Scooter Libby sentenced to 21?2 years

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation – the probe that showed a White House obsessed with criticism of its decision to go to war.

Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, the highest-ranking White House official sentenced to prison since the Iran-Contra affair, asked for leniency, but a federal judge said on Tuesday he would not reward someone who hindered the investigation into the exposure of a CIA operative. The operative’s husband had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.No date was set immediately for Libby to report to prison.”Mr.Libby failed to meet the bar.For whatever reason, he got off course,” said US District Judge Reggie B Walton.Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who spent years investigating the case, said, “We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much.”He had asked for a sentence of up to three years, while Libby had asked for probation and no time in prison.Reaction from the White House was still supportive – but sombre.President George W Bush, travelling in Europe, said through a spokesman that he ‘felt terrible for the family’, especially Libby’s wife and children.Libby and his wife, Harriet Grant, have two school-age children, a son and a daughter.Libby did not apologise and has maintained his innocence.Nampa-APThe operative’s husband had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war.No date was set immediately for Libby to report to prison.”Mr.Libby failed to meet the bar.For whatever reason, he got off course,” said US District Judge Reggie B Walton.Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who spent years investigating the case, said, “We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much.”He had asked for a sentence of up to three years, while Libby had asked for probation and no time in prison.Reaction from the White House was still supportive – but sombre.President George W Bush, travelling in Europe, said through a spokesman that he ‘felt terrible for the family’, especially Libby’s wife and children.Libby and his wife, Harriet Grant, have two school-age children, a son and a daughter.Libby did not apologise and has maintained his innocence.Nampa-AP