Libby indicted for involvement in CIA leak
Charges of perjury and obstruction of justice after agent's identity published
Tori Moffitt
Issue date: 11/11/05 Section: World
On Oct. 28, after the 22-month long investigation, the grand jury appointed to the CIA leak case indicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's top aid, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Libby resigned his post after the charges were announced.
According to CNN, Libby said in a written statement that he is "confident that at the end of this process I will be completely and totally exonerated."
This CIA leak scandal led to a Department of Justice investigation in 2003 into the possible violation of criminal statutes like the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a political independent, was appointed as special prosecutor to investigate the CIA leak on Dec. 31, 2003.
Fitzgerald said to the Chicago Sun-Times, "I will not end the investigation until I can look anyone in the eye and tell them that we have carried out our responsibility sufficiently to be sure that we've done what we could to make intelligent decisions about when to end the investigation."
According to the Washington Post, Libby's personal notes show that Cheney knew of the CIA officer's work months before her identity was exposed. A former aide told the Washington Post that it was "implausible" that Cheney was involved in the leaking of agent's identity.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Fitzgerald said, "The notion that somehow we should take an obstruction charge less seriously than a leak charge is wrong. Compromising national security information is a very serious matter."
Robert Novak identified Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in a newspaper column on July 14, 2003. In his article, Novak described Plame as "an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction."
It is believed that White House officials illegally leaked Plame's identity in retaliation for public criticisms made by her husband Joseph Wilson IV, a former U.S. Ambassador and war critic, about the Bush administration's case for invading Iraq.
According to CNN, Libby said in a written statement that he is "confident that at the end of this process I will be completely and totally exonerated."
This CIA leak scandal led to a Department of Justice investigation in 2003 into the possible violation of criminal statutes like the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, a political independent, was appointed as special prosecutor to investigate the CIA leak on Dec. 31, 2003.
Fitzgerald said to the Chicago Sun-Times, "I will not end the investigation until I can look anyone in the eye and tell them that we have carried out our responsibility sufficiently to be sure that we've done what we could to make intelligent decisions about when to end the investigation."
According to the Washington Post, Libby's personal notes show that Cheney knew of the CIA officer's work months before her identity was exposed. A former aide told the Washington Post that it was "implausible" that Cheney was involved in the leaking of agent's identity.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Fitzgerald said, "The notion that somehow we should take an obstruction charge less seriously than a leak charge is wrong. Compromising national security information is a very serious matter."
Robert Novak identified Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in a newspaper column on July 14, 2003. In his article, Novak described Plame as "an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction."
It is believed that White House officials illegally leaked Plame's identity in retaliation for public criticisms made by her husband Joseph Wilson IV, a former U.S. Ambassador and war critic, about the Bush administration's case for invading Iraq.