7 Bush critics may serve on leak case jury

Seven critics of the Bush administration and the Iraq war were approved as potential jurors in the perjury trial of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby after they said they could set those feelings aside.

But two members of the jury pool were dismissed when they said their strong opposition to the administration might color their deliberations in the CIA leak trial. One said she couldn’t believe any statement by an administration official; the other said President Bush’s policies would be a strike against witnesses from the administration.

Twenty-four potential jurors have been qualified to serve at the trial that will delve into the political scandal that followed the public disclosure of CIA official Valerie Plame’s name in 2003.