Tim Russert is now on the stand in the Libby trial. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s examination of Russert was brief — about 15 minutes. Now, Libby attorney Ted Wells is trying, so far with little success, to raise doubts about Russert’s assertion that he did not know who Joseph Wilson’s wife was or whether she worked for the CIA at the time of the phone conversation in which Libby says Russert told him that.

Russert described Libby as “agitated” during the call in which Libby complained about statements “Hardball” host Chris Matthews had made about the vice president. Russert said that he, Russert, didn’t have much time to respond. “He was very agitated and quick with his words,” Russert testified. “He wanted action on MSNBC and frankly wasn’t in the mood to talk.”

Russert did make clear that, once he learned about Mrs. Wilson from reading the Robert Novak column, he thought it was very big news. “I said, Wow, look at this, this is really significant, this is big,” he testified. “I went to work and began to ask people I was working with what we knew about what, why we didn’t have the story, because to me it was a significant development in the story.”