Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors completed their case in Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby's perjury trial after NBC journalist Tim Russert was questioned by the defendant's lawyer over why he resisted a subpoena to testify.

Russert testified yesterday he didn't tell Libby an Iraq war critic's wife was a Central Intelligence Agency official or discuss her at all in their conversation around July 10, 2003. Libby told a grand jury that Russert told him about CIA official Valerie Plame during their conversation and that Libby didn't discuss her with anyone during the preceding days.

Today, defense lawyer Ted Wells asked repeatedly why Russert fought a 2004 subpoena to testify before the grand jury even though he agreed to being questioned by a Federal Bureau of Investigation official in November 2003 when he disputed Libby's account of their conversation.

In testifying before a grand jury, ``you never know what questions will be asked and that's why we fought the subpoena so vigorously,'' Russert said. He said the FBI investigator was the one providing information: namely that Libby said Russert disclosed Plame's identity. ``That was very important to me to correct that misstatement,'' the journalist said.

Accused of Lying

Libby, 56, who was Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is accused of lying to investigators probing whether U.S. officials deliberately leaked Plame's identity in 2003 to retaliate against her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, for attacking the government's Iraq war claims. Government officials and journalists have testified that they discussed Plame with Libby before his July 10 conversation with Russert.

Defense lawyers will begin presenting their case Feb. 12. Potential defense witnesses include Cheney, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and other journalists.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled, over objections by the New York Times, that the defense can call as a witness Jill Abramson, the paper's Washington bureau chief in 2003. Former Times reporter Judith Miller testified she recommended to Abramson that the newspaper pursue a story on Plame and that the paper didn't.

Russert, who was questioned for 12 minutes yesterday by Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, spent hours on the witness stand answering Wells's questions.

FBI Interview

Wells asked Russert why he didn't disclose the FBI interview to a U.S. judge in resisting the subpoena, and why he didn't disclose it to the public when he later reported on his grand jury testimony. Russert said the FBI agent had asked that he keep the interview confidential. Wells showed a video clip of Russert discussing his sworn testimony on the air.

The defense lawyer also showed a video clip of Russert speaking by phone on Don Imus's television program on Oct. 28, 2005, hours before Libby was indicted. Fitzgerald's office had scheduled an announcement though the content wasn't known.

``It was like Christmas Eve here last night, Santa Claus is coming tomorrow; surprises, what's going to be under the tree?'' Russert said on the Imus show.

Earlier, Wells had asked Russert, ``Was there a lot of bad blood between you and Mr. Libby and NBC News?''

``No, sir,'' Russert said.

Questioned by Fitzgerald, Russert said his statement ``absolutely'' didn't reflect any personal joy that Libby might be charged. Fitzgerald told the judge, in an argument conducted without the jury present, that Russert's statement showed that ``news people are excited that a story is coming.''

Andrea Mitchell

Walton refused to let Wells question Russert about an on- air comment by NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell in October 2003 when she appeared to say Plame's identity was ``widely known'' among journalists. Mitchell later said on Imus's television program that she hadn't known about Plame and that she misspoke. Those video clips were shown without the jury present.

Wells said he wanted to use them to show that Russert likely would have known about Plame from Mitchell.

``There is no Imus exception to the hearsay rule,'' Fitzgerald told the judge. ``This has no business being before a federal court.'' Walton agreed, saying the issue was ``nitpicking at best.''

In a recording played to the jury earlier this week, Libby told a grand jury that, even though he first learned about Plame from Cheney in June 2003, he forgot about it and thought he was hearing it for the first time when he and Russert spoke.

Wilson's Column

Russert is NBC's Washington bureau chief and moderator of its Sunday program ``Meet the Press.''

``It's a difficult position being in the news'' rather than covering it, Russert said in an interview on ``NBC Nightly News'' tonight. ``When you are in the witness box you are sometimes limited to yes or no answers.'' He said he faced restrictions in the interview because he could be asked to testify again.

Wilson wrote a column in the New York Times on July 6, 2003, that accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify invading Iraq. Wilson had gone to Niger a year earlier and reported that he found no evidence that Iraq tried to buy uranium there. He said his trip followed a query by Cheney's office about possible Iraqi efforts to buy uranium.

President George W. Bush's State of the Union address in January 2003 cited Iraqi efforts to buy uranium as a reason for going to war.

Libby isn't charged with disclosing Plame's identity. Instead, he is accused of obstructing the leak investigation and lying to the FBI and a federal grand jury. He would face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of obstruction, the most serious charge. Libby resigned after he was indicted in October 2005.

The case is U.S. vs. Libby, 05-394, U.S. District Court, the District of Columbia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurie Asseo in Washington at lasseo1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 8, 2007 19:25 EST