The prosecution has rested its case in the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff. Libby faces five counts of lying to federal investigators, perjury, and obstruction of justice in connection to the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame’s identity was leaked after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, questioned the Bush administration’s pre-war claims on Iraqi weapons. Meanwhile, a Pentagon investigation has concluded Bush administration officials engaged in inappropriate behavior in their handling of Iraq intelligence before the US invasion. We’re joined by Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff. [includes rush transcript]

The prosecution has rested its case in the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff. Libby faces five counts of lying to federal investigators, perjury, and obstruction of justice in connection to the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. The prosecution’s key witness over the past two days has been Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and the host of Meet the Press. Russert testified he didn’t talk about Plame with Libby -- contradicting Libby’s claim. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald played the jury a recording that begins with Libby describing to Fitzgerald what he claims Russert told him.

On Thursday, after two days of testifying, NBC’s Tim Russert appeared on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to discuss his role in the trial.

• Tim Russert, interviewed on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Michael Isikoff joins us now on the phone.

• Michael Isikoff. Investigative correspondent for Newsweek and co-author of the book “Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War.”