Political 'Untouchables' on Trial in Washington

Jan. 20, 2007 — -- One of the biggest trials Washington has ever seen kicks off this week: Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is accused of lying and obstructing justice.

But Washington observers say the trial is about much more than that.

"This is about power, politics and the media," said Howard Jaffe, a national editor for "Washingtonian" magazine. "It's about who says what to whom, under what circumstances and for what purpose."

The Libby trial is quickly becoming Washington's favorite parlor game, with a juicy plot and a who's who of characters.

"This is the World Series," said George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley, who's also a criminal defense attorney. "This is the closest the city comes to a real organized sport. And everyone is going to be watching. These are the untouchables."

At the top of the witness list is Cheney, Libby's former boss.

"The idea that Dick Cheney would come out of an undisclosed location and sit on a witness stand and answer questions. It's amazing," Turley said.

In addition to Cheney, a whole host of journalists will be paraded through the U.S. district courtroom, including NBC's Tim Russert and the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, as well as an array of politicians.

The plot reads like a whodunnit novel, with the Bush administration at its center.

At the heart of the mystery is the leaking to the media of the name of undercover CIA spy Valerie Plame. The apparent motive was to get back at her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, for challenging the president's claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The man in the middle, Scooter Libby, is charged with lying to FBI investigators and a Grand Jury about how and when he learned Plame's true identity.

Jaffe said the trial gives people outside Washington's beltway a front-row seat to how the game is played in the nation's capital.

"I don't think anyone knows how to play nice. I think this is the way we play," he said. "Negative character assassination is what we do."