Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case

Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly accused the White House of using flawed intelligence to justify the war and cited a CIA mission he took to Niger in 2002, which found no merit to claims that Iraq was trying to buy weapons-grade uranium. Plame's CIA identity was revealed in a syndicated column eight days later, with senior officials anonymously implying that Wilson's findings were not considered important because nepotism played a role in his assignment.

The trial highlighted the nation's divisions over the war, the Bush White House's intolerance of critics and the uneasy symbiosis between an elite tier of Washington journalists and their confidential sources inside the government.

It also portrayed Cheney as more intimately involved in the details of orchestrating the campaign to disparage Wilson than was previously known. At the grand jury, Libby testified that Cheney was "disturbed" by Wilson's assertions that he was sent on the mission as a result of a question from Cheney about an assessment that suggested Iraq was trying to purchase buy from Niger. The clear implication of Wilson's argument was that Cheney would have been told of his findings.

Indeed, according to evidence at trial, the CIA notified Cheney in early 2002 that it was launching a mission with an unnamed envoy to better answer his question about the Iraq-Niger connection. It is unclear whether the CIA later flagged Wilson's findings for the vice president.

Defense attorneys repeatedly indicated that they planned to call Libby and Cheney as witnesses in the trial. But the two never took the stand; defense lawyers said it was not wise for Libby to testify, and they did not call Cheney.

Cheney said in a statement yesterday that he is "very disappointed with the verdict."

"I am saddened for Scooter and his family," he said. "As I have said before, Scooter has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service."

As the jury forewoman read each guilty count in a clear, solemn voice, Libby was impassive, remaining seated at the defense table, gazing straight ahead with hands crossed. He furrowed his brow after a second guilty count was read, then smiled frozenly as jurors individually affirmed the decision.

Libby's wife, Harriet Grant, sat in the front row with tears in her eyes and held tightly to a member of Libby's defense team. Later, she hugged each of Libby's lawyers and exchanged a few words with her husband.

Bush watched the verdict announcement on television in the Oval Office along with his chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, and counselor, Dan Bartlett.

"He said that he respected the jury's verdict, that he was saddened for Scooter Libby and his family," spokeswoman Dana M. Perino said later. She declined to discuss a possible pardon for Libby as a "wildly hypothetical situation" and said the White House would not comment further because of Libby's efforts to seek a new trial.

Wilson, who with his wife has filed a civil lawsuit against Libby and several top administration officials alleging that they disclosed her identity, said yesterday the conviction shows that even a top White House official is subject to the American justice system.