Cheney adviser resigns after indictment
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-29 11:40

On June 12, 2003, the indictment alleged, Libby heard directly from Cheney that Plame worked for the spy agency.

"Libby was advised by the vice president of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA in the counterproliferation division. Libby understood that the vice president had learned this information from the CIA," Fitzgerald said.

A short time later, the indictment said, Libby began spreading information to reporters, starting with The New York Times' Judith Miller on June 23.

The indictment said a substantial number of people in the White House knew about Plame's CIA status before the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003 — the first public mention — including former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who was mentioned by title but not by name in the legal filing.

Among the false statements Libby is accused of making is that he learned of Plame's identity from NBC reporter Tim Russert. In fact, Fitzgerald said, Libby knew it long before that conversation and Russert didn't even discuss it with him.

One of the dramatic parts of the two-year investigation was Fitzgerald's successful attempt — which reached all the way to the Supreme Court — to force several reporters to reveal their confidential sources. Miller, in fact, spent 85 days in jail before agreeing to testify.

Fitzgerald said Friday he wasn't spoiling for a "First Amendment showdown" with the news media but believed reporters were essential witnesses in this case.

"I do not think that a reporter should be subpoenaed anything close to routinely. It should be an extraordinary case," he said. "But if you're dealing with a crime — and what's different here is the transaction is between a person and a reporter — they're the eyewitness to the crime."