US Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials of US President George W. Bush's administration could be called to testify if Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's top aide, goes to trial on a criminal indictment involving how the US went to war in Iraq.
Libby's "not guilty" plea to the five-count felony indictment, which he gave at his arraignment on Thursday, seemed sure to prolong debate about the White House's prewar use of intelligence, probably in a protracted court battle.
"With respect, your honor, I plead not guilty," Libby told US District Judge Reggie Walton.
Libby is charged with obstruction of justice, two counts of lying to the FBI and two counts of committing perjury before a federal grand jury.
Libby's indictment has enabled Democrats to bring back questions about the Bush administration's primary justification for invading Iraq, the incorrect assertion that ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and the ability to use them.
The indictment also comes with Bush's popularity rating at its lowest level since he took office after a week in which his administration bungled a Supreme Court nomination, the US death toll in Iraq passed 2,000 and a cloud remained over his chief strategist, Karl Rove, in the leak case. Rove remains under investigation.
Libby waived his right to a speedy trial, and it will take his legal team three months to get security clearances to examine classified information that the prosecution must produce to the defense.
Libby was charged with lying to investigators and the grand jury about leaking to reporters the CIA status of a covert agency officer, Valerie Plame. Plame was revealed after her husband, former US ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of twisting intelligence in the run-up to the war to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
Wilson made his accusation after a CIA-sponsored trip to Africa in which he said he found no evidence to support the allegation that Iraq had an agreement to acquire uranium from Niger.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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