going down alone. Or perhaps an attempt to free Libby from the intentional outing of a covert agent.

2) This leak is from the Rove attorneys who are willing to risk sacrificing Cheney to keep Rove and the rest of the White House out of it.

Now, what's significant about this to me, is that at this point, such revelations will have no bearing on Fitzgerald's investigation and the likely indictments, except to induce action among one of the possible indictees. Who would be trying to apply this pressure to whom, and why?
After I digest this, maybe I'll have a better sense of it.

Also, if this story line is true, is it not odd that Tenet would not testify to the fact before the Grand Jury as kind of a basic fact in the case.

Someone has thrown out a desperate swing, and at this point, I'm not sure who. I'll take any ideas. Mike

Digesting.....

Two days ago, James Wolcott did a thought experiment for Libby which ended with the phrase "They're not going to pin this all on me."

Also, I don't remember seeing this anywhere before. "Mr. Cheney was interviewed under oath by Mr. Fitzgerald last year. It is not known what the vice president told Mr. Fitzgerald about the conversation with Mr. Libby or when Mr. Fitzgerald first learned of it."

I read one more theory over at Eschaton that said this might be an attempt to soften the blow if Cheney is implicated in some way by Fitzgerald's indictments. Interesting, don't know.

Obviously, I need help digesting this. Any ideas, just drop them in comments.

Update: The update got big so I pulled it off and made it it's own post HERE. Thanks for the comments. They really helped.