Chris Huhne's wife revealed she had taken his speeding points to the press in revenge for his affair with another woman, a court has heard.
Vicky Pryce was warned by a journalist that the revelation would inflict "maximum and perhaps fatal damage" on the senior Liberal Democrat.
But the economist and mother-of-three replied: "I have no doubt as I definitely want to nail him. More than ever actually and I would like to do it soon."
The declaration was contained in an email between Pryce, a former government adviser, and Isabel Oakeshott, a reporter for The Sunday Times.
Their exchanges before the story broke were revealed on the first day of Pryce's trial at Southwark Crown Court in London.
The case went ahead 24 hours after Huhne pleaded guilty to lying to police about the speeding offence, which was committed in 2003.
After repeated denials, the former energy secretary finally admitted his then wife had taken the points for him so he could avoid prosecution.
Huhne, who resigned as an MP after switching his plea to guilty, was warned he faces a likely prison sentence.
Pryce denies perverting the course of justice, claiming she was coerced into taking the points, and is now being tried alone.
Chris Huhne with his girlfriend Carina Trimingham Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC said the points swap only came to light a decade later because she wanted to ruin her former husband's career.
The pair had been married for 26 years when Huhne left her in 2010 for PR consultant Carina Trimingham after his affair was rumbled by the press.
Pryce was told the bombshell news at half-time as she watched a World Cup football match, with Huhne saying they had "30 minutes to kill the story".
A year later, in March 2011, she tipped off the Sunday Times and started considering the best way to destroy her ex.
Ms Oakeshott recommended several pieces including a front page story and news features.
"This is what I strongly recommend you do, given your dual objectives of bringing Chris down ... without seriously damaging your own reputation in the process," she said.
She later warned about the risk of criminal proceedings, after which Pryce wrote: "I would need some reassurance that it would bring Chris down."
Ms Oakeshott replied: "The bottom line is that this story will bring Chris down if you are prepared to go on the record, with the minor risk this carries.
"I think you can make yourself out to be very much the honourable one, saying it has very much been on your conscience ever since, saying you knew it was wrong but you were bullied into it."
The jury heard how Pryce, helped by the Sunday Times, recorded phone calls as they tried to elicit a confession from Huhne.
"Mr Huhne did not fall for it. He denied repeatedly the suggestion that he had asked her to take any points and said that it was all ridiculous," the court heard.
"You might come to the conclusion that these telephone calls are two manipulative people trying unsuccessfully to manipulate each other."
Mr Edis told the court that the marital coercion defence could only apply if Pryce was made to feel that she had no choice but to take the points.
He said the jury would have to consider whether, in 2003, she was "the kind of person who is unable to stand up to her husband" or was a "manipulative woman who is very capable of making up her own mind".
"From the emails, she is certainly quite a subtle, clever person," he said.
He pointed out that, in 2003, Pryce was a very senior civil servant and an economist with a good career in her own right who was free to support herself if her marriage ended.
The trial continues ...
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