Cheney aide expected to plead not guilty

Lewis Libby

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, Lewis Libby, was expected to plead not guilty yesterday to charges stemming from the CIA leak probe, raising the specter of a trial that could keep the spotlight on the administration's case for war in Iraq.

Libby resigned last week as Cheney's longtime chief of staff after he was indicted for obstructing justice, perjury and lying in the two-year probe into the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Cheney and other top White House officials could be called to testify in any trial. Libby faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Plame's identity was leaked to the media in July 2003 after her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.

At Libby's arraignment, scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), the federal judge handling the case, Reggie Walton, could set a schedule for the filing of motions and possibly a trial date.

Before any trial, Libby could still try to cut a deal with special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on lesser charges, lawyers involved in the case said.

President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, was not indicted last Friday. Lawyers involved in the case said Rove remained under investigation and may still be charged.

Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, would neither confirm nor deny any contacts with Fitzgerald since Libby's indictment. Fitzgerald is expected to inform Rove of his decision in coming weeks, lawyers said.

Libby's indictment was a damaging blow to the White House, which was already reeling from the mounting US death toll from the Iraq war, the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and the withdrawal of US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, under fire from Bush's conservative power base.

On the eve of the arraignment, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley praised Libby as "a fine person" and said he would be missed.

Calls for Rove to go

Fitzgerald's investigation showed both Rove and Libby spoke to reporters about Wilson's wife despite initial denials by the White House.

Democrats have called on Bush to fire Rove, and Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi has questioned whether Rove should retain his policy-making role at the White House. The White House has rebuffed calls for a staff overhaul.

The indictment showed Libby began seeking information about Wilson and his wife in late May 2003, some six weeks before Plame was identified publicly in a July 14, 2003, newspaper column by Robert Novak.

Libby, who played a major behind-the-scenes role in building the case for the Iraq war, has promised a vigorous defence.

As part of his strategy, Libby was expected to argue any incorrect information he provided to federal investigators or the grand jury resulted from lapses in memory, rather than intentional lies, according to Libby's lawyer and other attorneys involved in the case.

In addition to dragging top White House officials into a time-consuming legal battle, a public trial could shed light on Cheney's role in the leak case. According to the indictment, Libby learned from Cheney himself on June 12, 2003, that Wilson's wife worked in the CIA's counterproliferation division.

- REUTERS