För tolv minuter sedan rapporterades det att det blev I Lewis "Scooter" Libby som åklagare Fitzgerald valde att sätta åtala för en serie brott, bland annat mened. Libby är rådgivare till vicepresident Dick Cheney. Karl Rove nämndes inte men hans fall ligger säkert fortfarande och puttrar. Det här har varit en svart vecka för Bush. För alla oss som vill att lögnerna som ledde fram till Irak-kriget är det här ett mycket viktigt beslut. För Libby är det förstås en personlig katastrof. Han riskerar enligt BBC, 30 år i fängelse och 1,5 miljoner dollar i böter.Vice presidential adviser I. Lewis "Scooter' Libby Jr. was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.
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l Rove, President Bush's closest adviser, apparently escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status a looming political problem for the White House.
I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, walks out of the West Wing of the White House using crutches Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005, in Washington. Libby and Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, await their fate in the CIA leak probe, after a prosecutor spent three hours before a grand jury that has the power to hand up indictments that could rock the Bush administration. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, walks out of the West Wing of the White House using crutches Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005, in Washington. Libby and Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, await their fate in the CIA leak probe, after a prosecutor spent three hours before a grand jury that has the power to hand up indictments that could rock the Bush administration. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (Pablo Monsivais - AP)
The indictments stem from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.
The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Valerie Plane's identity in 2003 and then told reporters about it. The information was classified.
Any trial would shine a spotlight on the secret deliberations of Bush and his team as they built the case for war against Iraq.
Etiketter: kriget i irak