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Libby Investigation Important for Most Americans
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in the United States believe the inquiry into the alleged leak of an undercover Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer's identity is significant, according to a poll by CBS News. 86 per cent of respondents think the matter is of great or some importance to the nation.
On Oct. 28, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced that vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis Libby had been indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and two counts of making false statements. According to the indictment, Libby lied to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and a federal grand jury about his conversations regarding the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame with both Time reporter Matthew Cooper and Tim Russert of NBC News.
Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who in July 2003 wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that severely criticized the Bush administration for its claim that Saddam Hussein's regime had sought to purchase uranium from Niger.
On Nov. 3, Libby pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, Libby could be sentenced to 30 years in jail, and fined $1.25 million U.S. 54 per cent of respondents say they do not know enough to say if the charges against Libby are true.
Yesterday in Argentina, U.S. president George W. Bush referred to the situation, saying, "We're going through a very serious investigation. And I have told you before that I'm not going to discuss the investigation until it's completed. (...) My obligation is to set an agenda, and I've done that."
Polling Data
A special prosecutor has been investigating whether a crime was committed when a CIA officer's identity was revealed to reporters. How important do you think the matter is to the nation?
Great importance | 51% |
Some importance | 35% |
Very little importance | 12% |
No importance | -- |
No opinion | 2% |
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, vice-president Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff, has been indicted on five felony charges of lying to investigators and misleading the grand jury in the CIA leak case. From what you've heard or read, do you think the charges are probably true, or probably not true, or don't you know enough about it yet to say?
Probably true | 39% |
Probably not true | 4% |
Don't know enough yet | 54% |
No opinion | 3% |
Source: CBS News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 936 American adults, conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2005. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
Other poll highlights: 51 per cent say investigation mostly politics, 43 per cent call it a serious matter. 61 per cent of respondents believe Libby's situation calls for criminal prosecution, 36 per cent say the same about White House chief of staff Karl Rove.
