(N.B., The agreement between Fitzgerald and NBC avoided a court fight over a subpoena for Russert's testimony about his July 2003 talk with Dick Cheney's top aide, Lewis (Scooter) Libby. The deal was not, as many assumed, for Russert's testimony about what Libby told him: it focused on what Russert told Libby.)
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/sort_of_serious_stuff/little_russ_and_the_prosecutor_23885.aspProsecutors, however, have a different account from Russert. The network has said Russert told authorities he did not know about Wilson's wife's identity until it was published and therefore could not have told Libby about it.
Prosecutors also have evidence that Libby initiated the call with Russert and had initiated similar contact with another reporter, Judith Miller of The New York Times, several weeks earlier. Miller was jailed for 85 days before agreeing to testify before the grand jury.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/20/cia.leak.investigation.ap/http://talkleft.com/new_archives/012922.htmlTim Russert said today that Lewis Libby called him to complain about a reporter's comments on a cable show. He did not identify the reporter or the show.
In Lewis Libby's indictment, the Government charges:
On or about July 10, 2003, LIBBY spoke to NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to complain about press coverage of LIBBY by an MSNBC reporter. LIBBY did not discuss Wilson’s wife with Russert. (page 7, Paragraph 20.)
I think I found the show transcript. It's Hardball for July 8, 2003. The reporter is Chris Matthews. It does sound like something Libby would complain about because Matthews keeps saying that the Vice President's office had the CIA send Joseph Wilson to Niger. I'll bet Libby was steaming.