By: E&P Staff With the release of documents shortly after noon, the federal grand jury probe of the Plame/CIA scandal culminated today with a five-count felony charge for I. Lewis Libby.
The criminal charges were one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury, all related to the Plame case in 2003 and releasing information to reporters.
Libby immediately resigned his post as chief of staff for Vice President Cheney. According to the New York Daily News, his post will be filled by Cheney's chief counsel David Addington.
The details, according to cable news summaries of documents just released: Libby is accused of lying to FBI agents on Oct. 14 and Nov. 26, 2003; committed perjury on March 5 and 24, 2004; and engaged in obstruction of justice by impeding the investigation.
He is accused of lying about conversations he had with reporters Judith Miller, Tim Russert, and Matt Cooper.
The papers state that prior to July 14, 2003, when Robert Novak's column appeared, Valerie Plame Wilson's employment status was classified, and her affiliation with CIA was not common knowledge.
Vice President Cheney, who is Libby's boss, may have to testify in any trial.
Karl Rove escaped indictment Friday in the CIA leak case but remained under investigation. Rove's lawyer said he was told by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's office that investigators would continue their probe into the aide's conduct.
Rove is deputy White House chief of staff and Bush's closest adviser. He told reporters this morning: ?I am going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend."
Putting a brave face on one of the darkest days of his presidency, Bush traveled to Norfolk, Va., to deliver a speech on terrorism. "Thanks for the chance to get out of Washington," he said.
Libby recently emerged as New York Times reporter Judith Miller's key source in this matter.
Fitzgerald, his team of prosecutors and the grand jurors filed out of the grand jury room and headed for the magistrate's room shortly after 11 a.m. EDT. Fitzgerald's office started to release documents about noon, and the special prosecutor scheduled a news conference two hours later.
The Democratic National Committee didn't wait for indictments to pounce on Bush, urging him to delay his weekend trip to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., and confront the case.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) called for Libby to resign "immediately" as he fights these charges. He said it was the president's call on Rove, judging whether he can still do his job.
The lack of an indictment against Rove is a mixed outcome for the administration. It keeps in place the president's top adviser, the architect of his political machine whose fingerprints can be found on virtually every policy that emerges from the White House.
But leaving Rove in legal jeopardy keeps Bush and his team working on problems like the Iraq war, a Supreme Court vacancy and slumping poll ratings beneath a dark cloud of uncertainty.
Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, said, "Mr. Rove will continue to cooperate fully with the special counsel's efforts to complete the investigation. We are confident that when the special counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong."
On July 7, the president told reporters that if anyone in his administration committed a crime in connection with the leak, that person "will no longer work in my administration." Weeks later, he backpedaled from that assertion.
Christopher Wolf, counsel for Ambassador Wilson and his wife, will be making a statement at 3 p.m.
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