White House rocked by lies

2005-10-28 23:07

Washington - A federal grand jury dramatically charged top White House aide I Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Friday with lying to investigators in a CIA leak probe that has rocked President George W Bush's administration.

Libby, 55, announced his resignation as chief of staff to vice-president Dick Cheney soon after he was charged in a case which has raised new questions over the United States's justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Libby faces one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements to investigators and the grand jury looking into the leaking of the identity of a covert CIA agent.

He faces up to 30 years in jail and a $1.25m fine if convicted on all five counts laid by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

A blow for Bush

Bush's political guru Karl Rove, also in Fitzgerald's sights during a two year probe, was not indicted, but will remain under investigation, his lawyer said.

"When citizens testify before grand juries, they are required to tell the truth," Fitzgerald, who has previously indicted Osama bin Laden, politicians and mobsters.

Fitzgerald was tasked with finding out whether senior Bush administration officials broke the law by knowingly exposing CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson had claimed her cover was blown to discredit him, after he questioned whether the Bush administration had "twisted" intelligence in the push to war with Iraq.

The indictment was a severe blow to Bush after the defeat of his Supreme Court pick Harriet Miers and his struggles with high gasoline prices, falling approval ratings and the fallout from Hurricane Katrina.

Bush said the proceedings were "serious" but praised Libby, saying "Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country. He served the vice president and me through extraordinary times in our nation's history."

But the president and Cheney emphasised that guilt had not yet been proven.

Cheney said Libby would fight the charges and had only accepted his resignation with "deep regret".

Fitzgerald said in a statement that Libby allegedly lied to FBI agents who interviewed him on October 14 and November 26 2003 and to the grand jury in March 2004.

The charges said Libby obstructed the course of justice by impeding the grand jury investigation into the unauthorised disclosure of Plame's identity.

He was not however charged with knowingly blowing the cover of Plame, the alleged offence which triggered Fitzgerald's investigation.

Fitzgerald said that neither anti nor pro-war activists should draw any comfort from his probe.

"This indictment is not about the war," he said.

The indictment said it was Cheney himself who told Libby about Plame which later formed the basis of his alleged lies to the grand jury.

- AFP