Is This Just a Reference to Libby’s Harrassment?

A lot of folks have noted Tweety’s latest chirping.

Chris Matthews had barely finished praising hiscolleagues at the 10th anniversary party for his “Hardball” showThursday night in Washington, D.C. when his remarks turned politicaland pointed, even suggesting that the Bush administration had "finallybeen caught in their criminality."

In front of an audience that included such notables as Alan Greenspan, Rep. Patrick Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy,Matthews began his remarks by declaring that he wanted to "make somenews" and he certainly didn’t disappoint. After praising the draftersof the First Amendment for allowing him to make a living, he outlinedwhat he said was the fundamental difference between the Bush andClinton administrations.

The Clinton camp, he said, never put pressure on his bosses to silence him.

“Not so this crowd,” he added, explaining that Bush White House officials — especially those from Vice President Cheney‘soffice — called MSNBC brass to complain about the content of his showand attempted to influence its editorial content. "They will notsilence me!" Matthews declared.

"They’ve finally been caught in their criminality," Matthews continued,although he did not specify the exact criminal behavior to which hereferred.

This certainly deserves a follow-up. But on its face, Matthews may be referring to nothing more than Libby’s calls to Tim Russert to tell him Matthews must be an anti-Semite for reporting that Cheney and Libby had known the Niger story was false before the 2003 SOTU. After all, Libby called Russert (VP of News) and probably MSNBC’s President. And complained about Matthews’ content. And subsequent to that, Libby (at least) was found guilty of lying about that conversation.

Which is a lot different than getting "caught" for outing Valerie Wilson. But I suppose in Matthews’ mind it amounts to being caught.