Libby Guilty on Four Counts in CIA Case

This case is far from over. With Libby facing a maximum sentence of 25 years, look for George W. Bush to issue a full pardon before he leaves office. After all, it is the Bush family way to pardon felons that can point the finger back at them.-Babel

WASHINGTON -- I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former White House aide, has been found guilty of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

The verdict was read at 12 noon EST in the courtroom where jurors heard 19 witnesses during the five-week trial. The verdict came on the 10th day of deliberations. The announcement was made by Randall Samborn, a spokesman for special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. Libby faces up to 30 years in prison, although it is expected to be far less because of federal sentencing guidelines.

Libby is being released without bail pending sentencing on June 5. However, defense attoyneys are expected to file for an extension to give them more time to ask for a new trial or to file an appeal.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was the only person charged in the case, which grew out of an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who emerged in mid-2003 as an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's case for the Iraq war.

Fitzgerald says Libby learned about Plame from Cheney and other officials in June 2003 and relayed it to reporters. Libby's defense team argued that Libby recalled his conversations to the best of his ability. Any inaccuracies he made to the FBI or a federal grand jury were the result of a faulty memory, attorneys said.