At Libby's trial, Special
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has shown that Libby lied
about leaking undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame's
identity in 2003 because Cheney's office wanted to
discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C.
Wilson IV, who was a strong public critic of the
administration's decision to go to war in Iraq.
Wilson had traveled to Niger in
February 2002 on a CIA-sponsored mission to investigate
allegations that Saddam Hussein's regime had attempted
to procure weapons-grade uranium from the African
nation. Wilson reported to the CIA that from what he
could learn the allegations were almost certainly untrue.
In a July 6, 2003, op-ed in The New York Times, Wilson
charged that the Bush administration had "twisted"
intelligence information when it cited the alleged
Niger-Iraq connection in the president's State of Union
address earlier that year.
As one part of an effort to
counter Wilson's allegations and to discredit him, Libby
and other Bush administration officials told reporters
that Wilson's wife selected him to go on the CIA
mission, suggesting nepotism.
Libby's trial has also brought
Cheney's role to center stage. According to evidence and
testimony, Cheney selectively leaked and declassified
intelligence information to bolster the administration's
case for war and later to defend against charges that he
had misrepresented prewar intelligence.
Even former Senate Intelligence
Committee Chairman Bob Graham has stated:
"It's hard to believe that the
chief of staff to the vice president was acting as a
rogue agent. What we have learned from the trial
validates the suspicion that Libby was not just
operating as a lone ranger. He was carrying out what the
vice president wanted him to do, which was to besmirch
Joe Wilson. I think Libby has been a conspirator in one
of the most reprehensible and damaging breaches of
American security in modern history."
However this will all seemingly
go down the memory hole with Libby's conviction and
Cheney will face no recrimination.
White House official Libby
guilty
A former key White House official, Lewis Libby, has
been found guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury.
Libby, ex-chief of staff to
Vice-President Dick Cheney, faces a prison term of up to
25 years. He will be sentenced in June.
He was accused of lying to the
FBI and a grand jury over revelations about CIA agent
Valerie Plame's identity.
Libby's lawyer said he was "very
disappointed" at the verdict, and would ask for a new
trial, or would appeal.
In a statement shortly after
the verdict was announced, Mr Cheney expressed his deep
disappointment, saying he was "saddened" for Libby's
family.
Libby, who goes by the nickname
"Scooter", was found guilty on four out of five counts.
He was acquitted on one count of lying to the FBI.
'Honest lapses'
Critics claimed the White House
had deliberately leaked Ms Plame's identity to ruin her
career. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson,
had publicly cast doubt on the Bush administration's
case for going to war in Iraq.
It can be a crime to reveal the
identity of an undercover CIA agent.
The alleged cover-up, rather
than the leak itself, was the subject of the trial.
Libby told FBI investigators
and a grand jury investigating the leak of Ms Plame's
name, that he had learned of her identity as a CIA agent
from reporters.
However, several people
testified that he discussed her identity before the date
he said he learned of it.
"He claims he forgot nine
conversations with eight people over a four-week period,"
prosecution lawyer Peter Zeidenberg said in his closing
statement.
The defence maintained that
Libby's false statements were the results of honest
lapses in memory by a man tasked with extraordinary
responsibility.
"He was bombarded with a
blizzard of information. Those briefings would make your
toes curl," defence lawyer Theodore Wells said.
The defence also argued that
Libby was a scapegoat for the misdeeds of other White
House players, like President Bush's political
strategist Karl Rove.
Bush 'saddened'
After the verdict, and standing
beside his client, who remains free until sentencing, Mr
Wells said: "We have every confidence that ultimately Mr
Libby will be vindicated.
"We believe he is totally
innocent, and did not do anything wrong."
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald
said he was "gratified" by the verdict, but that it was
"sad" that "we had a high-level official... who
obstructed justice and lied under oath".
US President George W Bush "said
that he respected the jury's verdict. He said he was
saddened for Scooter Libby and his family," said White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
But Senate majority leader
Harry Reid said: "I welcome the jury's verdict. It's
about time someone in the Bush administration has been
held accountable for the campaign to manipulate
intelligence and discredit war critics."
A member of the jury, Denis
Collins, said although jurors decided Libby was guilty
they also had a "tremendous amount of sympathy" for him,
and thought he might just be "the fall guy".
"Where's Rove?" he asked,
referring to Mr Bush's top aide.
