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 five-count 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.Libby resigned his White House posts this morning.
In brief remarks before flying to Camp David for the weekend, Bush said he had accepted the resignation and praised Libby as an aide who “worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country.” He called the investigation “serious” and said the process now moves to a new phase, leading to a trial.
