News / Politics
“Scooter” Libby Found Guilty on Four of Five Counts
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was found guilty today of four of the five charges he was facing surrounding perjury and obstruction of justice.
Jurors found Libby guilty of obstruction of justice when he deliberately deceived a grand jury investigating the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA operative. Jurors also found Libby guilty of making false statements to FBI agents concerning a conversation he had with NBC newsman Tim Russert. That led to a guilty verdict when he lied in court about his conversation with Russert. Libby was then found guilty of another count of perjury for lying in court about conversations he had with other reporters.
The trial centered on the leak of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA operative. While Libby was not on trial for outing Plame prosecutors in the case asserted that Libby revealed the sensitive information as a means of attacking her husband, Joseph Wilson, for his outspoken criticism of the Bush administrations handling of intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq.
Libby faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and could pay up to $1 million in fines.
