Libby Guilty of Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case
WASHINGTON, March 6 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted today of lying to F.B.I. agents and grand jurors investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative amid a burning dispute over the war in Iraq.
The jury rejected Mr. Libby’s claims of memory lapses as it convicted him of obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the F.B.I. and perjuring himself, charges embodied in four of the five counts of the indictment.
The panel acquitted him on an additional count of making false statements to the F.B.I.The jury deliberated for 10 days before handing up their verdict to Federal Judge Reggie B. Walton this morning, ending one of Washington’s most closely watched trials of recent years. Mr. Libby, 56, could theoretically face more than two decades in prison, but as a first offender he will almost surely get a much lighter penalty.
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