'Scooter' Libby guilty of lying over CIA leak case
Updated on 06 March 2007
Ex-White House aide convicted of perjury and obstructing justice in case tied to the Iraq War.
All smiles on the way in - but Lewis Scooter Libby hearing just moments later he's a guilty man - and in the most uncompromising terms.
This trial about more than the outing of a CIA agents identity - but a cypher for an administration accused of manipualting intelligence to go to war and going to any length to discredit critics.
And one of it's most senior officials - the former chief of staff to the Vice President no less - guilty of intentionally misleading both the FBI and a grand jury.
His lawyer Ted Wills said his client would appeal and they were confident of vindication.
The background
Guilty of lying, perjury and obstructing justice. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - a former aide to US Vice President Dick Cheney - has been convicted for his role in a CIA leak case tied to the Iraq war and could be jailed for up to 25 years. He was found guilty of lying to investigators who were trying to find out how CIA analyst Valerie Plame's name was leaked to the media.
Ms Plame is married to Joe Wilson, a former ambassador who criticised the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the Iraq war.
Vindication not a word often used these days about the Bush administration - ever since the President infamously claimed Iraq was trying to buy nuclear fuel from Niger.
The CIA had sent Ambassador Joe Wilson to check out these claims - but he turned out to be a vocal critic of the war, later that summer writing about what he didn't find in Africa.
Plame's cover blown, Ambassador Wilson claimed it was retribution for criticising Bush's case for war.
A week later columnist Bob Novak revealed the person who'd sent him was in fact his wife - CIA agent Valerie Plame. Her cover blown, Wilson claimed it was retribution for criticising Bush's case for war.
No one has been was charged with leaking her name on purpose - but Libby became the face of a system accused.
With the President's approval ratings once again at rock bottom, the big question of course is how will this verdict affect the White House - another blow to its credibility as it struggles to garner political support for the ongoing war in Iraq.
Democrats already warning Bush off the Presidential get out clause - offering Libby a pardon.
