Couple of interesting Plame notes.

Hardball has been doing a series this week ostensibly on bad WMD intel, but really more of a long running slam on the VP's office. (I know they're kind of one in the same but he's gone pretty far afield.) Anyhow, throughout the week he has been stating, less and less obliquely his theory of the crime in the Plame leak and Libby indictment. His bottom line seems to be the theory in the Gellman article that the vice president directed it.

On July 12, the day Cheney and Libby flew together from Norfolk, the vice president instructed his aide to alert reporters of an attack launched that morning on Wilson's credibility by Fleischer, according to a well-placed source.

Libby talked to Miller and Cooper. That same day, another administration official who has not been identified publicly returned a call from Walter Pincus of The Post. He "veered off the precise matter we were discussing" and told him that Wilson's trip was a "boondoggle" set up by Plame, Pincus has written in Nieman Reports.

The indictment says this(notice no reference to Cheney specifically)

22. On or about July 12, 2003, LIBBY flew with the Vice President and others to and from Norfolk, Virginia, on Air Force Two. On his return trip, LIBBY discused with other officials aboard the plane what Libby should say in response to certain pending media inquiries, including questions from Time reporter Matthew Cooper.

Also, please remember from the Fitzgerald press conference, the whole long overextended analogy of the baseball umpire. My theory is that Fitzgerald knows the first version of this took place, but because of Libby's perjury, he can only prove the second. And he's pissed about it. I think that is why he is attempting to turn two counts of perjury into thirty years jail time. Because in the analogy, Libby was the pitcher, but Cheney was the manager who called the pitch. The only way to nail the manager is to get someone to tell you about it.

Also, Firedoglake(Jane Hamsher,) who has been excellent on Plame, made an interesting comment tonight:

(A NYTimes sorce)They believe Fitzgerald may be pursuing "a new line of inquiry" regarding Rove. Whatever Rove produced at the last minute "may have fallen under the heading of 'more difficult to prove intent to mislead.'" But whatever happens, the Hadley memo is going to play a "serious part of any indictment," and Fitzgerald's investigation may be "longer rather than shorter."

Regarding Rove, just remember, the indictment won't just suddenly fall from the sky. If Fitzgerald intends to indict Rove, he will have to reintroduce the evidence to a new grand jury. If that happens, there will be a whole lot of warning.

And, no, I don't think Libby's gonna flip unless they can throw something else on him.