It appears Libby’s defense was provided a large heaping of credibility, while the leftwing Plameiacs are chowing down some crow. Just one example of how both are being served up in single posts from before the Armitage news:

There’s a curious article in yesterday’s Insight News, a conservative publication, that reports that Libby’s lawyers in court filings have named three possible sources at the State Department for the Valerie Plame Leak: former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and then-Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman.

From Team Libby:

“If Mr. Armitage or another State Department official was in fact the primary source for Mr. Novak’s article, Mr. Grossman’s testimony may be colored by either his personal relationship with Mr. Armitage or his concern for the institutional concerns of the State Department,” the defense said.

Well, well. Looks like Team Libby was right! Grossman seemed to be well ahead of the game in finding out Val’s role in all this. And he is the source of the theory of leaks coming from the WH and OVP. Of course, being a friend to Joe probably didn’t hurt much. So we shall see if there was a behind the scenes step in this State Department leak.

BTW, who are these “attornies close to the case” who keep feeding the liberal sites BS:

Woodward’s source, however, has become as much a source of intrigue as the leak case itself. While there has been much speculation that the new anti-Deep Throat may be Richard Armitage, RAW STORY confirmed late last year that, according to attorneys close to the investigation, Woodward’s source was actually Stephen Hadley, who at the time of the Plame Wilson outing was serving as Deputy National Security Advisor under Condoleezza Rice.

The attorneys provided RAW STORY with a rare glimpse into the secretive Grand Jury proceedings in which Woodward had testified as to his own involvement in the leak case and how he came to learn of Plame Wilson’s identity:

“Testifying under oath Monday to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Woodward recounted a casual conversation he had with Hadley, these sources say. Hadley did not return a call seeking comment.”

Anyone have doubts this was all just a stage to throw mud at the Bush administration and have the gullible, naive media eat it up?

Addendum: You know, when you go back and read the stuff out there pre-Armitage a lot of it is sadly funny since the egg is mostly on the faces on the left. But there are also some questions of sources and deliberate disinformation. I noted one above for Raw Story, but here is another one from Capitol Hill Blue with a really bizarre twist on the reality we know today:

The document was prepared in June 2003 at the direction of Carl W. Ford Jr., then head of the State Department’s bureau of intelligence and research, for Marc Grossman, the retired official said. Grossman was the Undersecretary of State who was in charge of the department while Secretary Colin Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, were traveling. Grossman needed the memo because he was dealing with other issues and was not familiar with the subject, the former official said.

“It wasn’t a Wilson-Wilson wife memo,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. “It was a memo on uranium in Niger and focused principally on our disagreement” with the White House.

Armitage called Ford after Wilson’s op-ed piece in The New York Times and his TV appearance on July 6, 2003 in which he challenged the White House’s claim that Iraq had purchased uranium yellowcake from Niger.

Did Armitage request the memo or Libby? It would make a LOT more sense for Armitage to have requested the information. Libby, being in the OVP, would naturally go directly to the CIA for information. There would be no reason to go to State to discuss a CIA initiated boondoggle. This part of the record has always bothered me. So if Armitage requested, and Grossman found out as managing head of State, then Grossman could have made sure certain information was added into the document, on the hope Loose-Lipped Dick would start the leaking. Not implausible. Pure speculation though. But I would not doubt if this ‘source’ is not Grossman himself:

The former State Department official stressed the memo focused on Wilson’s trip and the State Department intelligence bureau’s disagreement with the White House’s claim about Iraq trying to get nuclear material.

Only a few people would know the contents of this memo: Powell, Armitage, Grossman and Ford are the obvious ones.