CIA Leak Trial Jury in Deliberations

Feb. 21, 2007 — -- A jury of eight women and four men went into deliberations in the perjury trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Wednesday morning. Libby is charged with obstruction of justice and perjury for allegedly lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury about how he learned about CIA officer Valerie Wilson.

Judge Reggie Walton told the jury members that they must be unanimous in their decision. Walton explained the charges the government has alleged in the case, as well as the definition of reasonable doubt, telling them, "If you cannot say you are firmly convinced by the evidence, you have a reasonable doubt."

The jury is considering five charges against Libby: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements to the FBI, and two counts of perjury.

Valerie Wilson's CIA employment was published by columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003, days after her husband criticized the Bush administration's use of intelligence leading to the war in Iraq.

A criminal investigation began in September 2003 to determine if the leaking of her CIA job was a crime. The charges against Libby don't include leaking Wilson's identity, but allegedly lying about how he learned about her CIA employment. Prosecutors charged Libby, the only person indicted in the leak investigation, on October 28, 2005, for allegedly lying to investigators and a federal grand jury that he was told about Wilson's CIA employment by Tim Russert of NBC News.

In closing arguments of the month-long trial, prosecutors said Libby knowingly lied during the investigation because he feared criminal charges and losing his job.

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.

Squaring off against 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, 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 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'd learned Wilson's identity from Libby.