John Deans Cheney-Libby Conspiracy

John Dean has a good take on the CIA / Plame / Libby investigation. A Cheney-Libby Conspiracy, Or Worse? Reading Between the Lines of the Libby Indictment By JOHN W. DEAN ---- Friday, Nov. 04, 2005 In my last column, I tried to deflate expectations a bit about the likely consequences of the work of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald; to bring them down to the realistic level at which he was likely to proceed. I warned, for instance, that there might not be any indictments, and Fitzgerald might close up shop as the last days of the grand jury's term elapsed. And I was certain he would only indict if he had a patently clear case. Now, however, one indictment has been issued -- naming Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby as the defendant, and charging false statements, perjury and obstruction of justice. If the indictment is to be believed, the case against Libby is, indeed, a clear one. Click here to find out more! Having read the indictment against Libby, I am inclined to believe more will be issued. In fact, I will be stunned if no one else is indicted. Indeed, when one studies the indictment, and carefully reads the transcript of the press conference, it appears Libby's saga may be only Act Two in a three-act play. And in my view, the person who should be tossing and turning at night, in anticipation of the last act, is the Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney. Read More: FindLaw More Related: Democratic Congressmen Ask Cheney to Talk By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: November 4, 2005 Filed at 12:54 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three Democratic congressmen Thursday asked Vice President Dick Cheney to testify on Capitol Hill about the disclosure of a covert CIA officer's identity, saying ''there are many wide-ranging questions about your involvement.'' The congressmen asked why Cheney's office was gathering information about Valerie Plame, the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson in 2003; whether the vice president directed his top aide, the now-indicted I. Lewis Libby, to speak to the news media about Plame; and whether Cheney was aware Libby was doing so. The indictment against Libby says he was told by Cheney on June 12, 2003, that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA's counterproliferation division. That was a month before Plame's identity was disclosed by conservative columnist Robert Novak. The congressmen also asked Cheney whether he was aware the administration's claims that Iraq was seeking uranium from the African nation of Niger were false, at a time officials including President Bush were using such assertions as justification for going to war. The Democrats are Maurice Hinchey of New York, Henry Waxman of California and John Conyers of Michigan. Waxman is the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee. Conyers is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. In response, Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said that the vice president would cooperate with the Justice Department as the criminal investigation of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald moves forward. Cheney said following Libby's indictment last Friday that it would be inappropriate to comment on the charges or any facts relating to the proceeding Go To Original