Top Cheney Aide Indicted; CIA Leak Inquiry Continues

Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, one of the most trusted and powerful aides in the White House, was indicted Friday on felony charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury in a case that has revived the debate over President Bush’s reasons for invading Iraq.

Karl Rove, Bush’s closest political advisor, was not indicted in the grand jury investigation, which focused on the unmasking of an undercover CIA officer. But prosecutors told Rove’s lawyer that they had not decided whether to bring charges against the influential aide.

Libby resigned Friday and left the White House, marking the latest blow to an administration reeling from a range of political setbacks, including the collapse Thursday of efforts to put a Bush confidant on the Supreme Court.

The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying to FBI agents and to a grand jury investigating who in mid-2003 disclosed to journalists the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Although Libby was not directly charged in the leak itself -- the act that prompted the investigation -- Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald said the indictment was nonetheless grave.

“This is a very serious matter,” Fitzgerald said at a news conference, marking his first comments about a case that has preoccupied Washington for months. “Compromising national security information is a very serious matter.”

The 22-month inquiry has offered a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the capital’s most important power centers: the vice president’s office.

It has shown how senior officials reacted to the growing prominence of Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who claimed first-hand knowledge that the Bush administration had overstated the threat from Iraq’s nuclear weapons program.

In stating its case for attacking Iraq, the administration had argued that Saddam Hussein was seeking a nuclear arsenal and possessed other weapons of mass destruction, which invading U.S. forces have not found.

Bush on Friday called Fitzgerald’s investigation “serious” but vowed that his administration would soldier on. “While we are all saddened by today’s news, we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country,” Bush said.

Libby said in a statement: “I am confident that at the end of this process I will be completely and totally exonerated.”

If convicted on all counts, he could face as much as 30 years in prison and a $1.25-million fine.

Fitzgerald said “the bulk of the work in this investigation is concluded,” but he also said he was pursuing outstanding issues. “We’re not quite done, but I don’t want to add to a feverish pitch” of speculation about possible further indictments, Fitzgerald told reporters.

Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, said that Fitzgerald had advised him that “he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges.” He said he felt that the investigation would be resolved fairly quickly, within “weeks, not months.”

That would prolong a painful period of uncertainty about Rove’s future, but many Republicans on Friday expressed relief that Rove had not been indicted.

“Not indicting Rove is hugely helpful -- to Rove and the White House,” said conservative activist Grover Norquist. “Shooting match over: They tried to kill Rove and failed.”

The charges against Libby, a senior aide who has for years been regarded as Cheney’s alter ego, cast an ethical cloud over the White House at a time when Democrats are trying to portray the GOP as a party riddled with corruption and cronyism.

Because the charges arose from an aggressive administration effort to discredit criticism of its rationale for the invasion of Iraq, Democratic officials immediately sought to link Libby’s indictment to a broader critique of the administration and its foreign policy.

“This is far more than an indictment of an individual,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a longtime opponent of the Iraq war. “In effect it’s an indictment of the vicious and devious tactics used by the administration to justify a war we never should have fought.”

The indictment capped one of the most trouble-ridden weeks of the Bush presidency. Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Harriet E. Miers, withdrew under fire from conservative activists who usually form the core of the president’s political base. Early this week, the Pentagon reported that American deaths in the Iraq war had topped 2,000.

The indictment also landed at a difficult time for the GOP as a whole. Party leaders in both the House and Senate are embroiled in ethical and legal troubles of their own. Some Republicans said they hoped that with the indictment now issued and the nomination of Miers withdrawn, Bush could make something of a fresh start, and Republicans might have a chance to regroup.

“They have been dealt a bad hand the last couple months,” said Charles Black, a Republican lobbyist close to the White House. “But now, hopefully, this special prosecutor business is not at the top of the news and they can get back to their agenda, as the president has tried to do this week with speeches on terrorism and Iraq.”

While rumored for weeks, the indictment was still a stunning conclusion in an investigation that has kept Washington on edge for the better part of two years.

The inquiry took Fitzgerald, appointed special counsel by the Justice Department in December 2003, deep into the White House and the Washington power elite. He interviewed dozens of administration figures, as well as prominent Washington journalists, putting one of them, New York Times reporter Judith Miller, in jail for 85 days after she initially refused to answer his questions.

The case has its roots in Bush’s January 2003 State of the Union address, delivered at a time when the president was building a public case for the invasion of Iraq. In the speech, Bush said that the British government had learned that Hussein had sought nuclear materials from Africa.

In May, a New York Times columnist challenged the president’s account, reporting that a former ambassador, whom the newspaper did not name, had been sent to the African country of Niger in 2002 to investigate Iraq’s interest in the nuclear material.

The indictment presents a portrait of Libby moving aggressively in the wake of the Times column to respond to criticism that had the potential to undercut public support for the war in Iraq. It alleges that Libby began to gather information about the former ambassador, who turned out to be Wilson.

Starting in late May 2003, the indictment alleges, Libby held multiple conversations about Wilson and Plame, obtaining information about her CIA affiliation from an official at the State Department, a senior CIA officer and, in a conversation on June 12, 2003, from his boss, the vice president.

Then, on July 6, 2003, the New York Times published an opinion piece by Wilson. It asserted that, based on his trip to Niger on behalf of the CIA, he had concluded that the Bush administration had “twisted” some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program in order to magnify the Iraqi threat.

After Wilson’s op-ed piece appeared, Libby talked about Plame and her employer with two journalists, and at one point he talked with officials during a trip on Air Force Two about how to respond to media inquiries, the indictment says. One of his first moves, according to the indictment, was to tell then-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer about Plame’s CIA connection.

Plame was first identified publicly in an article by syndicated columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003, eight days after Wilson’s op-ed appeared. Novak’s column said that Plame had suggested to the CIA that her husband be selected to make the fact-finding trip to Africa. Wilson and other critics of the administration have claimed that this information was meant to present Wilson’s trip as a boondoggle that could be discounted.

The indictment does not allege that it was Libby who told Novak about Plame and her CIA work. Rather, it says that a senior White House official -- whom sources familiar with the investigation identified as Rove -- held a conversation with Novak “in which Wilson’s wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson’s trip.”

The indictment identifies the senior White House staff member only as “Official A.” It says that Libby talked with this person about the Novak conversation on July 10 or 11, several days before the columnist publicly identified Plame.

The indictment alleges that Libby made false statements to the FBI and the grand jury about his conversations with reporters.

It says that Libby told the FBI and the grand jury that it was Tim Russert of NBC News who first revealed to him that Plame worked at the CIA, and that Libby was surprised to learn that fact from the reporter. “I remember being taken aback by it,” according to an excerpt of his grand jury testimony in the indictment.

Libby also said he had told Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Miller, the New York Times reporter, that he had heard that other reporters were saying that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA, and that he did not know whether this was true. In grand jury testimony, Libby also said he had told Cooper he did not even know Wilson was married, the indictment states.

Fitzgerald said all those assertions to investigators were untrue.

He said Libby had misrepresented his conversations with reporters. In fact, Fitzgerald said, Libby knew from his own inquiries that Plame worked for the CIA.

“At the end of the day, what appears is that Mr. Libby’s story that he was at the tail end of a chain of phone calls, passing on from one reporter what he heard from another, was not true,” Fitzgerald said. “It was false. He was at the beginning of the chain of the phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter, and that he lied about it afterward under oath and repeatedly.”

As a result of Libby’s alleged lies, Fitzgerald said during the press conference, prosecutors have been unable to learn everything they wanted in their probe to determine whether leaking Plame’s CIA affiliation constituted a crime.

Fitzgerald said Libby would be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court in Washington. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. Fitzgerald said that Libby would not be arrested, and that authorities were working with his lawyers to agree on a time that he would surrender.

*

Times staff writers Mary Curtius, Tom Hamburger and Richard Simon contributed to this report.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Players

The indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff followed a federal inquiry into the disclosure of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA operative. The key figures:

--

The couple

Joseph C. Wilson IV, Former U.S. ambassador, husband of Valerie Plame The former diplomat says that on a mission for the CIA, he found little evidence that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. His later public statements challenged the administration’s case for war.

Valerie Plame, CIA operative

She worked as a covert officer on weapons of mass destruction. Her identity became public in Robert Novak’s column on July 14, 2003.

*

The administration

Dick Cheney, Vice president

What they knew: CIA told Cheney about Wilson, his wife and his mission to Niger.

What they did: Discussed Wilson’s wife with his chief of staff in June 2003 but was not Libby’s only source.

What happened: Interviewed by prosecutors; could be called to testify if Libby goes to trial.

--

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff

INDICTED

What they knew: He learned from multiple government sources that Wilson’s wife was in the CIA and may have played a role in his Niger assignment.

What they did: Is alleged to have made false statements to FBI agents and the grand jury about his discussions concerning Plame.

What happened: Indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

--

Karl Rove, White House, deputy chief of staff

What they knew: Learned that Wilson’s wife was a CIA employee.

What they did: Talked to Cooper and Novak about Wilson’s trip and his wife’s possible role.

What happened: Appeared before the grand jury four times but was not indicted. Prosecutors have told his attorney an indictment is still possible.

*

The journalists

Robert Novak, Syndicated columnist, TV commentator

What they knew: Was told by two senior administration sources that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and had a role in her husband’s Niger trip.

What they did: In his column, he identified Plame as a CIA operative.

What happened: His column triggered a special prosecutor’s investigation that resulted in Friday’s indictment.

--

Matthew Cooper Reporter, Time magazine

What they knew: Heard from Rove that Wilson’s wife was responsible for her husband’s mission. Libby told him he’d heard the same.

What they did: Told the grand jury about his conversation with Libby but at first refused to reveal Rove as a source.

What happened: Avoided going to jail for refusing to testify when Rove released him last summer from his promise not to disclose their conversation. He testified.

--

Judith Miller, Reporter, New York Times

What they knew: Discussed Plame in three conversations with Libby.

What they did: She spent nearly three months in jail for refusing to reveal her source.

What happened: She testified in September, after Libby released her from her confidentiality pledge.

*

Sources: U.S. grand jury indictment, Times reporting, Associated Press. Graphics reporting by Cheryl Brownstein-Santiago, Tom Reinken

--

The charges

The five charges against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby carry a total maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines. A look at the charges as outlined in a 22-page indictment:

Count 1: Obstruction of justice

The grand jury charges that Libby did “knowingly and corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice ... by misleading and deceiving the grand jury” about when and how he learned that covert operative Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. He also is accused of misleading the grand jury about how he disclosed that information to the media.

Count 2: False statement

The grand jury charges that Libby “did knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement” in an FBI investigation. Specifically, the indictment says Libby misled FBI agents in response to questions about a conversation with Tim Russert of NBC News in July 2003.

Count 3: False statement

Libby is charged with misleading FBI agents about his July 2003 conversation with reporter Matthew Cooper of Time magazine.

Count 4: Perjury

After taking an oath to testify truthfully, Libby knowingly made a “false material declaration” about his conversation with Russert, the grand jury alleges.

Count 5: Perjury

Also under oath, Libby is accused of knowingly making a “false material declaration” about his conversation with Cooper.

Source: Associated Press