I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Biography

Irve Lewis “Scooter” Libby was the chief of staff and national security advisor to U.S. vice president Dick Cheney (2001-05) who was convicted in 2007 on five felony counts. Known in the media as “Dick Cheney’s Dick Cheney,” Libby was a behind-the-scenes Washington insider associated with influential foreign policy experts called “neo-cons” (neo-conservatives), a group whose post-Cold War strategy focused on the military supremacy of the United States and the political re-structuring of the Middle East. Libby is a graduate of Yale University (1972) and has a law degree from Columbia University (1975). In addition to practicing law, he has worked in government since 1981, when he joined Paul Wolfowitz (his former professor at Yale) at the Department of State under President Ronald Reagan. During the administration of George H.W. Bush, Libby worked for the Department of Defense, but during the Clinton years he worked for the U.S. House of Representatives and was the managing partner of the law firm Dechert, Price and Rhoads (1995-2001). Although Libby avoided the spotlight throughout most of his career, beginning in 2003 he and Karl Rove became central figures in rumor-filled news stories about Valerie Plame Wilson, the C.I.A. operative “outed” by columnist Robert Novak. On 28 October 2005 Libby was indicted by a grand jury and charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements. After the indictments were announced, Libby resigned from his post. His trial on five felony counts began in January of 2007 and he was found guilty of four of the charges on 6 March 2007. In June of that year he was sentenced to 30 months in jail and fined $250,000. The next month, President George W. Bush used his presidential power to commute Libby’s sentence, saying that Libby’s conviction would stand but that he would not have to serve jail time.