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Politics

Both sides sum up case in Libby trial

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 21, 2007

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff lied to investigators about his role in leaking a CIA officer's identity in order to keep his job and protect the White House from political embarrassment, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in the closing arguments of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said it was no coincidence that Bush administration colleagues and reporters recalled Libby as intensely focused on undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame early in the summer of 2003, as her husband was publicly challenging the White House's rationale for going to war in Iraq.

"This is something important, something he was focused on, something he was angry about," Fitzgerald said.

Libby "told a dumb lie and got caught" when leak investigators refused to go away, Fitzgerald said.

But two defense attorneys argued that Libby was a harried and hardworking public servant who was guilty only of forgetfulness about a relatively insignificant matter given his pressure-cooker job.

In impassioned, and at times disjointed arguments, the defense lawyers drew attention to numerous witnesses who had faulty or questionable memories and conflicting recollections. They said it was unfair to assume that the witnesses had made honest mistakes but that Libby's untruths were deliberate.

"If you're not sure, that's not guilty," attorney Theodore Wells said.

Libby is charged with five felonies: two counts of lying to FBI agents, two counts of perjuring himself in grand jury testimony and one count of obstructing the federal investigation into whether Bush administration officials illegally leaked classified information by disclosing Plame's identity to reporters.

Libby has pleaded not guilty, contending he inaccurately remembered conversations that he recounted to FBI agents and a grand jury. No one is charged with the leak itself.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations before noon today.

[Last modified February 21, 2007, 00:01:16]