CIA Leak Trial Moves to Jury Deliberation

Feb. 20, 2007 — -- A jury of eight women and four men has gone into deliberation in the perjury trial of former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The jury must reach a unanimous verdict on the five counts against Libby.

In the closing arguments of the month-long perjury and obstruction of justice trial of the former White House adviser, prosecutors said Libby knowingly lied in the 2003 CIA investigation over the leaked identity of officer Valerie Wilson because he feared criminal charges and losing his job.

Formerly the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby told agents he had learned Wilson's identity from Cheney, forgot it, and learned it a month later from NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert.

The defense argued that a Libby conviction would be unfair, citing the spotty memories of those who took the witness stand and casting doubt on the prosecution's case that Libby lied.

While Libby is not charged with leaking Valerie Wilson's CIA employment, he has been the only individual charged in the investigation, which was launched after her name was published by columnist Robert Novak.

Squaring off before the defense one final time in the trial, Deputy Special Counsel Peter Zeidenberg portrayed Libby as consumed with finding out as much as he could about Valerie Wilson's husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an outspoken Iraq War critic who openly criticized the Bush administration for using faulty prewar intelligence leading into the war in Iraq.

"It's simply not credible to believe he would forget this information about Wilson's wife," Zeidenberg said. "It's ludicrous."

Using a flow chart, Zeidenberg illustrated the line of Bush administration officials who testified to disclosing Valerie Wilson's identity to Libby, and others, like then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and New York Times journalist Judith Miller, who said they learned Wilson's identity from Libby.

Zeidenberg detailed Libby's conversations with nine individuals, including Cheney, as well as senior CIA and State Department officials, about CIA employee Valerie Wilson, and charges that Liddy lied to the FBI and a federal grand jury when he said that he first learned her identity from Russert.