Editorial: Bittersweet justice

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

I. L ewis "Scooter" Libby stood before a federal judge Tuesday the same as many high-profile people before him who have been accused of white-collar crimes - hopeful that his former station in life would deliver him from a jail sentence.

As Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Libby had the support of prominent people, including Donald Rumsfeld and Henry Kissinger. They had written to the judge, vouching for Libby's character and telling of his long and tireless public service.

Libby himself implored the judge to consider "along with the jury verdict, my whole life." His attorneys argued along those same lines.

But Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald got to the heart of the matter when he told the judge, "We need just to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much."

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton was clear in how he felt about Libby's March 6 conviction in what has become known as the CIA leak case. "Evidence in this case overwhelmingly indicated Mr. Libby's culpability," Walton said.

Libby lied to investigators during their attempts to find out who leaked Valerie Plame's name to the news media in 2003. She was a covert CIA agent married to diplomat Joseph Wilson, who publicly revealed the falsity of President Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from the African nation of Niger. Plame was outed, presumably, as payback for Wilson's action.

Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in prison, fined him $250,000 and ruled that he must serve two years of probation after his release. Although the sentence was just, it remains aggravating that no one has been charged with the leak itself.

Libby's trial revealed that he first learned about Plame from Cheney, and that Fitzgerald believed there was a "cloud" hanging over the vice president. Perhaps now that Libby has been sentenced, he will drop the lies and be more forthcoming - unless, that is, he is holding out hope for a presidential pardon.