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Letter to the editor

Scooter Libby gets 30 months

The judge says he's unlikely to allow Libby to be remain free during an appeal.

By WASHINGTON POST
Published June 6, 2007

WASHINGTON - The 2 1/2-year sentence imposed on former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Tuesday puts new pressure on President Bush, who may soon confront the choice of triggering a fresh political storm by pardoning a perjurer or letting one of the early architects of his administration head off to prison.

Libby, who served as assistant to the president and chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney until his indictment in late 2005, was ordered to serve 30 months behind bars, pay a $250, 000 fine and serve two years' probation for committing perjury and obstruction of justice in a CIA leak case.

Prosecutors had urged the judge to impose a sentence of 30 to 37 months, saying that Libby, 56, had lied about central matters, impeded a serious investigation and not displayed contrition. Libby had asked for probation and no time in prison.

The judge also indicated that he is inclined to order Libby to begin serving the sentence right away. If Libby were allowed to remain free pending appeals, as occurs in many white-collar criminal cases, the White House might defer the question of a pardon until after the November 2008 elections, when it would be less politically risky.

But U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said in court Tuesday that he doubts Libby has a viable appeal. "I just don't see it, " he said. Therefore, Walton suggested, he would force Libby to report to prison unless his lawyers can change his mind at a hearing next week.

If the defense does not persuade Walton that Libby should remain free, Libby probably would report to federal prison authorities in 45 to 60 days.

White House reaction

Bush has declined to rule out a pardon for Libby but sought to put off a decision. Deputy press secretary Dana Perino said Bush would wait to see what happens at Walton's hearing next week before acting.

Perino said the president "felt terrible for the family." Libby and his wife, Harriet Grant, have two school-age children, a son and a daughter.

Bush has been exceptionally stingy in approving pardons, granting just 113 as of March, nearly an all-time low. As of then, he had not pardoned anyone who had not already served his sentence, though he commuted the sentences of three people.

In a statement, Cheney called Libby "a man of the highest intellect, judgment and personal integrity" and bemoaned the sentence. "The defense has indicated it plans to appeal the conviction in the case. Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man."

The sentencing

A federal jury found Libby guilty in March of four felonies for failing to tell the truth to a federal grand jury and the FBI about the disclosure of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Her husband had accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

Libby was convicted of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements to FBI agents and one count of obstructing justice. He was acquitted of a fifth count.

Libby was the only person charged as part of a three-year investigation that penetrated the top echelons of the White House. His trial revealed how the White House strategically leaked information and used journalists to make its case for war and defend itself from criticism, often through the cloak of anonymity.

No one was charged with the leak itself.

Walton said he was sentencing Libby with a sense of sadness: "I have the highest respect for people who take positions in our government and appreciate tremendously efforts they bring to bear to protect this country."

At the same time, Walton said, "I also think it is important we expect and demand a lot from people who put themselves in those positions. Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course."

Just before Walton pronounced the sentence, Libby briefly appealed to the judge. After thanking Walton for the court's courtesy and kindness during the lengthy proceedings, Libby said: "It is respectfully my hope that the court will consider along with the jury verdict my whole life."

Libby did not apologize and has maintained his innocence.

Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since a group of cases that arose from the Iran-Contra affair of the Reagan era two decades ago.

Though the trial is over, the legal fight over the leak continues. Plame and her husband are suing Libby, Cheney and other senior administration officials, accusing them of violating their privacy rights. A judge is considering whether to dismiss the lawsuit.

Plame also is suing the CIA for holding up publication of her memoir, in which she wants to discuss details about her 20-year career at the intelligence agency. CIA officials say the material she wants to publish is classified.

Information from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and New York Times was used in this report.

Key events that led to Libby's indictment and conviction

A time line of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's role in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name and the following investigation.

Jan. 28, 2003: President Bush asserts in his State of the Union address, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

March 19-20, 2003: The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq begins.

May 6, 2003: New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports that a former ambassador, whom he does not name, had been sent to Niger in 2002 and reported to the CIA and State Department well before Bush's speech that the uranium story was unequivocally wrong and was based on obviously forged documents.

May 29, 2003: Libby asks Marc Grossman, an undersecretary of state, for information about the ambassador's travel to Niger. Grossman later tells Libby that Joseph Wilson was the former ambassador.

June 11 or 12, 2003: Grossman tells Libby that Wilson's wife works at the CIA and that State Department personnel are saying Wilson's wife was involved in planning the trip. A senior CIA officer gives him similar information, as does Vice President Dick Cheney's top press aide, Cathie Martin, who had learned it from CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.

June 11 or 12, 2003: Cheney advises Libby that Wilson's wife works at the CIA.

June 14, 2003: Libby meets with a CIA briefer and discusses "Joe Wilson" and his wife, "Valerie Wilson."

June 23, 2003: Libby meets with New York Times reporter Judith Miller. During the meeting, Miller says, Libby tells her that Wilson's wife might work at a bureau of the CIA. Libby denies saying that.

July 6, 2003: The New York Times publishes an opinion piece by Wilson under the headline "What I Didn't Find in Africa" and he appears on NBC's Meet the Press. Wilson said he doubted Iraq had recently obtained uranium from Niger and thought Cheney's office was told of the results of his trip.

July 7, 2003: Libby meets with then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. Fleischer says Libby tells him that Wilson's wife works at the CIA and that the information is "hush hush." Libby denies that.

July 8, 2003: Libby meets with Miller again. She recalls Libby saying he believes Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Libby denies telling her that.

July 8, 2003: Columnist Robert Novak interviews Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who tells him Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Novak says this was confirmed the next day by White House political adviser Karl Rove.

July 10, 2003: Libby calls NBC newsman Tim Russert to complain about a colleague's news coverage. At the end of the conversation, Libby says, Russert tells him that "all the reporters know" that Wilson's wife works at the CIA. Libby says he was surprised to hear that. Russert denies saying it.

July 12, 2003: Libby speaks to Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and confirms to him that he has heard that Wilson's wife was involved in sending Wilson on the trip. Libby also discusses Wilson's wife and says that she works at the CIA. Libby claims he told Cooper and Miller he only knew about Plame from talking to other reporters.

July 14, 2003: Columnist Novak reports that Wilson's wife is a CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction and that two senior administration officials, whom Novak does not name, said she suggested sending her husband to Niger to investigate the uranium story.

Sept. 26, 2003: A criminal investigation is authorized to determine who leaked Plame's identity to reporters. Disclosing the identity of CIA operatives is illegal.

Oct. 14 and Nov. 26, 2003: Libby is interviewed by FBI agents.

Dec. 30, 2003: U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald is named to head the leak investigation.

January 2004: A grand jury begins investigating possible violations of federal criminal laws.

March 5 and March 24, 2004: Libby testifies before the grand jury. In a tape of his testimony, Libby tells jurors that he forgot about Plame working for the CIA until he heard it from Russert. Anything he told reporters, he says, was just chatter passed on from that conversation.

Oct. 28, 2005: Libby is indicted on five counts: obstruction of justice and two counts each of false statement and two counts of perjury.

March 6, 2007: Jurors return guilty verdicts on charges of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI. A not guilty verdict was returned on one count of lying to an FBI agent.

June 5, 2007: Libby is sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.

[Last modified June 6, 2007, 00:33:52]