Democratic leaders urged President Bush not to pardon former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted on federal charges Tuesday.Libby's attorneys, meanwhile, vowed to seek a new trial, or, failing that, to appeal the jury's verdict.
Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the Bush administration's actions leading into the Iraq war.
He resigned after being indicted in October 2005.
Vice President Dick Cheney, in a written statement, said he was "disappointed with the verdict."
"I am saddened for Scooter and his family," Cheney said. "As I have said before, Scooter has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service."
Federal officials began an investigation in December 2003 into how the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame was divulged to reporters in the weeks before Robert Novak named her in a July 14, 2003, column. Libby was not charged with the actual leak.
Novak attributed his information to "two senior administration officials" -- later identified as President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Neither testified in Libby's trial.
Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had openly questioned part of Bush's basis for invading Iraq. He wrote a controversial New York Times op-ed piece that was published July 6, 2003.
Prosecutors argued Libby lied about how he learned of Plame's CIA role to protect his job. Her role, they said, was deliberately released in retribution for her husband's report.
Democrats seize chance to criticize administration
"It's about time someone in the Bush administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney's role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct."
Added House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed -- at the highest levels of the Bush administration -- a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the investigation should go deeper.
"There's a lot more going on here than just this," Dean said on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"We know that the president was not truthful with the American people when he sent us to war," he said. "We don't know if the president committed a crime or not; it would be interesting to find that out."
Read More
