Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has now relieved, for the moment at least, the suspense about where his prosecutorial finger was going to point. At Fitzgerald's request, a grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on five counts: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements to FBI investigators, and two counts of perjury. The offenses for which Libby has been indicted pertain to the Bush administration's efforts to smear and retaliate against its critics, in this case by exposing that one such critic, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was married to then-covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. No indictment was handed up against the president's right-hand man Karl Rove, but Fitzgerald says that he will continue his investigation, so Rove and others remain at risk of indictment later, most likely for the same sorts of offenses.
Much has been made of these proceedings; reporters and commentators have speculated for months about what Fitzgerald might do and what the repercussions of his actions might be. At this juncture, however, it seems that the elephant has labored mightily and borne only a mouse. Libby was not charged with violation of the law that makes it a felony to knowingly expose the identity of a covert CIA agent - it's too difficult to prove that charge in court. The charges against him are certainly not trivial - if convicted on all counts, he can be sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined $1.25 million - yet in view of the much greater crimes in which he has long played such an integral part, the present charges are the moral equivalent of a parking ticket. One almost suspects that such legal proceedings are little more than the regime's proven method of diverting attention away from its greatest criminals and their greatest crimes.
