outrage of the year ......so far
Libby trial won't start until after fall election
By Toni Locy, Associated Press | February 4, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The perjury trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff won't begin until January 2007, after the midterm congressional elections, in timing that Democrats consider favorable to Republicans.
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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts US District Judge Reggie B. Walton yesterday set Jan. 8 for jury selection in the trial of I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby, the former top White House aide charged with lying to investigators and a grand jury in the CIA leak inquiry.
Walton, appointed to the court by President Bush, said he had wanted to start the trial in September but agreed to push the date back when one of Libby's lawyers had a scheduling conflict.
Democrats had hoped Libby's trial would be held before the November elections to help bolster their attacks on Republican congressional candidates over the CIA leak investigation, the bribery scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and Bush's domestic spying program.
''The Republicans dodged a bullet," said Democratic strategist Dane Strother. ''It's a whole menu of corruption . . . and it's a shame we have to wait to have Scooter Libby for dessert."
Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said putting Libby on trial during the fall campaigns could have hurt Republican candidates.
''There's something stronger about testimony under oath in public" rather than information that trickles out in the run-up to a trial, Franklin said.
Libby, 55, was indicted late last year on charges that he lied about how he learned CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and when he subsequently told reporters.