Fitzgerald investigation continuing with a new grand jury
Harry Hope
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen reports the indictment "makes it
very likely, almost a certainty" that the vice president will have to
testify in the criminal trial against Libby.
Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, said the investigation will
continue but with a new grand jury.
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Top Cheney Aide Indicted
Oct 28, 2005
Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a
false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.
President Bush's top political adviser Karl Rove escaped charges for
the time being but will remain under investigation by Special Counsel
Patrick Fitzgerald.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Friday that any White House
staffer under indictment was expected to resign.
The indictments stem from a two-year investigation into whether Rove,
Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the
identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to
investigators.
Plame's husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, was an outspoken critic of
the Iraq war who challenged Mr. Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein was
trying to secure nuclear materials.
The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he
learned about Plane's identity in 2003 and then told reporters about
it.
The information was classified.
Libby, 55, is considered Cheney's alter ego, a staunch conservative
who pushed for war with Iraq.
Any trial of Libby would be likely to shine a spotlight on Cheney and
the vice president's role in building a case for war against Iraq.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen reports the indictment "makes it
very likely, almost a certainty" that the vice president will have to
testify in the criminal trial against Libby.
Though he has worked in relative obscurity, Libby is one of the most
influential advisers in the West Wing because of his proximity to
Cheney, one of the most powerful vice presidents in the nation's
history.
Fitzgerald scheduled a news conference to discuss the case for 2 p.m.
EDT and CBSNews.Com will provide a live Webcast.
Rove's lawyer said he was told by the prosecutor's office that
investigators had "made no decision about whether or not to bring
charges" and would continue their probe into Rove's conduct.
Fitzgerald's spokesman, Randall Samborn, said the investigation will
continue but with a new grand jury.
The term of the current grand jury cannot be extended beyond today.
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 Mr. 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 legal problems stem in part from the fact that he failed
initially to disclose to prosecutors a conversation in which he told
Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper that Plame worked for the CIA.
CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports Rove's
lawyers are working to convince the prosecutor that he never intended
to mislead the grand jury when he failed to remember the conversation
with Cooper.
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Gonna get real interesting.
Harry