KEY POINTS:
A jury adjourned after its first day of deliberations yesterday without deciding whether to convict former vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby of obstructing an investigation tied to the Iraq war.
The jury of 12 is considering whether Dick Cheney's former chief of staff lied to investigators as they sought to determine who leaked the identity of CIA analyst Valerie Plame in 2003 after her husband accused the Bush Administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case for war.
Libby is charged with two counts of perjury, two counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice.
He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines. Nobody has been charged with intentionally blowing Plame's cover.
Libby's attorneys say he did not lie to the FBI and a grand jury but simply could not accurately recall conversations about Plame.
In four weeks of testimony, jurors heard Government officials and journalists describe how Libby sought information on Plame and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, then passed it to reporters.
Libby says he first heard about Plame from Cheney in June 2003, but forgot about her until a conversation with NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert the following month jogged his memory.
- REUTERS
