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Libby Seeks Leniency

Convicted former White House aide wants no jail in CIA leak case

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Libby Seeks Leniency

MAY 31--Lawyers for Lewis 'Scooter' Libby today asked a federal judge to spare the former White House aide a jail term for his conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in the CIA leak case. In a sentencing memo filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, defense counsel portrayed Libby, 56, as a 'distinguished public servant' and 'devoted father' who deserves 'a sentence of probation, perhaps combined with community service alternatives.' The document, a copy of which you'll find below, quotes laudatory letters submitted to the judge on the behalf of Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. But the identity of those correspondents--White House aides, military figures, elected officials, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--are not disclosed in the sentencing memo. The defense filing comes a week after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald asked Judge Reggie Walton to sentence Libby to between 30 and 37 months in prison. Fitzgerald argued that Libby has shown no remorse for lying 'repeatedly and blatantly' to FBI agents and a grand jury probing the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Libby, who is scheduled for sentencing on June 5, was convicted in March of four felonies. He is seeking a 'downward departure' from federal sentencing guidelines. According to his court filing, Libby and his family have 'endured crushing public humiliation as a result of unceasing press coverage,' that has been particulary unfair to his 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. (33 pages)