THE FIRST SHOE DROPS
Libby indicted, resigns post

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

The vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., was indicted today on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation, a politically charged case that will throw a spotlight on President Bush's push to war.

Libby, 55, resigned and left the White House.

Karl Rove, Bush's closest adviser, escaped indictment today but remained under investigation, his legal status casting a dark cloud over a White House already in trouble. The U.S. military death toll in Iraq exceeded 2,000 this week, and the president's approval ratings are at the lowest point since he took office in 2001.

And

The grand jury indictment charged Libby with one count of obstruction of justice, two of perjury and two false statement counts. If convicted on all five, he could face as much as 30 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.

Vice President Dick Cheney was mentioned by name in the 22-page indictment and several officials were identified by title, but no one besides Libby was charged.

Click here for the rest.

I'm speechless. I mean, I know that this has been expected for several weeks, but now that it's happened, I'm simply amazed. The article points out that a lot of White House dirty laundry regarding Iraq will necessarily come out during Libby's trial, so this particular aspect of the storyline is far from over. And the investigation continues: who did hand out Plame's name to the press? Rove? Some as yet unknown player? At any rate, as John Kerry observes, this indictment of Libby makes plain for all to see that there is corruption at the very highest levels of the executive branch. Of course, we already knew that, but it's going to be pretty hard for conservatives to dismiss this as "the criminalization of politics." The reality is that the Republicans themselves, for their own reasons, criminalized politics long ago, and now their stolen chickens are coming home to roost.

This almost makes up for the Astros losing the World Series. Almost.

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