[slamdunkpro]

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Fitzgerald said Libby committed perjury because far from hearing of Plame's ID from reporters, he in fact was the first person to leak the classified information that Plame worked for the CIA outside of the government. The crime was of course lying about this.

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There was no outing of a covert agent – the statute didn’t apply to Plame. Libby is being charged with covering up a non-existent “crime”.

This will be interesting to see unfold if it ever gets to trial. Perjury is extremely hard to prove, and the obstruction of justice charge only applies if there is an underlying crime, which even Fitzgerald admitted did not occure.