Libby: Guilty

A federal jury has found I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- the former chief of staff for Vice President Cheney -- guilty of lying and obstructing the investigation into who outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.

In what can only be described as a blow to the White House, the jury found Libby guilty of four of the five charges. The sentencing hearing is set for June; Libby could be sentenced to as much as 30 years in prison. Expect an 11th hour Presidential pardon.

Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s. The conviction focused renewed attention on the Bush administration’s much-criticized handling of weapons of mass destruction intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Libby was convicted on four counts: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of lying to the FBI.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald told the press that the investigation is now over. He said, "It’s sad that we had a situation where a high-level official person who worked in the office of the vice president obstructed justice and lied under oath. We wish that it had not happened, but it did."

The defense stated it will appeal.

Back Story
This verdict is the culmination of more than three years of research (see timeline) following the "outing" of CIA operative Valerie Plame. In February 2002, the CIA sent her husband, Joesph Wilson, to Nigeria, to determine if Iraq had tried to purchase yellowcake uranium from Africa.

Fast-forward to January 2003: As part of the drumbeat leading the country to attack Iraq, President Bush asserted in his state of the union address that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase yellowcake.

In June 2003, the Washington Post published a front-page story that said the CIA had sent a former diplomat to Africa in 2002 to investigate those claims. In July, Wilson stepped out of the closet, onto the editorial page of the New York Times, asserting that "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons programs was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."

Eight days later, columnist Robert Novak outed Valerie Plame (Wilson's wife).

Also, see Scooter Libby & Walter Reed: Democracy Trumps Depravity from Deborah White; After Libby from Andrew Sullivan; Juror Explains Libby Verdict: They Felt He Was 'Fall Guy' from Editor & Publisher; WaPost Live Chat with criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt.

Ongoing coverage/analysis: Firedog Lake - Live Blogging, Talk Left: The Politics of Crime, Crooks & Liars