Jurors convict Libby on four of five charges

‘A callous disregard’
Reaction to the conviction was swift in Congress.

“The testimony unmistakably revealed — at the highest levels of the Bush administration — a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid welcomed the jury’s verdict and urged a pledge from Bush that he would not pardon Libby. Before the trial began, the Justice Department said it had no pardon file active for Libby.

“It’s about time someone in the Bush administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics,” Reid said.

Although Libby was the one convicted, Reid said, “his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney’s role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct.”

White House sidesteps pardon issue
Asked about that, Perino said, “I’m not commenting on a hypothetical situation” and added that “I’m aware of no such request.”

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered a pre-sentencing report be completed by May 15. Judges use such reports to help determine sentences.

Libby faced two counts of perjury, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said he discussed Plame’s name with reporters and, fearing prosecution, made up a story to make those discussions seem innocuous.

Libby’s defense team said he learned about Plame from Cheney, forgot about it, then learned it again a month later from NBC newsman Tim Russert of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Anything he told reporters about Plame, Libby said, was just chatter and rumors, not official government information.

Fitzgerald said that was a lie. But Libby’s defense team had argued that it would be unfair to convict Libby in a case where so many witnesses changed their stories or had memory problems.

FREE VIDEO Libby verdict: What’s next? March 6:  What’s next for Scooter Libby? Is Patrick Fitzgerald done with him? NBC’s David Shuster reports for Countdown. Countdown

Wells said he would ask the court for a new trial by April 13. Such requests are common following criminal convictions.

“Despite our disappointment in the jurors’ verdict, we believe in the American justice system and we believe in the jury system,” Wells told reporters outside the federal courthouse. “We intend to file a motion for a new trial, and if that is denied, we will appeal the conviction. We have every confidence that ultimately Mr. Libby will be exonerated. ... We intend to keep fighting to establish his innocence.”

‘No citizen is above the law’
“We take great comfort that no citizen is above the law,” Wilson said in a conference call with reporters.

Wilson and Plame have sued Libby and Cheney, as well as White House advisor Rove and former State Department official Richard Armitage, in federal court.

Attorneys at the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which brought the lawsuit, also praised the conviction and Fitzgerald’s team.

Acquittal on one count
The jury acquitted Libby of one count of lying to the FBI about his conversation with former Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper.

Said Fitzgerald: “Any lie under oath is serious. We cannot tolerate perjury. The truth is what drives our judicial system. If people don’t come forward and tell truth, we have no hope of making judicial system work.”

During the trial, prosecutors said Libby made up a ludicrous lie to save his job during the CIA leak investigation by telling investigators he’d forgotten Cheney told him about the CIA status of Wilson’s wife. Cheney had passed the information to Libby more than a month before Plame’s identity was outed by conservative columnist Robert Novak.

Libby told investigators he learned of Plame’s identity from NBC’s Tim Russert, saying that he’d forgotten at the time he talked to the reporter that he’d been told of it earlier by Cheney.

Russert testified he never told Libby about Wilson’s wife, and he underwent a grueling cross-examination as Libby’s legal team tried to discredit Russert’s testimony.

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