US News
Indicted top White House official pleads not guilty
By DPA
Nov 3, 2005, 19:00 GMT

Washington - I. Lewis Libby, the top White House official indicted in a criminal probe into the outing of a CIA agent, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he lied during the investigation.

Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and one of the most powerful men in Washington, resigned last week after being charged with five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements.

He went before a Washington judge Thursday to be arraigned in a 10-minute hearing. Cable News Network (CNN) said Libby told the judge, 'With respect, your honour I plead not guilty,' before being released on his own recognizance.

The 55-year-old Libby's indictment capped a two-year investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA covert agent Valerie Plame to the press.

Plame is the wife of a former U.S. ambassador who publicly criticized a key part of U.S. President George W. Bush's case for invading Iraq - that Saddam Hussein was pursuing nuclear weapons. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, claims the White House exposed her in retribution.

U.S. law makes it a crime to knowingly publicize the name of a covert intelligence agent.

The charges by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald do not deal with who leaked Plame's name to the press, but allege that Libby lied when he told investigators he first heard Plame's name from reporters. He actually heard the name from other government officials, the charges allege.