Libby indictment a body blow to a struggling White House

The indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, has dealt a body blow to an already-struggling Bush White House.

Until recently, "Scooter" Libby was hardly a household name. But on Friday, when Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald laid out a five-count indictment against the senior official in the CIA leak case, Mr. Libby took his place in the gallery of powerful Washington figures who have landed in legal jeopardy. Just before the federal grand jury's charges were unveiled, he resigned from his White House post.

Libby, of course, may not be found guilty of any of the counts: one for obstruction of justice, two for perjury, and two for making false statements to FBI agents. But for now, his case has put a stain at the heart of the Bush administration, which came to office promising to restore honor and integrity to the White House. By coincidence, the indictment also came during the week in which the 2,000th American died in Iraq - in a case that has fanned the controversy over the administration's rationale for the 2003 invasion.

The news from Mr. Fitzgerald could have been worse. President Bush's political right-hand man, Karl Rove, had been informed he may be indicted, but wasn't. Still, he's not out of the woods yet. Fitzgerald's investigation into the allegedly unauthorized exposure of a CIA agent's identity continues. At his press conference Friday, the special counsel said the "substantial bulk" of the inquiry is finished, though it is unclear where the probe may yet lead.

What is clear is that Washington has its newest example of the old saw, "It's not the crime, it's the coverup." The five counts Libby faces all center on actions that Fitzgerald says interfered with the investigation, not on the core question - whether Libby took part in the "outing" of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

"That is almost always the case in the major Washington scandals," says Paul Rothstein, a law professor at Georgetown University. "It is a big message to Washington officials that if you only would come clean you would probably be OK. It is the lying that creates the crime. And usually there is no underlying crime at all."

Still, legal scholars agreed with Fitzgerald that the charges returned by the grand jury are serious - and Republicans needed look no further than their own statements during President Clinton's legal travails to be reminded about the seriousness of lying under oath. Last Sunday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) of Texas came under fire when she referred dismissively to perjury as a "technicality," and backed off that argument.

"It is a felony; anybody who is facing these kind of charges is in trouble," says Paul Butler, a law professor at George Washington University and former federal prosecutor.

For the five counts, Libby faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines, though if found guilty, he would probably face a much lesser punishment, from probation or house arrest to five years in prison and a fine, legal analysts say. Libby could also avoid a trial by making a plea bargain, but analysts don't see that as likely.

Some analysts say there is the possibility of a presidential pardon. "Ultimately, President Bush is going to pardon Libby anyway, if he is ever convicted, so the bottom line is this may be all for naught," says Joseph diGenova, a Washington lawyer and former US attorney.

Some Republicans focused on the fact that Fitzgerald was unable to secure an indictment for the disclosure of classified data, even though, in his explanation of the case, he made clear that he believes Ms. Plame's employment with the CIA was classified until July 14, 2003. On that date, columnist Robert Novak published a piece referring to her as a CIA operative. One of the remaining mysteries of the case is who originally leaked to Mr. Novak. That person is identified in the indictment only as "Official A."

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