2007年VOA标准英语-Libby Guilty of Lying in CIA Leak Case

By Jim Malone
Washington
06 March 2007

Former White House aide Lewis Libby was found guilty Tuesday on four of five counts of lying, perjury¹ and obstruction² of justice in connection with the investigation³ into the leak of a covert⁴ CIA officer's identity in 2003. Vice⁵ President Dick Cheney said he was "very disappointed" with the verdict. National correspondent Jim Malone has details from Washington.

 
Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, left, accompanied by his attorneys, prepares to meet reporters outside federal court after jury reached its verdict in Washington, 6 March 2007 

Libby is a former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney and at one time was one of the most powerful White House staffers in Washington.

Libby was convicted on four of five counts of either lying to or misleading FBI investigators⁷ as part of the investigation into who leaked the identity of former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Plame's CIA identity was revealed in a newspaper column in 2003.  Special prosecutor⁸ Patrick Fitzgerald launched an investigation into whether Plame's identity was leaked as part of a White House effort to discredit⁹ her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.  Wilson had accused the Bush administration of distorting intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Libby did not speak to reporters after the verdict.  But his attorney, Ted⁶ Wells, said he was disappointed in the jury's decision.

"We intend to file a motion for a new trial and, if that is denied, we will appeal the conviction and we have every confidence that ultimately Mr. Libby will be vindicated," he said.  "We believe, as we said at the time of his indictment¹⁰, that he is totally innocent, totally innocent, and that he did not do anything wrong."

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald also spoke¹¹ to reporters outside the court following the verdict.

"The jury was obviously convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant¹² had lied and obstructed¹³ justice in a serious matter," he said.  "The results are actually sad.  It is sad that we had a situation where a high level official, a person who worked in the office of the vice president, obstructed justice and lied under oath.  We wished that that had not happened, but it did."

Prosecutors¹⁴ said Libby knew of Valerie Plame's CIA connection from Vice President Cheney and others in the administration.  Libby's attorneys countered that he had a bad memory and had misremembered his conversations with journalists, some of whom were called to testify in the case.

The only juror who spoke to reporters was Denis Collins.  Collins said jurors did not believe Libby's faulty memory defense¹⁵, but Collins also said there was sympathy for Libby on the jury.

 
Former White House aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby arrives at Federal Court in Washington, 2 March 2007

"Now having said that, I will say that there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury," he explained.  "It was said a number of times, what are we doing with this guy here?  Where is [presidential adviser¹⁶ Karl] Rove?  Where are these other guys?  We are not saying that we did not think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of.  But it seemed like he was, the way Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy."

Prosecutor Fitzgerald said no additional charges will be filed in connection with the four-year-old investigation, meaning that no one will be charged with the original leak of Valerie Plame's CIA identity, which eventually made its way into the press.

At the White House, Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush had watched news of the Libby verdict on a television in the Oval Office and is saddened for Libby and his family.

"The best thing I can offer you right now is what the president's reaction was, he respected the verdict, he respects the jury, and we are just not going to be able to comment beyond it," she said.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry¹⁷ Reid welcomed the Libby verdict, saying it was about time someone in the Bush administration was held accountable for manipulating pre-war intelligence on Iraq and discrediting¹⁸ war critics.

Libby is the highest-ranking former White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980's.

Libby could face a lengthy¹⁹ prison term in the wake of the convictions on four of the five counts against him.  He will remain free on bail²⁰ until a pre-sentencing hearing in May.

Libby, 56, could face up to 30 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.

1 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

2 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

9 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

13 obstructed   

阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• Tall trees obstructed his view of the road. 有大树挡着，他看不到道路。
• The Irish and Bristol Channels were closed or grievously obstructed. 爱尔兰海峡和布里斯托尔海峡或遭受封锁，或受到了严重阻碍。

14 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

17 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

18 discrediting   

使不相信( discredit的现在分词 )； 使怀疑； 败坏…的名声； 拒绝相信

参考例句：

• It has also led to the discrediting of mainstream macroeconomics. 它还使得人们对主流宏观经济学产生了怀疑。

19 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

20 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。