Jurors have found the former top aide to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney guilty of four of five counts of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice during an investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's identity.
In Washington Tuesday, Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of lying to a U.S. grand jury and federal investigators trying to determine who exposed the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Plame is married to former diplomat Joseph Wilson, who openly criticized the Bush administration about its reasons for launching the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
A White House spokeswoman says President Bush respects the guilty verdict, but is saddened for Libby and his family.
In a statement, the vice president expressed similar sentiments, saying he was very disappointed with the verdict. Cheney said that because Libby's legal team intends to seek a new trial, he will have no further comment until the proceedings are concluded.
Chief Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said it is sad that a high-level official who worked for the vice president lied and obstructed justice.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid welcomed the Libby verdict, saying it is about time someone in the Bush administration is held accountable for manipulating pre-war intelligence on Iraq and discrediting war critics.
Defense Attorney Ted Wells says he intends to file a motion for a new trial, and that if it is denied, he will appeal the convictions. He says he is confident Libby will be vindicated.
The verdict was announced after 10 days of deliberations by an 11-member jury.
The 56-year-old Libby could face up to 25 years in prison and more than one million dollars in fines. He is the highest-ranking former White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Prosecutors say Libby leaked the information as part of a coordinated White House effort to discredit Wilson, a public critic of the Iraq war.
Chief Prosecutor Fitzgerald said the disclosure of Plame's identity "cast a cloud" over the White House and Vice President Cheney in particular.
Libby's perjury and obstruction of justice trial is the only criminal case to emerge from the CIA leak investigation.
Libby's defense attorneys argued that Libby had a bad memory and did not deliberately lie.
In Washington Tuesday, Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of lying to a U.S. grand jury and federal investigators trying to determine who exposed the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Plame is married to former diplomat Joseph Wilson, who openly criticized the Bush administration about its reasons for launching the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
A White House spokeswoman says President Bush respects the guilty verdict, but is saddened for Libby and his family.
In a statement, the vice president expressed similar sentiments, saying he was very disappointed with the verdict. Cheney said that because Libby's legal team intends to seek a new trial, he will have no further comment until the proceedings are concluded.
Chief Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said it is sad that a high-level official who worked for the vice president lied and obstructed justice.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid welcomed the Libby verdict, saying it is about time someone in the Bush administration is held accountable for manipulating pre-war intelligence on Iraq and discrediting war critics.
Defense Attorney Ted Wells says he intends to file a motion for a new trial, and that if it is denied, he will appeal the convictions. He says he is confident Libby will be vindicated.
The verdict was announced after 10 days of deliberations by an 11-member jury.
The 56-year-old Libby could face up to 25 years in prison and more than one million dollars in fines. He is the highest-ranking former White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Prosecutors say Libby leaked the information as part of a coordinated White House effort to discredit Wilson, a public critic of the Iraq war.
Chief Prosecutor Fitzgerald said the disclosure of Plame's identity "cast a cloud" over the White House and Vice President Cheney in particular.
Libby's perjury and obstruction of justice trial is the only criminal case to emerge from the CIA leak investigation.
Libby's defense attorneys argued that Libby had a bad memory and did not deliberately lie.