I have a new story up on the conviction of Lewis Libby. From all accounts, it was the testimony of Tim Russert that won the day for the prosecution, despite other doubts about the case:

Because the jury believed Russert, they tended to discount problems with the testimony of other prosecution witnesses. For example, some jurors simply did not trust Ari Fleischer — “Some said, ‘I don’t believe him, he was Slick Willie,’” said [juror] Denis Collins — but because they believed Russert, it appears they tended to accept the other accounts that jibed with his story. Fleischer had testified that Libby told him about Mrs. Wilson — “hush-hush, on the QT” — on Monday, July 7, 2003. The conversation with Russert, in which Libby said he was surprised to hear about Mrs. Wilson, was on Thursday, July 10. That led Fitzgerald, in his opening argument, to utter what was, in retrospect, the line that convicted Libby: “You can’t learn something startling on Thursday that you’re giving out on Monday and Tuesday.” Jurors could only accept that argument if they believed Russert and Fleischer. They did, and it appears that Russert’s credibility helped shore up Fleischer’s less-than-believable performance.