A correct sentence for Libby

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published June 6, 2007

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sent the right message Tuesday in sentencing I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, to 30 months in prison for lying and obstructing an investigation into the outing of a CIA agent whose husband became an early and outspoken critic of the Iraq war. The American people may have to wait until the key players drift away and write their memoirs to learn the full truth about this sorry episode, but the sentence affirms the principle that no one, not even a senior White House official, is above the law.

Libby was convicted March 6 of obstructing justice and making false statements to the FBI and a federal grand jury in the investigation of the news leak that outed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. The leak came only days after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, published an op-ed piece in 2003 accusing the Bush administration of hyping the case for attacking Iraq. Though no one was prosecuted for actually leaking her name, the investigation revealed the incestuous relationship between Washington's political and the journalistic elite, and the lengths to which the Bush administration went to try to discredit critics of its Iraq policy.

The prison sentence and the $250, 000 fine say two things: Lying under oath is a serious threat to our system of justice, and a public servant's first loyalty is to the American people, not to his boss. Though Libby was widely lauded for his public service and viewed by many as the administration's fall guy, the judge was right that Libby had to account for his own misconduct.

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of the nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem, " the judge told Libby.

We may not know the whole story, but we do know that Libby lied to federal investigators, a crime that should never go unpunished.

[Last modified June 6, 2007, 00:41:48]