From the Washington Post, comes the news we’ve been waiting for all day.
A federal grand jury today indicted Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, after a two-year investigation into the leak of a CIA agent’s identity but spared — at least for now –President Bush’s top political strategist, Karl Rove.
Libby was indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The indictment charged that he gave misleading information to the grand jury, allegedly lying about information he discussed with three news reporters. It alleged that he committed perjury before the grand jury in March 2004 and that he also lied to FBI agents investigating the case.
In other words, like Martha Stewart, Libby was indicted for lying, not for the underlying act being investigated. This seems to be a common theme in Washington scandals; people get in trouble more often for covering something up then for what they were actually covering up.
Libby essentially was charged with lying to protect his boss, the vice president. He testified that he learned of the identity of the CIA agent in question, Valerie Plame, from reporters. But evidence emerged indicating that he actually learned Plame’s name and her role in the CIA from Cheney. The evidence reportedly includes notes Libby took in a June 12, 2003, meeting with Cheney.
Interesting. Whether any of this will blow back on to Cheney is unclear. There has been some speculation that this scandal could lead Cheney to resign before 2009, but that seems highly unlikely.
Another two-term Presidency, another second term marked by scandal. I’m beginning to think that the Confederacy had a good idea when they limited their President to a single six-year term.
Update: Not surprisingly, its being reported that Libbey has resigned as Cheney’s Chief of Staff.
Update # 2: Here is the text of a statement by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, with my emphasis added:
?These are very serious charges. They suggest that a senior White House aide put politics ahead of our national security and the rule of law.
?This case is bigger than the leak of highly classified information. It is about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president.
?It’s now time for President Bush to lead and answer the very serious questions raised by this investigation. The American people have already paid too steep a price as a result of misconduct at the White House, and they deserve better.?
This is how the Democrats, and, most likely, the MSM, are going to try to characterize this story. Its a variation of the “Bush Lied, People Died” chant you hear at anti-war protests. The ability of this version of the story to take hold in the minds of the public should not be discounted. The media is certainly going to help it along, and it appears that the Democrats are going to hammer at it from now on. Whether that leads to something bigger, such as Congressional investigations similar to the days of Iran-Contra (which is unlikely as long as the GOP controls Congress), only time will tell.
Update #3: Here’s Patrick Fitzgerald’s response to Harry Reid:
Q: Terry Moran…There are some who see this is vindication of their views on the war. Is it?
A: This indictment is not about the war. Not about the propriety of the war. This is stripped of that debate and focused on a narrow transaction…they will be frustrated and not good for process and fairness of trial.
H/T: Michelle Malkin who live-blogged the press conference.
Technorati Tags: PlameGate Valerie Plame CIA leak
