Libby Seeks Delay of Prison Term
    By Matt Apuzzo
    The Associated Press

    Tuesday 19 June 2007

    Washington - Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who faces prison soon in the CIA leak case, asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to step in and delay the sentence.

    The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. A federal judge has denied a request to stay the sentence while Libby appeals his conviction.

    In a motion to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Libby argued that the ruling was inappropriate. He said he has a good chance of having his conviction overturned on appeal and should not have to serve jail time while the court challenge plays out.

    "The Bureau of Prisons will shortly designate a prison facility and direct Libby to report within a period of two to three weeks after designation," his attorneys wrote. "Accordingly, we respectfully ask that the court expedite action on this application."

    A delay in the sentence would give President Bush more time to consider whether to pardon Libby, who also served as an assistant to the president. Libby's supporters have called for a pardon, saying Libby was not the source of any leak and got caught up in a political investigation.

    Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to investigators about how he learned the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame and whom he told. Plame's name appeared in a newspaper column after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, began criticizing the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

    Nobody was charged with the leak itself, including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage or White House political adviser Karl Rove, the two original sources for the newspaper column.

    Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who spent years investigating the leak, said Libby should get no leniency for lying simply because nobody else was charged.

    One cornerstone of Libby's appeal is whether Fitzgerald had the constitutional authority to bring the case.

    The request will be considered by a three-judge panel of the court. By policy, the court does not disclose which judges are on the panel until a decision is made.