Armitage testified three times

* john byrne:

"Late yesterday, Clemons received a barrage of responses from others closer to the case, including a lawyer to one who has testified, Clemons told me. These individuals vehemently disputed claims that Armitage was in legal jeopardy, saying that the erstwhile Powell aide had been nothing but cooperative in his appearances before the grand jury.

According to Clemons' latest, Armitage testified three times before the grand jury. Those familiar with his testimony say he was "a complete straight-shooter" and "honest about his role and mistakes."

"That said," he adds, "I have learned from several other sources that Richard Armitage was neck deep in the Valerie Plame story. According to several insiders, as soon as Armitage realized mistakes he had made, he marched into Colin Powell and laid out 'everything' in full detail.""

i dont think we knew that Armitage testified thrice. it's difficult to know what to believe - who would be coming to armitage's defence? wilkerson? powell? scowcroft? grossman? woodward?

* clemons:

"I felt that these other insider perspectives are important as they are so uniformly consistent that Inman's claims are wrong, that Armitage made mistakes and immediately owned up to them, that Armitage has been completely forthcoming in the investigation, and that Karl Rove remains a prime indictment target for Patrick Fitzgerald."

* emptywheel:

"So I don't think this Inman revelation offers us much new, beyond the possibility that Armitage has admitted to being Woodward's and Novak's source to his associates. We have known for some time that Armitage was likely Mr. X. But that doesn't tell us a damn thing about what Patrick Fitzgerald thinks about that fact."

there's much more in the comments section there as always (enough to make me dizzy)

* and in some intriguing news in london:

"A backbench MP is to investigate the "unanswered questions" from the official inquiry into the death of weapons scientist Dr David Kelly.

The former Liberal Democrat environmental spokesman Norman Baker today revealed his decision to stand down from the shadow cabinet two months ago was based on a quest to establish the "truth" behind Dr Kelly's death.

Mr Baker said he wanted to return to the issue because the 2003 Hutton inquiry had "blatantly failed to get to the bottom of matters"."