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LIBBY CHARGED WITH PERJURY, OBSTRUCTION, RESIGNS 29 October 2005 The office of the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, investigating the leaking of the classified identity of an undercover CIA agent, announced Friday a 5-count indictment [PDF] against Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby. Libby was charged on 1 count of obstruction of justice, 2 counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury. Mr Libby resigned from his White House post in the office of the vice president, after the indictment was announced. Speculation that the president's deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, would also face charges were answered with the announcement that he would not be charged simultaneously with Libby, but that the investigation into his involvement in leaking the information, and in the alleged cover-up of that process, will continue. President Bush expressed "sadness" at learning of the indictment and resignation of his vice president's top adviser, but stressed, along with other administration sources, that Mr Libby should be treated as "innocent until proven guilty", as the law requires. Though the office of the vice president has urged against a rush to judgement, it is widely believed Mr Cheney will be called to testify under oath about conversations in which, according to notes taken by Mr Libby in June 2003, he revealed Valerie Plame was a CIA operative. Mr Cheney has not been required to give sworn testimony to date, having been "interviewed" alongside the president in an unsworn session with prosecutors. It is also thought the president could be called to testify, perhaps not in the trial of Mr Libby, but certainly in the event that his deputy chief of staff, Mr Rove, were also indicted in connection with the case. If convicted, Mr Libby could face up to $1.25 million in fines and up to 30 years in prison. [For more: SFC]
BACKGROUND: The New York Times is reporting that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has discovered, in notes from a previously unknown conversation between VP Dick Cheney and his chief of staff I. Lewis Libby, that Cheney informed Libby of the status of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. [Full Story] WHAT THE LAW SAYS ABOUT LEAKING COVERT OP INFO Supporters of Karl Rove, spokespeople for the Republican party and talking points issued to party members, press and pundits have been eagerly asserting that Karl Rove violated no law when he revealed that Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was an "agency" operative, because he did not state her name. In fact, this is plainly false: the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, the applicable federal law, states that revealing "any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not |
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