Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald speaks during a press conference regarding the CIA leak criminal investigation at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Oct. 28, 2005. I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice.

The ASSociated Press has Charges Don’t Directly Address CIA Leak.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s first charges in the White House leak case don’t get to the heart of his two-year probe: the leak.

The indictment of vice presidential adviser I. Lewis “Scooter’ Libby Jr. is built on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury — and it will rest primarily on testimony from a handful of Washington reporters.

The charges in the Friday indictment are similar to the ones used inMartha Stewart’s criminal case. She was convicted last year for obstructing justice and lying about why she sold ImClone Systems stock, just before a negative government decision on an ImClone drug. She served a five-month prison term followed by home confinement.

“Very rarely do obstruction of justice cases and perjury cases come as neatly tied as Martha Stewart’s … it is by no means a slam dunk,” said Viet Dinh, a law professor at Georgetown University and former Justice Department lawyer in the Bush administration.

The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Libby “knowingly and willfully” made false statements and lied to the grand jury. He could claim that any misstatements were not intentional.

22 Months and over $70 million…… worth it?

I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, testifies on Capitol Hill in this March 1, 2001 file photo. Libby was indicted Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.

The ASSociated Press has Cheney Adviser Resigns After Indictment

The vice president’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that will throw a spotlight onPresident Bush’s push to war.

Libby, 55, resigned and left the White House.

Friday’s charges stemmed 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 officer Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.

The grand jury indictment charged Libby with one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury and two false statement counts. If convicted on all five, he could face as much as 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.

Cheney is mentioned by name in the 22-page indictment and several officials are identified by title, but no one besides Libby was charged.

In each of the counts, the basic allegation against Libby is that he lied to investigators or Fitzgerald’s grand jury about his conversations with reporters. He is not accused of purposely revealing the identity of a covert officer, the potential charge that Fitzgerald was initially appointed to investigate.

22 Months and $70 million for 5 B.S. charges.

N.B. He is not accused of purposely revealing the identity of a covert officer, the potential charge that Fitzgerald was initially appointed to investigate.

First Martha Stewart and now this.

The federal justice system is broken.

Flap is listening to Patrick Fitzgerald on Fox News.

Flap’s impression of Fitzpatrick is that he is a self-righteous prosecutor with a BIG HEAD from previous case who is out of control.

His career as a United States Attorney should be over.

He has wasted taxpayers money and did NOT prove a case.

And some heads are going to ROLL at the CIA……

Blah Blah Fitzgerald is blabbing on about who told what to whom and when……. Who Cares? But then again he spent over $70 million on this investigation.

Damn this guy is a self-righteous idiot…..the United States takes its laws serious…….GAG ME PLEASE….

Now he is taking questions… and throwing out baseball analogies regarding whether the investigation continues……

Fitzgerald is throwing out charges but he did NOT indict Libby on them…….Guilt by innuendo……

Reporters are asking why someone was not charged with the LEAK???? Fitzpatrick is NOT answering but using the law as an excuse for not explaining….. refusing to comment.

Fitzpatrick wants people to take a deep breath……. but something SMELLS here………

The average person does not understand about the Grand Jury process………Oh Please!

Was it worth keeping Judy Miller in jail? didn’t want to pick a fight with the New York Times and did not want a First Amendment showdown…… blah blah blah…… wanted to make sure we needed reporter testimony…..

Other leakers? Cannot go beyond the four corners of the indictment….

Fitzgerald is not saying Valerie Plame was covert…… not charging Libby with that.

The news conference is continuing…….$70 million worth of prosecutorial excess…….

Libby indicted on obstruction of justice, false statment and perjury charges…

Links to follow.

Update #1

The ASSociated Press has that Libby has resigned as Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney.

I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, is driven to work from his home in McLean, Virginia, October 28, 2005.

Reuters has Charges expected against Libby.

A federal grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative’s identity met in secret on Friday and was expected to bring criminal charges against Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and possibly other White House officials.

But special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald informed President George W. Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, that he would not be among those indicted on Friday, although Fitzgerald indicated that Rove would remain under investigation and in legal jeopardy, legal sources said.

Fitzgerald planned to release information about the case at noon EDT and hold a news conference at 2 p.m.

Flap will wait for Fitzgerald’s news conference and release of information on the Department of Justice website before commenting.