I. ResignsI. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr. -- someone I never heard of until the CIA leak case -- was
indicted by a federal grand jury today for perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice.
How Libby managed to dodge an indictment for having a ludicrous nickname, I don't know. If your full name is "I. Lewis Libby, Jr." the last thing you need is an extra name -- let alone a dopey name. And what does the "I" stand for? Can you think of a male first name which begins with that letter? Iggy, perhaps? Iggy Libby??? No wonder he only uses the initial.
Anyway ... shortly after the indictments Libby resigned as Cheney's chief of staff, which was the right thing to do.
The irony is that today's indictments are the culmination of a nearly two-year-old grand jury investigation to determine if someone illegally disclosed the identity of a CIA agent -- something for which Libby was
not indicted. It's odd that after two years, the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, has apparently failed to find evidence that someone committed a crime in disclosing that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent.
Granted, Fitzgerald's investigation may be ongoing. But at this point it seems that Libby is about to be prosecuted for lying to the FBI and the grand jury over a press leak which wasn't illegal.
