Politics take forefront as Libby jury selection begins

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Jury selection began Tuesday in the perjury and obstruction trial against former White House aide "Scooter Libby. <br/><br/>I. Lewis Libby, who served as an adviser to President Bush

Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 9:30 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Jury selection began Tuesday in the perjury and obstruction trial against former White House aide "Scooter Libby.

I. Lewis Libby, who served as an adviser to President Bush and chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding outed CIA officer Valerie Plame. Plame's identity was leaked to reporters in 2003 after her husband criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Potential jurors were expected to be asked their thoughts on presidential politics and the Iraq war. The answers will be crucial for Libby, who is hoping that a sympathetic jury can be selected from a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 9-to-1.

At the White House Tuesday, press secretary Tony Snow declined to discuss the case. Asked about the possibility of a presidential pardon for Libby, he replied, "I'm not aware of any discussions about a pardon."

The leak of Plame's identity touched off a political scandal and an FBI investigation that Libby is accused of obstructing. Attorneys for both sides want to know how closely potential jurors have been following the case.

"What is your political party preference? Democrat, Republican, Independent or other?" Libby's attorneys wrote on their list of proposed jury questions.

"Please describe any feelings you have about Vice President Cheney," they also asked.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton did not release his final jury questionnaire but said that political questions were necessary to find a fair jury.

About 60 potential jurors were scheduled to be questioned in a group Tuesday. Each juror was then scheduled to take the stand for follow-up questions from defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's proposed list includes questions about what newspapers and magazines jurors read and where they get their news. Fitzgerald also wants to know whether their opinion of Libby's former job would make it hard for them to be fair.

Defense attorneys are even more pointed in their proposed questions. Among those on their list:

_ "Based on what you know at this time, do you believe that the administration misled the American people to justify going to war?"

_ "Have you been following any of the recent political scandals involving Jack Abramoff, William Jefferson, Tom DeLay, Cynthia McKinney, or Mark Foley?"

_ "Do you have particularly strong feelings about the war in Iraq?"

All jurors are routinely asked whether they have criminal records. In the Libby case, Walton has said the jurors will also undergo criminal background checks.

Fitzgerald requested the background checks because, during his prosecution of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, two jurors were replaced because they had police records. Defense attorneys are using that to challenge Ryan's conviction and Fitzgerald doesn't want to face the same problem in the Libby case.

Walton expects jury selection to take two to three days and has scheduled opening arguments to begin next Monday. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

The trial should give the public glimpses of how Bush administration insiders responded to a high-level critic _ former ambassador Joseph Wilson _ who claimed the president and his closest advisers distorted intelligence and lied to push the nation into war with Iraq.

The case won't assess blame for the leak itself, however. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who has acknowledged being the original leaker, has not been charged.

Libby plans to be his own star witness. He says he didn't lie to investigators.

During the Plame scandal and the FBI investigation, he says, he was dealing with terrorist threats, the war in Iraq and emerging nuclear programs in Iran, North Korea and Pakistan. He says those overshadowed the Plame issue and clouded his memory about how and when he learned Plame's identity.